Holiday Cheese Ball

 

Celebrating Christmas with family was almost a "guarantee" most of my life.  I have so many memories of Christmas with my Grandma's.  Unlike some memories that have faded or disappeared, the Christmas memories seem to remain as bright and strong as just about any other memory I have.  With out a doubt, they all include a ton of laughter.  Like the time my Grandmother accused my Grandma, (or vice versa - there was so much going on) of stealing her Christmas money.  These accusations went on for quite some time that evening, until somebody got up and there was the money - tucked down in the side of the sofa.  We laughed about that for years.  I know I have a picture of that infamous night and I have to find it - I just have to!!!

Of course, every holiday gathering included food.  Plenty of it!!  I don't think we strayed too far from the basics of turkey and ham - or maybe ham loaf and the traditional trimmings.  Nobody cared if it was the same as last year, or the year before - it wasn't what was important.  So, when diving in the boxes, looking for something for the holidays, I couldn't say "no" to this holiday cheese ball.  It's about as traditional as they come (and go) and may be the only recipe I find dedicated to the holidays in all those boxes.  After all, back in the day, who needed a recipe for turkey, ham or the trimmings ? Things were simple, Grandma's were born knowing how to cook Christmas dinner - at least that is what I thought.

This is a hand written recipe on paper, but glued to a recipe card.  Gotta love it.  Also gotta love the 70's famous garnish of parsley and maraschino cherries.  It IS festive.  I made two Cheese Balls out of this recipe - Otherwise - this should probably be called Holiday Cheese Softball.  Even cut in half, these are bigger than baseballs (per Bubba).  He said all he needed to say about this recipe by the amount he consumed over a short period of time.  He would put this on the make again list, absent all the "foofoo" stuff.  Merry Christmas!!