Hello, and welcome to week 49 of the Marketing for Romance Writers 52-week blog challenge. Let’s all take a moment to express our absolute amazement that I have still not missed a week. Honestly, it’s like a little miracle. With just three weeks left to go, I’m determined to make it to the end successfully. If I do that, you are all free to pass out in shock.
This week’s prompt is A favorite recipe, which makes me really happy. I just finished writing a blog post that took me a long, long time, so having a prompt that won’t require hours of soul-searching and careful wording is kind of a nice surprise. Since it’s holiday season, I’m going to share one of my favorite holiday recipes.
My grandmother Carter, who did not pass down this recipe
This isn’t a family favorite as in something passed down through generations, but it is a favorite for my kids and me. While I enjoy other varieties of the cheese ball, (please don’t stop offering yours to me. I promise I’ll like it) I must admit that my favorite is the green-onion cheese ball.
Not just any green-onion cheese ball, mind you, but a green onion cheese ball from Smith’s (a grocery store that’s big in Utah. It used to be locally owned, but it’s part of the Kroger stores chain now.)
Since moving to Florida we’ve tried to find a cheese ball to purchase or a cheese ball recipe that might satisfy the craving, but nothing comes close. I even called one of the Smith’s stores in Utah to ask (aka beg) for the recipe. I assured them I would buy it if I were able to, but without it, my family’s holiday just wasn’t the same. I was told that the base is mixed somewhere else and delivered to the stores, so they couldn’t give me the recipe even i they wanted to.
Grandmother Lewis, who also did not pass down this recipe
Undaunted, determined to stave off the disappointment experienced by my family every year since moving, I decided to try my hand at recreating our family favorite on my own. It turned out great. I’ve served it to others a few times, and I’ve always been asked to share the recipe, so here it is for you, and you didn’t even have to ask! How lucky are you?
It’s easy and delicious–at least we think it is. I hope you think so, too.
Sherry’s Green Onion Cheese Ball
(Homage to the Delicious Smith’s Version)
It’s really very simple. You’ll want to do this several hours (or even a day) before serving to give the ball plenty of time to set up.
For each cheese ball you’ll need:
- 2 8-oz packages of cream cheese
- a small amount of milk
- garlic salt
- 3-5 green onions
- slivered almonds (optional)
Let the cream cheese soften at room temperature so you can work with it. Cream it until it’s smooth (I use a hand-held mixer.)
Add the milk one splash at a time until the cheese mixture is the texture you want. You’ll want it to be soft enough to mold, but firm enough to hold its shape.
Add garlic salt to taste. I just sprinkle it into the mixture as I’m mixing in the milk, maybe adding 5 or 6 shakes at a time until it tastes the way I want it.
Chop the green onions (depending on the size and your taste preference) into small pieces and add those to the cheese mixture. You’ll want enough onion to put a bit in each bite and a sprinkling of green throughout, just to make it aesthetically pleasing.. (I use roughly 3/4 of a bunch for each cheese ball.) .
Either mold the cheese balls by hand, or put them into medium-sized bowls with a round shape to let them set up. Either way works fine, depending on what you have to work with.
The original cheese balls are rolled in slivered almonds, but we didn’t bother with that. It’s delicious either way.
Serve with your favorite crackers.
It’s one of our favorite appetizers on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it’s also a go-to favorite on New Year’s Eve.
Good luck and enjoy!
And remember, this is a blog hop, so check out the other authors’ favorite recipes. Their links are below.
P.S. I’ve lowered the price on 16 of my full-length novels for the holidays to just 99 cents on Kindle. So while you’re clicking around and checking things out, hop on over to Amazon.
Books include:
- All 6 Fred Vickery mystery novels
- All 4 time-travel romance novels
- 6 Contemporary romance novels.
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
Sherry Lewis 
It sounds really good- thanks for sharing! Oh and I, too, am now determined to see the year out with the weekly blog. I really didn’t have time to do today’s post— but I made time so not to miss a week, lol.
I’m lactose intolerant, but my family is not. I’ll be trying this out for the holidays and may try a tiny, tiny sliver just to taste. Thanks for the recipe.
Cream cheese and garlic make everything taste better!
That looks tasty! I’ll bet it would be great on celery sticks, too.
cheese and green onions, two favorite things.
Love the pictures of your grandparents — and the captions underneath them.
These sound great and easy. Definitely nabbing this recipe.
We love cheese balls year round. I didn’t know about the milk I will try that next time we also add bacon bits or chipped beef sometimes. Thanks for sharing!
A family friend always bring her cheeseball to our gatherings, and it is very similar to yours! Love green onions!
Ooo, I’m a fan of cheeseballs so I will be trying this one. I’d probably add slivered almonds. I love the captions under the pictures of your grandmothers. By the way, Sherry, I found the online recipe for Meaty Macaroni Bake I mentioned in my post. It’s in my comment over there. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Gosh, I love cheese balls. I buy one every year (and am usually the only one who eats them. Ha, more for me!). This looks great, I’m going to try it We have Kroger here in Atlanta, I’ll look for the Smith’s Green Onion one…
Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best.
Glad you were able to make one that is close to what you were used to having. I have a cheesball that I make, the recipe came from Paula Deen. I remember watching her make it one of the rare times I watched Oprah and it’s been a hit ever since.