Cheese Ball Queen
a Christmas Eve food tradition
As I sit here writing this newsletter, I’m listening to my Childhood Christmas playlist, where I just dumped every full album that was on repeat on CD players in my childhood home. It includes the *NSYNC holiday album, that big orchestral Michael W. Smith Christmas album, the Nutcracker, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and a Christian a cappella group I loved when I was in my youth group Jesus-y era. The playlist makes me feel nostalgic for a time when whole albums were played over and over from start to finish, and reminds me of how different I am than my childhood and teenage self, but also how similar I am to her.
I’ve always loved Christmas and the holiday season. I love the twinkly lights and the special meals, the comforting movies I can quote from beginning to end and the familiar songs and hymns. As I’ve moved away from Christianity, I have given up most of the religious traditions, but the other traditions that I grew up with have remained strong in my life. And traditions centered on food are a MUST in my annual celebrations.
My family is Scandinavian - Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish - so our Christmas Eve appetizers and dinner paid homage to our heritage. We had Swedish meatballs with gravy, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables of some kind, and lefse with butter. I recently recreated this meal for my husband and it was so dang good! I don’t know my family’s recipe for the meatballs so I found one online, and I thought it was pretty close to what I remember eating in my childhood. Thank goodness!
The real exciting part of Christmas Eve food for me growing up wasn’t the main meal, though now I can appreciate the effort and cohesion of the dinner, it was the appetizers. We had this big wooden buffet that we cleared of mail and trinkets that had accumulated all year, and set out an incredible hors d'oeuvres spread. There was the relish tray with black olives, green olives, Gedney’s small dill pickles, nuts, and crackers with summer sausage and a cheese ball. It was one of the only times of year where we had snacks out all at one time, and it felt so fancy with the crystal serving dishes and tiny forks.
From a young age I was assigned the very important task of making the cheese ball, and I made it every single year! Being in charge of the cheese ball is my first memory of making something in the kitchen on my own, and being trusted with making it from start to finish. I don’t remember how old I was when I started making it, but I don’t really remember a time when I didn’t make the salty essential on our Christmas Eve app table. I’ve made a cheese ball in the shape of an apple for Pumpplefest, for a Thanksgiving leftovers party, for special occasion nights at home with my husband, and on chilly weekends when I need a reliable snack.
Whatever your holiday and winter celebrations look like these days, I hope that you can find some comfort and joy in whatever food traditions you have.
Let me know in the comments what your assigned task is at a winter holiday gathering!
Simple Cheese Ball Recipe
I like my cheese ball to be very simple and unfussy. If you Google “Midwestern cheese ball,” you’ll get loads of photos with it rolled in nuts, or mixed with smoked salmon or dried beef, or with bacon, and I just don’t deal with all of that. I want the bulk of it to be CHEESE with salty, umami additions that don’t take any extra effort.
*Note: I don’t give very specific amounts in the recipe below because you really should just make it to your liking! Start with a little bit of the ingredients and add more as you go based on taste. Try not to add literally all the ingredients I mention, just a few, and see what you like. Next time you make it, try something else!
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
Other dairy add-ins: plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, mayo
Dried spices: choose your own adventure here - start with a ¼ teaspoon and add more as you like)
Black pepper, chives, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, or parsley all work!
Salty mix-ins: packet of onion soup mix, ranch packets
Liquid umami: start with 1⁄2 teaspoon and add more if you want! These are very salty, so wait to add salt until the very end
Worcestershire sauce, Liquid Smoke
Shredded cheese of your choice (4ish oz?)
Put the cream cheese in a bowl and add the other dairy (if applicable), dried spices, salty mix-ins, and liquid umami ingredients you are using
Mix well with a spatula or a mixer (handheld or standing mixer)
TASTE and see if you need to add more of anything. Remember you can’t easily take anything out so add a little at a time and taste until it’s just right
Fold in the shredded cheese (for a LOL) with a rubber spatula which actually means that you cut the rubber spatula down the center of the bowl, scrape the spatula around the bowl, and then repeat to get the shredded cheese all incorporated.
Things I Like
Tiny spoons, wooden spoons, and tiny wooden spoons
I think I need another blanket scarf so I can copy all the ways this creator is showing how to wear a scarf!
Dressing up fancy with friends - comfies are my fave but it’s nice to get all polished up every now and then.
May your week be gentle and may you eat well. 🌲🥣