Everyone has their own favourite cheese ball. I am willing to bet that you all have a tried and true recipe. They do not need to be elaborate when you use good quality ingredients and chill for at least a few hours for the flavours to exchange. We keep the flavours to a minimum so that the clean taste of the cheese is allowed to shine. I make variations of this all through the summer with labneh which is a homemade yoghurt cheese that is very easy to make. 
Celi’s Cheese Ball
- 1 packet of cream cheese or 2 cups labneh.
- 1/4 cup of tomato sauce, I used the tomat conserva that I made this summer.
- 1/3 cup chopped spring onions
- 1/3 cup chopped good ham
- 2 cloves of garlic mashed.
I was going to roll this in rosemary and cracked black pepper, but then I forgot!
I serve this on crostini or some robust crackers, there is nothing worse than a disintegrating cracker. Now, we remember that the party rule is, small and simple to eat, so pipe a little cheese ball mixture onto the tiny cracker or crostini and top with a tiny curl of chilled spring onion.
To make your little spring onion curls, slice your green (spring) onions longways and then across in 2 inch lengths. Separate the slithers of onion. Submerge them in a bowl of icy cold chilled water. After a while they will curl up quite delightfully.
Mums cheese ball was quite different. No onion here.
Mums cheese ball.
- 1 package Cream Cheese
- Finely chopped dried apricots
- Finely chopped dates
- Finely chopped walnuts
Roll in almond chips.
For those of you who cannot eat nuts just omit them. It is still a lovely surprising collection of tastes. Mums favourite snack was a slice of tasty cheese on a slice of apple so you can see that this mixture was an easy jump for her.
I was writing this last night and realised it was time to go outside and finish up in the barn. I sat on the stool in the kitchen to pull on my warm clothes. I sent TonTon off to find my gloves, he found them and brought them to me one by one, then stole them back off my lap and gave them to me again. He did the same with my top pair of socks and my hattie but is fairly useless at getting my big wugga jacket down off the hook inside the basement door, so he just stared at it until I got it down myself. When he heard the zip going up, he retrieved the flashlight from its corner by the door (it has a convenient handle for dogs) and stood watching his own reflection in the french doors, waiting. I took the torch and turned it on and we proceeded outside into the cold and across the grass to the barn. We wrapped Big Dog up in his two eiderdowns, (he was waiting in his bed of straw) said ni night to Daisy and Queenie (the sheep were still outside), checked the water, the feed, the doors and the baby chicks and then turned off the big barn lights. It was very dark.
I shut and latched the old barn doors behind me and turning I saw a light running to and fro out in a field, across the grass, around the back of the rat house, past the chook house. The light leapt and nodded through the fence, over the gate and then this ghostly wavering searching light jaggedly made its way back towards me, randomly catching trees and fence posts and cameos of surprised cats in its white beam.
TonTon the BonBon had run off with my flashlight. But was bringing it back. He had never done this before so I stood out in the cold with my blimp layers on, all alone under the stars and laughed out loud. He gave me back the torch, looked a bit disappointed when I declined to throw it for him to fetch, then we both trotted back to the warm house and our beds. 
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
97 responses to “Little Party Nibbles: Retro Cheese balls and Lights dancing in the Night.”
What a dog! He’s quite beautiful! I love both cheese ball recipes! Always good to have something new to try!
They are so simple and tasty Phyllis. c
I’ve never had cheese balls before – I love the sound of yours, I’ll have to try them 😉
I look forward to hearing how you like them Mad. c
So when do the party invites go out? Handsome doggie there.
He is a handsome devil isn’t he. Useful too. Hope you have a good day Miss T. c
I like your cheese ball. The tomato sauce, ham, garlic and spring onions sound so good.
Thank you Rosemary, I like those simple clean tastes.. c
Reblogged this on Thoughts from the Tablelands !.
Thank you Michael, we will duck over to your table and see what’s what!! c
Both cheese ball recipes sound really good and so easy to make, too. That TonTon! At bedtime, I’m going to start reading Max The Tales of TonTon. It couldn’t hurt.
The tales of TonTon as read to Max, there it is! .. the name of the children’s book, with an extra voice. thank you John! c
So funny – maybe TonTon was lighting the way for Daisy to take a moonlight stroll or he´s smuggling contraband Golden Syrup in for you and was lighting the way for the plane to land. I know TonTon and Daisy are in cahoots! And as for those cheese balls – can I have a whole huge one all to myself please?!
Oh no, maybe I interrupted my Birthday DROP! c
When´s your birthday…hope we get to celebrate with you!
ah, tanya, it is very soon.. c
That is one cute puppy! 🙂 And the cheese ball sounds delicious! I know my mom has a tried and true recipe, but I’ve never tried making one.
I’d love to know your mothers recipe, there must be a thousand variations! c
Both recipes sound yummy and easy to make as well. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, I love to share.. c
Believe it or not I have never tried cheese balls mixed with anything. Labneh rolled in zaatar or shredded carrots or sumac yes but not cheese balls mixed with other yummy ingredients. I look forward to experiment with all the possible combinations.
P.S. Congratulations 🙂 You are the winner of Macy’s giveaway.
Please email me your address within 3 days to arrange sending you the pans 🙂
I have emailed you immediately of course. Thank you!. I never win anything, as I told you, in the email, once my brother won a set of dolls clothes in a school raffle and gave them to me in DISGUST! But that is as close as I ever got to winning something! and yes, do experiment with the cheese, we would love to see what you come up with. c
The wife is gonna come home from work to find me drooling, and for the first time in my life, I will tell her that I want some cheese balls…..which will lead her to say…. “What in the world is a cheese ball?”…at which point I will show her your recipes…… (We live sheltered lives here in Texas…) 🙂
Excellent. and the really good thing is, they are quick and easy to make.. good luck! c
Oh, my gosh, what a TonTon. Waiting on you like that and then fleeing with your flashlight. You made me laugh out loud, too, with that part of the story. Great way to begin my day with such a humorous tale. Thank you for sharing your always delightful stories. Love. Love.
Those little moments are great, aren’t they audrey! c
Clever and handsome…both TonTon and the cheese ball recipes! Actually those cheese balls sound better than any I’ve ever tasted…great ideas.
Thank you, TonTon is a good wee fella, c
Great recipe for a cheese ball C – love adding fresh raw garlic to dishes. Your mom’s version sounds equally as delicious and think I would save that more for a lunch time affair.
Aah Ton Ton is just a darling pup!
🙂 Mandy
that sounds about right, mum would often serve it mid afternoon with a cup of tea, though she drunk about seven thousand cups of tea a day so everything was served with a cup of tea.. c
A woman after my own heart – I too consume far too many cups of tea a day. 😉
(laughter) c
My friends and I would joke, it’s not a party until the cheeseball arrives!! Now you have two easy and delicious ones to try!!
I agree spice, they are standard party fare!! c