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.”
Okay, I’m going to take that first cheeseball recipe to my wife, but will she know what labneh is cause I sure as heck don’t!
don’t worry about the labneh darling, just go and buy some philly cream cheese from the supermarket!! it will be all good! c
Roger that! I love anything with cheese!
My oatcakes would go well with that. Tradezeez? 😉
I have to come over and find that recipe! they tempt me so!! c
Now that’s a good dog! Both these cheeseballs sound great I’ll have to give them a try.
Let me know how you do? Hope you like them.. c
Ton Ton is astounding!
He is very helpful with everything except herding the sheep! c
holiday cheese balls…i love them! this one needs to be taste tested by moi!
thanks Whit, you can make one in about 10 minutes!. c
I’d come just to kiss the dog, the cheeseballs would be a bonus 🙂
TonTon would love having a Kiss from Cin.. I was going to write The Kiss OF Cin, but it just doesn’t sound right really! c
i’m such a big fan of keeping flavours at a minimum – “more” doesn’t necessarily mean “better”, especially when it comes to food. the simpler the better! 🙂
Absolutely, I agree completely.. c
I’ve never had a cheese ball before but really, what could be better? It sounds delicious!
Hope you get a chance to make one Ameena, then let me know what you think!.. c
That dog is a looker. Nice appetizers too, sure would go fast at our house.
thanks greg, have fun.. c
Top dog !
maybe we should put him in a parade! c
Nah, let’s put the Retro Cheese Balls in the parade, Ton Ton is way too cool 🙂
You seem to be preparing a lot of party food for the lonely Christmas you spoke of so eloquently in a previous post. I made your apple puree cakes today -well a version – and they’re delicious.
Oh excellent, I am glad you played around with the the little cakes.. It is different having a christmas with people in it for sure!!
c
Although I’ve only just discovered your blog, I do so enjoy it. So I’ve nominated it for the Versatile Blog Award and the Liebster Award (more info about it in my latest post). 🙂
Oh thank you so much, I shall pop over and see what you have been up to!! c
Thank you. You’re so welcome, I love to read your posts and to try to imagine what it is like where you are. It looks a lovely place. 🙂
So delicious… I noted this cheese balls… I haven’t done something like that before. Thank you dear Cecilia, and how lovely and adorable Tonton, Blessing and Happiness, with my love, nia
You could make it with some of those soft cheeses you have over there Nia.. c
The cheese ball looks delis, but it’s the dog I want to comment on. What a beautiful, exquisitely intelligent face.
he is bright.. most of the time!! c
funny, i had never eaten a cheese ball until I cam to NZ, is it a Kiwi recipe originally do you think? Bit like the Kiwi dip with onion soup and condensed milk :o)
Allison, can you send me some of that onion soup!! i had forgotton about that! c