Friendsgiving

Thanksgiving is the time for giving thanks, spending time with friends and family and enjoying copious delicious foods. This year my friends and I thought it would be fun to jump on the "Friendsgiving" trend. We decided to make it a potluck where everyone will bring one dish of their choosing. I have watched my mother and grandmother over the years make creative and scrumptious cheese balls. I chose to try and create my own recipe and bring it over to Friendsgiving to see if I mastered the cheeseball. 

The cheeseball was successful! My recipe took ten minutes to do and is gluten free. I shopped at my local Aldi for the ingredients. This appetizer is very simple and can easily be re-created in any dorm room. 

Start to Finish -10 minutes
Money spent to make- $1.31 

Ingridients: 
2 8oz cream cheese blocks
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
2 cups dried cranberries
1 tablespoon parsley 
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups chopped pecans 

Begin by setting the two cream cheese blocks out, or heat them in your microwave, to soften. Place them in a mixing bowl once they have softened. Add two cups of shredded sharp cheddar, start mashing the two ingridients together. Once they are mixed, add two cups of dried cranberries, one tablespoon of dried parsley and one teaspoon garlic salt, mix till ingredients are completely blended. Roll into a large ball and press the center down so it has a semi flat bottom. Place in mini fridge (or any type of fridge) for it to chill.

While the cheeseball is chilling, chop (or purchase already chopped) pecans and place in the mixing bowl. Take the cheeseball out and roll it until it is completely covered in pecans. Place back in the refrigerator till you are ready to serve. 

This dish is a perfect to bring to parties during the holidays. The dried cranberries are a great ingridient but can be replaced with other dried fruits. You can mix it up by doing a mixture of nuts to roll the cheeseball in. Another great ingridient to add is dried coconut, that helps add a sweetness to the cheese. 

(This appetizer is gluten free, it can be served with cut fruit, crackers or gluten free crackers)

Bon Apetite my fellow students