I have made a cheese ball for every party I’ve ever hosted, and this year is no different. They are usually a pretty big hit, but I don’t mind leftovers because it makes a great snack for the next day when I’m cleaning up after the party.

In the past, the cheese balls I made were mostly cream cheese with a little bit of shredded cheddar and parm and a few herbs. This year, however, I used goat cheese as the primary “binder,” with only 1 block of (reduced fat) cream cheese. I also included 8 ounces of nice sharp white cheddar (to preserve the mostly white look I was going for) and 8 ounces of regular yellow sharp cheddar. So, you can say that my cheese ball has gotten a little more classy. That’s what she said….?

To make one cheese ball (approx 15 appetizer servings), you will need:

• 11 ounces of goat cheese, softened
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 1 pound of sharp cheddar cheese (any combo of yellow or white), shredded (I used a food processor)
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp dried chives (fresh would be better, if you have them)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 braided pretzel (for stem)
• 1 parsley sprig (for leaf)

Cheese, glorious cheese! Asiago would be really good, as would fontina. Really, you could use just about any cheese as long as you use at least 10 ounces or so of a soft cheese to hold everything together.

Normally, I grate cheese with my Microplane, but since I had so much to grate today, I used my food chopper/processor. If you do choose to use a food processor, do it with pulses; else, the cheese will ball up and be hard to work with.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until thoroughly mixed. I used my stand mixer, because it did a lot of the work for me, but in the end I wound up working the cheese “dough” by hand anyway to finish it up.

Just dump it out onto a clean work surface and shape it into a ball, or, if it’s the fall of the year, a pumpkin!

I used a wooden skewer to help shape the ridges in the sides of the pumpkin. I just did the rest of the sculpting by hand. The “stem” is half of a braided pretzel, and the “leaf” is a sprig of parsley.

Tip: The flavor is best after it has been refrigerated for a few hours.

Make-ahead note: This cheese ball can be made up to a day in advance, wrapped well with Saran wrap, and stored in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Welp, today I jumped onto the cake pops bandwagon. I figure they will be a nice no-mess treat for our Halloween party – not to mention that they are super cute!

Any fellow bloggers out there know that Bakerella is the uncontested queen of cake pops, so I used her guide to making cake pops.

To make around 40 pumpkin cake pops, you will need:

• One 13×9 cake – make it from scratch, or make it from a box. I used a white cake mix from Betty Crocker and substituted pumpkin puree for some of the oil.
• 1/2 cup cake frosting : from scratch, or not
• Orange candy melts, or white candy melts colored with oil-based food coloring
• Green Tic Tacs (for the stems)

Special Equipment:

• Lollipop Sticks
• Wax paper
• (optional) Edible Pen or Marker to make jack-o-lantern faces
• styrofoam block
• toothpicks

Start by making the cake and letting it cool completely. I mean it – completely! You’re gonna be working with it by hand, so try to avoid 3rd degree burns!

This probably isn’t a necessary step, but I cut the corner crusts off to help the cake mixture keep a nice consistency.

Spoon the cake into a large bowl and crumble it up with a pastry cutter.

Add in the frosting. Combine with the pastry cutter.

Form the cake/frosting mixture into quarter-ish-sized balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. (Yes, I know some of mine are not spheres – I made them into Wolf Men.)

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or on a double boiler, according to package instructions. Be careful not to overheat. Note that I should have used orange-colored chocolate here instead of the dark chocolate, but I already had the dark melted. Tsk tsk.

Dip a lollipop stick about 1/4″ into the chocolate and then halfway into the cake ball.

Repeat the process on all of the cake balls. Now, somehow finagle your freezer so that you can pop the whole baking sheet in to chill for about 10 minutes.

Get your candy coating ready. Dip each cake pop in and roll it a bit, using a knife or spoon to help get it coated. Use a toothpick to skim off any excess coating.

Push the green Tic Tac into the top as a stem immediately, because the candy coating sets up fast.

Now, this is where the Styrofoam block comes in handy. It’s the perfect way to store the pops while they set up.

Once dry, feel free to draw on faces with an edible pen! I actually bought an edible pen just for this project, but it stopped working after making just two faces. Oh well. They are cute without.

UPDATE: I got un-lazy and added jack-o-lantern faces using melted chocolate, and sprinkled black sugar crystals on top. I also took pics of the wolf man and eyeball blob monster pops. Enjoy!

Happy kitty cake pop!

The Joker cake pop

Wolf man! Raaaaaawr!

And finally, eyeball blob monsters. I had the eyeball sprinkles and just had to find a way to use them.

This is a warm and cozy dish for a chilly evening. Instead of simmering on the stove, you could use a slow cooker. The cinnamon and cardamom flavors are subtle, but delicious. Your entire house will smell wonderful after simmering the lamb.

The recipe I used for inspiration is from Souvlaki for the Soul.

To make two servings, you will need:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• Approx 1/2 lb of lamb meat (I used a leg shank)
• 2 leeks (trimmed to the light green & white parts) OR 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (don’t drain)
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 3 cinnamon sticks (if you can’t find cinnamon sticks, use 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon.)
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom (or 1 whole pod if you have it)
• 1c low-sodium chicken stock (plus more to keep the braising mixture wet)
• 1/4c red wine
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• salt to taste (pay attention to the salt content of the canned tomatoes, and taste the sauce before you add too much salt)
• 1/4c grated Asiago cheese
• 2c cooked pasta (I used fettucine noodles)

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a medium saute pan. Once it’s hot, add the lamb meat and brown on all sides (about 6-8 minutes).

While the lamb is browning, chop up the leeks (if you haven’t already). Trim them liberally, and peel off the outer layers.

Side note: I also wanted to add some celery and carrots here, but was out. I kept on trucking, though, because I didn’t want to make a trip to the grocery store.

Once the lamb is browned, remove it to a plate and set aside. Add the garlic leeks to the pan (and more oil, if necessary). Saute over medium for about 5 minutes, or until soft.

Add the canned tomatoes, stock, wine cinnamon sticks, cardamom, bay leaves, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer on low.

Add the meat back to the pan. Simmer like this, covered, over low for 2-3 hours, or until the meat literally falls apart. If too much liquid evaporates,  add more stock or water to the pan.

Once the meat is tender enough, remove any bones and pull the meat apart into small pieces. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves, and stir with the sauce.

Slow Cooker note: At this point, you could add everything to a slow cooker over high for (estimated) 2-3 hours or low for (estimated) 4-6 hours. Those times are approximations, as I have not actually tried this dish in a slow cooker. Just let it go until the meat falls apart.

Serve over the cooked pasta, and sprinkle with the grated Asiago cheese. Enjoy!