Cheese Balls...

As a child, when it was time to decide whose house to party at on Super Bowl Sunday, I always voted for the side of the family that served cheese balls. Not only did they turn the other way when I topped off my Shirley Temple with a few more cherries, but they never objected when I polished off a box of butter crackers spread with half of their cheese ball supply. Those were memorable parties. I recall walking toward their front door on Super Bowl Sunday like it was yesterday. The air was crisp, the sun was shining, and I could see the late winter Georgia air on the window.

Inside, amid trays of salami, olives and carrots with ranch dressing sat those mounds of cheese delight. They were expertly rolled in pecans, while no longer crunchy, were so finely chopped that no one remembered that the cheese balls had sat on a grocery store shelf for a week or two prior to being purchased. When sliced, the spheres exposed colors vibrant enough to make '70s fashion seem tame. My favorite was the port wine-flavored one with a dark-red center that smelled faintly of bacon.

Years later, I discovered with much trepidation that my admiration for the cheese ball was not universal. I learned that many were disrespectful of this dish that my family and I held so dear.

One night recently at a party, I ran into a group of self-pronounced “foodies” chatting over a bowl of hummus about dishes traditionally served by their families during the holidays. One exclaimed that her aunt never let them sit down to dinner until the annual cheese ball was finished. When I spoke kind words about her relative and, chuckling, shared that I had been known to finish a ball or two even before the last guest arrived, I was given looks of total disbelief and slight disgust.

To my surprise, they informed me that most serious modern food lovers associated cheese balls more closely with Velveeta than Brie and Gorgonzol. To them, cheese balls were considered suspect, and people like me, who sang their praises, were not to be trusted in the kitchen.

So I kept my desire quiet, praying that the nut-covered dairy treat of my childhood would once again grace a table when I attended the next party, only to have my dreams repeatedly shattered. Cheese balls, it seemed, had fallen out of fashion.

Then one day after recalling the good times I had at the hors d'oeuvres table as a child, I decided I had had enough. I was going to rock the cheese ball boat. I would bring this American classic into the next millennium. In so doing, I discovered that cheese balls never go out of style. They just need a makeover.



Sweet Potato Cheese Ball

Ingredients:
2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
8 ounces light cream cheese
1½ tablespoons minced jalapeno pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco hot sauce
1 teaspoon Lawry season salt
1 teaspoon pepper sauce
¼ cup minced green onions
¼ cup finely chopped pecans
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon granulated onion

Let cheese come to room temperature. Boil sweet potatoes in jackets until tender. Peel, mash and cool. Blend sweet potatoes and cream cheese. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Shape into balls.

Chill in covered container overnight.

Serve with your favorite crackers, slices of pear & apple.

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George’s notes:

• Cheese is one of the most used ingredients around the world. It is a milk based solid food. Cheese can be prepared from cow, sheep, goat and other mammal milk.
• Hundreds of types of cheese exist all over the world. The types of cheese exist due to the usage of the milk from different mammals, specific species of molds and bacteria and also varying the aging length. Other processes are also used to prepare different types of cheese. Other factors which determine the type of cheese is the diet of the animal the milk is taken from. The diet can include herbs, spices and wood smoke.
• Velveeta is one of the most vilified foods in the United States. It's right up there with Spam. Velveeta is classified as a pasteurized processed cheese food. It actually has to label itself as food to clarify its status. Kraft, its manufacturer, likes to call it a "fun, family-friendly" cheese food.