Time is short on this Friday before Christmas, but there’s always time for sharing the Christmas cheer.
I sourced, shopped, and scored these Simplicity vintage gift bags at Joann Fabrics and Crafts, and they are so super vintage style cute.
Apples, lemons, cinnamon sticks, whole coves, and bay leaves brought to boil and set to simmer fills the house with the scents of Christmas.
This year’s Christmas decorating is less extravagance and more emphasis on special touches rooted in memories, provenance, and simple I love that beauty.
Oranges and cloves remind me of my great grandmother’s house at the holidays.
I conducted a Christmas tasting trial run while the kids were home.
Hands down, this cranberry fig cheese ball took top honors in the holiday appetizer category.
Cranberry Fig Cheese Ball
Ingredients
8 ounce block cream cheese softened
8 ounces shredded mild cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup fig preserves
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Creole seasoning, optional
½ cup chopped walnuts
Directions
In a mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese to soften. Add shredded mild cheddar cheese, dried cranberries, Worcestershire sauce, fig preserves and chopped parsley. Mix all ingredients together to blend.
Form cheese mixture into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 4 hours or even better, overnight allowing cheese ball to firm up.
Once firm, unwrap cheese ball from plastic wrap. Roll the cheese ball in Creole seasoning and chopped walnuts to cover. Serve with snack crackers of choice.
Sharing the Christmas cheer is the best part of the holiday season.
I’m spending this weekend in the Places In The Home test kitchen churning out cakes and cookies for family, friends, and neighbors.
After all, it is the most wonderful and tasty time of the year, the present is in the process, and the gift is in the giving.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and love from me to you at this holiday season.
Merry Christmas!
