More vintage holiday recipes

 

Blue cheese cheeseball

The approach of the holidays seems to fill many of us with an urgency to celebrate and see dear friends and family before whatever holiday we observe. At my cottage that means there are lots of cries of, “We’ll get together before Christmas.” The days to do that are slowly counting down, but there are still enough evenings for some happy hours, and I have been searching old recipes for cocktail food ideas.

Cheeseballs have been a standard for the holidays all my life. When I was quite young, my family traveled each Christmas Eve from our inner city home to the home of one of Dad’s colleagues in what was then far south Chicago, a trip of close to an hour. A lavish buffet awaited us, but I particularly remember the cheeseball. Not just any cheeseball, it was, I think, the signature recipe of the hostess, whose name also was Judith. Those traditional evenings stopped for some reason when I was a teen, but we had the recipe and continued to make “the” cheeseball. Later, I served it every year for my big tree trimming party and my kids counted on it. In recent years, one of my girls has made it. We know that some folks consider cheeseballs old-fashioned and out of style, but we don't care. It's part of our traditional Christmases. This year, Lisa and are tactfully tossing that ball back and forth, but I sort of suspect it will land in my lap. It’s not a lot of work. Here’s what I’ll do:

Blue cheese cheeseball
½ lb. Roquefort

1 pkg. Old English cheese (no longer available—I use an 8 oz. pkg of Velveeta)

l eight-ounce pkg. cream cheese, softened

½ lb. pecans, chopped fine

1 bunch parsley, chopped fine

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 small onion, chopped fine         

½ tsp. horseradish

Let the cheese soften to room temperature and mix thoroughly. Add Worcestershire, onion, horseradish and half of the parsley and pecans. Mix thoroughly and shape into a ball. Do NOT do this in the food processor, as it will become too runny. Even a mixer makes it too smooth and creamy—wash your hands thoroughly and dig in, so the finished cheese ball has some texture and credibility. Roll the ball in the remaining parsley and pecans. Chill. Serve with crackers. Leftovers will keep a month in the freezer, but mold will grow within a few days if you leave it in the fridge.

The other dish that my kids associate with tree trimming parties and Christmas is bourbon hot dogs. I suppose when they were teens, the hefty amount of bourbon had something to do with it, but they still like these. I made a half batch recently for guests, and they all disappeared quickly.

Bourbon Hot Dogs

2 lbs. hot dogs

¾ c. bourbon

2 c. ketchup

½ c. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. minced onion

Cut hot dogs into half-inch pieces. Combine other ingredients and simmer until sugar melts. Add hot dogs and continue to simmer. Serve warm with toothpicks.

Cheers! Sláinte! Salud! Santé! Prost! Saluti!