Second harbinger of Christmas

I guess I should have made a pic before people started eating...

Today was the buffet day at work. We have a seasonal pig-out day a couple of days a year. I used to wonder what to bring, but I now have my Official Assigned Dishes, so I just have to ask which one. The taste of Pat's Cheese Ball, though, is one of the official starters of the season for me. I worked with Pat for years, through two companies. She is a wonderful woman, and was a kind of the sassy grandmother-figure everyone wants to have to the whole department. Everyone adored her. She retired this past year. Since she had given me the recipe for the wonderful cheese ball, I asked for and received official dispensation to be the Bringer of the Ball. This cheese ball is easy, delicious, and for some reason, people are endlessly impressed that you can mold cheese into a ball. Really. No I don't know why. For those of you who are stove-phobic, this is the recipe for you.

Pat's Faboo Holiday Cheese Ball

1 lb cream cheese, or neufchatel, at room temp, or softened

8oz sour cream

hot sauce to taste

4-5 cups cheddar cheese (at least one cup of it finely shredded)

1 envelope Good Seasons salad dressing mix

Combine all ingredients in food processer, reserving one cup of finely shredded cheddar. Begin with the sour cream and salad dressing mix. Even if you don't like hot sauce, add a few dashes, it raises the flavor without making the cheese ball spicy. Chill overnight or for a couple of hours to firm it back up. Then mold the mixture into a ball. Roll or pat on finely shredded cheese to coat. Leftovers are divine melted onto baked potatoes, stirred into a pot of homemade soup, or spread on crusty bread and toasted until browned. But seriously, you may not have a lot of leftovers. This is lip-smacking good.

For those of you wondering, the tray shown is a depression glass handled sandwich plate in the "Doric" pattern, made by the Jeanette Glass Company between 1928 and 1946.

***

This poem is floating in my mind today:

How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly he spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in,

With gently smiling jaws!