I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been told I make a pretty good cheese ball. Oh yeah, life of the party – right here. It’s honestly one of the easiest things to do. It’s so much better than store bought and worth the effort. The goal is to taste like cheese and be able to spread on a cracker. Because it’s so simple, using quality ingredients is mandatory; punishable by… a tasteless disaster! (Possibly.) Over the years I’ve made quite a few variations, and this one is a crowd pleaser every time.

As organic as possible:

1/2 cup Butter (1 stick), softened

12 oz Cream Cheese (1 1/2 bars), softened

1 1/2 tsp granulated Garlic

1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp Milk

8 oz Smoked Gouda, shredded (can substitute with smoked cheddar)

3/4 cup Pecans

On the day I know I’m going to make a cheese ball, I get out my butter and cream cheese in the morning with my coffee. That way when I feel like getting to it, it’s ready to go. That’s like the extent of the difficulty. When you’re ready to get started I throw everything (except the pecans) in a stand up mixer. Although if you don’t have one, no worries; once everything is soft, it would be easy to mix by hand. Beat until creamy, scraping down the sides.

Now here is the trick for a perfect ball: Line a bowl with two sheets of cling wrap, in a cross pattern, pressing down with extra over the sides. Using a spatula, scoop the cheese into the center of the lined bowl. When all of the cheese is in, wrap the cheese with the plastic until covered and form a ball, pressing the cheese together lightly to rid of cracks and air pockets. Place back into the bowl and put in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. (You can easily make this a day ahead.)

Before serving (or transporting to a Partay) toast the pecans. I like using the toaster oven for small batches like this, but stove top and conventional oven will work too. Heat in a dry skillet over medium heat (watching and tossing) or at about 350º for 6-7 minutes, just until you start catching the aroma of the nut. I don’t like the nuts over toasted for this. Then chop the nuts into small pieces. Remove the ball from the plastic wrap and roll around in the nuts. pressing nuts onto every open space. Don’t worry if the wrap left not-so-pretty lines, they will be covered with beautiful nut pieces! Place on a serving tray with assortment of crackers and spreading knife. Get ready to live.