Sunday Special: Peppered Herb Cheese Roll

.  Oh, heeey!

How's everyone's weekend?  Mine has been just fine, not too much going on around here though.  Robbie is actually heading out of town today for work, so I'm preparing myself for lots of time with the pups this week.  Graham better be ready.

Robbie is anything but happy about this little trip.  Not because he's going to a lame place [he'll be in Connecticut, which is a place he's been to a few times and loves it!] or because he's going to miss me so incredibly much [wink, wink].  But rather because he's going to miss both, not one, but both football championship games today!  Ahhhahaha, sorry but I did get a chuckle out of that fact.  He's been an avid follower of the teams all season long but when it gets to the 'big' time, he'll be scrunched in his airplane seat pouting.  Sorry, love...

However, he's made sure that I'll be sending him game updates via phone as much as humanly possible.  I'm a good girlfriend, huh?

But for all of you other football fans who will fortunately be able to catch the games live, I have a tasty app[etizer] perfect for the big day.  What you have here is a Peppered Herb Cheese Ball, a ridiculously simple and quick dish to put together, leaving you time to enjoy the games, family and friends.  

I made this unique dip last weekend for again, Robbie and his dad, while they were watching, yep, you guessed it.  Football.  Lots of little surprises in that last sentence, huh?  Totally being sarcastic.  But one surprise was how quickly the two gobbled this roll of yummyness down!  Robbie proclaimed from the room how great the dip was and as evidence, brought back an empty plate to the kitchen before the second quarter was even over.  Oh yeah, I brought it to them in the beginning of the second quarter.  Do the math.

Now here's my little note of honesty.  The roll contains goat cheese, which out of curiosity, I tasted prior to mixing.  Hmm...well.  Not my favorite.  It literally tastes like a goat would smell.  Annnnnd I bet that really makes you want to test this out.  But before you prematurely click out of this post, the goat cheese is used in a very small amount, so the taste is rather subtle.  And with crackers, it actually worked.  I promise.  And accompanying the goat cheese is our favorite cream cheese, chives [YUM!], basil [double YUM!], and parsley.  All together, this mixture really came together in an elegant way and I will admit I was rather pleased!  So don't let my last few comments scare you away.  Maybe I should just delete them...

Anywho, I hope everyone has a wonderful time watching the games [if that's your plan!].  I'm hoping for some good games, no blow outs please  .

My Notes:

• If you're not a fan of goat cheese, check out the original recipe because variations of the dish are included.  I definitely want to try the Italian Cheese Ball!
• As is most times in our house, we didn't have the patience to wait for the 4 hour chill period, so we ate this right away.  I can only imagine the time allows the flavors to meld, but we didn't find anything wrong with it without the wait.  So dig in!

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. snipped fresh chives

3 tbsp. snipped fresh basil

2 tbsp. snipped fresh parsley

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

4 oz. goat cheese

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

Assorted crackers

Directions:

1. On a piece of wax paper, combine 1 tablespoon chives, 1 tablespoons basil and parsley; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and goat cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Beat in remaining 2 tablespoons chives, 2 tablespoons basil, pepper, and garlic.  Form into desired shape (e.g., ball or rectangle).
3. Place the shaped cheese mixture onto herb mixture on wax paper.  Gently roll to coat with herbs.  Wrap and chill cheese ball for 4 to 24 hours.  Serve with your choice of crackers.

Yield: 12 (2 tablespoon) servings

Nutrition Facts: Calories 92; Protein 3g; Carbohydrate 1g; Fat 9g; Cholesterol 25mg