Bacon Ranch Cheeseball

Mom makes this cheeseball for holidays. It's very easy and addictive. It's my favorite thing to eat during Thanksgiving when everything else is still cooking and off limits.

Cheeseball

Ingredients:

• 1 package cream cheese, 8 oz softened
• 1/2 cup chopped bacon 
• 3 teaspoons garlic powder
• 3 teaspoons onion powder
• 3 teaspoons ranch dressing mix
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans/slivered almonds

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese and seasonings till smooth. 
2. Add cheese and bacon. 
3. Cover in plastic wrap, shape as a sphere, and chill for about an hour
4. Unwrap and roll in chopped nuts. Rewrap and chill until serving with crackers and veggies. 

Cheese Fondue

One of my favorite New Years traditions is a fondue party. We make angel food cake and whipped cream the morning of. New Years is the only time we eat angel food cake, and we call it angel foo cake instead of food. There's also chocolate fondue and fruit, caramel too. Mom pulls out the mini wok with boiling chicken broth and you can use skewers to cook vegetables. My favorite part of the fondue party is the cheese fondue with french bread. This isn't like that velveeta cheese that people put on vegetables, it is thick garlic parmesan fondue and I love it! This year I got the recipe from her. It is super easy to whip up, you could make it in the microwave just as a dip instead of a fondue. The recipe uses a lot of estimation rather than exact measurements, just adjust it till it looks right. You can use real parmesan cheese or the canned stuff. I prefer it with more milk than cream so it's a little lighter, but it's about a cup of liquid either way.

Cheese Fondue

Ingredients:

• 1 package cream cheese
• 1 cup cream (or half and half)
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 3 teaspoons onion powder

Directions:

1. Combine everything and melt it. Adjust ingredients to taste. It should be very thick.