Thanksgiving Cheeseball

It's a Thanksgiving Cheesball

It's not recipe month but while searching for a recipe for an appetizer to take to a friend's early Thanksgiving celebration my wife found this one. I know, I should probably find the source - search the internet exhaustively for the first source, but time is short and I felt the need to share it now

So how does this relate to travel exactly?  well, it is something that you might find near the southern border of the US....

This was awesome - I made it according to her specifications, then she decorated it to ultimately look like this-

So how did I make it?

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, warmed to room temperature
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 2 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• Dash of cayenne
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 medium jalapeños- diced and divided
• 6 pieces cooked smoked bacon, crumbled and divided
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, roasted
• Townhouse crackers
• 6-10 whole pecans
• 2 slices red pepper

 

Combine the first 10 ingredients (less the divided halves of the bacon and jalapenos) in a large mixing bowl. Mix well, shape into a ball, then cool for about an hour in refrigerator

Combine the other half of the jalapenos, bacon and all of the chopped pecans in a shallow bowl or plate. Roll the cheese ball around on the mixture to coat thoroughly with the mixture

Decorate with the townhouse crackers, whole pecans and red pepper strips as pictured above

Enjoy!