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Your Team Tailgate Cheeseball

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Grocery List Ideas: Your Team Tailgate Cheeseball. Elevate your next adventure in tailgating at home or in the parking lot at the stadium. I guarantee when you show up with this festive “football” cheeseball, heads will turn to take notice. If you really want to show off your team pride, wear colorful  jerseys or temporary tattoos. By the time the party’s over, you’ll be leaving with heightened expectations, good vibes, and a full stomach. That is, until the game begins and the munchies return. 

YOUR TEAM TAILGATE CHEESEBALL 

Ingredients: 

8 ounces Neufchâtel cheese, softened 

4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded 

1 green onion, snipped 

1/4 cup pickled jalapeños, diced

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled 

1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1 slice mozzarella cheese 

Instructions: 

In a medium bowl, combine Neufchâtel cheese, cheddar cheese, green onion, pickled jalapeños, and garlic powder. Use a hand mixer to beat until well mixed. Shape the cheese mixture into the shape of a football. Place on a sheet of parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the Cheeseball with crumbled bacon and chopped chives, pressing firmly to coat. Transfer cheeseball to a serving dish. For the laces, cut the mozzarella cheese into thin slices. Leave one long piece for the center of the football. Arrange smaller slices in rows for the laces. Place the long strip horizontally over the top, down the middle. Press lightly. Serve with crackers and pretzels. 

Bleu Cheese Ball

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Bright Ideas: Bleu Cheese Ball! I’ll never forget my first taste of bleu cheese. I was having dinner with my father in a charming restaurant nestled along the Mississippi River in the heart of Nauvoo, Illinois. The waiter came over and offered us a complimentary tasting of their claim to fame, bleu cheese. It was aged in the local wine cellars, he boasted, while pouring a taste of wine for the perfect pairing. One bite, one sip and I was in love. My father, on the other hand, wrinkled his nose and said the cheese tasted like old socks. Needless to say, I finished his portion.

BLEU CHEESE BALL

Ingredients:

8 ounces Neufchâtel cheese, softened

4 ounces bleu cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Green onion snips

Instructions:

In a mixing bowl, combine Neufchâtel cheese, bleu cheese crumbles, shredded cheddar cheese, and Worcestershire sauce. Form into a ball. Roll in green onion snips. Refrigerate for one hour. Serve with crackers, pretzel sticks, and smoked almonds.

Vermont Cheddar Multigrain Toast

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? The Next Step: Vermont Cheddar Multigrain Toast! Just because you hit the snooze button on the alarm clock does not mean you lose out on a healthy breakfast. Grab a slice of multigrain bread, a hard-boiled egg, and a wedge of white cheddar cheese. Why white, you ask? Um, because I like the deeper flavors of the older extra-sharp varieties. The longer a cheese ages naturally, the more pronounced the flavor. Besides, it tastes incredibly delish with the slightly salty applewood-smoked bacon as its companion. So, while the coffee’s brewing and the toast is browning, get slicing.

VERMONT CHEDDAR MULTIGRAIN TOAST

Ingredients:

1-2 slices multigrain toast

1-2 tablespoons sea salt butter

3-4 slices Vermont White Cheddar cheese

1-2 slices applewood-smoked bacon, precooked

1 hard boiled egg, sliced

Snipped chives for garnish

Chia seeds for garnish

Instructions:

Toast multigrain bread on desired setting. Remove from toaster; place on a plate. Spread sea salt butter over toast. Next, layer with Vermont cheddar cheese, thick bacon, and sliced egg. Top with snippets of fresh chives. Sprinkle chia seeds over all.