Grandma Wilma’s Cheese Ball
Grandma Wilma would make and bring a cheese ball to just about every family gathering the family held. Since the recipe yields more than a single charcuterie board can support, she would typically send smaller cheese balls home with each household. Uncle Mike was particularly fond of using his cheese balls as a sandwich spread. As she knowingly lay on her death bed, Uncle Mike walked into the hospital room and exclaimed “Gee Wilma, I’m not sure what I’m gonna do without your cheese ball.”
She originally learned the recipe in 1983 from her neighbors Dave and Patty Patrone and went nuts for it. I can’t really blame her - people who don’t even like cheese love this cheese ball with its savory and creamy flavor. After she died, I promptly inherited the cheese ball preparation responsibility, and it surprised me how deceptively simple it actually is. Layering the outside of a cheese mixture with something dry seemed like a daunting task until I realized you just have to roll a wet ball around in something dry. It looks significantly more complicated to make than it actually is, which makes it a great thing to bring to a potluck or snack spread - and anybody who receives the leftover batches will certainly be grateful until your death.
Cheese Ball
Ingredients
Instructions
- Finely dice large white onion.
- In a large bowl, mix Velveeta cheese, Mexican Velveeta, cream cheese, bleu cheese, diced onion, and 2 squirts of Worcestershire sauce. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together into homogenous mixture.
- Finely crush walnuts and mix into medium sized bowl with dry parsley.
- Work cheese mixture into baseball-sized balls and place in parsley/walnut mixture. The parsley/walnut mixture will stick to the outside of the cheese ball like glue. Roll cheese ball around until it is fully coated. Refrigerate cheese balls.
- Serve with crackers or use as sandwich spread.