Igloo and Penguin Treats

Just a little pic from some of our Christmas spread this year, in the back ground are my mincemeat cookies and in front is the Igloo cheese ball. :)

Every year at Christmas we make a great cheeseball/spread, which the look of I got from one of those little Holiday recipe booklets they sell at the grocery store years ago. While the look of the igloo is the same, I detest blue cheese and also experiment and don't follow any recipe at all really when I make it so every year is a bit different, but always yummy - and a little spicy. Anyway - the igloo features little black olive penquins that are just too cute to eat, though they finally get eaten, too after awhile.

Sorry the pics aren't the greatest and you can't see the detail, but we make this spread which is golden yellow in final color (it has a variety of mild and sharp cheeses, bacon bits, green onions, and tabasco sauce, etc.), we then put it in a round bowl with plastic wrap and let it harden overnight then ice it with whipped cream cheese the next day of the party. You trace little blocks of ice on the igloo and cut up little squares for the entrance, which in this picture you can see a penguin is guarding or coming out. LOL

The penguins are made with jumbo black olives, split, stuffed with cream cheese, small olives for the heads and carrot feet and noses (though this year mom went with almond beaks for some reason) and then you stick a long flourished toothpick through the whole penguin and ta da! Something that has nothing to do with Christmas, really, but cute nonetheless and a treat I look forward to making each year.

The pics were taken shortly before the party and it was late with awful lighting and relatives arriving and unfortunately I don't have any nicely detailed pics. I do have older pics from past years I could maybe dig up and scan in. Anyway, it's always a hit spread on crackers and the spiciness of the cheese is calmed down with the cream cheese outside. It's delicious! :)

It's late to post a Christmas pic of a treat we had, but I kept forgetting to do it earlier and just now got around to it. I'm really procrastinating this year.

If anyone is interested in better pics and a recipe for the cheeseball just let me know. It really is a great centerpiece. People are afraid to ruin the artwork at first and then soon enough they dive in and carve the heck out of it. Poor penguins being swallowed whole by some. LOL Might be fun to try, especially if you have kids that liked the penguin craze of the past few years.