Recipe - Cheese Trees Or Snowman

3 pack (8 oz) cream cheese;
softened
4 cup Cheddar cheese (16 ounces);
shredded
2 tablespoon Pesto
1 tablespoon Grated onions
One fourth teaspoon Ground mustard
2 dr Red pepper sauce; (up to 3)

HAVE READY AT SERVING TIME
One fourth cup Pine nuts or cut or sliced up almonds
2 tablespoon Chopped red bell pepper
Assorted crackers
Kale or Bibb lettuce

Mix cream cheese and Cheddar cheese; divide in half. Mix pesto into 1 half;
mix onion, mustard and pepper sauce into other half. Cover each halh and
refrigerate about 4 hours or until firm enough to shape.

Place cheese mixtures on cookie sheet. Shape each half into cone shape to
resemble Christmas tree. Wrap each tree and freeze..Can be stored up to 1
month...

12 hours before serving, remove trees from freezer. Thaw in wrapper in
refrigerator. Just before serving, roll trees in parsley, pressing parsley
evenly onto trees. Press pine nuts onto trees in string form for garland.
Press bell pepper pieces onto trees for ornaments...Top each tree with star
shape cut from lemon peel.... Dress up the trees with a tree skirt using
kale or Bibb lettuce.

For Snowman: Omit parsley,pine nuts and bell pepper. Mix cheeses together
and divide into 3 equal parts. Combine 2 parts to equal twothirds pf
mixture; mix in pesto. Mix onion, mustard and pepper sauce into remaining
onethird mixture. Refrigerate as directed. Shape each cheese mixture into
ball; roll in 1/3 cup finely chopped blanched almonds. Wrap each ball and
freeze.

12 hours before serving, remove balls from freezer. Thaw in wrappers.
Arrange balls on serving plate with smaller ball on top for head of
snowman, flatten slightly. Insert pretzel sticks for arms. Decorate as
desired with cut or sliced up olives, capers, chopped bell peppers,ect...

NOTES : Makes 2 trees or 1 snowman....

Recipe by: Betty Crocker 1994

Posted to recipeludigest Volume 01 Number 362 by ctlindab@mail1.nai.net on
Dec 12, 1997