Good Cheese Ball Recipe * Holiday Entertaining

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HolidayPartyPlanning #CBias #CollectiveBias #UncommonlyGood

What do you make to have on hand for family and visitors? Keebler® Club® Crackers are my go to for holiday entertaining and so is a good Classic Holiday Cheese Ball recipe.

I went out shopping at Sam's Club to stock up some entertaining essentials for the holiday season including treats, butter cookies, cheese, supplies for my cheese ball Christmas tree and my favorite, crackers. The Keebler® Club® Crackers come in entertaining sizes at Sam's Club too which is perfect to have on hand. My two college age sons can plow through a box all by themselves in one sitting so the big boxes are a must for us. You can find the Keebler® Toasteds® Crackers and
Keebler® Entertainment Crackers Collection in the entertaining sizes at Sam's Club too. Never hurts to have a good variety on hand for pop in guests. See all the  offerings at Sam's Club here.

Keebler® has a new app just in time for the holiday season to help you plan your festive party, the FREE Keebler® Party Planner Live App.  It's where I go my recipe for the Classic Holiday Cheese Ball. Rather than shaping mine into a ball I just shaped it into a Christmas tree and added sliced almonds for the tree branches. Same recipe just a different shape, easy peasy.

It's such a good recipe. Everyone loves it! I have been using the app to collect my ingredients while at the store. The list is there and ready for me so I don't have to make a separate list.
The app includes everything you need for planning a party from recipes to a party outline to printables. It even links to evite!
Go check it out and be sure to try the Traditional Cheese Ball recipe too!

Happy Holidays!
xo

P.S. Get a $1 off coupon for the Keebler® entertaining size Crackers in the Sam's Club Instant Savings booklet in store for details. Who doesn't love an extra discount!

The Hundred-Foot Journey * Food & Drink

A movie, some delicious food and Helen Mirren what more could a foodie want? I am so excited about the upcoming movie The Hundred-Foot Journey.  Our recipe today is compliments of The 100 Foot Journey and LeCordon Bleu. Cheese, potatoes and cream equal heaven in a French comfort dish. Enjoy!



Gratin Dauphinois
Serves 8-10
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Quarts milk
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 Piece of bouquet garni
• 2 Cloves garlic
• 5 1/2 ounces eavy cream
• 2 1/2 pounds potatoes
• Freshly ground pepper
• 4 ounces of grated Gruyere cheese
• unsalted butter 
• salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the over to 380 degrees F
coat a deep dish with softened butter and reserve in refrigerator
combine the milk, freshly grated nutmeg, bouquet garni and garlic in medium sauce pan over medium heat. Leave it to infuse for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash and peel the potatoes and then slice thinly about 1/8th inch. Do not rise the scratch is needed.
Layer the potato slices as tightly as possible in buttered dish and season each layer with salt and pepper.
Stir the cream into the hot milk then pour through a fine mesh sieve onto the potatoes. Let rest for 1 to 2 minutes. The potatoes will absorb the liquid and the peel will decreese. Repeat until all the mlik mixture is used. Season the top and sprinkle generously with the grated cheese Cover dish with buttered parchment paper and foil.
Place it in oven to cook for 1 hour or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a knife.
Remove the foil and parchment paper and foil and return to the oven to brown until the surface is golden.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Like THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY on Facebook: http://facebook.com/100footjourneymovie
Follow THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY on Twitter: https://twitter.com/the100ftJourney
Instagram: http://instagram.com/thehundredfootjourney
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/100FtJourney
THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY arrives in theaters everywhere on August 8th!

#100footjourney

Taste Pin * Cheesecakes YUM

On of our favorite desserts of all time is cheesecake. Cheesecake can come in so many varieties from in a cup to no-bake to New York style. We love them all. Here is our Taste Pin collection we gathered from Pinterest. Enjoy!

Recipe:
Salted Caramel Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache
Recipe & Photo by:
Tidy Mom

Recipe:
Strawberry Cheesecake with an Oreo Cookie Crust
Recipe & Photo by:
Barbara Bakes

Recipe:
No-Bake Strawberry and Vanilla Cheesecake
Recipe & Photo by:

Kitchen Sanctuary 

Recipe:
Pistachio, Pomegranate and Clementine Cheesecake
Recipe & Photo by:

Always So Hungary

Recipe:
Key Lime Coconut Cheesecake Recipe
Recipe & Photo by:

Creative Juice

Taste Pin * Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

 I don't know anyone who doesn't love a good grilled cheese sandwich. It's a great go to comfort food. We looked around on Pinterest and found a few for you to try. Lunch will never be the same with one of these delicious grilled cheese recipes.

Recipe:
Cheese Lover’s Fontina and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Recipe & Photo by:

Averie Cooks 

Recipe:
Spinach and Artichoke Grilled Cheese
Recipe & Photo by:

Taste Spotting Blog 

Recipe:
Grilled cheese sandwiches with sun-dried tomato pesto
Recipe & Photo by:
Dara Michalski

Recipe:
Sauteed Chard and Gruyere Grilled Cheese
Recipe & Photo by:
Sprouted Kitchen 

Follow on our Taste Pin Pinterest Board for more great recipes!

Food & Drink * Cilantro Lime Chicken Enchiladas with Avocado

Our savory cilantro lime chicken enchilada stuffed with avocado are so easy to make. Your family will love them. You will be craving them. The kids can help you make them. Enjoy!

Cilantro Lime Chicken Enchiladas with Avocado 
makes 4 servings

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 8 white corn tortillas
• 1 pound pepper jack cheese shredded
• 3 ripe haas avocados
• 1/3 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 fresh lime
• 1- 16 once container of sour cream
• 1/2 cup of diced Hatch chilis
• 1- 4 once can of diced jalapenos
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• salt and black pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place each chicken breast in a large square of aluminium foil. Salt and pepper chicken then wrap up chicken. Place on a baking sheet and cook in over for 20 minutes of until cooked through. Set aside to cool to touch.

5 minutes before chicken is done cooking, wrap corn tortillas in foil and place in over to warm-this makes the tortillas easier to work with and helps prevent breaking when rolling.

In a medium mixing bowl add sour cream, cilantro, garlic, green chilis, jalapenos then mix together. Squeeze juice of one lime into mixture. Add zest of 1 lime them mix together. 

Slice avocados. Chop chicken into small bite size pieces. 

Layer about a tablespoon of sour cream mixture, chicken shredded cheese and two slice of avocado. Roll and place in baking dish. Once all tortillas are rolled spread remaining sour cream sauce over enchiladas. Top with shredded cheese. Bake for 18-20 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve topped with sour cream and slice of avocado.

Food & Drink * Appetizer Bites for your Holiday Party * 25 Days of Christmas

The Holidays are upon us and bites of food during a party can be an easy to make and they can keep the party goers happy. We collected a few delicious bite ideas for your Holiday Party. 

Recipe:
Antipasto Kabobs
Photo & Recipe by:
The Hungry Housewife

Recipe:
Cucumber Feta Rolls
Photo & Recipe by:
Good Life Eats

Recipe:
Sweet and Sticky Barbecue Chicken Wings
Photo & Recipe by:
Food for My Family

Recipe:
Caesar Salad on a Stick 
Photo & Recipe by:
No Biggie

Recipe:
Reindeer Cheese Bites
Photo & Recipe by:
Project Denneler

 

Recipe:
Mozzarella Stick Recipe
Photo & Recipe by:
Cupcakepedia

Follow our Taste Pin Board on Pinterest for more delicious recipes!

Food & Drink * Seven Layer Stuff Cheeseburger

It's Spring and it's time to dust off the grills and cook up some delicious hamburgers. Avocados from Mexico put the Sweet Life cooks to the challenge to create an amazing recipe using the finest Haas avocados. Haas avocados have dark bumpy skin and the creamy green fruit inside. We went to work thinking about what we would love and what would you our readers would love. We came up with our Avocado Stuffed Seven Layer Burger.

Our Avocado Stuffed Burger is so tasty and so easy to make. You will be the talk of the grill for years to come when you serve it up to your dinner guests.

Avocado Stuffed 7 Layer Burger
Ingredients:
serves 4

• 
  
• 1 lbs Angus Ground Beef
• 1/2 cup Sweet Cream Butter
• 1 Small Grated White Onion
• 1 Haas Avocado from Mexico
• Pepper Jack Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Butter Lettuce
• Slicing Tomato
• Salsa
• Sliced Jalapenos (optional)

In a medium mixing bowl mix together with hands 1 lbs of Angus ground beef, 1 tsp salt (to taste), 1/2 cup of the best sweet cream butter and 1 small grated white onion. Divide the meat into 4 equal parts and form into balls. Each ball will make one quarter pound hamburger.
Take one quarter pound ball and divide into two balls. Shape each ball into a thin hamburger patty. Place thinly sliced pepper jack cheese and thinner sliced pieces of avocados in the center of on the the patties. Place the second patty on top and pinch together the edges to seal in the cheese and avocado. Repeat with the remaining 1/4 pound balls of meat.
Grill stuffed hamburgers on medium heat until medium well done.
Layer sour cream, salsa, jalapenos, tomato and lettuce on a nice fresh kaiser roll Enjoy!


Sweet & Simple Tips:

• Butter is a must in this burger. It adds a caramelized richness to the layers of flavor.
• This burger can also be cooked in a frying pan on the stove top.
• For an excellent Fresh Homemade Hamburger Bun we have a great recipe in the Mid-Summer 2011 issue of Simply the Sweet Life Magazine 
• 
  

recipe & photo by April A. founder & editor-in-chief