This article will focus on making cheese balls in all their variety. It is simple to get one from a store, and they taste okay. But why not make one of your own, with ingredients never found in a store bought versions? You can make a couple of recipes and wow the guests with different flavor combinations. Have you thought of making individual Cheese Ball Pops?

They can be made up to 5 days in advance.

If you are making a cheese ball, it would be a simple next step to use a toothpick and make small individual Cheese Ball Bites, similar to the Cake Pop concept so popular right now. A pretty serving idea for these individual Cheese Ball Pops is to use a red cabbage. Cut it in half, and set the cut side down on a serving plate. Poke the little toothpicks with the cheese balls into the cabbage and they are all nicely available and visible without having to try and stack them. Once the party is over, use the cabbage to make your favorite recipe.

Ingredients and Variations

Ingredients that could be combined with varying effects would be some of these. Use cream cheese for the base cheese. It is easily molded and nicely neutral in flavor. Start with 1 pound of cream cheese. Some additional cheeses to add in are 8 ounces of shredded cheddar, white cheddar or Parmesan. A blue cheese such as Maytag Blue or Gorgonzola would be wonderful if your crowd leans to the gourmet.

Meat additions to this basic mixture could be 6 slices of bacon fried crisp and chopped or crumbled, or chopped smoked salmon, chopped dried beef or prosciutto. Additional flavors would be a half cup of things like chopped scallions, chopped craisins or raisins or mango chutney. Other flavoring agents could be minced garlic, 1 to 3 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, curry powder or onion soup mix. Herbs can be added, such as fresh dill or basil. Nuts of many types can be added such as chopped pistachios, almonds, walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts.

Outer coatings for the finished cheese ball mixture can be chopped nuts, as mentioned above, or fresh herbs such as parsley, or a mixture of parsley with basil, cilantro, or oregano.

If making the Cheese Ball Pops, which are nothing more than individual servings of the cheese ball, look for toothpicks to skewer the little balls.

Assembly of the Cheese Ball three variations

One possible mixture of ingredients is the pound of cream cheese, softened, half pound of shredded sharp cheddar, half cup scallions, 6 slices fried crumble bacon, 1 clove minced garlic. Using a hand mixer makes quick work. Combine the ingredients. For normal cheese ball size, make into one large or two smaller balls and roll into nuts or chopped parsley. If making the Pops, make one inch balls, roll into the coating of choice and skewer with a toothpick.

Another variation on flavors would be the pound of cream cheese, half pound of shredded white cheddar, 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill and a half cup of chopped smoked salmon. Roll the large or small balls into shredded Parmesan cheese or chopped pistachios.

Start with the pound of cream cheese and add a half pound of blue cheese of choice, 1 to 3 teaspoons of coarse black pepper, a half cup chopped craisins, half cup chopped scallions, then roll the finished ball or balls in chopped walnuts.

The variations are endless. Experiment using flavors that are ones you love. This takes an exceedingly short time to put together and can be made in advance.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.

I have a bone to pick about cinnamon. How many of you really know what spice you have in your cupboards. Are you sure it really is cinnamon.

We in the U.S. are having the wool pulled over our eyes about cinnamon. What we commonly know in the U.S. as cinnamon is actually Cassia (cinnamomum aromaticum). It is a relative of true cinnamon, but not the real thing. The rest of the world uses true cinnamon (cinnamomum verum), in their cooking or baking, yet here we are sold something completely different.

As background, I first found out how much difference there was between these two spices when I lived in Guatemala. The cinnamon there tasted very different from what I knew growing up in Ohio; making things like an apple pie or apple crisp just tasted different. They were very good, but didnt taste like what had known. I chalked it up to differences in quality of product, or maybe my baking skill was inadequate. Any typical Guatemalan foods I ate or made with cinnamon tasted just fine of course, with nothing to compare.

That was back in the 1970s, and it wasnt until much later, when once again living in the U.S., I tried making a Guatemalan dish, Platanos en Mole (Plantains in Mole Sauce), using the cassia available. The dish just tasted wrong. I couldnt understand it. I had made this dish many times in Guatemala. I had a lot more cooking and baking skill by this time. What was wrong? I started checking into spices in general, with an eye to those things I knew were different, and discovered that we in the U.S. are being marketed a completely different product.

Cassia cinnamon is a very good spice, of course. I do not for a second propose we do away with it! What would our apple pies taste like without it. It is a wonderful spice, worthy of the space in our cupboards. However, I propose that true cinnamon have an equal place.

Cinnamon of either kind is the bark of the tree. The bark is peeled off and dried, curling into what are known as quills or ground into powder. This is where the similarity ends. Cassia quills are very thick curls, strong and sometimes even hard to break. It has a stronger taste, warmer and more potent. There is some very good quality cassia to be found these days, such as Korintje AA. A lovely spice to perk up anything you commonly make with cinnamon here.

For my cooking classes I always take both types of cinnamon: a high quality cassia quill and ground Korintje AA cassia, alongside true cinnamon quills and ground cinnamon. True cinnamon quills are curled and layered together in a tight roll, are very thin and easily crushed. The flavor is lighter and more delicate, with a somewhat lemony quality. I set the quills side by side and demonstrate the differences, first breaking a cassia quill, with the ensuing loud snap when it breaks. Then I show the cinnamon quill, layered together, and how very easily it breaks and crumbles. With the ground version of each side by side, I ask the class members to smell the two; first the cassia that is the most familiar, and then the cinnamon. The startled reactions when they realize exactly how big a difference exists between these two spices, is quite rewarding.

I would liken this before the U.S woke up and smelled really good Arabica coffee. Once we found out about good coffee, the tide turned. I believe this country is in the process of bringing true cinnamon into the light. It is found in most any Mexican grocery section these days. Good quality spice shops carry excellent quality cinnamon and also excellent quality cassia. If you want to make any ethnic food from anywhere else in the world, or just become familiar with a new flavor go for true cinnamon. Its worth the effort.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.

This article is geared to young and aspiring bakers, looking to buy those tools that might be most helpful in baking anything from cakes to cookies and pies. When I started out, gratefully my mother had furnished most of the small tools I would need for cooking and baking as my wedding present. If this is not the case for you, then check this list and see if these might be added to your needs.

1. Rolling Pin

A rolling pin is helpful in rolling out pie dough, of course, so if making a pie, it certainly makes life easier. One can roll out pie dough with a large bottle or jar, but a rolling pin has a longer surface that makes it far easier. Making biscuits does not require a rolling pin, but can make quick work of it. Roll cookies also require a rolling pin, and during holidays when a lot of baking occurs, it will be a life saver. If you are a young mother with small children, taking simple cookie dough and rolling it out in one solid mass on a baking sheet makes quick work of cookie making.

2. Pastry Cutter.

There are two basic types of pastry cutter. One has a handle with a series of thick wires connected in a loop to the handle. The other has a handle and then a space off each side that is solid metal, then solid loops coming down from that metal plate. Which type to get is purely a matter of choice and to what one becomes accustomed. Personally I prefer the first type. This tool is usually specific for one use, the making of pie dough, but it is still a time saving and handy tool to have in the kitchen. Some cookie doughs also call for cutting in the butter or other fat to the flour, and it is also great for mixing up streusel.

3. Sifter

It may seem to you that a sifter is unnecessary these days, but I use my sifter almost daily in the course of baking. Too many times I have made pancakes from scratch and had a small clump of baking soda in a bite of pancake. There is nothing worse. I sift together any combination of dry ingredients to ensure that they are distributed properly throughout and no one ingredient is going to predominate in a bite. I do not generally sift before measuring as some older cookbooks will recommend, but I still use the sifter to keep things well dispersed.

4. Wood Spoons and Silicone Spatulas

Technically, these are more than one item, but often they come in sets. You may find a set of three sizes of wooden spoons, and at least two spatulas. Some recipes are best mixed with a wooden spoon and some specifically recommend a wooden spoon. Silicone spatulas are newer, but when looking to buy, search for ones that are made all in one piece and do not have the spoon part attached. These often fall apart, or worse, begin to build up residue underneath the joint. The last thing one wants is germs being transferred to a recipe through a spot on the handle of the spatula, or falling apart in the middle of mixing a batter. These days the solid silicone spatulas are becoming more common and should not be difficult to find.

5. Hand Held Electric Mixer

While you will not be making bread with a little hand mixer, they are still wonderful for creaming butter and sugar and mixing small batches of filling or meringue. A hand whisk may be good to have, but unless you have a really strong arm, go for the little hand held mixer. Even a small one with 3 speeds is better than none. I had only a small rotary egg beater when I made my first lemon meringue pie. Go for electric, if possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.