Goodness gracious, great balls of cheese.

You don't see cheese balls at parties anymore, and that's sort of a shame. These festive spheres are easy as hell to pull together. They're super forgiving and adaptable, allowing you to use a huge range of coatings for the outside and cheeses within. And, when you do show up with one, it's often one of the first appetizers to get decimated.

Cheese ball, hot pepper jelly and cheese crackers.

Cheese balls typically involve some sort of sharp shredded cheese, a soft cheese to bind it, and some sort of coating. The soft cheese may be augmented or replaced with butter. Unfortunately, I took the photo of the cheese ball above and I can't remember what was in it. I know that the coating involved walnuts and rosemary, but can't narrow it down from there. Too bad, it was delicious.

Luckily, I had another cheese ball worthy event this weekend, so I could create and record a new recipe. (Dinner with friends. These things are easy and I'll make one if I have any excuse.) Recipe for the latest version is below:

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened.
• 1 stick butter, softened.
• 4 ounces blue cheese
• 4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• slivered almonds

Directions

In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until they are well blended. Stir in blue & shredded cheese.

Shape the mixture into a ball. Roll in the almonds to cover. Wrap the cheese ball in cling wrap. You will want to refrigerate it at least an hour, or until firm.