Jell-O salads look delicious. They're colorful and creamy looking, and just waiting to be eaten. They're the most good-looking food with not-so-good ingredients hidden inside. I love the green ones with pineapple, but sometimes those Grandmas can be tricky and throw you a curve ball. I imagine that everyone hesitates, as do I, not for the first spoonful to hit your tongue, but for the chewing that follows in fear of biting down on something crunchy that you just weren't expecting. It's Jell-O, for the love of Pete! Keep it denture friendly and sans whatever nasty crunchy items that you have lurking inside.

But Jell-O salads are hardly the most ominous item on the buffet table. What's with the cheese balls? And I'm not talking these cheese balls:

Although, I do have a bone to pick with its creators as well. Chris brought these home last week for his B-Ball-B-B-Q (his name, not mine). I'm not normally a fan of Cheetos, but these bring back memories of the long lost Planters Cheese Balls that my Grandma always seemed to have in stock. Speaking of which, I found a petition to bring them back! Anyway, these are abnormally large and threaten lock-jaw if you have too many. Verdict: Trade these in for a bag of Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips - delish!

But the real cheese balls in question are the ones adorned with crackers and other dippables.

I don't know why, but they've always scared me so I've actually never tried one. Perhaps it's like the Jell-O salads - you never know what's inside, but I think the real issue is the fact that it's rolled up into a ball. I guess foods lose their appeal when molded. However, I held a game night party at our house last night, and in consideration of the extreme heat, I didn't want to add to it by baking anything. So, I went to my tried-and-true resource for crowd pleasing recipes: Stephanie. I've gone to her for many an idea and have yet to be disappointed. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon a true crowd pleaser - Crowd Pleasing Cheese Ball - and decided to go for it. Once again, I wasn't disappointed. It called for seasoned salt, and I wasn't quite sure what that meant, so I just used Lawry's seasoning. Plus, I added some shredded cheese because eating cream cheese on it's own made me feel awkward. Everyone loved it, and I must say that I even dug in and enjoyed it as well!

Crowd Pleasing Cheese Ball
Adapted from Stephanie’s Recipe
Ingredients
1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened
¼ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped onion
½ tsp Lawry’s seasoning
½ cup chopped walnuts, plus ¾ cup extra for topping
¾ cup Monterrey Jack shredded cheese

Directions
Mix in celery, onion, Lawry’s and nuts with the cream cheese. Roll into a ball and cover with the extra chopped walnuts. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 10 minutes, then move to the fridge until ready to serve.

And I'll bet you never thought you'd get the chance to read a page on cheese balls.

You're welcome.