Spa Mask Cheese Ball

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I have been wanting to blog about this recipe for a while now. I first saw it on the Hungry Happenings website and thought it was the coolest thing ever. Not necessarily the recipe itself – it’s a simple yet flavourful cheese ball – but because of the ingenious way Beth Jackson (creator of the blog and all around super genius when it comes to crafting really, really clever food thingies) presents it.

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Sue and I encourage you to check out her website. (Click here) It’s awesome. We have found so many ideas to steal....We mean.....borrow....*cough cough* we totally don’t claim they are our ideas at all.....

Anyway.... if you want the full tutorial and instructions then go to her site HERE. She has wonderful photos and easy to follow step-by-step instructions.

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Taco Flavoured Spa Mask Cheese Ball

Ingredients

2 X 8 oz blocks cream cheese, softened

1 generous cup of aged cheddar cheese, shredded

1 generous cup of Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

1 – 2 Tbsp of Taco seasoning (to your own taste, we used 1 Tbsp)

2 large slices of white cheese – we used Swiss

½ cup sour cream, tinted green with food coloring

1 roasted red pepper

2 slices of cucumber

Dark tortilla chips

 Directions

Mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese, Monterrey Jack cheese, and Taco seasons together until well blended.

Press into mask lined with plastic wrap. Chill until firm.

Unmold onto serving plate.

Before the sour cream "mask" is applied

Carefully cover face shape with the tinted sour cream, leaving some of the color of the cheese ball showing around the edges of the face, eyes, and mouth (so it looks like a bit of skin showing through)

Carefully lay long cheese slices on top of the mask so they look like a towel wrapped around the head. Gently hold the cheese to the face while you use a sharp knife to trim around the bottom.

Cut red pepper into lip shape and lay on top. Place cucumber slices over eyes.

Chill until ready to serve. It is a good idea to let it sit at room temp for at least a little while so the cheese ball has time to soften a little.

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(Again, if you want step-by-step instructions with photos then please click HERE)

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 We had to improvise on a couple of things as some of the ingredients listed in the Hungry Happening’s recipe are unavailable in Lillooet. (Oh the joys of living in a small town!) We also changed the guacamole “mask” to a green sour cream “mask” as we had to prepare the mask ahead of time for a friend who was not going to serve it until later that evening. We didn’t want the avocado / guacamole going a funky color. I would like to make it again with the guacamole as I think it might enhance the flavour of the cheese ball.

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You can serve it with whatever your favourite cracker or chip is..... Our friend, Angel, served it with black tortilla chips because she thought it looked like the “spa lady” was laying in a mud bath.

 I think she is right. Good call Angel.

(Update - click HERE to see how we turned this into a Medusa cheeseball for Halloween!)