Cheese Turkeys

I am really excited to share these turkeys with you. I'm very proud of them.

See.....I dreamt them.

Yes...I dream about food.

Need proof?

I woke up at about 2:00 in the morning and had to jot down everything from the dream so I would remember it when I got up in the morning. Here is my late night sketch in all its glory.

I especially like the "Ta-dah!" flourish at the end.

Apparently I'm all about the ta-dah in the middle of the night.

I couldn't make this up if I wanted to.

ANWAYS...

I recruited Sue to help me make my dream come true.

Literally.

I knew my dream cheese turkeys would be fabulous. I believe I even used jazz hands in my description of these turkeys to Sue.

So, we went and got some cheese and cream cheese and brought these bad boys to life.

Cheese Turkeys

Ingredients

1 8oz brick cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp Oh! So Garlic

1/2 to 1 cup of finely shredded orange cheese (we used cheddar)

12 slices orange cheese (we used cheddar)

12 slices white cheese (we used Havarti)

1 radish

tiny bit of green onion

12 large, square Rice Crackers (we used Suzie's whole grain Thin Cakes - from Costco)

Directions

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Stir in Oh! So Garlic until well mixed. Form into tiny balls and roll in the finely shredded orange cheese. (You will get more than 12 balls out of this! You can eat the extras or make more turkeys.)

1. Place cracker on flat surface.

2. Cut slice of orange cheese with a large flower shaped cookie cutter, OR freehand the shape based on the photo.

3. Cut slice of white cheese using a small flower shaped cookie cutter, OR freehand the shape based on the photo. Place white cheese on top of orange cheese.

4. Place a small cheese ball onto the bottom of the cheeses. Carefully press it down a bit so it flattens to fill up the bottom of the cracker below the cheese.

5. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut out a "L" shape from the leftover orange cheese slice. Place it upside down on the cheese ball for the turkey's head.

6. Cut a VERY thin slice of the radish skin off of the radish. Cut it into strips. Use a small portion of the red strip for the turkey's waddle.

7. Cut a teeny tiny piece of the green onion into a circle for the turkey's eye. You may need tweezers to pick it up and place it on the turkey.

There are all 7 steps in one photo.

Cute, right?

I did want to say that you can use any cheese ball recipe you like. You just have to be able to roll it into small balls (read - no big chunks of stuff can be in it!)

Oh, yeah, you don't want to make these too far ahead of time. The cracker will go a bit soft. We made them the day before we were going to a family function and the crackers were a little bendy. They were definitely still edible but would have been better if they hadn't sat so long.

Maybe a few hours ahead would be best.

Cheese Turkeys - proof that dreams can come true.  

Stop by Ms. enPlace, Memories By The Mile, New Mrs Adventures, Lou Lou Girls, and Simple Life of a Fire Wife for some fun links.