White Chocolate-Cherry Cheeseball and Fairy things!

Good Morning All,
How do y'all like my new banner? These photos are of my grandmother and her farmhouse. She cooked on that green woodstove summer and winter. When I was little I would wake up early when I heard grandpa go out to feed the livestock and would run down the stairs and into the huge kitchen to sit in the rocking chair by the woodstove. I would stick my feet on the feet of the stove and it was so warm! See all that canned food? Grandma canned it all right on that woodstove! Going into their basement which was dirt, not concrete, was a feast for the eyes and nose. There were apples, applesauce, tomatoes, grape juice, potatoes, beans, everything you can think of she preserved! I miss those days and that house so much. The house in the top right corner is the house she was born in and that is her on the fence. The photo is dated 1920.

Tuesday I got my new Gooseberry Patch Christmas book in the mail and while I was disappointed with the craft section, the recipes looked great. So yesterday I picked up the supplies to make the White Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball and it got a thumbs up from my family.

White Chocolate Chip Chesse Ball

8 oz. pkg cream cheese softened

1/2 cup butter softened

1/2 tea almond extract

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 c sweetened dried cherries, chopped

3/4 c. sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Beat together cream cheese, butter and almond extract until fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Stir in chocolate chips and 1/2 c cherries. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to handle, at least 2 hours. Shape mixture into a ball and refrigerate until ready to serve. Roll in almonds and garnish with white chocolate and more dried cherries in desired. Makes 2 cups.

The only thing I changed was I used slivered almonds instead. When I make this again, I am going to chop up the white chocolate chips. They are a little large for a cheeseball. I served mine with graham crackers.

Yesterday on my way out to the garden look what I found in my yard. A fairy ring! Folklore has it that these rings are formed by fairies dancing in a circle. There is a scientific reason that these rings occur but that definition isn't nearly as fun as believing fairies made it, so I reject their reality and substitute my own!
I also harvested my pumpkins and so many peppers! Do you know what I do with this many sweet banana peppers? I cut them into slices and freeze them. You know when you want to make a recipe that calls for green, yellow, and red peppers and you go to the grocery store to get them and find that they cost $5,000,00.00 each? Well I just use the red and yellow banana peppers that I freeze as a substitution! Works great.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!