Salami Cheese Ball - Perfect for the Holidays and Other Assorted Parties

This simple party snack can even be easier to prepare.  You don't have to make it into a ball.

It will be just as addictive in a bowl for a spread.

This was a mandatory tradition at Grandma's house for Christmas.  Since she has passed, I have taken over the simple duty.  I've also brought this to parties and had it my own gatherings.  Each time I have served this I have been asked for the recipe.

This is so easy, folks who have never turned on an oven can make this to impress many.  Non-cooks can finally take pride and credit for something they made, instead of bringing something pre-made from a market or deli.

Grandma never wrote down the recipe, so this is my 'eyeball' estimation, on the amount of salami to use.

Ingredients:

Approximately a 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunk of hard salami cut at the deli counter, diced and fills one      measuring cup
One 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick of (4 tablespoons) butter, room temperature
Crackers or pita chips
* very flaky crackers, like Ritz do not work well - they tend to crumble when spreading.  Crunchier crackers or pita chips tend to hold up better when spreading.

  

Slice and dice the salami the best way you can to get the smallest chunks possible, about a 1/4 of an inch.  When it fills a 1 cup measuring cup, you're done, and may have some slices left over for a sandwich.

Slice the butter and cream cheese on the same cutting board used to slice the salami.  Don't let that extra flavor go to waste.  Mash it in there.

Mash butter and cream cheese with a fork until well blended.

Add salami, a little at a time, until all is used and all is blended well.

(Don't be afraid to turn the mixture over, you may find lots of salami cubes have settled to the bottom.)

You can do one of two things at this point:

Option #1:  Scoop into a bowl, cover and chill overnight, or at least 4 hours for flavors to marry.  Serve with crackers or pita chips.

Option #2: 

It's actually not too hard to form it into a ball, even with a fork.

Form into the best ball you can with the fork, then place on a plate with plastic wrap.

Fold the corners over.  When all wrapped, it's even easier to make into a ball -- like making a snowball.

Chill overnight or at least 4 hours for flavors to marry.  Serve with crackers.

Homemade Low-Sugar Strawberry Jam Made with a Bread Machine

Spring is my favorite season; warm, bugless sunny days filled with the potent fragrance and color of early flowers like lilies and lilacs after a long, gray and cold winter.  And, BERRIES!  Lots of berries!

I look forward to berry season each year.  I use them on everything from cereal to salad, yogurt, muffins and now fresh jam!

I never, ever imagined that I'd make my own, especially because I saw how Grandma made jellies and jams.  It is a favored memory but it would be too much labor, time and volume for me.  The family would drive two hours to get to the country for the best pickings.  We gathered wild elderberries in buckets on the roadsides and visited the farmer stands for baskets full of berries, plumbs or grapes later in the summer.  Once and a while if we were lucky, and if Grandpa netted the cherry tree well in their back yard, and kept up his watch shooting enough BBs from his pellet gun into the air to scare the birds, we managed a jar or two of cherry jam.

Making jam or jelly with Mom at Grandma's was fun as a child, but it looked complicated.  There were so many large pots simmering on the stove, strainers, and huge metal cones with holes to mash berries and grapes into juice without all the seeds.  There were thermometers and times where my brother and I had to be quiet for a few minutes as Grandma and Mom behind her shoulder watched them closely.  There were also times where we had to leave the small kitchen quickly as Mom and Grandma poured hot fruit liquid into glass jars and pour hot wax to the top.  Then, sometimes there was some boiling of the jars if I remember correctly, or perhaps that's an overlapped memory of their vegetable canning.

Anyway, there was no way I was ever going to do all this, no matter they were the best jellies and jams I ever had.

Thank goodness for my very dear friend, Elaine.  She bought us an Oster Bread Maker for our wedding.  I had it on our registry because I couldn't wait to make homemade bread, pasta and pizza dough for my first time.  This machine is great for all of these.  It cuts down on time, the physical labor of kneading and mess.  Spreading your counter, floor and ceiling with flour is avoided with most of the recipes.

As you can see by the photos, I like to mark recipes I've tried with a blue postie.

I have tried eight from the Oster user manual  (the green tab is a quick measurement guide).


Surprisingly, there are recipes to make just a jar or two full of jam or marmalade.

I was so excited!  Could I actually make jam as good as Grandma, without making 2 dozen jars with all those contraptions?

Yes, I can!  The bread machine heats the ingredients up to just the right temperature for the right amount of time, so no watching the clock or thermometers.

Plus, this recipe is LOW SUGAR.  Most jam recipes call for double or triple the amount of sugar.  Pectin for low or no sugar recipes MUST be used.

And, don't skimp and use bottled lemon juice.  Most bottled lemon juice is diluted with water.  Only 100% fresh squeezed lemon juice will work with the pectin to make it gel.  You will only need one.

I've only made strawberry and blueberry jam, or a combo of both in the past three years.  Strawberries are my favorite, and our new home has a blueberry patch.  I love blueberries, too, and these two berries are easy to do since there are no large seeds to filter.

I plan on posting a blog entry when my blueberries are ready, and Elaine with her kind, beautiful daughter will help me pick them and make jam as we have done in the past.

For now, here's the recipe for the strawberry jam I just made.  Strawberries are super-cheap in my area now, so I'll be making more.

Copied and adapted from Oster Bread Maker's User Manual received in 2009.

Makes 2-3 cups

1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon powdered low-sugar pectin
1.5 cups fresh strawberries, sliced or diced
(dice smaller if you want more jelly or @ three cups,  keep them in slices or larger chunks if you want a thicker jam with more strawberries, but approx. two cups.)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients into bread pan
Select Basic setting

Press "Start/Stop" Allow to mix 5-6 minutes, scraping sides of the pan with rubber spatula.

Press "Start/Stop" to cancel
Select Bake setting
Press "Start/Stop"
When Unit signals and display reads "0:00," press "Start/Stop"

Using hot pads, remove bread pan
Pour jam into glass container(s)

Use old jam or jelly jars, or any smaller glass jar with a lid. 

Cover. Refrigerate to set  (at least overnight or 8 hours)

How to Make Grandma's Potato Pancakes

There's nothing like cooking with those you love.  My friend Jessica and I had a blast together while making my family's recipe for potato pancakes.

I have probably eaten thousands of these since I was a child, yet, I never tire of them.

Grandma and Mom always made these because they were inexpensive. Plus, it was often requested for Lenten Friday dinners. It takes a little work and time to grate the potatoes (less if you have a food processor with a grater attachment, and/or a good friend), but it is worth it. It is SO worth it.

We have always used Russet potatoes for this recipe, so I have no experience the texture or tenderness others may provide.

This recipe has never been written down before, it has always been done as we go - a little of this, a little of that until the consistency is right.

For a reference, consider that a medium-sized Russet will make two medium pancakes.  One to two are filling for a side dish, three to four are a meal for myself, but my husband and other hungry guys may prefer more.

We ended up making 20 for five of us with eight potatoes, two of them large.

This recipe is for about a dozen pancakes:

6 medium or 4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and shredded

2 small or 1 medium onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika (or paprika of your choice)

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup all-purpose flour  (I guess whole wheat or any flour could be used, too - for those who would prefer)

Canola or vegetable oil for frying

Salt and pepper to taste after frying


After shredding the potatoes squeeze out the excess liquid, ESPECIALLY if you grate them by hand.  I grew up helping Mom and Grandma on box graters.  For some reason, the potatoes are not as soggy when I've grated them in a food processor.  You want them moist, but not soggy and wet.

Once the potatoes are drained, add the rest of the ingredients.

You want a consistency that looks like your potatoes are coated in a pancake batter.

If it's too thick, let it rest for 5 minutes, then stir.  If still too thick, you can drizzle a little water or milk in a tablespoon at a time.  Don't let it get too thin.  After frying your first few pancakes you will see that more liquid from the potatoes will be released and the batter will eventually be thinner.  You can always add a bit more flour to thicken it up if necessary.

Have a pan on medium high (8) heated with a light flavored, medium to high heat capacity oil like canola or vegetable oil coated on the bottom.  Do this even if you have non-stick, and especially if you have not made this before.  In order to do this 'traditionally,' you need to bind this mixture quickly at high heat.  I have tried this with no oil in a non-stick pan, and it did not turn out the same.  I wound up making hash browns.  Tasty? yes. Pancakes, no.

Sometimes making something quickly at high heat is difficult.  Not for Jessica.

She's been around the kitchen before.  She knew her way around a fry pan.  And, as a vegetarian for over 15 years, she knows a bit about 'taters, too.  I made the first couple of pancakes, then she took over, making the rest of the batch.  The batter did get thinner at the end.  But, if the pan and the oil are hot enough, it should be fine. You can always add a little more flour if necessary.

Fry about 2 minutes on both sides.  You can flip again until they are brown and firm when lightly pressed with a spatula.

You will want a crispy outside and a moist inside.

Serve with ketchup, sour cream, or traditional applesauce.

You can also customize your pancakes by adding a teaspoon or two of your favorite herb.  Jessica brainstormed using all kinds of herbs such as dill or rosemary.

Enjoy!

Introduction and Intention

I am a lucky soul for having found two passions in my so-called 'later life,'  cooking and true love.

I've always loved good food (who doesn't) and hosted occasional dinner parties in my 20s with a few easy, one-hit wonders I picked up from waiting tables fresh out of college.  I was far too busy in my career and social life to stay home to cook, or to settle down in a serious relationship.

It wasn't until my 30's when passions began to change.  I became my grandmother's live-in caretaker, where I had the opportunity to observe and help her make my childhood favorites - her Hungarian recipes and her version of classic favorites to the tunes of Big Band music on the oldies radio station.  Mom lived down the street from her, so I had the opportunity to appreciate and learn from her more than I did when I was a child, when I thought it was a simple, inherited trait to make food magically tasty by just waving a wand or 'mom' credentials.  Plus, the memories of the three of us rolling stuffed cabbage or making Christmas cookies are some of my most cherished experiences.  Learning the art of creating good food for those you love, with the ones you love had a profound impact on me.  It made me care more about what I was making, and more about those I was making it for.

Soon after Grandma had to go to a nursing facility, I happened to meet the love of my life.  Actually, we had already been friends for three years, and he has given accounts on remembering me in the 80's as a teen sipping a coffee on Coventry, the area in Cleveland Heights where many gather for coffee, music, art and great food.  I did feel like I knew this soul for years.  I felt the warm, connected feeling I did as I was cooking for others I loved.

I became so excited about cooking dinner for my new love.  We made it more fun by shopping together.  Then, I'd cook while he played music or read passages from his favorite books.   It was (and is) a beautiful way to share our love.

In our late 30s, we married.  It's been a fun and tasty journey that I am proud to share.

I look forward to sharing creations I've tried from my treasured cookbooks, ethnic traditions and classic favorites from my family, as well as my husband's.

Thanks for visiting!