Anne's Christmas Tree Cheese Balls

These cheese balls are fun to bring to Christmas parties. It's a basic cheese ball recipe, so you can also form these into logs or balls if it's not Christmas time. The recipe is for two different flavors of cheese ball, but you can cut the recipe in half to make only one. 

Makes 2 cheese balls.

Ingredients:

• 3 - 8oz pkgs cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 Tbsp pesto
• 1 Tbsp green onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground mustard
• 2-3 drops red pepper sauce
• parsley flakes
• 1/4 cup cashew nuts
• 2 tsp chopped red bell pepper

Instructions:

• Mix cheeses, divide in half. 
• Mix pesto into one half.
• Mix onion, mustard and pepper sauce into other half.
• Cover each half and refrigerate for 4 hours, or until they are firm enough to shape.
• Shape each half into a cone shape to resemble a Christmas tree.
• Roll in parsley and press cashews and red pepper pieces onto outside of tree as if decorating a tree. The cashew pieces as garland and the red pepper as ornaments.
• I would add a star at the top, cut out of a slice of cheese and attached with a toothpick. 
• Serve with crackers.

Warning: These Christmas tree cheese balls are so pretty that people don't tend to want to cut into them.