Holiday Cheese Tree Recipes

Steps:

• Add the cream cheese, Cheddar, cayenne, Worcestershire, scallions, lemon juice and some salt and pepper to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is almost smooth; you still want a few bits of cheese in there. Remove with a rubber spatula to a piece of plastic wrap and wrap up the cheese mixture. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
• Shape the cheese mixture with your hands into a Christmas tree/cone using the plastic wrap to keep it together. Mix the chopped parsley and dill together on a plate or work surface. Coat the shaped cheese in the chopped herbs.
• Transfer the cheese tree to the center of a platter. Decorate with the pomegranate seeds as ornaments. Serve with buttery crackers.

Steps:

• Combine cold pack cheese food and cream cheese, mixing until well blended. Add 1 tablespoon pimento, green pepper, onion, worcestershire sauce and juice; mix well. Chill. Drop six 1/3-cup measures of mixture into triangle shape on serving platter. Drop remaining mixture at base of triangle; smooth to form tree. Top with parsley, nuts and remaining pimento. Serve with Triscuit wafers.

Steps:

• Stir together cream cheese and Cheddar cheese; divide in half. Stir pesto into 1 half; stir onion, mustard and 2 or 3 drops pepper sauce into other half. Cover each half; refrigerate about 4 hours or until firm enough to shape.
• Place cheese mixtures on cookie sheet. Shape each half into cone shape to look like a pine tree.
• If desired, wrap each tree, label and freeze up to 1 month. Twelve hours before serving, remove trees from freezer. Thaw in wrapper in refrigerator.
• Just before serving, roll trees in parsley, pressing it evenly onto trees. Press pine nuts onto trees in string form for garland. Press bell pepper pieces onto trees for ornaments. Top each tree with star shape cut from lemon peel. Serve with crackers.

Steps:

• Beat cream cheese and cheddar cheese in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add 1 Tbsp. of the bell peppers, the onions, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and ground red pepper; mix well. Cover.
• Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
• Spoon 2-1/2 cups of the cheese mixture onto large serving platter; shape into triangular shape to resemble a Christmas tree. Spoon remaining cheese mixture at the base of the triangle for the trunk. Decorate with the pesto and the remaining 1 Tbsp. bell peppers. Serve as a spread with round buttery crackers.

Steps:

• Stir together cream cheese and Cheddar cheese; divide in half. Stir pesto into 1 half; stir onion, mustard and 2 or 3 drops pepper sauce into other half. Cover each half; refrigerate about 4 hours or until firm enough to shape.
• Place cheese mixtures on cookie sheet. Shape each half into cone shape to look like a pine tree.
• If desired, wrap each tree, label and freeze up to 1 month. Twelve hours before serving, remove trees from freezer. Thaw in wrapper in refrigerator.
• Just before serving, roll trees in parsley, pressing it evenly onto trees. Press pine nuts onto trees in string form for garland. Press bell pepper pieces onto trees for ornaments. Top each tree with star shape cut from lemon peel. Serve with crackers.