I used to be a person for whom Halloween meant a somewhat-sexy costume and a night out in the bars with my other ridiculously dressed friends. Now Halloween means finding cuddly lion costumes, taking trips to the pumpkin patch and attending kid-friendly pumpkin carving parties at the homes of my friends. Which is okay, seeing as a somewhat-sexy costume on me, these days, would just be sad and embarrassing, sort of like Shatner’s recent television gig.

Saturday was pumpkin themed. I went to the pumpkin patch with a girlfriend and her baby, and we posed our children all over the place until my back started aching due to being an ancient mom who is too old to be lugging a twenty five pound sack of potatoes hither and yon for photo opportunities.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2010/oct/17/200618/

Finally, I threw in the towel, purchased two medium-sized pumpkins (another sign of my aging into a conservative bore – I didn’t go for the most giant ones they had, or buy a dozen of them, like I would have done in my youth), one pie pumpkin, and got the heck out of dodge.

The plan was to take the baby to the pumpkin carving party that evening, but he apparently didn’t get the memo because he refused an afternoon nap and was asleep for the night by 7:00, so Mr. Meat and Potatoes stayed home with him and I got to go to the party by myself and revisit my times as a freewheeling single girl. (Read: I ended up at the Red Lyon Tavern apres party. Big mistake.)

I had planned to puree the pie pumpkin and make something appropriately themed to take to the party with me, but time and cranky baby got the best of me, and I had to whip something up out of ingredients I had on hand, and I had to do it on the quick. Enter: the cheeseball. Not only do I usually have a stock of ingredients that can be assembled into some sort of spreadable cheese in my refrigerator, but it is something that doesn’t even require the use of a stove or oven, so it’s fast, low fuss, and extra awesome because it can be shaped like a pumpkin. I am a cheeseball making a cheesy themey cheeseball. And I’m totally okay with it.

My cheeseball turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. I started with a softened block of cream cheese and a cup and a half of shredded cheddar.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2010/oct/17/200623/

Then I scavenged around the kitchen and rounded up some other things I thought would be tasty. Into the bowl went 3/4 C bacon crumbles, a teaspoon of garlic powder, three diced green onions, a teaspoon of worchestershire, a tablespoon of dijon mustard, a teaspoon of paprika, and a dash of salt and pepper.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2010/oct/17/200626/

Then comes the fun part. Wash your hands, and stick them in that mess, and work everything through so that the tasty bits are completely worked through the cream cheese, and everything is smooshed together into a cohesive ball.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2010/oct/17/200627/

Form the stuff into a nice ball, and then roll the ball in another half cup of shredded cheese. I used the non-business end of a fork to impress vertical lines on the ball, creating the look of a pumpkin, and I stuck the tops of the green onions in as the stem. The whole thing took about ten minutes, and was a successful party treat. I know this, because the host at one point walked by me and said “That cheeseball is really good. I don’t know who brought it, but it’s awesome.” I was not shy about taking credit.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2010/oct/17/200628/