Ginger's Home Cooking: Ginger's Cheese Log

Ingredients:
1 200g tub of either garlic&herb, chive, cucumber or grilled pepper light Philadelphia cream cheese
Half of a 250g tub of plain full fat Philadelphia or Tesco cream cheese
200g grated red cheddar or red cheddar
1 tsp. of dried chives (leave out if using the chive cream cheese)
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
A 100g pack chopped walnuts or chopped toasted pecans (if you can't find chopped, use halved & bash with a rolling pin or a mortar & pestle
A large sheet of parchment paper

Every Christmas & New Year, my family had a cheese log & a cheese ball. My Gramma made the cheese log & rolled it in dried parsley, while my Aunt made a cheese ball (similar ingredients but in a round shape instead of a loaf) & rolled it in chopped walnuts, pecans or finely chopped black olives. Cheese logs & cheese balls are a very traditional party food in America & there are so many varieties. This is my version. The great thing about a cheese log/ball is that you can choose from many different ingredients & make it your own. I've even had them rolled in chilli powder or paprika for a little extra kick & I often do the parsley option instead of nuts. I've also had them with finely minced onions or scallions, olives, pimentos or bacon in them & some people add a bit of mayonnaise or some chopped sun-dried tomatoes. You can also play around with the type of grated hard cheese you use. I sometimes use mozzarella & cheddar mix. Adding a little cheddar with port, smoked gouda or Applewoods cheddar (maybe about 1/3 of your total amount) would be nice as well. You can swap it around & use a whole tub of the plain cream cheese & just a half tub of the flavoured one. The possibilities are endless & you should make it your own. I have many different recipes for these, but this is the one I created & it's always my 'go to' one. It takes only minutes to make & is easy, but looks impressive. I've lost count of how many times I've brought this to a gathering or party & had rave reviews about it, requests to make it again & requests for the recipe, so here it is!

Method:
In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients except the grated cheddar & the chopped nuts. (If you can't get garlic & herb cream cheese, you can also use light chive cream cheese or use plain light cream cheese & add 1/4 tsp. each of onion granules, mixed dried herbs & garlic salt.) Once the spices & cream cheese are well blended, add in the grated cheese. Mix with a spoon until completely blended. You should have a fairly thick & stiff mixture that is still moist. Spoon out the entire mixture into a rough round or oblong shape on your piece of parchment paper. The videos between the photographs demonstrate what to do next. After the cheese log is made, it will be a little soft from handling. It's best served chilled & set. I like to allow at least a couple of hours (preferably overnight) in the fridge for it to set & to allow the flavours to marry. Serve it on a cheese plate with a variety of crackers & some grapes or olives on the side & enjoy!