Cheese Pumpkins

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, food well chilled (sharp or smoked)
• 4 miniature pretzel twists or pretzel sticks
• 12 fresh parsley leaves
• 2 teaspoons very finely chopped peanuts (optional)

Directions

1. 1

   Line plate or tray with waxed paper or plastic wrap.

2. 2

   Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of the cheese food, and roll into a ball. Repeat with remaining cheese until you wind up with about 12 balls.

3. 3

   Refrigerate for 15 minutes on prepared plate.

4. 4

   With a toothpick, draw ridges around the balls to resemble pumpkins. Dip the bottoms of the pumpkins in the peanuts (to resemble dirt).

5. 5

   Just before serving, place a couple of parsley leaves on the top of each pumpkin and insert a broken pretzel piece for each stem.

6. 6

   Store in refrigerator until ready to use.