Thanksgiving Cheeseball

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I found this adorable cheeseball on Pinterest and had to make it for our family dinner!  This cute idea came from Angela over at Handmade In The Heartland.  I simplified it by using a store-bought cheeseball and it turned out great! It was a big hit at our family get-together.

Turkey Cheeseball

Source: Handmade In The Heartland

2 8oz pkgs of cream cheese, softened

2 T. minced onion

1/2 T. minced green bell pepper

1 8oz can crushed pineapple well drained

1 t. salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. onion powder

1 c. chopped pecans

Decorations:

pretzel sticks

whopper candy

beef jerkey stick

candy eyes

candy corn

fruit roll up

chocolate icing or melted chocolate 

Mix all ingredients other than the pecans together until well combined.  With damp hands roll the mixture into a ball and then roll in chopped pecans.  Wrap it in wax paper and put it in the fridge to chill and firm up a bit. 

Decorate: 

To make the turkey "feathers" stick your pretzel sticks into the back 1/2 of the cheese ball.  To create mr. gobblers head take a stick of beef jerkey and "glue" a whopper candy on top with icing.  Then attach the nose and eyes also with icing.  We made the gobbler by cutting a little strip of fruit roll up and then laying it over the candy corn.  

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake...and ALASKA

This fall we ventured to Alaska for a vacation with my husband's side of the family.  It was AMAZING....absolutely breath-taking! If you've never been, I highly recommend that you add it to your bucket list.  It was our first time packing long johns and winter coats for a vacation instead of the usual shorts and bathing suits; however it is one of our favorite vacations so far. We went kayaking, on a helicopter ride, walked on top of a glacier, rode a boat to fetch live crabs, and I even won the black jack tournament on our cruise ship. What great memories were made!

On the cruise ship, we met a nice couple from St. Louis. Their room was right next to ours and {unsurprisingly} we started talking about food one day.  :)  After asking if we'd ever had St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake she promised to email it after our cruise.  I had never had it but just hearing about it made my mouth begin to drool.  

So here you have it, the St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake.  It is LOADED with sugar and definitely holds true to its name. It's gooey and rich and tasted like a little piece of heaven. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with me, Leslie!

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

Crust:

1 Yellow Cake Mix

1 Egg

1 Stick Melted Butter

Mix above ingredients together and press into a 13" x 9" pan, press around edges to make a rim.

Filling:

1 8 oz. Package of Cream Cheese

1 (1 lb.) box Powdered Sugar (4 cups)

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Mix above ingredients until smooth. Pour over cake mix.

Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool. Cut into small squares.

Note: Cake will look Gooey even when done so, watch the time and crust for indication that it is done. I only ended up baking mine for about 20 minutes when it started browning.