Homemade Cheese Spread

With the holiday season on its way, so are the many get-togethers with friends and family. This is one of my favorite times of year and I like to find yummy recipes for making homemade hostess gifts. This Pantry Cheese Spread recipe is easy to make and fun to package up for a unique gift. This spread can be enjoyed as a lunch or light dinner accompanied by soup, or as an appetizer.

Ingredients:
1 lb butter, softened
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 lb romano cheese, grated
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Put all ingredients in a mixer or food processor and whip slowly until fluffy. Pack into jars and refridgerate. To serve, spread on baguette slices, sourdough bread or toast, and cook under broiler until bubbly. Serve warm.

Packaging Your Cheese Spread:

What You Need:
– Small Jars
– Evermine Labels & Tags
– Decorative Paper
– Ruler or Compass
– String
– Tape
– Rubber Band

To package up my prepared cheese spread I used personalized labels, tags and some decorative paper and string. You can make paper caps from circles or squares; I chose to use squares. Before you cut your decorative paper, make tests with scrap paper until you have determined the size of circle or square that will work for your containers. In general, add at least 2 inches to the diameter of the jar lid.

Once you have your squares or circles cut, you’ll want to have ready four pieces of tape to temporarily anchor the paper and a rubber band large enough to fit snugly around the container where the string will be tied.

Place the paper over the top of the container. It’s important that you have the paper centered over the jar lid so that it comes down the same amount on all sides. Fold the paper down on the left and the right sides of the jar and tack it down with two pieces of tape. Then turn the container a quarter turn, and again, fold the paper down on the left and right sides, being sure both sides have the same amount of overlap. Tack these down as well. There will be four ‘wings’ of paper; fold these down and crease so they stay down as well as possible. If you are using a square, these wings will form points down the sides of the jar. Anchor with the rubber band, then wrap string around the paper several times, knot securely. Remove the rubber band. Lastly, tie the hang tag on separately with more string.

Jeanne Williamson (138 Posts)

Jeanne and her husband David launched My Own Labels in January of 2000. It was a spin-off of their successful graphic design firm, plus it allowed Jeanne to incorporate her love of baking, making, sewing and creating. Today David and Jeanne continue to be the heart of the operation both creatively and practically.