This year we rang in the New Year with some appetizers & drinks with friends followed by attending a house party in East Nashville. I love any excuse to try out new recipes & have been itching to try my hand at deviled eggs since Beth brought these fabulous deviled eggs to our food blogger potluck last month. I don’t have a proper recipe for the ones I made because I just kind of threw things together. I can tell you I used smoked salmon, green onions & mixed cream cheese in with a touch of mayo. The cream cheese really added a lot for the texture & one of my friends claimed them to be the best deviled eggs he had ever eaten SCORE!

The appetizer that got the most raves however, was this Cranberry Pistachio cheeseball. I was inspired by a recipe I saw in Real Simple but theirs looked a tad too boring for me. I jazzed mine up with some honey goat cheese from Trader Joe’s {substitute this for regular goat cheese in basically anything & you’re taste buds will thank you!} & also added a mixture of the pistachios & cranberries into the cheeseball itself instead of simply coating the outside with it. Pair this ball of yumminess with Trader Joe’s Raisin Rosemary Crisps & you’ll want to devour the whole thing immediately.

Cranberry Pistachio Cheese Ball

Note: I purposefully made this cheeseball small since there were only 8 of us. Double the amounts to make a full sized ball :)

Ingredients:

1/2 log of honey goat cheese (I find mine cheapest at Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup cranberries
1/4 cup cream cheese

Directions:

1. Crush the shelled pistachios & cranberries in in the food processor. (reserve a few tablespoons of each before blending)
2. Add to a small bowl with honey goat cheese & cream cheese & mix until creamy & well blended.
3. On a sheet of wax paper spread out the remaining whole pistachios & cranberries. Roll the cheese mixture into a ball and then roll onto the pistachio & cranberries until well covered.
4. Chill for at least one hour & then serve with your favorite crackers. (My favorite pairing are Trader Joe's Raisin Rosemary Crisps).

 And what New Year’s post would be complete without some resolutions thrown in there? Mine include:

1. Being healthy (working out, watching what I eat)

2. Judging & gossiping less.

How about you, did you make any resolutions this year? Or care to share a recipe you tried on NYE?