Meet my favorite hors d’oeuvre of all time, the cheese ball. An elegant take on the traditional sphere of fromage, plucked from the pages of a 1970s cookbook (perhaps Junior League or maybe a Southern Living volume) of my mother’s. She has been making this to mark holidays and any celebratory event since before I was born and when I reminisce on a soirée, I can almost taste the Roquefort. The best part is that it is such a simple recipe and a certified crowd pleaser.
I’m a self-professed less is more kind of gal when it comes to consumerism. My closet isn’t overflowing and the stream of Amazon packages are kept to a fair minimum. What does give me a swipe-of-the-plastic thrill is splurging on delicious foods and beautiful tabletop. I never feel guilty about collecting more cocktail napkins or glassware because they always fit (much more forgiving than, say, bikinis) and I’ll use them year after year.
What a treat I have for you today, dear readers. We are joined by Charleston-based food stylist, recipe developer, and author of The Duke’s Mayonnaise Cookbook, Ashley Strickland Freeman. You’ve likely seen her work in Southern Living, Garden & Gun, and on the Food Network. Her simple, flavorful dishes ranging from properly Southern to internationally touted provide kitchen inspiration in spades. I was first introduced to Ashley’s culinary talents six years ago at my sister-in-law’s baby shower (they are lifelong friends) where a chance encounter with a tray of fruit tarts left me weak in the knees.