Ham Cheddar Cheese Ball — The Ham That Stays at the Table

Elsa called from Voyageurs. She has met someone. A man named Tom. A canoe guide. She sounds different on the phone — softer, brighter, the voice of a woman who is not as alone as she used to be. Elsa has been alone in the woods for fifteen years. I have respected the aloneness. I have also worried about it. The new voice on the phone is not a worry. The new voice is a relief. Erik turned seventy. We had a small party at his house. He grilled. He drank one beer (his quota, a quota set by his doctor, observed religiously). He was quiet and happy. He looked like Pappa around the eyes. I had not noticed before. I notice now. The resemblance has deepened with age. Erik is becoming Pappa in the slow gentle way that men become their fathers if they live long enough. Astrid had a fall. She is fine. The Twin Cities sister-call club is now its own small intervention. Karin and I take turns calling Astrid. Astrid resents the calls. We make them anyway. The resentment is the love filtered through Astrid's particular Scandinavian self-sufficiency. We do not mind being resented. We mind, far more, the alternative. I cooked Pea soup (Thursday tradition) this week. Yellow split peas, ham hock, onion, carrot, salt and pepper, simmered three hours. Served with mustard and rye bread. The Swedish Thursday meal. I make it most Thursdays from October through April. Mamma made it every Thursday of her life, no exceptions. The Damiano Center: a regular named Marlene, who has been coming for twelve years, told me her granddaughter just had a baby. She was glowing. She had a photo on her phone. The phone was old and cracked but the photo was clear: a small pink baby in a hospital blanket. Marlene said: "I am a great-grandmother now. The same as you." I said: "Welcome to the club." We hugged. The line continues, even on the hard side of the soup line. Mamma's bread pans are on the shelf where they have always been. I used the smaller one this week. The metal has worn smooth in the places her hands touched it for sixty years. The pan is, in some real sense, a sculpture of Mamma's hands. I knead the bread in the bowl Mamma used. I shape it on the counter Mamma stood at (well, mine, but identical to hers — same Formica color, same dimensions). I bake it in the pan Mamma baked in. The kitchen is the relay. The relay continues. It is enough. It has to be. And on a morning like this, with the lake doing what the lake does and the dog at my feet and the bread on the counter and the kitchen warm enough to live in, it is. I have been blogging for years now. The blog began as something to do at night when sleep would not come. The blog has become — without my fully intending it — a small congregation. The readers come back. They read the recipes. They read the parts that are not recipes. They write to me sometimes. They tell me what they cooked. They tell me about their own kitchens, their own losses, their own continued cooking. The congregation is its own form of company. It is enough.

The ham hock goes in the pot every Thursday — that part never changes — but this week, with Elsa’s voice sounding new on the phone and Erik looking so much like Pappa, I wanted something extra on the table, something to set out and linger over before the soup. The Ham Cheddar Cheese Ball is the kind of thing Mamma would have called practical: it keeps, it travels, it feeds whoever shows up. It is, in its own modest way, an act of welcome — and welcome felt like exactly the right thing to practice this week.

Ham Cheddar Cheese Ball

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min + 1 hr chilling | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup finely diced cooked ham
• 2 tablespoons finely minced onion
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (for rolling)
• Rye crackers or sliced rye bread, for serving

Instructions

1. Mix the base. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Add the shredded cheddar, diced ham, minced onion, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir until thoroughly combined.
2. Shape. Turn the mixture out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Using the wrap to help, form the mixture into a ball. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until firm enough to hold its shape.
3. Coat. Spread the chopped parsley on a flat plate. Unwrap the chilled cheese ball and roll it in the parsley, pressing gently so the herbs adhere evenly to the outside.
4. Serve. Place on a serving board with rye crackers or sliced rye bread alongside. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving for the best spreadable texture.
5. Store. Wrap any leftovers in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days. The flavor deepens overnight — it is, if anything, better the second day.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 3g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 390mg