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This Rosemary and Goat Cheese with Ginger Preserves Appetizer is an easy and foolproof recipe that will surely impress.

Well, have you decked your halls with boughs of holly? You know, it is the season to be jolly. It is the time to make merriment with your friends and family, to spread holiday cheer and soak in all that the season has to offer.

I’ll be hosting 7 of my girlfriends in 2 weeks for our annual Girl’s Night Christmas Party. I can’t exactly tell you how many years the 8 of us have gotten together over the holidays, but it’s been quite a few years. I plan on serving this AND doing a holiday-themed martini bar (if any of my girlfriends are reading this, you should be very excited!).

Several years back my girlfriend Nan brought an appetizer that contained goat cheese and rosemary, two of my all-time favorite foods. This Rosemary and Goat Cheese with Ginger Preserves Appetizer is my spin on the one that Nan brought.

Only good things happen when you make a cheese ball of cream cheese, goat cheese, and rosemary. And even better things happen when you spread ginger preserves over this cheese ball.

My recipe is adapted from the Fig Preserves and Rosemary Cheese ball from the Southern Living Ultimate Book of Appetizers. I opted for ginger preserves instead of fig preserves and I did not include honey in mine because the ginger preserves provide enough sweetness.

This is a very simple appetizer, with only 4 simple ingredients; cream cheese, goat cheese, rosemary and ginger preserves.

This appetizer pairs perfectly with these fruit and nut crisps. I found this recipe years ago off of the Simple Bites website.

Even though I try to avoid gluten, I will make an exception for these tasty crisps that are comprised almost exclusively of good, wholesome and tasty ingredients. There is no added fat and only a little added sugar.

Apricots, hazelnuts, and rosemary provide the taste and texture to make these an outstanding cracker anytime; but especially with this Rosemary and Goat Cheese with Ginger Preserves Appetizer. The next time I make these crackers I am going to try to make them gluten-free…I’ll let you know how it works.

Rosemary and Goat Cheese with Ginger Preserves Appetizer Yield: 12 ounces Prep Time: 20 minutes Additional Time: 2 hours Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes A sweet and savory appetizer, with goat cheese, rosemary and ginger preserves. Print Ingredients 8 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature

4 ounces of goat cheese, room temperature

1 TB finely chopped rosemary

Freshly ground black pepper to taste, I use several twists of my pepper mill

4 ounces ginger preserves, I use Mackays Instructions Mix cream cheese, goat cheese, black pepper and rosemary well. I did it by hand which was very easy because it was at room temperature. But you could always do it in your food processor. Line a small bowl or ramekin with saran wrap. (I used a 12 ounce ramekin) Put the cream cheese mixture in the bowl and wrap saran wrap around it. Push down so that it evenly fills the bottom of your ramekin. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. When you are ready to serve, pull the cheese out of the ramekin by pulling on the saran wrap. Invert in on your plate and smooth out any wrinkles that the saran wrap may have caused. Warm up the ginger preserves slightly and pour over the cheese. Serve with crackers, but this pairs especially well with Fruit and Nut Crisps, link in post. Notes Adapted from Southern Living Ultimate Book of Appetizers Nutrition Information: Yield: 12 ounces Serving Size: 1 ounce

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 105 Total Fat: 9g Saturated Fat: 5g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 3g Cholesterol: 23mg Sodium: 105mg Carbohydrates: 4g Fiber: 0g Sugar: 2g Protein: 3g Did you make this recipe? Tag @nourishandnestle on Instagram and hashtag it #nourishandnestle

Lining your bowl or ramekin with saran wrap makes it easy to remove once it has chilled and you are ready to serve it.

I ran a butter knife over the whole cheese ‘ball’ to smooth out any wrinkles from the saran wrap.

Spoon your preserves over top…

…and serve.

And you might want to try it before you serve it…just because.

If you are hosting a party or are providing an appetizer for a party, this Rosemary and Goat Cheese with Ginger Preserves Appetizer is such a tasty and very easy recipe. It is a unique take on the traditional cheese ball. But by all means, do serve it with those Fruit and Nut Crisps…you will thank me…I promise.

Do you have a ‘go-to’ appetizer? I’d love it if you’d share it! I am always on the lookout for new recipes.

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