grass stains: Red velvet cheese ball, and why I had pantyhose stuffed with balloons on my head

I saw a recipe for a Red Velvet Cheese Ball (sweet, not savory) last Friday, and I immediately emailed my friend Melanie to ask if she wanted me to make it for her Christmas party the next night. She's a red velvet fan (I'm not), and it just SCREAMED "Melanie" at me. She was all for it.

So I made it, and everyone said it was really good. I ate some of it, but I didn't think it was as good as the chocolate chip dip that I make. That's probably because the chocolate chip dip is sweeter. Bygones.

Anyway, even the men liked it, so if you want to make it, here's the recipe:

RED VELVET CHEESE BALL

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups red velvet cake mix, dry
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
assorted cookies and crackers

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. (I used a hand mixer.) Add in the red velvet cake mix, the brown sugar and the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and combined. Spoon the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap up into a ball and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Put the chocolate chips on a plate or in a shallow dish. (I used a cutting board with a recessed edge to catch the rolling chocolate chips. Worked well.) Remove the cheese ball from the refrigerator and unwrap. Roll in the chocolate chips. Place on a serving plate and serve with cookies or graham crackers.

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Melanie and Shelly's "Holiday Hoedown" was a lot of fun. Early in the evening, we played a game where we split into six teams of three people, and we had to blow up six balloons and stuff them in a pair of pantyhose, then put them on each team leader's head. Grayson and I were each elected team leaders, and here we are with our "antlers" on:

And here are all six team leaders looking very "hoedown" (except Grayson, who doesn't do themes):

I mean, yes. We live in Alabama, but we don't wear overalls and plaid flannel shirts all the time. Nor do we wear pantyhose on our heads.

At some point in the evening, my friend Randy put his cowboy hat on my head. Since it's the first time I've ever worn one, I commemorated the event with a picture. It was perched up there on a wing and a prayer, if you must know, because my head circumference is roughly twice that of a normal person's.