Holiday Food

From the 1950s

A Texas Treat
 

Some will find my mother's “snow cap spread” peculiar. Others will like its velvety texture and piquant flavor. But it was a cocktail and holiday party staple in Texas as I was growing up. Mounded into a compact, rounded hemisphere on a festive plate; frosted with cream cheese, sour cream and hot mustard; decorated with a sprig of glossy holly (which came from the florist, not Texas gardens), it reminded us of what we never had for the holidays: snow.

 

Snow Cap Spread

2 family-size cans Deviled Ham
(In making the recipe, all I could find were 4-oz cans. I used four of them. La Bonne’s does not sell Texas-size quantities of deviled ham - ME)
Mix ham together with
3-4 teaspoons dry onion soup mix  
1/4 cup sour cream and chopped chives.
Chill in refrigerator until firm, then mold into a dome shape.
 Mix together 1 8-oz. package cream cheese at room temperature;  1/2 cup sour cream with more chopped chives and chopped cornichon pickles to taste;  2 1/2 teaspoons hot mustard (I added a teaspoon of Chinese Hoisin sauce to the cream cheese because I wanted a touch of spicy sweetness. It, unfortunately, muddied the snow a bit but it tasted good. ME.)
   Beat ingredients until spreadable. Then frost the ham dome with the sour cream mixture so that you have what looks like half a snowball. Decorate with a sprig of holly on top and more around the base.

Serve with crackers of your choice. The “snowball” is spreadable, so you’ll need butter knife or two.
This will serve as one offering at a small party. The recipe can be doubled easily.

 

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