Smoked Cream Cheese

Happy summer everybody! We’re in full summer mode here on the farm and loving the slower pace. I know that sounds crazy since things really pick up on the farm but our off farm obligations slow down a bit which is a blessing for sure!

I’m president of our homeschool cooperative in town and I teach multiple high school classes there as well as teaching Marshall at home. And Marshall is in all the extracurricular activities in which he can participate - yearbook staff, basketball and now cross country, leadership group, youth at church and on and on. So summer is a slow down of most of those activities.

Summer on the farm right now looks like a lot of rotating cattle and laying hens (we don’t have meat chickens or pigs on the farm at the moment - they’re already in the freezer) as well as gardening. And I’m trying to be more proactive in the garden this summer by spending 30 minutes every single day weeding and caring for it, no matter what. This is a departure for me because I generally don’t enjoy gardening (sorry, truth hurts) so in the last 24 years I’ve neglected that duty and then despised it when it got away from me. I’m trying to do better this year. Here’s the thing - I LOVE canning and preserving. Love it! I love drying herbs, apples slices, tomatoes. I love canning tomatoes, canning peppers, making pasta sauce, jams, jellies, flavored syrups and all the things.  But I don’t love working in the weeds and the plants themselves. It’s a quandary for sure. So I’m trying a new approach.

But anyway, I say all that to say summer is a season with a more manageable pace for me. And I’m thankful for it because that gives me time to read books as well as play around with flavors and create recipes. And I want to share with you the best appetizer I’ve been making this summer that people are LOVING. I made it for two groups last week - a mastermind group of lovely women entrepreneurs in my area and then Kayla Gabbard’s family last weekend (y’all probably know her from her amazing YouTube, TikTok and instagram channels). It was a hit both times. And I’m going to share it with you so you can amaze your people all summer.

Aliceson’s Amazing (and Simple) Smoked Cream Cheese

2 blocks cream cheese

Olive oil

1 teaspoon of each of the following: brown sugar, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper

1 sliced jalapeño 

Set a smoker to 200 degrees. In an 8 inch cast iron skillet (or similarly-sized skillet) place blocks of cream cheese side by side. Drizzle olive oil on the cream cheese. 

Combine the spices in a small bowl and then sprinkle them on the top of the cream cheese. 

Add the sliced jalapeño pepper to the skillet and then smoke the cheese for 2 hours at 200 degrees. (If you have the Camp Chef Woodwind - which I HIGHLY recommend - set the smoke to level 5).

Serve the cheese in the skillet and on a charcuterie tray with tortilla chips and small bowls of salsa. 

So that’s it! It’s a very simple recipe and people love it. I’ve been playing around with it all winter and now early summer and every time I make it people can’t stop eating it or talking about it. 

And if you want a great salsa recipe, I have one in the cookbook which you can purchase here: https://balesfarmstn.com/store...

I hope you try this recipe! Please take pictures and tag us on instagram, TikTok (although in all honesty I probably won’t see it on there! 😂) and facebook.

Happy eating!

Aliceson