The decorating is as good as it is going to get and I finally put the outside lights back in the old cooler where I store them (they just aren’t happening this year). I added a few more candles and some of those super scented pine cones instead and we are good to go.

But it really isn’t Christmas until I start using up blocks of cream cheese. There is the cheese ball which along with the cream cheese, calls for sharp cheddar cheese spread and Kraft Roka Blue which I think is referred to as a “cheese food.” I always had the distinct impression that Roka Blue not only had a limited appeal but also a very seasonal one. Most times when I would pick up my three jars in November, there would be considerable dust on the lids and  the expire dates were always well into the future. This is a food, though with limited appeal, could be important come the end of it all. 

And the end of it all has come – at least for Roka Blue. Kraft has stopped making it – a couple of dozen jars to cheese ball comsuming families like my own just weren’t enough to sustain this 1950s staple. I found this out last year when I sent Kevin to hunt for it. I figured we might find some buried behind the pimento flavored vareity but no such luck. The really incredible thing was that when he asked about it in the store, they provided him with a recipe from the Kraft people to duplicate it, who apparently had received some ugly hate mail about Blue’s demise. The recipe calls for more cream cheese, blue cheese crumbles and water. I guess that would have to do – but it doesn’t. It’s OK but just lacks that kind of off white paste consistency that always worked so well.

There will be cheese balls this year at our house but it won’t be the same. Who knew anyone would ever miss Roka Blue Cheese Food?