Jack-o-Lantern Cheese Ball

Perfect for Halloween, recipe courtesy of Cooking Channel.

Ingredients:

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons minced onions
1 teaspoon jalapeno, minced (without seeds, unless you want it spicy, then include the seeds)
2 teaspoons cumin
2 tablespoons prepared salsa (your favorite kind will do)
1 nice-looking stem of a bell pepper (reserve the pepper for another use)
12 Doritos, original flavor, crushed
Black bean chips, for serving

Directions:
Put all ingredients into the bowl of a mixer, and blend thoroughly. Form into a pumpkin-like shape, and refrigerate until firm, about two hours. Before serving, roll the cheese ball in crushed Doritos. Arrange the cheese ball on a plate, and press the bell pepper stem into the top — it should like a mini pumpkin stem.

You can serve the pumpkin as-is, or break off pieces of black bean chips to form a Jack-o’-lantern face. The chip pieces should adhere to the pumpkin cheese ball if you gently press them onto it, but you can also stick them on using a very small daub of the cheese ball mixture on the back of the black bean chip features; this will act like glue. Serve the cheese ball with black bean chips, crackers or crudites.