Ode to Cheese Balls

Almost all of my happiest childhood memories involved cheese balls. The neon colored snack food item that stains your fingers and clings to the roof of your mouth were symbolic of the happy day moments of my youth. Every sleepover, camp out, birthday party, TV night, anything fun always involved cheese balls.

As I prepared for my son’s second grade “boy bash” with a jumbo size container of cheese balls, I couldn’t help but smile. My son beamed with delight as he was talking it up with his boy buddies boasting “my mom even got a mongo tub of cheese balls!” Never mind that there would be a limbo stick, musical shell game, pizza and video games. Most importantly, there would be cheese balls.

It got me wondering what was it about those precious orbs of puffed yum that sent me down nostalgia lane? And clearly they cued up the happy for not only me, but for my son too.

I decided to check out the ingredients to see what they put in those babies. You will be happy to know that there is indeed, cheese. It may be cheese monoglomate ezymatica along with other crazy sounding ingredients, but the label says “real cheese.” We should truly call a spade a spade and let it be known that it’s more like “essence of cheese” in those things. No cheese I have ever eaten or seen tastes like that.

Please don’t get me wrong. I have read the news and understand that we are creating the most obese generation of kids in history. I also understand that this may be the first generation of kids not to outlive their parents. I’m not promoting a steady diet of cheese balls. I’m just noticing this special treat makes me happy and I can’t quite figure out why.

Maybe it’s the fun shape or their bright sunshiny glow or the fact that we don’t eat them very often. Cheese balls don’t come out for big stressful holidays or for special dinner party style entertaining. They come out for cozy time casual fun. Cheese balls are for ordinary joyous moments like football watching or our favorite TV show or when a pack of rowdy seven year olds comes over to celebrate the end of a school year.

I think cheese balls are simple innocent joyful fun. It’s not only what I crave as a cheery snack but also a metaphor for what I long for in life. I think Forrest Gump said it best when he said “Life is like a box of chocolates.” But I think I would change it a bit to say “I want my life to be like a tub of cheese balls.” A dose of ordinary joy packed into a happy little ball.