Smoke Isn't Supposed to Come Out of That

Tonight, on Day 17 of 30 Days of Blogging, my Little Oscar countertop food processor died.

And by "died", I mean that it made a grinding noise while it was processing. And then smoke started to come out of it. Then I turned it off, unplugged it, and drowned it in the bathtub in case it was smoldering inside. I now feel like it's safe to put it in the dumpster without running the risk of starting a trash fire and burning the building down, so I'll do that later.

Before drowning it, I removed the bowl and saved my food. See, "Mad Men" is on this Sunday, and last week while watching a horribly depressing episode that made me wonder why I watch "Mad Men" I thought, "Wouldn't it be awesome if I had some snacks?" as if those would somehow distract me from the soul crushing agony that everyone on that show seems to live in so far this season. I thought about it all week, and decided that I would like to make a nice Bacon Ranch Cheeseball, and then eat it with crackers and maybe make some drinks while I watch Joan wear fabulous outfits and wait for everyone else on the show to die.

I picked up the ingredients the other day, and when I got home tonight I decided to blend up the cheeseball now, so that it could sit for a couple of days and let the flavors blend a little. I don't remember where I got this recipe, but it barely counts as one. There's not much to it:

Bacon Ranch Cheeseball

2 bricks low fat cream cheese (DON'T get fat free; the consistency is weird)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1/4 cup bacon bits or cooked crumbled bacon
Extra bacon bits or parsley to roll cheese ball in (I skip this step and just put the cheeseball mixture into some Gladware)

1) Place first four ingredients in food processor.

2) Process the hell out of it until it is fully blended.

3) If planning to actually make a ball, put it in the fridge to firm up for a couple hours. Take it out, put a Ziploc baggie on each hand, and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Then roll it in the parsley or bacon until it's covered, put it on a plate, and serve with crackers.

See?

Super easy, until your food processor dies.

I guess I'm going shopping this weekend.