Domain Chandon Cheese Spread
from the Domain Chandon Winery in Napa Valley

A very good cheese spread for crackers or on sourdough or French bread, well received by anyone who likes blue cheese. This would also be good as a spread for celery sticks.

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 ounces (1/2 cup) crumbled blue cheese, room temperature [if using gorgonzola cheese, a milder cheese, you may want to add more]
1 to 3 tablespoons toasted walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped (can sub the green part of a green onion)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Sourdough or French bread, sliced and toasted

Spread the walnuts in a single layer on a baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees until they are light brown and fragrant, about 5-10 minutes depending on the amount of nuts. Check the nuts frequently and stir them to ensure even toasting. Cool the nuts before chopping them. Nuts have a great deal of oil that has been brought to surface by the heat, and the oil must be allowed to be reabsorbed, or the nuts could turn greasy during chopping.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together cream cheese, blue cheese, walnuts, chives, and parsley; using a fork helps so that you are not completely mixing in the blue cheese, but leaving little chunks. Don't over mix. Serve with toasted thin-sliced sourdough or French bread, or crackers.

[FMM: This would be easier to mix if you beat the cream cheese with a few drops of half-and-half or milk to loosen it up a bit, then hand mix in the rest of the ingredients.]

Makes about 1 1/2 cups