Mom's Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery

Celery
Cream cheese (see note below)
Walnuts or pecans

Have cream cheese at room temperature. Wash, dry, and trim celery stalks. Leave ribs long. Chop walnuts or pecans into 1/4 inch chunks. Spread cream cheese into hollow of celery ribs. Cut ribs into 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch serving pieces. Press cream cheese side down into chopped nuts. Arrange on serving platter.

Note: Jane makes hers with cream cheese that has been warmed to room temperature without whipping the cream cheese with milk or cream. Alternatively, you may whip the cream cheese with a little milk or cream to make it spreadable. This is how Mom always made it.

Another idea is to make the cream cheese into a log and covered it with chopped walnuts, then everyone can spread their own from the log. Other fresh vegetables could be provided along with the celery.

Variations (Jane):

1. Mix finely chopped green olives into the cream cheese. Omit nuts and decorate with sliced olives.
2. Mix chopped shrimp and a little finely chopped onion into the cream cheese. Omit nuts.
3. Mix crumbled blue cheese, or other (shredded) nippy cheese into the cream cheese. Omit nuts. You could use slivered almonds instead.
4. Mix chopped dill pickle into the cream cheese. Omit nuts

You can also make a blue cheese dip to serve on the side of the celery sticks by mixing 2 cups sour cream, 1 envelope onion soup mix, 1/4 pound crumbled blue cheese, and 1/4 cup toasted and chopped walnuts.