Craving Pimento Cheese

Today has been busy, busy. My day off got an early start when Ronnie accidentally set off the alarm at 5:15 am. Have I mentioned lately that I am not a morning person? Not the way I planned to start my day. I had visions of orange juice in bed with at least an hour with my book and then maybe, just maybe, another quick little nap. Finally, leisurely rising around 10:00 am.
Yeah, that really was a dream, wasn't it?

A couple a weeks ago I managed to break my glasses, (long story), so I spent a good part of today taking care of getting new ones; with a tad of clothes shopping thrown in for good measure. This threw me later getting home than I would have liked so we decided to grab a bite at the Harvest. The Harvest is a Marion institution. It's the kind of place we all flocked to in high school. The menu is exactly what you expect; double barrel burgers, hot dogs, chipped ham sandwiches, BBQ, clubs, spaghetti, onion rings and the best hushpuppies in town. The best part is you sit in a booth and order via telephone, way too cool!

As I was deciding what to have at the Harvest I had a crazy craving for a pimento cheese sandwich. Not one from any restaurant, but good old homemade pimento cheese. Being Southern to the core, I, of course, have my own recipe, so do you, I am certain, so please, please, share with us. You can't ever have too many pimento cheese recipes. Nothing in the grocery store touches homemade. Our pimento cheese is more creamy, but you can make it with grated sharp cheddar (don't use the pre-grated in a bag), and you will have more texture. Either is really good, but I prefer the creamy style.

So, a quick trip to Ingle's is on my agenda for tomorrow for sure.

Southern Pimento Cheese

3 oz. whipped cream cheese - softened
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. celery salt - or to taste
dash cayenne pepper - or to taste
1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 cup mayonnaise (for me, it is always Kraft Light )
8 oz. Velveeta cheese - cubed
2 oz jar pimentos - well drained

Process in food processor with the steel blade, softened cream cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt, cayenne, sugar, mayonnaise and Velveeta until creamy. Stir in pimentos by hand. Scrap into a glass dish (never use plastic here) and cover. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Indulge........

Note: I use my food processor to mix the ingredients but a mixer would just work as well.

Enjoy on toasted white bread with lettuce, grilled like a grilled cheese sandwich, on baked potatoes, on hamburgers, a dollop on top of tomato soup, on crackers, or just by the spoonful.

So, Until Tomorrow............
S~~~

April Is Grilled Cheese Month

I always knew that April was special and today I discovered that it holds the honor of being National Grilled Cheese Month. Ask one hundred people to list their top ten comfort foods and my guess is 95% will include grilled cheese. My favorite is still the old standby of American cheese on white bread and grilled in butter or spread with mayo and grilled to a golden brown. Lets not forget the Campbell's Cream of Tomato Soup made with milk to dip your sandwich in. Life doesn't get much better....................

It wasn't grilled cheese on the menu for us tonight but it was a sandwich. Recently I had lunch at a new bagel place down on Merrimon. Now, to be perfectly honest with you this Southern girl is not much of a bagel fan. Give me a biscuit any day. That said, Buddha Bagel's has something called a Byalis (sp?). It is a much thinner bagel with poppy seeds, garlic, sea salt and onions on top. So, at lunch I stopped by and picked up a couple of Byalis for tonight's supper.
After Ronnie's help with slicing these much thinner bagels I baked some bacon and sliced up a ripe avocado, added a slice of baby Swiss and some onions. It was a really good warm weather supper, even though the weather turned off cold and rainy here tonight.

So, Until Tomorrow...............
S~~~