Make Ahead

My History with Pimento Cheese Spread

When I was a little girl, my mother would sometimes make Pimento Cheese Spread for cocktail parties.  My father's family was from the Texas, my mother's from New York.  At the time, my father was a Captain in the US Army, and we were stationed in Germany.  He had aspirations to be a Colonel - and that meant having the Brass over for cocktail parties that my mother had to make all the food - they didn't have caterers in Germany that made American food that was in my mother's budget - so she made everything from scratch. Imagine a party scene from Mad Men, and you have an idea of what my mother's parties were like.  Due to my mother's great talents at entertaining, my father made it to Major before deciding to come home and have the career he always wanted - antique furniture refinisher.

If I was well-behaved and didn't get in my mother's way in the kitchen when she was making all these things, she would put aside a plate of appetizers just for me, and if I was lucky, it had Pimento Cheese Spread.

Clean Out Your Fridge

The great thing about Pimento Cheese Spread is that you can put odd bits of hard cheese you have lying around in your fridge.  You might have forgotten they were even there.  They might have a bit of mold, cut it off and you're good to go. They might have a dried up outside, just cut that off, too.  I usually have a good sharp cheddar as my main cheese, and I might have some pieces of Jack or Swiss left over in my cheese drawer.  I wouldn't put in a pungent cheese that would overbear your main cheese's flavor.  You could put a softer cheese in, too, just put it in after the pimentos go in.  Important: don't use pre-shredded cheese - it has extra ingredients that can affect the flavor and texture of this luscious spread.

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