Spring Break 1989. All my friends were going skiing or headed to the beach. Me? No plans. We were “broke”! (words said by my father, meaning, no way are we taking a family trip to the beach). My mother took it upon herself to find the money we (mother/daughter) needed to get out of town. Who needs the boys anyway! We turned over every couch cushion, looked in all coat pockets and floorboards of cars and pulled together $224 of change. That's ALL we needed for a little R&R!
Mama enlisted two of her friends Ann Barry and Diana Cooper to split the bill at The Windmill in Destin, Fl (it compared to the Golden Roach in Greenwood where we use to hang out on dance nights and fill the tubs with beer and whoop juice…that’s another story and recipe!) Before leaving we bought groceries and made snacks, to save money of course. (We didn't use any of the $224 for this, I'm guessing that came out of Daddy's pocket...Mama was very crafty!) Car packed with bathing suits, decks of cards and food…I headed out on my very first, REAL girl's trip.
Oh the things I learned, heard and saw on that trip! I sat on the backseat and passed out appetizers of Ritz crackers with Ann’s homemade pimento cheese while the women took turns driving South. I played my role well: I was, for the most part, seen and not heard. I tended bar, served hors d’oeuvres and even chauffeured one or two times. Being in the 8th grade, 14 going on 15, I was finally old enough to understand all the "girl talk”. I ate that Pimento Cheese for 5 days straight and listened to every story my mother and her friends told.
I’ve been making a version of Ann Barry’s Pimento Cheese for nearly 20 years now. And I think about that trip and chuckle remembering the first time I heard my mother use a real curse word! (Caveat from my Mother: "I did not say it, I am only repeating what someone else said! So that doesn’t count!") Only rules when making pimento cheese: share it with good friends, tell some good stories and pass on laughter to the next generation. Brock, Dyer and Sarah Bailey….you have lots to learn. Your Grandmothers and Mothers have lots to say…listen and find out how crazy we all are.
Oh the things I learned, heard and saw on that trip! I sat on the backseat and passed out appetizers of Ritz crackers with Ann’s homemade pimento cheese while the women took turns driving South. I played my role well: I was, for the most part, seen and not heard. I tended bar, served hors d’oeuvres and even chauffeured one or two times. Being in the 8th grade, 14 going on 15, I was finally old enough to understand all the "girl talk”. I ate that Pimento Cheese for 5 days straight and listened to every story my mother and her friends told.
I’ve been making a version of Ann Barry’s Pimento Cheese for nearly 20 years now. And I think about that trip and chuckle remembering the first time I heard my mother use a real curse word! (Caveat from my Mother: "I did not say it, I am only repeating what someone else said! So that doesn’t count!") Only rules when making pimento cheese: share it with good friends, tell some good stories and pass on laughter to the next generation. Brock, Dyer and Sarah Bailey….you have lots to learn. Your Grandmothers and Mothers have lots to say…listen and find out how crazy we all are.
ORIGINAL VERSION:
2 lb sharp cheddar (Shred from a block)
1/2 bottle Durkee's
1 pint mayo
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp wooster
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 clove crushed garlic
1 7 oz jar pimentos
Drain pimentos well then mash with a fork or cut them up fine. Mix together: Durkees, mayo, mustard, lemon, wooster, red pepper and garlic. Add mixture to the grated cheese until the consistency of your choice. You can use a blender if you want, I like seeing the shredded cheese so I just use a spoon for mixing. Also…some like it more Mayonaisse-y. I don't.
Variations: What I have done differently. Apparently, I can't even follow my own recipes!
I did not use a blender. I did not use that much mayo…at all. I used brown mustard instead of powder. I used garlic salt instead of garlic (and I've roasted it before too, the garlic sort of got overwhelming when it was raw). I used a jarred roasted pepper spread (Ajvar by Zer Gut…Imported by Indo-European of Glendale CA) with the pimentos. I added lots of black pepper. I added a few diced, jarred, pickled jalapenos.vThat's funny. I barely even use my old recipe!
Durkees is the key. If you use that, it will make any Pimento Cheese different than what people have normally had. It's the game changer and I'm sure that's part of what hooked me on Ann's version.
**Cheese ball for NON-Southerners. Do not use blender and stir ingredients. Use less of the mayonnaise mixture. Form into a ball. Roll in toasted pecans and parsley. I made this in New York for all my “Yankee” friends who had no idea what pimento cheese was.
