Amy’s Pimento Cheese Spread

Graduation Board
My two sons graduate from high school on Thursday. I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence. It doesn’t quite seem real. But, maybe if I keep saying it I will be able to wrap my head around it. I mean it really doesn’t seem that long ago that I dropped them off for their first day of kindergarten—one of them excited and one of them sobbing. But now it is on to a different chapter in their life. And, like the hundreds of other graduates in their class, we will be having a party on Saturday.

Based on the number of invitations we received for grad parties, we know that the day will be much more of a rolling party than everyone gathering all at once. This means the food will have to be more passive than active. This is a fantastic opportunity for my daughter and me because we have both caught the ART-cuterie board bug that has become all the rage. Just take a quick spin through Pinterest and you will get the gist.

ART-cuterie is essentially a cheese board that combines salami and fruits and nuts as well as dips and cheeses in a though out and artful way. It’s kinda silly, really. But, they can be very pretty when displayed on your buffet table. Plus, it doesn’t always have to be made with meat and cheese. You can do a s’mores board, or something with baked goods, or fruit and chocolate. An all-veggie tray is always a good idea. You can make them as big or as small as you need or do more than one if you want even more variety. The possibilities are endless as are the combinations.

We’re planning on doing a mixed grill. So, I’m thinking that my board should have things that go well with a Summer BBQ. I am going with basic favorites like sliced cucumbers, celery sticks, and bell peppers. Since the peaches and nectarines are starting to come in, I think I might slice some up and add them along with some crisp grapes and Marcona almonds. There will definitely be sliced salami and prosciutto. For crackers, I’m going to go with some water crackers and some butter crackers. The absolute must-have for me though is Pimento Cheese Spread.

Our cheese department has our Pappy’s Pimento Cheese Spread which is darn tasty. But, sometimes I just like to do it myself so I can customize it a bit. For example, I like Amy’s Pimento Cheese Spread with a little fresh diced jalapeño for a bit more kick. I also like a little green onion—which isn’t traditional. But, I likes what I likes…

Amy’s Pimento Cheese Spread Recipe
Yields approxomately 4 cups
Read more…

Curry Chicken Salad

Party Time
In our lives, we will attend many celebrations. (I know…such amazing insight!) There will be birthdays, holidays, and graduations. There will be happy celebrations and sad. What is interesting to me is the type of celebrations you attend in a lot of ways depends on your age and where you are in your life. Let me explain…

Not too long ago my husband and I were sitting around talking about how we really wanted to go to a wedding. It had been years since we attended a wedding and the two of us were kind of in the mood for a good party. The only problem is, at this point in our time on earth, all our friends are married and their kids as well as ours aren’t even close to thinking about marriage let alone doing it. So, alas, no party.

Same thing is true with bachelorette parties, wedding showers, and baby showers, though I’m pretty sure I couldn’t survive a bachelorette party at this point (It hurts just thinking about it.), I haven’t been to a shower other than the wet and soapy kind for almost 20 years. This is nuts because for about a five-year period of time it seemed like I was hosting or attending a shower of some variety at least once a month.

It got to the point that my sister and I became masters of the baby/bridal shower—mostly because my sister is just good that way. But, we got it down to a science. And, as long as the guest list was different, you just went with the same process, menu, and setup. Different colors of course. We were a well-oiled machine.

Our menu of choice included this Curry Chicken Salad that we served in a fresh papaya boat. But, you could also do it with half an avocado if you wanted to go smaller. The recipe came from a Junior League Cookbook of my mother’s that has given us several family favorites. The recipe below is the original. But, if I had to make this recipe today, 20 years later, I would make a few changes as my personal tastes and eating habits have changed significantly. I’ve noted them in parentheses in case you feel the same.

Curry Chicken Salad
Adapted from the Private Collection: The Junior League of Palo Alto Cookbook
Yields 8 servings Read more…

Chili con Queso

Say Cheese
My sister is a foodie just like me. Weekends are planned around baking schedules. Excuses to have a get-together are whipped up so that a certain cookbook can be taken for a test drive. Entire international vacation itineraries revolve around restaurants and the foods of far-off lands. We love good food. It is because of this love of all things culinary that she gets a rather large dose of ridicule for her love of queso.

You can call it queso, cheese sauce, or even cheese dip. But, no matter what you call it if there is a tray of semi-fresh tortilla chips with bright orange cheese sauce you bet my sister is all over them. The more bright orange and weird the queso, the better. So, it should come as no surprise that at a recent get-together there was a small, gently bubbling crockpot of queso.

The good news is that this wasn’t the queso that you pump onto chips at the ballpark. This was a different animal. This was queso that she made. And, fresh queso is a totally different experience. Yes, you might have to get past the fact that it is indeed still made with Velveeta—a product my mother only bought to put in our emergency earthquake kit. But, the results are worth it.

Real queso does not have that plasticky sheen and/or texture. Real queso is actually quite good and I will bet anyone that the loudest naysayers will be the same people who park themselves by the bowl and can’t stop eating it. (Guilty)

This is the recipe she made and it comes adapted from my favorite cookbook and restaurant Tacolicious. It’s one of their most popular items on the menu. Give it a try for Cinco de Mayo and see what you think…

Chili con Queso
Yields 12 servings
Recipe adapted from Tacolicious by Sara Deseran Read more…

Steamed Artichokes

Thistle Do!
I have always had a thing for steamed artichokes. It started when I was a kid. My grandmother was a huge fan of artichokes and she passed that love on to me. My sister and my mother weren’t as crazy about them. So, it was a connection that was just between me and my grandmother. It was ritualistic.

She would get so excited for the Spring because it would mean that artichokes would be in season. And, she would take a trip to Watsonville just to get the freshest ones. At home, she would steam them, and we would devour them with a dollop of mayonnaise on the side. Always mayo. Never butter, vinaigrette, or anything else. I have since embraced other options like chipotle aioli to aid my obsession. But, I admit that the mayo is still my favorite way to eat the leaves of a choke.

It never occurred to me growing up that the love my grandmother and I had for artichokes wasn’t universal and that other people wouldn’t have the same fondness for artichokes. I was completely shocked when I went away for college and encountered friends who hadn’t even heard of an artichoke—let alone eaten one. But my grief at the lack of artichoke reverence was lifted by the lovely woman who was the house manager for my sorority.

Ms. Church lived on the premises and managed more than just the kitchens and the grounds. She was an invaluable resource for anything we needed. She didn’t have any kids of her own. So, Ms. Church considered us all hers. She was classy as hell and didn’t take any crap. But, she was also a lot of fun. Ann Church liked her cocktails, smokes, dirty jokes, tv shows, drove a hot little Cadillac, and she was as crazy about artichokes as I am. (She was basically my hero).

Every Spring Ms. Church would order cases of artichokes that would be steamed to eat for dinner for the whole house. There was nothing else to go with them. Just the artichokes. No chicken. No potatoes. Just chokes. It was fantastic. I spent most of my first artichoke dinner explaining to others how to eat them. But, every artichoke dinner after that I sat next to Ms. Church, and we happily gorged ourselves while others looked on and thought we were nuts.

My daughter has inherited my love of artichokes, although her enthusiasm may not always match mine. We did enjoy our first giant choke of the season the other day though. It was glorious…

Steamed Artichokes Recipe
Yields 4 servings

It is not difficult to prepare steamed artichokes. It just takes a little time for them to steam and to allow them to return to room temperature. So, if you are planning a dinner party, steam the artichokes first and set them aside. They make a lovely appetizer. Read more…