As comfort foods go, pimiento cheese is at the top
of my list. There was almost always
pimiento cheese in the refrigerator when I was growing up. I took pimiento cheese sandwiches to school
in my lunch box; we ate pimiento cheese sandwiches for picnic lunches when
traveling; sandwiches for supper were not uncommon; and, when my mother was in
her nineties, her Christmas lunch of choice was a pimiento cheese sandwich. I would ask my mother what she wanted to eat
for Christmas. Her answer always was, “Let’s
don’t cook and have a bunch of old leftovers; let’s have pimiento cheese
sandwiches.” Being totally her daughter,
she didn’t have to twist my arm.
Pimiento cheese sandwiches it was!
Now that my mother has passed away, I still want pimiento cheese
sandwiches for Christmas. In reality,
that tradition is a lot more entrenched in my mind than turkey and dressing of
days past.
My mother’s pimiento cheese consisted of Velveeta
cheese, Miracle Whip salad dressing, and pimientos. At some point, the Velveeta formula must have
changed; using only Velveeta resulted in a gooey mess. We started adding cheddar cheese to the mix
somewhere along the line. Now, I use Velveeta
made with 2% milk; Miracle Whip Light; and either cheddar, Colby-Jack, or pepper
jack cheese. Today I measured the Miracle Whip
for the first time in recorded history.
Pimiento
Cheese
8 ounces cheddar, Colby jack, or pepper jack cheese
2 (4 oz.) jars chopped pimientos, well drained
1-1/2 cups Miracle Whip salad dressing
Grate the cheeses.
Add drained pimientos. Add salad
dressing and mix well. Store in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
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