Aunt Elaine's Pimento Cheese

My sister-in-law makes the best Pimento Cheese ever!  My husband always requests it for his birthday.  So his birthday was September 24th and of course, he got his Pimento Cheese.  And I got the recipe to share.  Thanks, Elaine!

Aunt Elaine's Pimento Cheese

16 oz. block of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. sliced pimento, not drained
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons pepper
1 cup or more Mayo (Elaine uses Dukes Lite)
2-3 Tablespoons diced jalapeno peppers, optional (Elaine uses Mt.Olive diced jalapeno peppers in a jar)

Put half of cheese and other ingredients in food processor.  Mix together. Then add rest of cheese.   Process until creamy.  Let set in fridge.

**Elaine says it is trial and error as far as the mayo. You want it to be creamy like pudding.  You can also use different kinds of cheeses like white cheddar, Monterrey Jack or a combination of two cheeses.

Marietta's Black-eyed Pea Salsa

Here's another great salsa recipe my friend Marietta shared with me.  It's delicious!  I also have a Black Bean Salsa posted that I love with chips.  Now you have another choice for making a chip salsa to share with your family and friends.  Actually you can eat both salsas by the spoonful without chips if you'd like :-)

Marietta's Black-eyed Pea Salsa

1 can of black-eyed peas (drained)
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
2 Roma tomatoes (diced)
1 ripe avocado (diced)
3/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)
1 packet dry Italian dressing mix (Prepared per instructions) or 8 oz. of Zesty Italian Dressing
1 Tablespoon Cumin

Mix all ingredients.  Chill and serve with chips

Nikki's Crock Pot Sausage Dip

Nikki is one of my Young Single Adults.  She is known for her Sausage Dip.  Any time we have a pot luck we hope Nikki brings this delicious dip.  And you better be at the beginning of the line or it will be gone!  Thanks for sharing, Nikki!

Nikki's Crock Pot Sausage Dip

2 rolls Jimmy Dean Sausage (mild)
2 cans Rotel Tomatoes (regular)
2 blocks cream cheese

Cook sausage and pat off grease with paper towels.

Turn crock pot on low.  Place meat in the crock pot, then mix in cream cheese.  Once cream cheese is completely mixed, add both cans of Rotel.  Keep heated on low in the crock pot.  Serve with Tostito's Scoops!

Pears with Bleu Cheese and Honey

Hope everyone had a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas!

Here is a simple appetizer that your guests will love.  My friend Angie made this when my husband and I went to their home for dinner.  It was so good!  Angie shared the recipe with me and now I'm sharing it with you!  Happy New Year!

Pears with Bleu Cheese and Honey

Golden pears
Bleu Cheese
Honey

Slice pears and put on a tray.  Sprinkle cheese on top and drizzle with honey.

That's it!  How simple and how delicious!

Fruit Sushi

My little grandchildren (with the help of their dad) made this Fruit Sushi for Family Home Evening dessert.  I thought it was so cute, and surprisingly it tasted good!  They found the recipe in the June 2011 Friend.  All you need is 1 banana, 1 piece of fruit leather, and some sprinkles.  Wrap the fruit leather around the banana and cut into 1 inch slices.  Use toothpicks to hold it together.  Add a few sprinkles on top and there you have it--Fruit Sushi!

Notice that they served it on their Princess plate :)

Spiced Honey Pretzels

Here's another easy recipe from the 2010 Taste of Home Annual Recipes book. Quick, easy, and tasty!

Spiced Honey Pretzels

4 cups thin pretzel sticks ( I used the square ones)
3 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder

Line a 15x10x1 inch baking pan with foil; coat the foil with cooking spray.  Place the pretzels in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the honey, butter, onion powder and chili powder.  Pour over pretzels; toss to coat evenly.  Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes, stirring once.  Cool on a wire rack, stirring gently several times to separate.

Moma Toby's Chopped Liver

I know what you're thinking--GROSS!  But have you ever tried Chopped Liver?  Whenever the whole family gets together, my mom always makes chopped liver.  It is so delicious.  Honest!  Even family members who hate liver, love my mom's chopped liver.  I decided to try to make it this past Thanksgiving.  Mom didn't really have a recipe, but she told me how to make it.  I must admit it turned out scrumptious.  Of course mom doctored it up a little when she arrived at my home for Thanksgiving dinner.  She added a little more salt, a little more onion, sugar, etc.  Whatever she did, it was the best chopped liver we have ever had.  (Hope I've inherited "Mom's touch".)

Moma Toby's Chopped Liver

2-3 pounds chicken livers, rinsed well
2- 3 large onions, chopped
vegetable oil
8-10 hard boiled eggs
3 teaspoons sugar
3 or more teaspoons mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil rinsed livers in water.  Add a little salt to the water and boil until livers get tender/soft and well done (about 45 minutes).  Drain livers and rinse again.  Clean grit from the middle (where it connects--Mom says you'll know when you see it).

Saute onions (Mom says lots of onions) in oil (about 1/4 cup) until onions are soft and clear.  Add livers and saute some more.  Mash livers with a fork when done. 
(Poor mom, she never had food processors.  But I mashed them with a fork, because I always do what "mom says"--usually.)

Add hard boiled eggs. (Mom says about 3 - 4 per pound of liver.)  Mash together and add to liver mixture.

Add sugar. (Mom says about 1 teaspoon per pound of liver)
Add Mayo.  (Mom says about 1 teaspoon or more per pound of liver.)
Add salt to taste.
Add more raw onion and mix well.

Mom says to go by taste and add more salt, onion, mayo, sugar, etc.

Serve with crackers--Mom says!

**Best if made a day or two before you serve--Mom says and she's right!

Nacho Cheese Dip

We have really enjoyed watching college football on TV this season.  GO COCKS!  Our favorite football snack is my nacho cheese dip with tortilla chips.  It's actually the Rotel tomatoes recipe.  So easy and so delicious.  Last week when the Gamecocks crushed Clemson (YES!) we put out some cooked ground beef and some black beans and mixed it with the dip.  Mmmmm!  How sweet it is--especially when USC wins, which we seem to be doing a lot of this year.  GO COCKS!  Let's annihilate Auburn this Saturday for the SEC championship crown.

Nacho Cheese Dip

1 can Rotel Tomatoes
16 oz. Velveeta Cheese

Put in a mircowavable dish and mircrowave for about 6 minutes.  Stir and mircowave a few more minutes until cheese is completely melted.  Stir and serve with tortilla chips.

Boiled Peanuts

One of the staple foods in the South is definitely boiled peanuts or as they say in the South "bald" peanuts.  It is definitely easier to buy them than to make them yourself, but they are so good when you make them fresh.  If you have a pressure cooker, you can make them in half the time.  I don't have one so I boil my peanuts 7 to 8 hours.  It's very simple to make boiled peanuts because you all you do is boil them, duh!  It just takes time to boil them.  So start them early in the morning so you're not waking up in the middle of the night to check on them.

Boiled Peanuts

2 pounds of fresh green peanuts
8 - 10 cups water
1/2 cup salt

Put green peanuts in a large pot.  Add water to cover the peanuts.  Add the salt and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low or medium low.  Boil for 7 - 8 hours until peanuts are softened.  You will need to add more water when you check them since the water evaporates ( and you need to check them often).  You can add a little more salt if needed, but be careful--you want the peanuts salty, but not too salty.  After about 6 hours of cooking, I will taste a peanut to see if it is soft or if it needs a little more salt.  You just have to keep checking and tasting until they are cooked they way you like them.  When done, pour into a colander to drain off water.  Let cool.  Of course you have to eat some while they are cooling, and if there are any left, store in refrigerator :-)

**Remember:  You must use fresh green peanuts.  You can't boil roasted peanuts.

Tanji's Black Bean and Corn Salsa

We went to Brian and Brandi's for a 4th of July cookout and Brandi made a delicious bean and corn salsa.  She got the recipe from her good friend Tanji, so I'll call it Tanji's Black Bean and Corn Salsa.  Thanks Tanji and thanks Brandi for sharing the recipe. Yum!

Tanji's Black Bean and Corn Salsa
In a large bowl put:
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained and rinsed (I used white corn)
2 large chopped tomatoes (I used a can of petite diced tomatoes)
1 chopped purple onion
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 avocados, chopped (add this right before serving)

Marinade (mix together, then add to salsa)
3 - 4 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
(Add more salt and lime to taste if you like)

Serve with you favorite tortilla chip.  Brandi said this salsa is great with lime chips but they break easily.  Hey, a broken chip tastes just as good as a whole one.  Right?

No Cook Salsa

Sometimes you just have a taste for salsa and chips. Here is a delicious no cook salsa recipe. You will need to plan ahead because you need to make this the day before you serve it. The salsa needs time to let the flavors develop. It keeps well in the fridge and the longer it sits, the better it is. Serve with corn chips and other dippers.

No Cook Salsa

1 can diced or whole tomatoes (I put it in a blender because my son-in-law doesn't like chunks of tomato.)

1 chopped onion

1 chopped bell pepper

1 can black beans, drained

1 can white shoepeg or niblet corn (I used shoepeg.)

Picante sauce to taste

Tomato sauce to taste (I didn't even put this in. I thought the picante sauce was enough.)

1 pinch sugar

1 juice of a lime

1 juice of a lemon

Cilantro

Combine all ingredients, adding picante sauce to taste. Place in a container and refrigerate over night.

**Try other additions and develop your own "special salsa".

Pineapple Cheese Ball

Are you having a holiday party? This easy and delicious cheese ball, served with crackers, will be a hit. Better have some recipe cards made up, because everyone will be asking for the recipe. Enjoy!

Pineapple Cheese Ball

2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened

1 small can crushed pineapple, drained well (I even use a paper towel to dry it more)

1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper

2 tablespoons of chopped onion

1 tablespoon of seasoned salt

2 cups of chopped pecans

Combine the first three ingredients, add 1 cup nuts and mix well. Refrigerate until firm and shape into a ball. Roll the ball in the other cup of nuts. Serve with crackers of your choice.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Speaking of meatballs--my sister makes sweet and sour meatballs for her family and serves it as the main dish with rice. I've always used a this recipe as an appetizer, but decided to try it as a main dish. You know, it was pretty good. The sauce made a great gravy and my family loved it. Oh, and I put 2 scoops of Mila in the meatballs so I felt it was more healthy for everyone.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

In a pot, mix together:

2 jars of chili sauce

2 1/3 cups grape jelly or jam

2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

Cook on stove top, stir until blended and let it come to a boil.

Mix together and shape into balls (about the size of a walnut):

2 pounds ground beef

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons dried minced onion

Add meatballs to pot and cook on low. Simmer for 1 - 1/2 hours. Serve on rice.

**You can cook this in a crock pot, too.

Carmel Apple Dip

This is a recipe I got from Brandi's sister. Now that it is apple season, I thought this would be a great recipe to share. It is so yummy! I know you'll like it, too.

Carmel Apple Dip

Mix with an electric mixer:

1 package cream cheese (softened)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Add by hand:

1 bag Skor bits or Heath bits with chocolate

Salty Bones

Here is one last Halloween treat for your family to enjoy--Salty Bones. This also came from the Family Fun website. Happy Haunting!

Salty Bones

1 tube of refrigerated bread stick dough

Coarse salt

Unroll a tube of refrigerated bread stick dough and separate the rectangular pieces. Working with one piece at a time, stretch the dough to lengthen it a bit and then use kitchen scissors or a knife to cut a 1 1/2 inch slit in the center of each end. Roll or shape the resulting four flaps of sough into knobs that look like the ends of a bone. Place the dough bones on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle a little coarse salt over each bone. Bake the bones until they are light golden brown, about 12 - 14 minutes.

Freaky Fingers and Monster Mouths

I found some really cute Halloween treats on the Family Fun website. They were called Cheese Finger Food and Apple Bites, but I think Freaky Fingers and Monster Mouths sound much more appetizing for Halloween!

Freaky Fingers

Mozzarella string cheese

Green bell pepper

Cream cheese

Cut each cheese stick in half (makes two fingers). Carve a shallow area for a fingernail just below the rounded end of each half. Carve out tiny horizontal wedges for joint (below the nail) and the knuckle joint. Slice green bell pepper into nail shapes and stick them in place at the ends of the fingers with dabs of cream cheese.

Monster Mouths

Apples

Slivered almonds

Quarter and core an apple. Cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter. Then press slivered almonds in place for teeth.

Tip: If you're not going to serve these right away, bast the apples with orange juice to keep them from browning.