An Easy, Finger Lickin’ Southern Side—Pimento Cheese

Wow! We had Release-a-palooza yesterday! Congratulations to my fellow Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen cooks, Wendy Watson and Julie Hyzy for their brand new releases! My Kindle is loaded and I am ready to do some summer reading!

I was thrilled to see Finger Lickin’ Dead on the shelves yesterday. I do have a little giveaway after my recipe, so be sure to scroll down to the end of the post if you’d like to enter.

Now, on to pimento cheese! The easy version.

Pimento cheese is a favorite Southern side. It’s served as a veggie dip, spread on sandwiches, and used as a condiment. In fact, I went to a huge birthday party last Saturday at the beach, with some absolutely fabulous food…and pimento cheese was one of the things that the caterers put out.


Since yesterday marked my release of Finger Lickin’ Dead, I thought a little pimento cheese was in order. That’s one of my sleuth, Lulu’s, favorite foods. She even offers pimento cheese dogs and pimento cheese topped burgers on special occasions at Aunt Pat’s BBQ restaurant.

It’s light and tasty, but I think that some people aren’t wild about pimento cheese because of the texture. And that’s a shame, because you can make a smooth version (which is really the kind I prefer, myself.) Here’s how:

Simply Southern Pimento Cheese

1 block extra-sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
1 4 oz. jar pimentos, with liquid
1 cup mayonnaise
1 squirt regular mustard
1 dash garlic powder
Put all the ingredients in your blender. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes for the pimento cheese to thicken into a spread.

(That’s right, y’all….I said the blender!) No wrestling with your food processor needed!

To make those little luncheon sandwiches, all the ladies cut the edges off white bread, spread the pimento cheese on them, and set them out on china plates. Sometimes they put a moistened paper towel over the sandwiches to keep the bread soft while they wait for their luncheon to start.
Yes, I could happily eat pimento cheese all day long. :)
And now, some more about my….

"Finger Lickin' Dead" Giveaway

It's time for a Finger Lickin' Dead giveaway! To celebrate the June 7 release of the 2nd book in the Memphis Barbecue series, I'm throwing an easy contest.
To enter the random drawing for a free, signed, paperback copy of "Finger Lickin' Dead," just send me an email--I'm at elizabethspanncraig (at) gmail (dot) com-- with "Giveaway" in the subject line. The contest is open to everyone—my international friends, included. The deadline for entering is Tuesday, June 14th at midnight, ET. The winner will be announced during my post, Wednesday, June 15th here on the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen blog. Good luck!