So, not really having spent much time or in most cases not visited many of the states in the South (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland*, Mississippi, North Carolina*, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia), you would think that I would have no interest in Southern food. There my friends, you would be dead wrong. I love Southern cuisine!

My passion for Southern food really started with our 2001 trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras with our dear friends Dick and Eloise. We didn’t eat in one restaurant that I wouldn’t want to visit again. Of course we were guided to only amazing restaurants by our hosts John and Carol (son and daughter-in-law of our traveling companions) with whom we stayed for 10 full days. I’m telling you true. If you want to visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and for Mr. C and me once was enough, the best way to do it is to have good friends who live there and have a guest room with your name on the reservation! (The only thing that actually saved our sanity, is that we knew we could always escape the Mardi Gras chaos by returning to John and Carol’s home. Had we been staying in a hotel, I fear that the noise and commotion would have led to a serious drinking problem!)

But I will always be grateful for our visit to New Orleans. Not just because of the Mardi Gras experience itself, but more importantly for the time we spent with our dear friends. That stay and the fabulous food we experienced actually served as the catalyst for my passion for Southern cuisine. I absolutely loved the food and I vowed then and there, to learn more about the food that dominated that region of the USA and the other “Southern states”. And I have been studying Cajun, creole, and Southern cooking ever since.

In fact, for one of our recent before concert meals for JazzVox, I made this Southern recipe for the appetizer, along with several other regional favorites. And my guests loved it. They were as entranced with the food as much as I was.

So the next time you need a quick and easy appetizer spread, give this recipe a try. For another great pimento cheese recipe, also give my friend Vicki’s recipe a try. Just another version, but even easier to prepare and just as delicious. Search under Cheese & Pimento Spread on this site. Enjoy all y’all.

And if you would like to know what the furry members of our family do while Mr. C and I are busily working or playing around the house, please see the photos at the bottom of this post.

• 3 c. grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 pkg. (8-oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
• ½ c. mayonnaise
• freshly ground black pepper (not very much)
• ¼ tsp. granulated garlic
• ¼ tsp. onion powder 
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
• ¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ tsp. dry mustard
• 6 oz. diced pimentos, drained (save a small amount for garnish)   

Place the cheddar cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse until not quite smooth. (You want some texture, so don’t over process.) Add the pimento and give it one or 2 quick pulses. (You don’t want the pimento too finely chopped or blended either. Little pieces of pimento are desired.) Adjust seasoning.

Scoop into a serving bowl, garnish with the last little bits of pimento, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest in your refrigerator for a couple days. Serve at room temperature with buttery crackers.

*I attended son Sven’s graduation from Davidson College in Davidson, NC. Spent only 4 days in the area. No wonderful food to speak of!

And I lived in Newark, Delaware for 2 years while my former husband went to graduate school at the University of Delaware. We drove around Maryland on many occasions, mainly to view the countryside, observe the Amish people, and eat picnic lunches at the many incredible cemeteries that dotted the countryside. (And you thought you knew me well!) But as poor college students, we did not avail ourselves of the local cuisine as much as we would have liked. Just a rare treat of blue crabs straight out of the Chesapeake Bay and the best crab cakes I’ve ever tasted.

Max – one of the twins on daddy’s  sweatshirt

Miles – the other twin on his favorite “nest” by the door to the courtyard

Georgia – the family princess on my side of our bed. And why my side of the bed? She barely tolerates me and totally loves her papa. So again I ask. Why my side of the bed?