Pimento Cheese

Thinking about what to make for our New Years party - right now I'm thinking tenderloin sliders (made with Boursin cheese spread on King's Hawaiian rolls, topped with a slice or two of tenderloin and a big arugula leaf...yum), not sure what anyone else is bringing yet. For sure I'll make my yummy pimento cheese...ok, it's not actually "mine" - this is a Paula and Bobby Dean recipe but I've been making it for so long I think of it as mine now haha. When my nieces were younger they called it "yummy cheese", as in "can we have yummy cheese tonight?" - if adults and kids both give it a thumbs up you know it has to be good! I usually double the recipe and use it multiple ways (my mom just gave me the tip to make grilled ham and cheese with it, that'd be so good!), if there's much leftover it freezes well too.

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 Cup grated monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 to 3 Tablespoons pimentos
1 teaspoon grated onion (optional)
1/2 teaspoon House Seasoning*
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until well blended. Serve with crackers, pita chips, thin breadsticks, etc.

note: *House Seasoning is a mixture of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. It calls for so little in this recipe that I just mix a bit of each in the palm of my hand and add it to the cheese mixture.

Makes 2 1/2 to 3 cups

Carrot Cake with Honey Orange Buttercream Frosting

Sheryl brought this carrot cake into work and even though I don't usually eat cake at 9:30 in the morning I was just going to have a bite to be polite - but then I couldn't stop eating it! I should have known it would be great and snapped a photo before I ate it - picture a two layer carrot cake with fluffy white frosting and filling...really pretty...and really yummy.  She said that she had been making a basic 13x9 carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for years and decided that it was time to come up with a better version - so she turned to Paula Deen and found a winner. Give this a try, it's different than "regular" carrot cake and the frosting is SO good! Here's the email Sheryl sent me with recipe and her notes:

• 2c flour
• 1 3/4c sugar
• 2t baking powder
• 1t baking soda
• 1t cinnamon
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1 1/4 c vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2t grated orange zest
• 2c finely grated carrots
• 8oz crushed pineapple, drained
• 1c chopped walnuts
• 3/4 c raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and sugar (most people use flour) two 9 or 10 inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add oil, eggs and orange zest. Beat at medium speed until combined. Beat in carrot and pineapple. Pour into prepared pans and bake 25-27 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean

Notes: I think my bake time was 30-35 minutes.

It is correct that there is no vanilla in this recipe.

No need to beat batter. Just mix until blended.

Now for the frosting....

Honey Orange Frosting

1c butter, softened

3T honey

2T orange juice

1/4 t cinnamon

6c confectioner's (powdered) sugar

In large bowl beat butter, honey, orange juice and cinnamon until creamy. Gradually beat in confections sugar until smooth.

Frost when cake is completely cool.

Notes: beat butter until a pale yellow.

It is correct that there is no cream cheese in this frosting. You may want to use a cream cheese frosting but bear with me and try this. It's a great frosting for the carrot cake...trust me!

I found the frosting a little too firm after adding the sugar, so I added a few drops of milk until it reached the desired consistency.