Pimento Cheese Spread

Perhaps best known as a popular dish in the American South, and especially so at golf tournaments in Augusta, Georgia, pimento cheese spread actually "seems" to have developed in New York state, which, if it became widely known, would likely cause a spike in late night viewings of "Damn Yankees" by Southerners tossing and turning at nights, unable to accept the reality of the situation and looking for a way to vent. Hahahaha

In the past, the cheese was grated by hand on a box grater and the pimentos and onion were diced or chopped by hand. Then all of the ingredients were stirred together with a large spoon. Later, as electric mixers became more popular, the ingredients were often mixed that way. Now, you can use a food processor and make the spread to the consistency you like; chunky or smooth, or somewhere in between. There are many recipes for pimento cheese spread, including one I have in an old Southern cookbook I've owned for more than 40 years, which has NO mayonnaise! (Ah, that is, the cheese spread, but I have never noticed any mayonnaise in the book either.) Many recipes have some element of "heat;" that is, cayenne pepper or hot pepper sauce are a part of the recipe. This recipe here is my own and you most certainly can pass the hot sauce for users to apply in the amount they choose.

Ingredients:

1 pound sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup softened cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 ounces pimentos, drained and sliced
2 tablespoons roughly chopped onion
1 teaspoon paprika (sweet or hot)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Cut or slice the pimentos in some way, just so they are more likely to get mixed in well; you have have to make them "pretty," as they will be put into the processor/blender. Cut the cheese into chunks and put it into a food processor. Process the cheese very briefly, just to start it, then add the well softened cream cheese, and the other ingredients. Process to the consistency you want, making sure everything gets mixed in well. Cover the spread and chill it for several hours. Great served on crackers, on pumpernickel or white bread triangles, or as sandwiches. Try it on your cheeseburger.

WORD HISTORY:
Yet-This fairly common word has a bit of a shaky history, although it and its known Germanic relatives have meanings related to time. The best I can come up with is this: it goes back to something on the order of Indo European "aiu/aio," which had to do with "length of time in life." Its Old Germanic offspring had something like "aiw(ut,)" also with reference to time. This gave Old English "giet," which meant, "up until now, up until this time." (The "gi" combination produced a sound like "y," a pretty common occurrence in the Germanic dialects of the North Sea area, as Low German still has such with "g" to this day, and the dialect of Berlin, which kept features from the time when the area was settled by Low German speakers, also has the "g=y" sound; thus, standard German "geben" (to give), pronounced as if "gayben," is pronounced like "yayben," in Berlin dialect.) The Old English spelling then became "yit" and then "yet." It has relatives in the first part of the German word "jetzt," actually a compound meaning, "now," and also the beginning of German "immer" (always) and the beginning of "ewig" (forever), as well as, "je" (ever), Dutch "ooit" ("ever"), West Frisian "yit" (meaning, "yet, still"), the beginning of the second syllable of Low German Saxon "alljümmer" (always, anytime)