After our “Sewing, Cooking and Community” extravaganza in Atlanta, just about everyone asked me about Angie’s Pimento Cheese recipe (pronounced “puhmenaaacheeeez”).

The first time I saw Angie’s recipe, it surprised me to see onion included, but now I firmly believe that this is the trick.

Peel the skin from the two red peppers that we baked yesterday.  As I read in Scott Peacock’s book “The Gift of Southern Cooking,” resist the urge to wash the pepper and simply scrape away the seeds and skin until you are left with the “pimento.” You don’t want to lose all those good juices. Dice the pimento into fine cubes.

Ingredients (makes about two and a half cups):

2 1/2 cups cheese (cheddar, jack, hoop or anything you can find), grated
Homemade mayonnaise from Scott Peacock’s recipe in Gourmet Magazine
Diced pimentos (above)
One small sweet onion, minced
3-4 shakes of a Tabasco bottle
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together to form a thick paste. Salt and pepper to taste or add more hot sauce if you like things spicy.

Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Eat often.

I like mine on crackers, Maggie likes Fritos, and traditional Southern etiquette calls for a simple white bread (crust optional).

Enjoy!