If it is the weekend, I’m probably in the kitchen. And I am probably making the same things….chicken salad and pimento cheese….family favorites. It is why I buy so much grated sharp cheddar and so many bags of chicken.
Last week for Easter our two oldest granddaughters were home from Macon and Washington D.C. with husbands and their Mom was busy planning for her family’s fourth move on Panama City Beach this week since Hurricane Michael so we decided on a light brunch. I volunteered to bring chicken salad, pimento cheese, dill deviled eggs, and a veggie tray. She was to get croissants and crackers and tea. We would simply make it light and easy. Everyone was happy with that.
So this Sunday I made green salad for lunch, then made the chicken salad and pimento cheese in the afternoon. At least once a week it is family routine. So regular, in fact, that some of my ladies at Titus 2 know that they can raid my fridge and often find it for a quick sandwich when they’re hungry. Or at least they can find cheese in the fridge and pimento in the pantry and I’ll make it in 2 minutes and they can take it back to Titus 2 to enjoy.
Any girl raised in Georgia knows how to make both dishes. My recipe for chicken salad includes South Georgia pecans. In fact, many things I make include South Georgia pecans. That is why I buy so many of them in the fall and put them in the freezer and why Bill toasts so many of them with butter as a snack!
I have a couple of special “secrets” to my chicken salad…..white pepper and lemon juice….along with Hellman’s mayonnaise, finely diced celery, chopped pecans, and all white meat. That’s it! My family likes it. My students like. And I like it. So I guess that’s all the endorsements it needs!
Pimento cheese is a Master’s Tournament favorite, but it has been a family favorite since I can remember. Grated sharp cheddar, diced pimento (well drained), a pinch of sugar, black pepper, and Hellman’s mayo. Good on bread, crackers, celery, cucumber, or straight off your spoon!
As a special treat today, after two very long and hard-working days for our Titus 2 yard sale, I decided to make cooked custard ice cream. The electric ice cream churn turned up as we were pulling things out of storage. So after church I made a cooked custard and took it to Titus 2. They had bought the salt and ice and churned the ice cream. It was delicious. (Just one taste for me on my low carb diet, but I took a cup down to Bill and the dogs to taste!) We decided it was worth making again!
A family at church moving to Birmingham gave Titus 2 their pantry canned goods today and another couple gave them a case of Tyson frozen chicken products that they had received and needed to pass along to make room in their freezer for other things today, as well. It was a particularly food-focused weekend for our students and us. Blessedly so. How wonderful that God gives us the sense of taste and so many delicious foods with which to satisfy that sense! We thank those who think of Titus 2 and share their abundane with our family and our students throughout the year!