I am pretty slow to jump on the bandwagon with a lot of things. Maybe it's my default mode of skepticism whenever a new fad manages to make its way into pop culture but I tend to rely on the standard Friends reruns instead of the new hit comedy TV show or my handy English Major lists-of-books-too-read instead of the newest book club rave (I'm talking to you Fifty Shades of Grey). It is because of that tendency that I sat down this past weekend and finally watched the first three episodes of Mad Men, Season 1. We calculated that I have around 100 hours of the show left. I should be caught up in time for Season 15. This is also why I have zero hope for seeing the Hunger Games movie anytime soon since I have a rule that I read the book before watching the movie and since I just now started the Twilight series (Team Jacob all the way), I'll move Hunger Games to #348 on my Netflix queue which should give me plenty of time to read the book before having to watch the movie.
I am also finally getting into podcasts (these are my favorite) and actually doing something on twitter (my name is @thenewtonienne). Come and follow me and watch how I struggle to make my run-on sentences and rambling thoughts fit into 140 characters or less. I have been retweeted twice and one of those times was by Robbie so it probably doesn't count. I can't wait till one of the 15 Food Network stars I'm following retweets something I say. I'm hoping it will be because of my wit and not because I said "Hi @GdeLaurentiis, it's my birthday, can I get a Retweet?!"
One more thing I'm behind on -- these "National {Insert Food} Days" that I always don't notice until a week later. For instance, I believe sometime last week was National Grilled Cheese Day. I must have missed that on the Google Doodle but I recently made my grandmother's/aunt's/cousin's pimento cheese recipe and it makes one darn good Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Trust me on this one. I may be behind in my Young Adult reading but I am well up-to-speed when it comes to delicious food.
A note from the Mullinax women - you should really make this recipe your own -- mix cheeses, adjust the heat with the pickled jalepeno juice, add some onion or garlic powder to the mix. Throw in some diced green olives or some crumbled bacon. Also, this recipe makes quite a bit of pimento cheese. Get creative when serving it - use it in sandwiches, as veggie dip, smothered onto crackers and melted in the microwave, used as a burger topping -- whatever gets you through the bowl.
Mimi's/Aunt Linda's/Hannah's/and now M.J.'s Pimento Cheese
A Family Recipe
3 8 oz. blocks sharp cheddar
1 8 oz. block Monterey Jack
1 8 oz. block Pepper Jack
1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon Texas Pete hot sauce
2 Tablespoons juice from a jar of pickled jalepenos (Old El Paso, for instance)
1 Jar diced pimentos
Use a food processor or a manual grinder to grind the 5 blocks of cheese until shredded. Combine ingredients in large bowl and mix well.
