Friday, August 7, 2020

Cuisine & Screen: Home Edition, Part 18

Thank y'all for continuing to humor me with these at home editions of C&S! It is definitely providing me a fun, creative outlet while my social life is much on hold. This free time at home also gave me the opportunity to work on (and finish!!) this puzzle I ordered from Our State Magazine. It was super challenging but lots of fun, and reminded me of a family trip we took to the Outer Banks nearly 20 years ago. Check out the puzzles for sale here: https://ourstatestore.com/search?q=puzzles


CUISINE
I've been on a big Pimiento Cheese kick lately. It reminds me of summers at the beach, when all I would eat for lunch were Pimiento Cheese crackers (I'm not a sandwich gal, see) and while people are VERY particular about their favorite "Caviar of the South," I'll only pontificate briefly about mine.

My favorite Pimiento Cheese is my grandmother's (she's also the one responsible for the recent Okra & Tomatoes post). In my humble opinion, if you're not going to make your own, the only decent store-bought options are Palmetto; MyThreeSons (made in Greensboro!); and the wild card - Food Lion's deli brand (I KNOW!) But this homemade recipe is simple and hard to beat. I did take the liberty of adding an ingredient to give it extra pizzazz, but it's entirely optional.

-8 oz. Cracker Barrel brand Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated*
-4 TB mayonnaise (start with this amount, you can always add more if you need)
-2 oz. jar of diced pimientos (don't drain)
-1 tsp black pepper
-1 tsp vinegar (apple cider, white wine or champagne vinegars work best)
-pinch of salt
-2 TB Mount Olive brand pickled jalapeno slices, chopped (optional)

Combine the cheese and mayonnaise in a bowl. Using the back of a fork, really mash the cheese into the mayo, so that it becomes creamy. Add the pimientos, pepper, vinegar, salt and jalapenos if using. Taste for seasoning. Best enjoyed on crackers, between 2 buttered, grilled pieces of bread or with a spoon.

*Pro tip - let the block of cheese come to room temperature so that it's easier to grate!   
The "Caviar of the South" - my favorite Pimiento Cheese
                                                                             
I've been enjoying exploring mixology more and more these days (what else is there to do?!) and I've been loving these Amaretto Sours. Trust me, they're better than anything you had in college.

-1 1/2 oz Disaronno (amaretto liqueur)
-1 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
-1/2 oz simple syrup
-1 egg white (do not omit this!!)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake for a full 30 seconds, to ensure the egg white gets thoroughly incorporated into the drink. Then, add a handful of ice, shake again and start slurping.

SCREEN
Set It Up - A true Netflix rom-com, meaning it's decent mindless entertainment. Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell have great chemistry as two corporate assistants who try to set up their miserable bosses. Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu both shine as these difficult, temperamental executives, and the end will tug on your heartstrings. Certainly not one to withstand the test of time, but will most certainly do for now.

Blockers - Anything with Ike Barinholtz is pure gold to me. The premise is a bit silly - three parents try anything to stop their kids from losing their virginity on prom night - but there are actually some good laughs. Barinholtz has fabulous chemistry with co-stars Leslie Mann and John Cena, but the real stars might be the young actors, who have terrific comedic timing. Lots of emojis and lots of millennial jargon, though I realized while watching it, I'm closer to the parent character age of 43 than the kid character age of 18! 😱

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