The Tray of Goodness

On Sundays, we like to relax and watch movies at my house. The afternoons are lazy and relaxing. Because we usually have brunch on Sundays, a big lunch isn't necessary. To make things easy on ourselves, we'll sometimes put together a tray of self-serve items. Here are some ideas for an easy lunch or snack time tray:

- Cheddar Cheese Slices
- Swiss or Provolone Slices
- A Soft Cheese, like Bleu
- A Small Loaf of Crusty Bread
- Crackers
- Dry Italian Salami
- Sliced Apples
- Sliced Carrots and Celery
- Grapes
- Marinated Olives

For the apples, soft cheese, and bread, let your family slice their own. You can do that with the cheeses too. This type of lunch is more common in European countries like Italy or France, and is usually accompanied by wine or champagne.

Pimento cheese

A staple at showers, receptions and funeral, pimento cheese sandwiches are a Southern classic. Basically a mix of cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, pimentos and some salt and pepper, it's a super simple recipe but one I had never tried until this year. I was inspired by an article The NY Times ran in February on Paula Deen, the most famous (or infamous) Southern cook on The Food Network. Accompanying the article was a recipe for pimento cheese spread.

I'll admit up front that I have not tried this recipe as it's written. One of the beautiful things about pimento cheese is how forgiving the recipe is for substitutions and eyeball measurements. I learned to add Velveeta cheese in place of the cream cheese from my mother and I don't like raw onion so I omit it. Another useful hint: add the teeniest splash of milk to make the final spread really creamy.

Paula Deen's pimento cheese (from The NY Times)

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup packed, coarsely grated extra-sharp* Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup packed, coarsely grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise**, or more to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons minced pimentos
  
• 1 teaspoon grated onion
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until well blended. Add more mayonnaise as needed to make mixture hold together. Add salt and pepper to taste (it should be quite peppery) and use as a sandwich spread or a filling for celery sticks. Can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

~Yield: About 2 cups~

Notes: If you're really lazy, which I am, you can dump everything into a food processor at once and process until well-mixed, avoiding an electric mixer all together. I always add more than the recommended amount of pimentos. Finally, there's no need to use two types of cheese - classic pimento cheese is made with cheddar only.

* The sharper, the better.
**It's fine to use low-fat or non-fat mayo in this recipe; it's just a binding agent.
*** Photo is not mine - I found it at Epicurious.com

Mango Chutney Brie

This is one of my most common contributions to parties. It is SUPER fast and it tastes great. I'm not putting exact amounts for ingredients, because it honestly doesn't matter that much. Try Costco if you want to find inexpensive brie.

• wheel of brie (any size you want, but don't use the wedges because the rind holds the melted cheese in)
• curry powder
• mango chutney

Rub curry powder onto the outside of the brie. Pour chutney over the top. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is warm - about 10 minutes.