Special Occasion Ranch Crackers and Pimento & Cheese Tea Sandwiches

On my last post, I told about my dad’s birthday party.  On this post, I would like to share with you a couple of things that I made for the heavy hors d’oeuvres that we served.

First up, tea sandwiches, southern style, with pimento and cheese.

Pimento and Cheese

2 cups medium cheddar cheese, coarsely grated. (Do not use store bought pre-grated cheese as it is coated to prevent sticking together and won’t make for a good texture of pimento and cheese.)
2 TBS pimento
1 TBS kosher dill pickle juice
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 – 4 TBS mayonnaise

Combine all, adding mayo 1 TBS at a time to control how creamy you want it to be.  Consistency matters, so pay close attention to how much you stir so that you won’t over mix, as well.

For the bread, I cut each piece with a cookie cutter.  Begin with frozen bread. 
1.  Press cutter firmly onto center of bread slice. 
2.  Keep cutter in place and pull edges of bread away from cutter.
3.  Gently push shaped bread out of the cutter.
4.  Immediately cover each piece as you go.

Once sandwiches are made, cover with a layer of slightly damp paper towels and seal well with plastic wrap.  This will keep bread soft until ready to serve. 
(For the party, I didn’t serve the sandwiches open faced, but pictured it that way so you can see the pimento and cheese.)

These Ranch crackers are addictive munchies and work nicely for a special occasion.  They don’t need a thing, but would be good with dip, cheese, or even with pimento and cheese.

 

Ranch Crackers

1/2 box saltine crackers
1 envelope of dry ranch salad dressing mix
3 tsp. ground red pepper (3 tsp. gives a slight kick, but use more or less if desired.)
1 cup oil

In a bowl, stir together dry salad dressing mix, red pepper, and oil.  Pour mixture into a 1 gallon size storage bag.  Add crackers and seal bag.  Gently coat crackers well.  Lay out in a single layer (semi-single works ok), and allow crackers to dry out before serving.  (I let them dry for an hour or two.) 


I’m glad that you came by today.  I hope that you will stay a while and browse around! 

Linking up today at: Miz. Helen’s Country Cottage
                             Joyful Homemaking
                             Saving for Six
                             What’s Cooking Love
                              Six Sisters’ Stuff