Festive Chunky Cheese Spread is, by far, one of my favorite appetizers to serve on special occasions or just for fun at home.
I have a fun memory attached to the first time that I tasted this. My good friend Elsa and I had decided to start a Christmas tradition by attending the Junior League of El Paso Christmas Fair the first weekend of November at the downtown convention center. We first had a yummy breakfast at Village Inn and then headed out for some fun shopping and tasting of all the holiday offerings by the fair vendors.
Have you ever attended one of those? Oh my goodness, there were so many booths with food, gifts ideas, art, clothing, and one of my favorites–Mexican pewter. That was another tradition I started and I would buy one piece each year. Beautiful.
The Junior League had a booth of their own and they would usually have samples of delicious spreads, sweets, etc., that you could purchase. We seemed to always just taste the samples! And there was also the Junior League Cookbook that you could purchase.
Our favorite sample, that we looked for every year, was this cheese spread. Heaven on a Ritz cracker. So very good, with a taste of the Southwest in the jalapeño jelly. If I hadn’t just eaten three crackers of this, my mouth would be watering just talking about it.
Our family eventually moved from El Paso and I had to leave my tradition and friend Elsa. Before I left, we met for lunch and she gifted me the Junior League cookbook with this recipe in it–with a note under the recipe that said: “Remember only test-tasting but never buying the book?”
Ah, those special friend memories–and so many connected to food. Hey, another food memory with this same friend was when the movie, “Chocolat” came out. Do you remember that one? Such a cool movie. If you have seen it you will know about the chocolate magic woven throughout the story. Elsa and I were going to meet at the theatre to watch it but she didn’t make it. I stayed and watched by myself and was totally enthralled. Once the movie came out on VHS, I rented it from Blockbuster–yes that long ago–made some Bon Bons and put them on a Mexican pewter dish and we watched the movie together while our kids played together in another room.
Hope you enjoy this Festive Chunky Cheese Spread and will make some memories of your own!
Festive Chunky Cheese Spread
- January 7, 2021
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Ingredients
- 2 cups Cheddar cheese, finely shredded
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- 8 green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, to moisten (adjust to desired consistency)
- 8-oz. jar of jalapeño jelly (11-oz jar is perfect, if you have one)
Directions
- Step 1
- Mix cheese, pecans, onions and mayonnaise together in a medium bowl.
- Step 2
- Spread mixture in glass pie plate, quiche dish, or flan pan. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Step 3
- When ready to serve, spread the jelly over the top. Serve as a spread with crackers–Ritz are perfect.
- Step 4
- Keeps well in refrigerator 2-3 days.
