Tea Sandwich Saturday #36 -Pimiento Cream Cheese

Recently my friend Paula at work mentioned that her daughter had created a tasty pimiento cheese using cream cheese. That struck me as a wonderful idea—making a pimiento cheese spread using cream cheese instead of mayonnaise—so that's what I experimented with this week and I loved it!

The neat appearance of these sandwiches, I must confess, is a happy accident. I had spread one of the full-size, frozen slices of white bread with the pimiento cream cheese and topped it with the other slice, intending to cut off the crusts and slice them into triangles. My square was more of a rectangle, though, so I needed to slice off a piece in order to get a square. The strip of sandwich fell over, and I thought, "Hey, I kinda like that!" (I realize I didn't exactly invent the ribbon-style sandwich, but I'm amused that this is not what I was originally going for!)

Another neat thing is that you get six tea sandwiches out of just two slices of bread and some spread. That would be a time-saver when hosting a tea party. Here's the recipe.

Pimiento Cream Cheese

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used a mix of mild and sharp)
2 ounces diced pimientos
1 tablespoon pimiento juice, or as needed
Dash of white pepper

In a small bowl, cream the cream cheese and shredded cheddar. Add pimientos, pimiento juice (so the mixture won't be too stiff) and pepper. Combine well. Yields enough spread for about 18 small tea sandwiches.