Southern Christmas Pecans



I’m watching the squirrels raid my pecan tree, carrying their treasures away to both eat and hide. I hope they leave me some. I remember picking up pecans with my mother. We would take them to a place in town that would crack them for you. All you had to do then is pick out the meat. We would have pounds and pounds of pecans. Like most Southerners, I love pecans. We use them to bread fish and meat, in our wonderful pecan pies, in congealed salads. At this time of year I find that I cannot have too many pecans. It seems like every other holiday recipe I want to make calls for pecans. Here is one of my favorites for the holidays:

Garlic & Pecan Cheese Log

One of my favorite childhood Christmas memories was my parents, annual Christmas caroling party. We would all get together and caravan to homes of selected people and sing Christmas carols. After caroling, we would all gather at our home and have the after-caroling party. These garlic pecan cheese logs are one of the things that were always served with Ritz crackers at the after caroling parties.

2 3 oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
2 lb. grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 – 2 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
¼ teaspoon Tabasco
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder

Mix cheeses, mayonnaise, garlic, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce together.
Fold in pecans.
Mix paprika and chili powder together in a separate bowl
Shape the cheese mixture into 2 logs and then roll in the paprika/chili mix.

Refrigerate. Serve on crackers.

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