Heritage Recipes: Jenna V Jensen Warthen (1926-2003)

As I read these histories of my ancestors, one of the things that I often think is, "Okay, that's interesting that she liked to make that, but where's the recipe she used?" Then today I remembered that I have a few inherited recipes and I have decided to share them here on this blog alongside other resources about these people. Please feel free to share any recipes you have inherited from any of the people I have talked about on this blog. I think you can learn a lot about a person from the recipes that he/she loved to make and eat.

So here are some recipes that have been passed down from my grandmother, Jenna V Jensen Warthen.

Grammy Jenna's Cheese Ball

2 8-oz. packages cream cheese
2 Tbsp. pimiento cheese spread
1 Tbsp. Miracle Whip
1 Tbsp. Accent
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
2 Tbsp. finely diced green onion

Blend thoroughly. Form into a ball. To do this, line a small bowl with plastic wrap and put the spread in the bowl. Pull up the plastic wrap to form a ball. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Take it out of the plastic and roll in sliced almonds or chopped pecans.

Pineapple Cheese Ball

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

8 1/2 oz.  can well-drained crushed pineapple

2 Tbsp. chopped green onions

1/3 cup finely chopped green pepper

1 tsp Accent

Chopped pecans

Blend together and roll in pecans.  Refrigerate.

Use cheese balls as a dip for crackers. We always had them with Christmas Eve dinner.

Some notes from Marcelaine about the ingredients:  

• Pimiento cheese spread can be hard to find in the store. I have never put it in the cheese ball and it turns out just fine. Grammy used to buy those cheese spreads for special occasions and we would put them on celery, so that's a special memory. She saved the jars to use as small glasses. They looked pretty!
• Accent is by the spices. Full disclosure: it is MSG. I do think it enhances the flavor, but if you object to that then you can try substituting some salt or just going without.
• The nuts are the best part! Usually I just put the cheese ball in a bowl instead of shaping it and I sprinkle nuts on top whenever they've been scooped away.