Al Dente

Lillie Bea’s Hazelnut Cheese Ball

When I was growing up, my grandmother’s cousin, Lilly Bea, hired a woman named Henrietta to do her housekeeping and her cooking. While the other women in my family couldn’t imagine having another woman running their households, let alone one doing their baking, Lillie Bea was cut from a different cloth; she was more of a glamour girl than a domestic.  In fact, if you rummaged through Cousin Lillie’s silverware drawer and her China hutch, you would find just as many tubes of lipstick and eyebrow pencils as you would spoons and forks, and gravy bowls and teacups.  Cousin Lillie Bea, who ushered her company inside through her kitchen door, even had a little platter of cosmetics set up on the kitchen counter.  When folks made fun of it, she said, “A woman should always look her best,” said, “you never know who might stop by and catch you looking the other way.” 

While Cousin Lillie wasn’t a cooking woman like the other women in my family –- the ones whose stories and pie recipes I recount in my book, Sweety Pies: An Uncommon Collection of Womanish Observations, with Pie –- it’s a funny thing about the holidays, even people like Lillie Bea, who don’t normally feel the urge to do much cooking throughout the year, are drawn to their kitchens during the holiday season; seems like everybody wants to fix something nice.  Even though Miss Henrietta did most of Cousin Lillie Beas’s cooking, during the Season, Cousin Lillie used to bring some of the most savory little treats to our family dinners –- stuff she’d made with her own manicured hands.   We especially liked her homemade cheese balls; in fact, we used to say, “it wouldn’t taste like Christmas without one.”

Lillie’s Bea’s Hazelnut Cheese Ball

2-1/2 ounces crumbled blue cheese
5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, room temperature
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon grated onion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely ground hazelnuts
1/4 cup finely chopped hazel nut

Using an electric mixer, mix together all of the ingredients except the chopped hazelnuts.  Mix until the ingredients are well combined.  Line a small bowl with waxed paper. Shape the cheese mixture into a ball inside the bowl.  Let the cheese mixture stand for about 1 hour.  After 1 hour, roll the ball in the finely chopped hazelnuts.  You may chill the ball in the refrigerator overnight.  Let the cheese ball stand at room temperature about 1 hour before serving.  Serve with an assortment of small crackers.

Makes a ball about 4 inches in diameter

--Patty Pinner

Patty Pinner's Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

I learned how to cook from the secrets of women. In fact, while growing up, my mother, who preferred to do her baking in the cool of the night, would call me into the kitchen at the point where she was adding her secret herbs and spices, or to show me one of her special techniques. Despite the fact that we were alone, Mama practically whispered her recipes to me. She used to say, A woman’s cooking sets her apart, in the same way that her cologne and lipstick does. A wise woman knows better than to divulge all of her little methods.

The holidays are all about food, fun, and fellowship. Mama used to tell me, a woman has to have more than just good recipes to turn out good eating; she said, you have to enjoy feeding people-–making them feel good through your cooking. Said, you have to know where in the meal to give them a little soul, a real dash; especially where they’re not expecting it–-like a lovely glaze here or there, or a savory rub of this or that.  Mama once said, "I don’t care who a person is, or how important they think they are, at some point during the holidays, there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t want to eat at least one good thing."

During the holidays, I love to set out sweet and tempting treats; that’s why I love to feed people pie. Now that the holidays are approaching, I’m busy sifting through my pie recipes, looking for something that will bring a little joy to the season; not just for my pleasure, but also, for the delight of the people I’m feeding.  This recipe for Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie-–from my book, Sweety Pies: An Uncommon Collection of Womanish Observations, with Pie–-always fits the bill.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

One 9-inch single pie crust, fitted into a pie plate, and edge trimmed and crimped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare the pie crust and set it aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the sugar and the melted butter until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs. Add the corn syrup, salt, and vanilla and blend until well combined.  Spread the chopped pecans and the chocolate chips evenly over the bottom of the crust, then pour the filling on top.  Place in the oven and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.      

Makes one 9-inch pie

--Patty Pinner