Cheese Balls
Not sure who taught me how to preen like this?! Hello 1980s, though. Designer jeans time! Is my Nonnie wearing nude pantyhose with sandals? I sure hope not. That seems out of character. Look how classy Mom is.
PS This was labeled by Mom. The kid is not Michelle Volberg, it’s her brother, my cousin Kris Avedon.
The Reed girls cheese out on a boat!
Mom’s caption, not mine. Ha ha.
I remember these photos being taken! We had *just* bought the house on Mallette St.
“No photos, please.” My sis does her best with the paparazzi at Aunt Ruth’s house.
Mom demonstrates the head massager. Christmas gift of the year!
This week has been hard. It’s all too heavy. It’s just TOO MUCH: endless COVID, floods & fire, Texas politics…. I’ve been finding myself a bit paralyzed about what to write. So, I decided that what we all could use right now is a little levity. Let me tell you about the time my parents tried to buy me a keytar!
“What is a keytar?” you may ask. Well, it’s that cheesy 80s keyboard/guitar hybrid loathed by musical purists and most recently modeled by the hunky Ryan Gosling in the movie La La Land.
Ryan Gosling in all his La La Land 80s cover band glory (complete with keytar)!
Skip ahead to the 30 second mark for some keytar magic!
The keytar is completely silly and for some reason I once mentioned it to Mom a few years ago. Like, literally, once! As someone who grew up playing violin, I’m not a chord girl. I’m a melody person. But I also want to rock (of course!). I can *sort of* play the accordion. (And, by sort of, I mean I can play the key side but don’t mess with the button side.) I figured that a keytar was essentially that half-played accordion rotated another 90 degrees. Anyway, I’m not sure why the keytar came up in conversation with my parents but I soon forgot about it.
Cut ahead to months later at Christmas when Mom confessed to me that they desperately tried to buy me a keytar but tragedy had struck. !!! Apparently, she pored over eBay looking for one and was psyched to finally win a bid. Mom was confident she had locked down the Christmas gift of the year! (See above to the head massager photo.) Only she found out later from the seller that the keytar had been previously sold and not noted. It was no longer available. Tragedy, indeed! But, you know what I like better than having a keytar? Having had a Mom who tried to buy me one as a surprise.
I’ve been driving my daughter and a neighbor friend to school some mornings. My kid is usually in charge of the music and it is entertaining to see what she’s into. Sometimes I feel sorry for the neighbor. How much sad sack Elliot Smith music can a person tolerate at 7am? Well, yesterday, my daughter put on a “Synth Pop” mix and it make me chuckle. Not depressing but also not NOT annoying! As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I remember my mom sitting in my room sewing and gritting her teeth through The Smiths’ “The Queen is Dead” album with me. I guess that’s the price you pay for quality time with your teen!
So, for today’s recipe, I figured I’d embrace all things keytar, 80s, and wonderfully cheesy and share Mom’s Cheese Balls recipe as well as her Pimento Cheese Balls recipe. Because, really, why not?! Pleasure Upgrade!
Recent sign from Austin’s famous Tex Mex restaurant, El Arroyo.
CHEESE BALLS
1 pound cheddar cheese -- grated
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne or 1/2 tsp tabasco
Mix ingredients together. Roll and cut in wafers.
Bake at 400.
(Mom didn’t specify time but based on recipe below, maybe check at 15 minutes since it’s hotter?)
PIMENTO CHEESE BALLS
½ lb extra-sharp cheddar, room temp
8 oz. [2 sticks] butter,softened and cut in pieces
4-oz jar pimentos, well drained on paper towels and finely diced
½ tsp salt
big dash cayenne
2 cups all-purpose flour
pecan halves
Mix ingredients well with hands.
Place balls 1” apart on cookie sheet. Press a pecan half in center.
Back at 350 for 20 minutes. They will still be fairly soft.
AS USUAL, KEEP ME POSTED!
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