Creative play is not limited to children using finger paints or clay. Adults can also engage in creative play. But, somewhere along the way, it is assumed that “real artists” are paid for their output. Plus, anyone else who creates out of their imagination is wasting time which could be better used by making a living.
That’s incorrect. In fact, I would argue that people who only do tasks that pay will make less money overall than people who engage in creativity for fun alongside their occupations. Creativity engages a different part of the brain than work does. Both are important for overall health.
Yesterday I took some time to play in the kitchen. I experimented with my sausage cheese ball recipe. Instead of using shredded cheddar cheese in my sausage cheese balls, I made pimento cheese and used it. I was pleasantly surprised by the result. The pimento cheese added a delicious unique flavor to the sausage. I will post the recipe at the end of the article.
The first Christmastime after I married, I called my grandmother long distance to get her recipe for making sausage cheese balls. I have probably made them at least once a season since that time. That’s thirty-three years of making the same recipe. It’s fine, but I wished to do something different for year thirty-four.
Step number one is to make pimento cheese, rather than buy, even a very good quality pimento cheese. After the pimento cheese is prepared, let it sit out of the refrigerator for thirty minutes. During this time, measure out four cups of Bisquick. Then, brown one pound of bulk sausage until cooked through and crumbly. Drain the fat off of the sausage and set aside.
At the end of the thirty minute rest, mix the sausage, pimento cheese, and Bisquick together. Be sure to combine the ingredients very well. Don’t let the pimento cheese be in clumps. Rather, incorporate it with the sausage and Bisquick into a smooth thoroughly combined mixture.
Preheat the oven. Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet or sheet pan to make cleanup easier. Or, spray the pan very lightly with cooking spray.
Roll the dough into small balls, about an inch in diameter, and place each ball about half of an inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake the sausage cheese balls for fifteen minutes or until they turn light brown. Let the sausage cheese balls cool for a minute or two and then put them on a plate to cool the rest of the way.
Today, the grandmother who gave me the original sausage cheese ball recipe would have celebrated her birthday, if she were still living. It would have been her ninety-eighth birthday. In a bit of culinary coincidence, that’s right about how many sausage cheese balls this recipe makes.
The recipe that I used for the pimento cheese came from The Garden of Eatin’ cookbook that was compiled by the United Methodist Woman of Ellijay First United Methodist Church in Ellijay, Georgia. It’s a moist, but not liquid-y pimento cheese. It’s great as a dip, a sandwich, or a cheese ball with crackers.
Homemade Pimento Cheese
Ingredients: 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated – don’t use pre-shredded cheese, because of the anti-clumping substance that is added to pre-shredded cheese
4 ounce jar diced pimentos, drained
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 T mayonnaise
Directions: Mix all ingredients together and let sit for a half hour.
Sausage Pimento Cheese Balls
Ingredients: Homemade Pimento Cheese
1 lb. bulk pork sausage
4 c. Bisquick baking mix – Don’t substitute a generic baking mix for Bisquick. If generic ingredients need to be used, get generic sausage and cheddar cheese, but not the Bisquick.
Cook sausage. Drain. Mix together with pimento cheese and Bisquick. Form balls and bake. I baked the ones I made at 375 degrees in a convection oven for 15 minutes.
This recipe makes 99 balls. If it’s too many, all at once, freeze the sausage cheese balls on a parchment lined baking sheet until frozen solid. Place them in a freezer container or freezer bag. There’s no need to thaw the frozen sausage cheese balls before baking them.
Journey with Monica 