Even more evidence that Qadgop has raised me right: (I’m his kid, though I haven’t posted here in something like a year…)
Even while scrimping and saving and eating stale off-brand cornflakes for breakfast and lunch, I refuse to go any lower on the cheese scale than store-brand extra-old white cheddar. Cheese is important!
Flipsides™ are advertised as half-cracker and half-pretzel, although in my expert pretzel lover’s opinion, they taste like a cracker more then a pretzel. A Mr. Phipp’s Pretzel Chip™ is a flat round pretzel in the shape of a cracker, or chip. Because of its thin shape, the pretzel chip was mostly ‘crust’ and more flakey and crispy then a typical mini pretzel.
All this pretzel talk is making me crave lye rolls. If any of you smart dopers knows where I can get some good ones here in the states (Denver), please let me know!
Edit to Add: elfbabe, please tell your dad to buy some Cougar Gold White Cheddar from WSU. Best Cheese. Ever.
I’ll be glad to try it, I’ve tried some Tillamook cheeses in the past and found them rather nice. Vermont makes nice cheeses too. (I’m not going to advance the idea that Wisconsin is the only place that makes good cheese. I’ve tasted too much crappy cheese in Wisconsin to do that. But some of the artisanal cheeses manufactured in the tiny factories located in out of the way hamlets like Beechwood, Gibbsville, Theresa, and Alto Wisconsin are to die for!)
But that WSU website mentioned only two-year old cheddars! Don’t they have any aged stuff?
I’m gonna have to buy some. And try them with peanut butter. I love cheese and crackers and pretzels, don’t get me wrong, but I also love PB and pretzels.
From memory, something I used to make close to the description:
2 blocks Cream Cheese (you can use the light stuff if you want, it’s not the main flavorant. Don’t use the tub or whipped stuff, it’s too thin)
4 ounces good cheddar, white or yellow, shredded (use whatever sharpness you prefer, it will be a lot milder in this).
1 tbsp prepared horseradish (more or less to taste).
1 tsp finely ground black pepper
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/4-1/2 cup milk
Melt the cheddar over low heat, adding enough milk to bring it to the consistency of Cheez Whiz (you can actually use Cheez Whiz, but people will laugh at you). Don’t use all the milk if you don’t need it. Let cool until it’s no longer hot to the touch (90 degrees F or so).
Dump everything into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, start it on low, then increase the speed once stuff stops splattering. Cream it for about 2 minutes. You can use the remaining milk to adjust the consistency as you like.
Chill and serve, salting to taste (but the cheeses already contain a fair amount, so taste first). Adding tobasco improves the flavor but makes it look horrible, like mottled salmon.