Summers for children seem to have changed since I was a child. We spent our days outside riding bikes, swimming and playing. Television was something we did in the evening. I rode my bike to the library all summer long to find something new to read.

When I was at my grandmother’s in Jackson, I did pretty much the same thing. I played with neighborhood kids, climbed trees and lounged on a quilt outside in the shade to read. At either house, when lunchtime rolled around we didn’t go to get fast food or heat something up in the microwave (because there wasn’t one) we usually ate a sandwich. My two favorite ones were tomato (with bacon if there was some left from breakfast) and pimiento and cheese.

Making the perfect tomato sandwich was pretty easy. You rinsed the tomato, sliced it, put mayonnaise on two slices of bread, added the tomato, salt and pepper and ate it. Other than the occasional slice of crisp bacon there is just nothing else needed.

Pimiento and cheese was allowed to have a little more variation. A few things were standard at my house and my grandmother’s. The cheese had to be the red rind cheese and had to be grated by hand (there were no food processors in either of these kitchens). The small jar of pimiento was drained. They were chopped. Salt and pepper was added.Of course, just enough mayonnaise was added to hold the mixture together.

My mother stored it in quart jars in the refrigerator. My grandmother added the tiniest bit of finely grated onion to hers but everything else stayed the same.

There are very few things I have changed about my pimiento and cheese. Occasionally I dress it up using half white sharp cheddar cheese, and I usually add a little cayenne or Tony’s seasoning. I’ve moved from squishy white bread to whole wheat.

Don’t use the pre-grated cheese, it’s just not the same texture you remember in your homemade pimiento and cheese. Make this all by hand. A large mixer makes the texture a little gummy.

Occasionally I just can’t stand to leave well enough alone. So I recently went on the hunt for a different pimiento and cheese — not better, just different. If you decide that yours needs a little dressing up I found the perfect recipe for you. It’s from Southern Seasons by Robert St. John of Hattiesburg with the watercolor art work by Wyatt Waters.

The only two things I changed when I made it was I did not use a mixer and I used pimiento in a jar. St. John calls for roasted red peppers (these are easy to do yourself if you can’t find them), Sorry. I just couldn’t stray that far. I liked the finely chopped green onion better than the grated onion. As you can tell from the name he is pretty confident in how good it is.

The Last Pimiento and Cheese Ever

1/2 cup of cooked crisp bacon, chopped

1/2 pound of extra-sharp white cheddar, roughly grated and at room temperature

1/2 pound extra-sharp yellow cheddar, roughly grated and at room temperature

1 cup roasted red bell peppers, chopped (I used pimentos in the jar)

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup green onions, chopped finely

2 teaspoons garlic, finely minced

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning (I used Tony’s)

Salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and store in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours to let the flavors meld together.

Christina Hall writes a weekly column for The Democrat. She can be reached at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com.