Cheese Pudding for President's Day

In the 1920's the Lynn Hotel in Hodgenville, Ky., owned and operated by the Wimsetts, was a family-style hotel which drew Sunday dinner crowds from a wide area of Kentucky. In addition to Kentucky country ham with red-eye gravy, fried chicken, fresh vegetables, and homemade ice cream, there was always the traditional Hodgenville casserole known as cheese pudding. When it was served to the late Vice President Alben Barkley, he asked for a second helping. A few years later when President Eisenhower was served cheese pudding, he requested a second helping but the recipe as well. The recipe has been published in several periodicals and in the Senate Cookbook.

Cheese Pudding
4-6 servings
print recipe
From: Kentucky Hospitality, a Kentucky Federation of Women's Club Cookbook 1976

1 cup soda cracker crumbs (saltines)
2 cups medium white sauce
4 eggs, hard boiled, grated
1 (7-ounce) can pimientos, grated or finely chopped
1/2 pound American cheese grated
buttered cracker crumbs

Mix cracker crumbs with white sauce; stir well to be sure all are moist. In a buttered casserole place a layer of crumbs, a layer of eggs, a layer of pimientos. and a layer of cheese. Repeat layers. (If crumbs are not well moistened add a little milk). Top with buttered crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.