Y'all are some of the most creative food folks I've ever experienced!
When I make it, it's a real treat. And you do have to shred the cheese. If you attempt to use bagged shredded cheese, you will quickly find out why you can't use it. Not only will the texture be off but it will not coagulate (?) into the spread you're looking for (because of the anti caking substance used in those bags). You can go all over the place with variations of cheeses and additives. I use Cabot's block cheese, Seriously Sharp. You can buy a 2# block for not really much more than the store brand and the flavor is superior and worth any price difference. If you grate a fresh garlic clove on a microplane into the batch, it will permeate the whole thing and add a real kick, so much so that you really don't need jalapenos or cayenne. That's a little trick I learned with the last batch I made. And it will last for some time in the frig... should it get the chance. Clearly no one needs any suggestions on how to eat it!
