national cheese doodle day

so today is national cheese doodle day (thanks to @foodimentary for keeping me in the loop on these things).  while I do not have a recipe for cheese doodles, I was thinking about sharing my mom's cheese puffs recipe with you for this occasion, but I realized that I had already shared that recipe with you.  so, in honor of national cheese doodle day, check out my mom's cheese puffs recipe.

by the way, I am the only one who thinks of the pirates who don't do anything whenever I hear cheese doodles?

my answer's to tuesday's take 5 -- week #5

here are my answers:

1. what 3 ingredients couldn't you live without?
   garlic, butter, whole cut up chicken
2. what food reminds you of your childhood?
   my mom's fried chicken with rice and gravy
3. what was your last cooking disasters?
   my cake wreck for my co-workers birthday
4. what makes you a foodie?
   I love to eat and cook food, and shop for food!!
5. what is the last meal you cooked?
   corn casserole and homemade mac and cheese for the reunion this weekend

tuesday take 5 -- week #5

here's this week's tuesday's take 5, thanks to everyone who has been playing along!

1. what 3 ingredients couldn't you live without?
2. what food reminds you of your childhood?
3. what was your last cooking disasters?
4. what makes you a foodie?
5. what is the last meal you cooked?

my corn casserole

since I have talked so much about my mom's corn casserole, I thought it was only fitting to share with you my corn casserole.

my mother is famous for her corn casserole and she has a fool-proof recipe that anyone can make. anyone, but me, that is. I have tried many times to make it and it never comes out right. I am the only one that my mother knows who has not had success with her recipe, even my sister is able to make it. so, out of desperation, I tried more corn recipes than I could count, but I could never find one that came close to her casserole. once michael discovered grilling and started grilling every weekend, I knew that I had to find a recipe that worked (you can’t have bar-b-que in texas without corn casserole). this recipe is very different from my mother’s corn casserole, but I think that I like it even better (don’t tell my mother).

4 servings

½ stick unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the pan
2 ½ cups fresh or frozen corn
½ cup chopped yellow onion
2 extra large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup ricotta cheese
1 ½ tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
½ cup shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
¼ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. preheat oven to 375. grease the inside of a 6 cup baking dish.
2. melt the butter in large sauté pan and sauté the corn and onion over medium-high heat for 4 minutes. set aside to cool.
3. whisk together the eggs and buttermilk in a large bowl. slowly whisk in the cornmeal. add the ricotta and stir to combine. stir in the cayenne, sugar, salt, and pepper. add the cooked corn mixture and the ½ cup shredded cheese and stir to combine.
4. pour into prepared baking dish and top with the ¼ cup shredded cheese.
5. bake the dish in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top begins to brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. serve warm.

lara's pretzels

when I got up this morning and when I checked facebook, I saw the pictures of my friend lara's homemade pretzels that she made and I almost cried because I wasn't in waco to get to enjoy them.  she was kind enough to let me share the recipe with you, but go check out her blog for the rest of the story and lots of pictures.

Here’s what I did: (with thanks to Smitten Kitchen)

Soft Pretzels
2 cups hot tap water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons canola or other neutral oil

1/4 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
Coarse sea salt

1. Pour warm water into large bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon in sugar. Sprinkle with yeast and let sit until foamy (about 10-15 minutes).
   
2. Add 1 cup flour to yeast, and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Add salt and 4 cups flour, stir until combined. Transfer to a lightly floured board, adding more flour if needed, and knead for about 10-15 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
   
3. Pour oil into a large bowl & coat sides. Transfer dough to bowl and coat all sides of dough with oil. Cover with a towel, and leave in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.
   
4. Heat oven to 450°F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Punch down dough to remove bubbles. Transfer to a lightly floured board. Knead once or twice, and then divide dough in half, then in half again, and again, and finally one last time. You now have 1/16th of the total dough. (Keep all the other pieces under plastic as much as possible). Continue working with 1/16th of the dough at a time.
   
5. Roll one piece of dough at a time into an 18-inch-long strip. Twist into pretzel shape (haha.. this was a challenge!) and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel. Continue to form pretzels until you’ve used all the dough. Let pretzels rest until they rise slightly, about 15 minutes.
   
6. While the dough is resting, fill a shallow pot with 3 inches of water (I used my dutch oven, but a straight sided pan would probably work, too. Bring to a boil. Add baking soda and 2 tablespoons sugar (use more if your pot is particularly large and you have a lot of water. Drop the pretzels in the simmering water 3 or 4 at a time. Poach 1 minute on each side (I just learned last night that pretzels are “poached). Use slotted spoon to remove from the water and move them back to the baking sheet.
   
7. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water and then “brush” pretzels with egg. (I don’t have a brush, we used our fingers). Sprinkle with salt. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack, or eat warm. EAT THEM WARM!