Mini Chile Cheese Corndog Muffins

Perfect Pairing:  Yellow mustard

I am back to reality after an amazing family vacation at the lake.  We filled every minute with fun, and I am exhausted.  There was lots of floating, boating, bags, and laughing.  There were always little ones running around so there was also a lot of, “put on your life jacket!”, “don’t step there!”, “you must always have an adult with you”, “please don’t drive the mini gator down the driveway that fast!”, “no, you have to eat (insert number of bites of healthy food) before you can have dessert”, etc.  I already miss everyone!  If you are interested there are some adorable kid/food/vacation/life shots on my instagram account.

We had a lot of groups coming and going throughout the week which meant we cooked a lot.  I mean, A LOT.  My mom and I figured by the end of the vacation we had served about 400 meals.  Since the lake is about 15 miles from a decent grocery store that required a ton of planning.  We also had the third annual Lake House Chef Challenge.  More on that in another post! 

Before I get too ahead of myself I need to back up and talk about the fun party we had over the 4^th of July.   We called it a wienerpalooza party after getting the idea from a family friend.  Basically we had every kind of hot dog, brat, and topping you could possibly want.  Everything was cooked over the fire pit.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the party.

 

Our neighbor brought the most amazing smoked baked beans.  Everyone said they were the best beans they had ever tasted.  We also put out the way too easy chili cheese dip (queso and chili) with fritos, Summer Corn Salad, Thai Peanut Pasta Salad, World's Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Salted Peanut Bars.

Callie was VERY excited to learn she could reach the potato chips.  She was not so happy when she was cut off from said chips.  They were served with my favorite Caramelized Onion Dip.

Lots of cute kids!

I was so excited to have my best friend, Jill, and her family there for the weekend!  Notice Callie is still after the chips...

Dad cooked everything on a "redneck grill" over the fire pit.

Of course, that ended up being the center of operations for everyone of the male gender.  Men love fire.

So since this was a wienerpalooza we didn't stop at just hot dogs in buns!  I also made Mini Chile Cheese Corndog Muffins.  I have made these a few times and there are never any leftovers.  They are so easy and tasty!  Of course they are perfect served with some good old fashioned yellow mustard.

 

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Corn Casserole and a Tale of Two Lizards

Perfect Pairing:  Potluck

Oh the famous corn casserole.  I can’t even count how many times I have made this dish, definitely more than anything else I have ever made.  It makes an appearance at any dinner of importance at my parents'.  It is just so delicious and easy!  It literally takes under five minutes to prepare.  It is the perfect dish to bring to any potluck or family dinner.  There is one recent family dinner that I would like to focus on today.  Before I do that I need to give a little background…

My parents went on a trip to Hilton Head to visit some good friends.  While there my mom got super crafty with her friend and made all sorts of arrangements for their new house.  I guess she was inspired to bring back a little of the south.  On the last morning in South Carolina she picked up some Spanish moss outside of a breakfast restaurant.  Mom packed it up in the trunk and they were on their merry way.

A couple of days (and a thousand miles) later my parents unpacked the car back in the Midwest.  The Spanish moss was in a bag ready to go downstairs and mom noticed a twig that was not part of the moss.  She went to grab it to throw it away and it moved!  It was a LIZARD!!  Apparently I inherited my overwhelming fear of anything reptilian from my mother because I am told she screamed like she was face to face with a python.  Oh what I would give to witness that scene.  From a safe distance, of course.

After my dad stopped laughing he agreed to trap the little guy but said my mom had to help corner him.  Well, that was not happening.  She called the neighbor and the two manly men wrangled the lizard.  Here he is after being captured.  Not exactly tiny!

 

Fast forward a week to Easter Sunday.  I was home with my boyfriend and busy cooking a big Easter meal for the fam.  I commented to my mom how I could not believe I had never photographed the famous corn casserole, so before dinner I had an impromptu photo session with my boyfriend’s help (he was in charge of the spoon).  I even had an audience outside the window.

 

Apparently my audience was larger than I thought.  We were all enjoying Easter dinner and my dad said, “oh, Linda, there is another lizard on the window.”  My mom and I are VERY used to my dad making jokes like this so we giggled politely and went back to our dinner.  He laughed and said, “no, I am serious this time.”  Sure enough, there was another lizard on the window!  Cue the irrational screaming. 

 Easter dinner was put on hold while we (by “we” I mean the males in the room) dealt with lizard #2.  Once everything calmed down we had to laugh thinking about how the lizard must have been inches away from me while I was photographing the corn casserole.  Then we remembered my mom took a picture of me taking pictures. 

 Yep, there he is hanging out on the flower!  I can’t even imagine what kind of heart failure I would have endured if he jumped on the corn at that moment.

 We are all really hoping that lizards only travel in twos.  Yikes. 

 

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Jalapeno Basil Cornbread

Perfect Pairing:  Chicken Chili

Everyone loves cornbread!  It's hard to go wrong.  Even the boxed versions are pretty decent!  If you have some extra time, and are not feeling like the boxed variety is going to cut it, you may enjoy this homemade version.  This recipe has a slightly sweet flavor but it also has some great ingredients like buttermilk (to keep it really moist), fresh basil, frozen corn, and jalapeno peppers.  This version is a bit denser than the standard variety but is really tasty.

I have made a few different versions of jalapeno cornbread but this is the first time I have added basil.  I really liked the flavor combination and will definitely be doing that again.  I love having a basil plant on my patio where I can snip fresh basil for recipes.  Unfortunately, I don’t get a lot of sun on my patio and my plants do not exactly thrive.  I am going to go ahead and blame it on the lack of sun.  At this point in the season people are usually making pesto because their basil plants are full and it would take a hundred caprese salads to use up all of the leaves.  Me, not so much.  This recipe pretty much depleted my basil.  Look at this sad little guy….

The Perfect Pairing for this cornbread is the Chicken Chili recipe I posted here.  The slightly sweet flavor of the cornbread was a great compliment to the spicy soup. 

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Overnight Cornbread Strata

Perfect Pairing:  Cilantro, avocado, green onions and sour cream

When my family entertains we are always looking for an easy breakfast recipe that will serve a crowd.  It's a bonus if it can be done ahead of time so there are no sleepy eyes trying to read a recipe.  This strata recipe is a great breakfast that is made the night before so all you have to do is put it in the oven the next morning.  It smells so great baking, it will wake everyone up!

A strata is a layered casserole that usually contains bread, eggs and cheese.  This particular recipe uses cornbread which adds a slightly sweet flavor.  You could use leftover cornbread, if you have it on hand, or you can quickly make up a boxed version.  I used the Krusteaz Fat Free Honey Cornbread mix and it worked really well.  It baked up fluffy and light.

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is a combination of toppings like green onions, avocados, cilantro and sour cream.  The strata is great on its own but these accompaniments add another layer of fresh flavor.

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