savory corn muffins revisited

I posted wayyyyy back in 2015 about a savory corn muffin recipe I made from a Cooks Illustrated magazine. They came out great, but I was disappointed that I couldn't really taste the cheese. I had said then that next time I made them I would use sharp cheddar.

Well, I made them again. This time I used a mix of sharp and mild cheddar and I added bacon.  I had to use up some cooked bacon and the cornmeal I had in the fridge, as well as some leftover cheddar cheese, and figured this was a good way to do it. Plus I bought scallions for something else and had a lot left over.

The results this time?  I still can't taste the cheese! I don't know if it's me, or the cheese, or maybe cornmeal just overpowers cheese in general. I have no idea. They were still yummy, but when I use that much cheese--it calls for 1.5 cups--I expect that I'll taste it. Won't stop us from eating them, though! (I actually made these on Wednesday night and we finished them up last night.)

If you want to make them, just click the link at the beginning of this post and the recipe is there. If you want to add bacon, just chop up five strips of cooked bacon and toss it in with the scallions and cheese at the end. Note, though, that the recipe has several steps, so you might want to do this on the weekend if your weeknights are busy.

Protes Protein Chips: Zesty Nacho

I wanted to like these. I really did. But I don't.

I like trying new protein foods and most of the time I like what I buy, but sometimes I get a dud and it makes me really regret that I spent $x.xx. That's what happened this time.

I've long loved Doritos and I was hoping maybe these would be a good substitute. Yes, I totally realize they're protein chips and they won't taste just like a Dorito-- that's the reality of most protein products--but at it's at least somewhat likely they'll be a little cheesy tasting (no pun intended).

I can only describe these as vaguely spicy cardboard. I've never eaten cardboard, but I can imagine that if I did and I added some spicy seasoning to it, it would taste like these chips. It seems like the manufacturer watered down cardboard, rolled it out flat, cut it into triangle, added some nondescript seasoning and them left them out to dry.  My guess is it has something to do with the type of protein they use, which is pea protein; I'm not a fan of peas.

The stats are decent:  120 calories, 4g fat, 7g carbs, and 15g protein.

Final answer:  I love the crunch and the thickness, but that's about all I can say. I wouldn't buy these again.

homemade goodies, family and lots of snow

Emily enjoying the Christmas tree. Or plotting. Not sure which.

(I give up on trying to format this post to get things in the right spot. It is what it is. LOL)

I've been so bad about blogging lately. Something I said I'd do in the new year is to get better at posting more often. I guess it's better late than never!  The last couple weeks have been pretty busy, both at work and home. Mainly because of the holidays. Lots of cleaning, shopping, preparing, etc., as well as a new project at work, time off among team members and so on.

Last weekend we had our annual family Christmas get-together.  It was a bit smaller this year without my father and brother, plus some people couldn't make it, but it was a good time as usual. We had so much food left over! We had ham, lasagna, crock pot bourbon meatballs, potatoes, pasta salad, carrots, etc. We really didn't need that much food, but that's how it always plays out at the holidays, right?

The family room tree. 

Here are a few things I made last weekend for the get-together (sorry, forgot to take pictures):

• Homemade onion dip:  I've made this before and I love it. People still tend to favor the salty store-bought dip, but that's OK. 
• Shortbread:  I made this for the first time and it was so delicious! Crispy, light and so, so buttery.
• Rum Balls:  Another first for me. The recipe was super easy and made a lot, so this was a win for me. BUT....they are very potent. The recipe uses a combination of rum and bourbon, along with vanilla wafers, honey and pecans. They're supposed to mellow out in the fridge, but they really didn't mellow all that much over the course of a week. Very yummy, though.
• Chocolate Pie:  I've made this several times and it's always a winner. Very, very rich and chocolaty. And my pie crust came out perfect:  very crispy and flaky. Instead of hand-mixing the ingredients I used the food processor. It's so much easier and I think it comes out better since there's really no risk of overworking the dough.

Above is the family room Christmas tree. This is where we put the bigger tree since it's a bigger room. I also reserve this tree for all the modern lights and ornaments. Below is the living room tree. This is always the smaller one, and this is where we use the old-fashioned C9 lights, as well as the ornaments that have a more traditional look. We always get two because we use the family room the most, but we like having a tree that can be seen from the street. Since we normally go cut them down, the cost isn't much at all. This year, however, we had to buy from a lot since the timing just didn't work out right. As you can see, they look nearly perfect. I prefer a tree that looks more natural--fat with uneven limbs--but they're still really nice. This year I skipped using tree skirts. Mainly because I get tired of constantly fixing them--the cats love to lay on them or play under the tree, so they tend to make a mess of the them.

Living room tree. 

We had a white Christmas this year, which was really nice. There wasn't all that much snow, but it was just the right amount. Last weekend, however, we got about a foot and it was officially a blizzard. Oh, and the temperatures were BELOW ZERO! We had the wood stove and fireplace going the whole time since our house is old and drafty. We burned a ton of wood! (And today? The snow is all gone because it was 60 F and pouring rain all day yesterday, and now the yard is flooded.)

And now that it's all over, it's time to clean the leftovers out of the fridge. I really don't think I could look at another piece of ham. let alone eat one. Lasagna went into the freezer, along with the leftover kielbasa. The rest of it is getting tossed; there are only so many leftover potatoes two people can eat. Actually one person, because I haven't had any of them.

All the decorations are down; however, I can't claim they've been put away in the attic. They're sitting either in the hutch, ready to be brought upstairs, or they're upstairs and waiting to be put into boxes. I really want to go through all the boxes and toss whatever is broken or doesn't work, and maybe donate anything I don't want anymore. I know, I say that every single year and I've done it maybe once. Maybe this is the year?

I'll be posting an update about my back pain very soon. It's an ongoing battle, but I think there could be light at the end of the tunnel finally.