I hope every single one of you had a happy and healthy Christmas filled with friends and family. If you celebrate other holidays, or celebrate no holidays, I hope that this was just plain one of the best weeks of your life.
Fritz got us tickets to go see Coldplay this summer! Yippee!!
I also realized that my best friend in the entire world just moved literally two miles away from my great-aunt, whom we happen to be visiting today. Hello surprise visit, Jenny!
And the fun and excitement that is my sister’s baby belly still hasn’t gotten old yet. For me, at least. She’s probably sick of me touching her belly and talking to her unborn child. But hey–I have to cram 29 weeks of pregnancy that I missed into the next few days, so hopefully she isn’t too sick of it yet.
I haven’t edited all the pictures from the baby shower (meaning I haven’t resized them yet), so I’m just gonna share one with you until I’m done with the rest. Isn’t Erin perfection?
Just lovin’ that belly.
And while you are waiting for some other baby shower updates, here’s one of the recipes I made. It’s a super quick and easy party food that I saw in a couple of different places–cheese straws!
Cheddar and Parmesan Cheese Straws (recipe from Shutterbean)
- 1 package puff pastry, defrosted (2 sheets)
- 1 egg
- 1 T water
- hot sauce (I used about a T)
- 1 C grated cheese–I mixed Parmesan and a sharp cheddar
- 1/2 t dried thyme
- 1/2 t dried rosemary
- salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Roll out one sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 10″ by 12″–the sheet should be relatively close to that size when you unroll it, but mine was sticking together so it was easier just to re-roll it out.
Combine the egg, water, and hot sauce in a small bowl and whisk until blended. Brush half the egg wash (I actually used a little less than half) over the top, and sprinkle with half the herbs, salt and pepper, and half the cheese. Press the cheese lightly into the pastry with your hands or the rolling pin so they stick. Slice the puff pastry sheet into thin strips (about 15 per sheet) using a sharp knife or pizza cutter.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, then pick up each thin strip of puff pastry and twist it a few times, laying it directly on the parchment paper. Keep them far enough apart from each other so they don’t stick together when they puff up a bit.
Bake for about fifteen minutes, until the puff pastry is…you know, puffed. It should be a nice light golden color on top, and a darker golden color on the bottom. Turn each piece over and bake for another few minutes just to get everything nice and toasty. Repeat everything with the other sheet to get about 30 cheese straws.
Let the pastry cool on the sheet, and serve.
I made these the day before and stored them in a giant tupperware with very nice results. The pastry was still flaky and the cheese was still nice and crunchy.
I thought these were a fun and light snack to have, and an easy finger food for grabbing at a party. I would definitely make them again, since they were a cinch to bake and look nice standing up in a jar to serve.
Not to mention pretty tasty.
Fritz was mad that he never gets to go to events like baby showers, and when I laughed and told him he is the only man in the world who wants to go to those events, he told me that most men would want to if they knew what kind of food was in store for them.
When I saw that Erin’s sister-in-law made the most amazing red velvet cupcakes (one of Fritz’s favorite cakes), I made sure to bring him home one (or two) so he wouldn’t feel too left out.
4 comments
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Sharon
December 27, 2011 at 7:39 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I am enjoying your blog. Someone told me about it last night and I started reading right away. Congratulations to your sister and her upcoming bundle!
Meghan
December 29, 2011 at 10:55 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
yum, those look great – i’d love to veganize them, as i enjoy veganizing many of your recipes. also, what a nice and thoughtful way to give holiday wishes! after making a lot of jewish friends in portland, i became very aware of how presumptuous it is to wish everyone a merry christmas. sending you and your sister and your lil niece lots of love!
Lauren Zietsman
December 29, 2011 at 7:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks for the feedback–I’ll make sure to keep that up in the future–sometimes it is difficult to look outside of what we are used to saying!
Emma
December 30, 2011 at 6:14 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hi,
Great recipe for cheese straws you have here, and I really like the pictures you have posted with the recipe.
I can make really tasty cheese straws with mustard and cheddar cheese, but the only problem i have is the twisting, they all fall apart, or they won’t stay in the twist.
have you any ideas?