Corn Dog Muffins

Because I am married, I have now realized that any time I neglect to drink alcohol or take a day off from work, everyone will think I am pregnant.  The problem is, I never really drink, and I did actually get sick last week and miss a day of work.  It's crazy how quickly people have been asking me when they can expect babies.  The truth is, they're going to have to wait a while.  I just went back to school and would prefer to finish that up first.  In addition, Mark and I just moved out of our parents' houses!  We are newlyweds who are also, in a way, new adults.  I think we have to master this part of our lives before we add anyone else's lives to the mix.  It'll happen, but it won't happen any time too soon!

With that said, I have been thinking a lot about our future (hyperactive) children.  I have been reading way too many blogs on how to get your kids to be good eaters.  It is so important to me that my children aren't your average macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers, and hot dogs every night kind of kids.  I myself was a picky eater (nothing pickier than a 2-year old vegetarian who didn't like vegetables), and I don't want that for my kids.  I want them to want to eat quinoa, and arugula, and curries.  I don't want them to hate spicy food or fish or even meat, for that matter.  Some of the blogs I follow have young children with more adventurous palates than I do!  I really hope I can stick to my guns and force my little Ajemians to enjoy leeks and polenta and farro!

However, in case one night my sweet darlings throw a hissy fit about millet casserole, here's a good backup plan: mini corn dog muffins.  Now, I made a different version of these before, and Kenzie and I thought they looked a bit obscene.  This time around, I tried a different corn muffin recipe, and I cut the hot dogs into smaller pieces.  That way, they completely sunk into the muffin and didn't poke out, looking downright inappropriate.

I actually made this batch for some kids - Laura's and Cathleen's.  One night they all came over to do some heavy duty work gossip, and I whipped these up for the three little ones.  However, I think Kenzie and Nick liked them just as much if not more than the littles.  And to be honest, I made a few that I left the hot dogs out of, and I enjoyed eating those!  There's something nostalgic and comforting about corn dogs, I tell you.  I'm still dreaming of the vegetarian corn dog I got at a festival 2 years ago.  Maybe next time, I need to try these with my soy dogs! :)

my hungry corn dog muffin eaters, checking out the pond!

One side note, perhaps slightly off topic: I cut way too many little pieces of hot dog for these muffins, but I found a great use for them.  Dog owners, rejoice: it was the perfect way to get Daisy to take her pills!  I just pushed a pill into each hot dog slice, and she devoured it so quickly, she didn't bother trying to spit out the pill (which she does with every single other way I've come up with to get her to take her pills!)  So if you have a strangely mouth-dexterous dog, little hot dog slices may be your new best friend.

Recipe:

corn dog muffins
from the Pioneer Woman
makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup shortening, melted, slightly cooled
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1 whole egg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 whole hot dogs

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Combine corn meal, flour, and salt in a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, and egg.  Add baking powder and baking soda to the wet ingredients.  Stir into the dry ingredients.  Add 1/4 cup melted shortening,  stirring constantly.

2) Grease muffin tins and fill them a little more than half full with batter.  Cut a hot dog into pieces.

3) Bake until cornbread is done, about 10 - 12 minutes.  Remove from the pan and serve with ketchup and mustard.

Football Food

Today I let Kenzie choose two things for me to make for the big football game.  Obviously I do not care at all about thegame, the sport, the team, or the outcome, but I figured it would be fun to try to make some "football food."  Kenzie chose some weird things,  but I said I would try them... and thus we have what feels like my least successful cooking day so far!  : /

So, one of the two items Kenie picked for me was a cranberry orange yeast bread.  You know me and yeast - I love making yeast breads!  - and I really like cranberry and orange together (in fact I made the cranberry orange quick bread a couple weeks ago!), so I was excited.  Also I was excited to use my new citrus zester from Tuck and Linda for my birthday - and let me just say it was amazing.  It zested the orange but didn't let me take anything off other than the top orange part - no pith! - and it was sooo sharp.  Loved it (and while I am on the topic, I am in love with my pastry board.  Thank you Tracy!  It is a joy not to have to take out my fluorescent pink ruler now!).  Then it was another enjoyable dough to knead because I had to heat up the milk, oil and water, and there might be nothing more fun than kneading warm bread dough :)  The only issue in the beginning was that the recipe called for slivered almonds, and we didn't have them.  I planned to chop up some whole almonds, but  when I went into the cabinet, the opened bag that we had in there had been discovered by moths.  Damn those little creatures!  We have another whole new container of almonds still out on the counter, but they were salted.  So, I decided that almond extract (which might be one of my favorite smells) would have to do.

I think I am being too hard on myself, because really, the bread came out well.  It is delicious and has a good consistency... and yet... not perfect.  It is supposed to cook for 20-30 minutes.  I checked it with 8 minutes left on the timer and noticed that the crust was already golden brown, so I figured that it was done early.  We cut off a few slices and they were pretty good - but then the middle was still a little doughy.  I absolutely loathe making mistakes so I got mad!  I preheated the oven to put it back in, and of course while I was waiting, Delilah jumped up and nibbled a hunk of it!  Talk about adding insult to injury.  I cut off the part she touched and still put it back in the oven, and it's fine now, but I was not happy that I made a mistake.  Lesson learned: this bread is not done until the time is up, regardless of how it looks!  I got so depressed, I refused to take any pictures of it :)

Then came the weirdest recipe I have ever done: corndog muffins!  Again, we can blame Kenzie for this weirdness.  Basically I had to make a recipe for corn bread, and then pop a cocktail weenie into each muffin.  I don't love hot dogs, but corn dogs intrigue me, so I agreed to try it... and I wish I didn't.

Obscene Corn Dog Muffins

First of all, the corn bread that the recipe made was not the greatest.  It was a "healthy" one, multigrain and regular flour - but it was nto very tasty and didn't seem so corn bread-y.   If I ever made these again (which I probaly won't), I would definitely find a different corn bread recipe!  It's really bad when the hot dog is the best part of your baked good...

Then, the hot dogs were supposed to sink into the corn bread to make a normal-looking muffin... but they never sank!  They stayed on top, and looked rather obscene (see photo at right!)!

To make matters worse, they stuck to the wrappers. Epic fail.  I will try to console myself by remembering that all I did was follow the recipe... not my fault if it was a gross one! These corn dog muffins are going to be mutt muffins very soon.  Hmph.

Recipes
Cranberry Nut Yeast Bread
Corn Dog Muffins