Pizza Bites

Snowman shaped pizza bites. 

I was looking for a fun appetizer to bring to a Christmas party, and saw a Christmas tree version of this on Pinterest. I`ve changed the recipe a bit to make it easier (lots of kids around), but here`s the original link.

What you need:

 Pizza dough - I just used store bought this time
Italian blend seasoning - or any pizza seasonings you enjoy
Cream cheese - about 115-150 g depending on how much dough you have
Mozzarella or pizza blend cheese - 1 cup, or about 150 g
(You may want to use the entire 200 g container and the entire bag of cheese for the XL dough)
Pizza sauce - I just used one from a jar this time.
Melted butter for brushing over the top
Finely minced garlic - about 1 tsp
Basil for garnishing the top - I used dried, but fresh would be great.

First roll out your dough and slice it into squares. Mine were a bit on the small side, you want them probably to be at least 1.5 x 1.5 inches.

Mix your cheeses together.

Sprinkle the Italian seasoning (or oregano, etc) on your dough. Place a small ball of the cheese in the middle of the dough.

Add a dollop of pizza sauce - a tiny bit goes a long way!

Fold over the corners until you have something resembling a ball. Place it seem side down on either a baking tray or a shaped pan. Don`t squish them together, put put them next to each other.

Put in the oven at 230 C for 12-15 minutes. Until the top is a golden brown.

Just before the pizza finishes cooking, melt some butter and add your finely minced garlic. Brush it over the top of the pizza balls and then sprinkle with basil.

Enjoy!

Cornbread

My only cornbread experience was in 5th grade, and they were serving corndogs for lunch. I`m sure part of it was cafeteria food, but it was horrible. Anything that said cornbread, I stayed away from.  Until last night. We had our Thanksgiving a day late as it`s not a holiday here, and I tried to make some things that my husband`s family would eat, as well as my own. This was my first attempt at cornbread, and so of course, I asked my MIL for her recipe. I really have no idea where it came from, but I can tell you, that from someone who didn`t think they liked it, it was delicious.

 This is a slightly sweetened version. I know you can make it unsweetened as well. Also, I poured a bit of gravy on mine as it was a bit dry/crumbly - compared to normal bread. Not dry like you had to guzzle a glass of water after each bite :). Apparently it was supposed to be. Hubby used butter and honey. Enjoy with your favorite topping!

What you need:

1 cup of flour
1 cup of fine grain polenta
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1/4 cup butter (53g)
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder (1 sachet of backpulver)
1 egg





First, mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Mix the liquid ingredients.

In a heavy pan (iron skillet, etc, something that you can bake it in as well as use on the stove), melt the butter.

Add the dry ingredients to the liquid, and mix well. Add the melted butter. Mix thoroughly and pour back into the pan. Bake in a 220 C oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.