Homemade Corndogs and Cheese-on-a-Stick!

Daniel and I got ambitious the other night and decided to make homemade corndogs. I have a hotdog phobia, so we made cheese-on-a-stick for me instead. You guys...it was heavenly. They tasted just like the ones you get from Hot Dog on a Stick at the mall! I'm ashamed to admit how much I love that place. But who could turn down fried cheese and cornbread? Not this girl.

You'd think we'd have to buy a million things at the store for this endeavor, but the only things we didn't have on hand were hot dogs, cheese, and yellow cornmeal. We had the oil, eggs, and pancake mix already! The mix was super easy to put together, too.

Corndogs and Cheese-on-a-Stick were a major success! We used The Pioneer Woman's recipe, and it didn't disappoint. They were so tasty. The only thing I will change next time is to use American cheese instead of cheddar cheese inside my cheese sticks. That would make them authentic Hot Dog on a Stick style!

Some more ideas:
1. This would be a super fun meal to make with a husband or friends. We had as much fun making them as we had eating them!
2. We halved the recipe (the original makes 18) and we still had TONS of leftover batter. Keep it in the fridge overnight and use it to make pancakes the next day! They are my new favorite. I put honey and butter on mine, and Daniel said they tasted great with syrup.
3. Since we made more than 9 corndogs, we definitely couldn't eat them all in one sitting. The best part is - you can refrigerate/freeze them! They taste just as wonderful the next day. Just put them on a tray in the oven and crisp them for a few minutes before you eat them. It works with the cheese ones too!
4. I learned that you are not supposed to pour oil down the drain of your sink because it can really mess stuff up. To get rid of it the used oil, we funneled it back into the bottle it came from and threw it out - so don't throw away the bottle.

I think that's about it for the corndog tips. So go out and try an ambitious recipe - it will be an adventure!

these past few weekends...

Even though she was buried alive, Baby Corolla survived another epic snowstorm! She's such a champion, even though she hates snow as much as I do. Baby and I are a great team.

We took a much-needed road trip up to the cabin with Daniel's family. On the way up, we listened to good old-fashioned mix CDs in the Jeep. At the cabin, we made a chicken pot pie, almost finished a crossword, munched on chips and salsa, and cuddled up to watch a movie. We also took in the beautiful scenery on the ATVs, had deep conversations about religion and dinosaurs, and figured out how many Sorensens it takes to change an ATV battery. I wore my raccoon hat the whole day :)

The Jazz played the Pistons, and won! Thanks to Groupon, we were there to support them. Oh, and of course the Lawrences were there too! 

 

We ate at Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana downtown on St. Patrick's day, and it was amazing. Have you ever eaten there? My sister-in-law who served her mission in Italy says it's the place to go in SLC for authentic Italian-style pizza. The appetizer we ordered looked amazing (and tasted even better), and my pizza had enough kalamata olives on it to make me one happy camper.

Oh weekends, why do you come and go so quickly? Please come again soon! 

In other news...I have less than 2 weeks of student teaching left (eep!), I'm about a month and a half away from graduating (double eep!), and life is good around here in the Sorensen house. I'm excited to have a little time to myself after student teaching is over. It's been a long, long year. Hip, hip, hooray!

Fish & Chips

On our Monday off, Daniel and I went on a little lunch date to Summerhays' Fish and Chips. It's a cute little restaurant in Holladay near our apartment. When I was growing up, it was called Neil's Fish and Chips. It's one of my dad's favorite places, and he used to suggest it all the time when we were kids. It's only now that I'm an adult that I appreciate my dad's fabulous taste in restaurants. We both ordered the halibut and chips, and I have to say, it really hit the spot. The fun atmosphere made it feel like we were on vacation, even though we were only five minutes from home.

What are your favorite places to go on dates? We love suggestions!

a dinner date.

This past weekend, D and I went on a fun little date to one of my favorite restaurants, The Dodo. Have you eaten there? We think it's wonderful. It's the perfect mix of casual and upscale, plus, the food is to die for.

 

One of my favorite things to get there for dessert is the Toll House Pie. It's basically a pie that tastes just like a chocolate chip cookie served warm with vanilla ice cream on top. It's little a slice of heaven. However, we ended up skipping the Toll House Pie in favor of another treat that we've never seen on their menu before - The Butterfinger Cheesecake. Oh. My. Gosh. Will you believe me when I say that the entire table of people next to us got up to see what we ordered when they saw our reaction? Will you also appreciate that a lady from that table offered to take a picture of us with the pie? It's all true. I have photo evidence to prove it.

Told you.

And the pie was one of the best things we've ever eaten. So if you're in need of a tasty meal in the SLC area, head over to The Dodo. We highly recommend it :).

our trip to the pumpkin patch.

I'm not sure what it is about Halloween, but it's one of my very favorite holidays. Maybe it's the weather, the decorations, the colors, the candy, the parties, the dressing up, the scary movies, the haunted houses, or the pumpkins. Or maybe it's the fact that my birthday is 4 days before Halloween. Either way, this is one of my favorite times of the year!

One of our favorite Halloween traditions is visiting the pumpkin patch at Rosewood Gardens every year. It's such a fun place! Every year it's filled to the brim with Halloween decorations, hay bales, gourds, and pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. There's even a cat that wanders up and down the paths!

We had a fantastic time picking out our pumpkins together at the pumpkin patch. We found some great ones and we're excited to carve them with friends tonight!

What are your favorite Halloween traditions? Do you carve pumpkins? Where do you get them?