Fresh Corn & Asiago Bread Pudding

I can't believe today is the last day of August. College football starts this week and we get a long weekend for Labor Day! Christmas will be here before you know it!

This recipe is from Southern Living. When I saw the title, I knew I had to make it. I love corn, asiago and bread, so it was a no-brainer for me. This was so simple to put together and it tasted amazing!  The more we ate, the more we liked it.  It was very addicting.  I have plans to make it again this weekend for our Labor Day cook-out. 

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Meow Monday

Marmalade

Sherbert

Jack

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Saw's BBQ

Are you looking for THE BEST BBQ?  Well, look no further than Saw's BBQ in Homewood, AL.  

I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and Tadd got the pulled chicken sandwich.  I've never had a pulled pork sandwich quite like this one.  You can tell the meat was fresh and they pulled it when you ordered the sandwich.  It was so juicy and flavorful.  The chicken sandwich was also the best we have ever had at a BBQ joint.  It was extremely tender and juicy; not dry like some chicken at other BBQ joints.  The white sauce was ridiculous.  The mac & cheese had SO much cheese; you couldn't take a bite with getting a ton of good stringy cheddar cheese.  The baked beans were tasty as well.  They were very mild and good bbq flavor to them.  I could have eaten a ton of them.  

The key is to eating at Saw's is to get there early.  There aren't a lot of seats and this place gets busy.  We arrived at 11:30 for lunch and we were one of the first people there.  By the time we left the line was out the door.

The decor is very Southern BBQ joint.  It has license plates, street signs, old cola/food signs and lots of football stuff on the walls.  I loved that the sauces and salt & pepper were in old 6-pack containers. 

Saw's BBQ isn't fancy, but it sure is something special.  It is a MUST if you are in the Birmingham area.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

Smoked Chicken with White Sauce

Mac & Cheese

Baked Beans

CONNECT WITH PLAIN CHICKEN

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Baked Club Pinwheels - Football Friday

Baked Club Pinwheels - turkey, ham, roast beef, bacon and cheese baked in refrigerated french bread dough. Super easy! Great for lunch, dinner or football parties!

It's Football Friday!  SEC Football is one week away!!  The first college game is next Thursday.  Are you ready?  I am ready for some football and some great tailgating!! 

This sandwich is perfect for a crowd.  It is easy to grab and eat on the go.  You don't need any special utensils or even a plate - which is good at a tailgate.  The less you have to tote around the better!  You can serve this with some honey mustard, ranch or BBQ if you want a little something extra.  Chicken Legs & I tested this recipe out for lunch and it was a huge hit.  We had enough leftover for lunch the next day and it was just a good.   I have a feeling we will be making this again soon.

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Edgar's Bakery President's Choice Panini

I am at it again with my grill press. This is the other sandwich that I love from Edgar's Bakery in Birmingham. It is called the President's Choice "Roast beef and melted mozzarella cheese with Peter Luger steak sauce on toasted multi grain bread."  I am not sure why they call it the President's Choice - maybe the President of Edgar's likes it? Who knows?  It is a great sandwich whatever you call it.

I couldn't find any Peter Luger steak sauce in town, so I went with Shula's steak sauce.  I thought it was a good substitute since we have a Shula's here in town.  We both really enjoyed the at home version of the sandwich.  We had a good time experimenting with Panini Month!

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Lasagna "Cupcakes"

I love these! Homemade lasagna is one of my all-time favorite foods.  When I was a kid, we would always have lasagna on Christmas Eve.  I hated turkey (still do), and I would eat the leftovers for lunch on Christmas Day. 

I love to make lasagna, but it seems like a waste since there are just two of us.  I saw these cute individual lasagna "cupcakes" on Framed and I immediately added them to our menu. I think they turned out great!  They are perfect for small families and great for portion control (this is, if you don't eat 4 or 5 at a time!).

For me, this was really just a new method to making lasagana as opposed to a new recipe.  I used my Mom's lasagana recipe and just layered it with wontons instead of pasta in the muffin tins.  They took a little time to assemble, but it was worth it.  These cook in about 20 minutes, which is much better than the hour and a half my big pan of lasagana takes.  I was concered about getting them out of the pan, but they popped right out.  I just assembled cupcakes until I ran out of cheese and sauce (I got 24 in total).  I wrapped the leftovers and threw them in the freezer for a great weeknight meal later!!

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Cinnamon Oat Snickerdoodle Cookies

This months product from the Foodbuzz.com Tastemaker Program was Fiber Plus cereal. I received two boxes of Kellog's new Fiber Plus cereal - Fiber Plus Berry Yogurt Crunch and Cinnamon Oat Crunch.  Both cereals tasted great and contained at least 35% of your daily fiber.  Not bad! 

Chicken Legs immediately gobbled up the box of Berry Yogurt Crunch (we've already bought another box).  I knew I better act fast with the Cinnamon Oat Crunch cereal or I would be out of luck for any baking.  I found a recipe for snickerdoodle cookies with Cheerios mixed in.  I immediately thought that the Fiber Plus Cinnamon Oat Crunch cereal would be perfect in a snickerdoodle since they have the same flavors. 

The cookies were fantastic.  They were crispy and airy, just like a snickerdoole is suppose to be.  We devoured these cookies - just making sure we got our daily fiber intake, of course!

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Meow Monday

Marmalade

Sherbert

Jack (& Marmalade)

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Spicy Buffalo Chicken Beer Dip - Football Friday

It's Football Friday!  We are only TWO WEEKS away from the start of college football!!  I can't believe it!! 

This recipe is a twist on the usual Buffalo Chicken Dip that everyone serves.  We really liked this dip because of the Velveeta.  It was good and cheesy and had the perfect kick from the hot sauce.  You can adjust the heat by reducing or adding more hot sauce - the hotter the better for me!  We served this with chips, but it would be great with some celery and carrots too.    Perfect dip for a crowd.

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#52 Hickory Chicken (Roly Poly)

I am LOVING my new grill press!  We are making all kinds of new sandwiches for lunch on the weekend.  This sandwich happens to be our favorite sandwich from Roly Poly.  It is  #52 on the menu - the Hickory Chicken.  Roly Poly describes it as "Sliced Chicken Breast, Melted Cheddar Cheese, Onions, Mushrooms, Bacon, BarBQ Sauce, Grilled Golden Brown with a Side of Ranch Dressing".  We both love it.  I get it without mushrooms and onions (of course).  Chicken Legs will eat it all the way or without onions. 

I used my favorite grilled chicken tenders and assembled it as described.  It turned out much better than the original.  I think the chicken made the most difference.  I also used my favorite whole wheat tortilla. 

I already have some chicken marinating in the fridge to try more of our favorite Roly Poly sandwiches this coming weekend.

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Decorated Sugar Cookies

Look what I made!  

I finally did it!  I made some super cute decorated sugar cookies!! This has been on my "to do" list for a really long time.  I finally took the plunge and I think they turned out great.  I can't believe that I waited so long to give this a try.  They weren't near as hard to make as I had imagined.  I used Our Best Bites cookie and icing recipe.  I thought their glace icing would be easier to work with (since I wasn't doing anything complicated) and taste better than royal icing.

Today is my Dad's birthday.  We celebrated last weekend and I was in charge of the birthday cake.  I made a lemon pie for his "birthday cake", but I wanted something that was more birthday-ish.  These cookies sure did fit the bill.  The best part about the cookies? They tasted AMAZING!  According to Chicken Legs, a bonafide cookie connoiseur, these cookies are the best he has ever eaten.  He said they are better than bakery cookies.  (He would know!) 

I had such a good time making the cookies that I bought three more cookie cutters this weekend.  I bought an ice cream cone, dragonfly and a flower.  I am about to become a cookie making machine!

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