Crazy hot dogs and spaghetti dish – How it all went down
Regardless, there’s something strangely intriguing about it and I had to make my own batch. After making the corn dog muffins, I found myself with some extra slices and the perfect opportunity to try them.
One of the best parts was being walked in on while I was stabbing the hot dogs with spaghetti. I’d already told the oldest that I was making corndog muffins for lunch (which was a new dish for us and confused her anyway), and then when she saw me messing with the spaghetti instead, she questioned why there was spaghetti in corn dogs, hehe.
Those look like corn dog muffins, right? ;)
I had the little ones playing outside while I put everything together, but the teenager couldn’t stop asking questions. Typical, huh? She’s either a complete recluse and refuses outside contact from anyone….or she’s right under my feet. “Why do some of them have one and some of them have three??” My answer: “Because the ones with three make better ladders,” and I finger-climbed the hot dog steps. I believe that was the final eye roll as she walked out of the room.
That was really only the beginning, though, and it gets worse from there.
After lunch was over, I brought out the small plate of spaghetti hot dog ladder piles. They gathered ’round and I dug in. “Look! This one’s the ladder,” and yep, I finger-climbed again, this time with sound effects, and I was greeted with real giggles (*sticks out tongue at the teenager*). When one of them asked how I got the holes in the hot dogs, I told her with tooth picks, and she accepted my answer just fine, hehe.
I separated the strands into even piles for them to try, and I had one left over. “Ooo, look at my long blonde hair,” I cooed in an over dramatic voice. Little did I know that it reminded all of them of their friend that plays in our yard quite often. “It’s Sally-chick!!” So off I went to take another picture. I took longer than expected, though, because I, uh, um, er….I stopped to braid “Sally-chick’s” hair.
Finally they were able to consider eating, but wait, what do you put on hot dogs ‘and’ pasta? Marinara sauce for the noodles? Ketchup for the hot dogs? After a few minutes worth of discussion, they opted for just grated parmesan cheese. Guess what? They *loved* it. Of course kids would, I suppose, but it still seems like a far-fetched combination to me.
And that leftover Sally-chick dog noodle? They proudly prepped it carefully and took it outside where their friend was still waiting on them to come back and play. She loved it, too. ;)
(My next post will cover technique tips, things I’m considering doing in the future, and pictures of other versions.)
Corndog muffins
I make a lot of muffins. No, really, A LOT of muffins. I like making several batches during a single day and freezing them for breakfasts, snacks, etc. Omelet, blueberry, strawberry, orange spice, applesauce, cheese….there are usually at least 3 different kinds of muffins in my freezer at any given time. Beyond that, I use my muffin tin for individual servings of things like meatloaf or cornbread.
So when I ran across HungryGirl’s recipe for some “Corndog Millionaire Muffins,” I couldn’t resist, even though I rarely buy or use hotdogs. I don’t use any of her fat/calorie/sugar-reducing product suggestions, though, so trying to follow her recipe would’ve been nearly impossible. Egg substitutes, Hebrew franks, Splenda, and fat-free ‘anything’ have never even been in my kitchen before, so instead of trying to make conversions for all her substitutes, I just used this basic cornbread recipe:
Cornbread
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup yellow cornmeal
* 2/3 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 egg
* 1 cup milk
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray or lightly grease pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
As for the hotdogs, just use whatever your favorite brand is. I used about 4, and sliced them into half-inch to an inch slices. Press 3 or 4 slices into each muffin before placing them in the oven. Back for 15-20 minutes.
Tip: Make sure you press the hotdogs in a decent amount or they just pop off the tops after cooking. Make your slice thicker to have a better “dog to cornbread” ratio.
Spaghetti and Meatballs Lookalike Cake
Who can blame people, though? It’s an absolutely amazing looking cake.
Growing up, my “special birthday dinner” choice was always spaghetti. I loved it, but my mom doesn’t at all, so I rarely had it….except for getting it on my birthday. She’s always made our cakes from scratch and into something really special, too (I’ll share pictures with you guys later). I no longer get the birthday cakes, but I wonder if I could talk her into trying to make one for an upcoming birthday. At least she wouldn’t have to eat real spaghetti!
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