Excuses, Excuses

For once I feel like I have perfectly good excuses for not blogging in so long and as to why I am so late posting the cookbook of the month recipe for this week (even though I don’t think anyone even notices or cares that it is late)!

I was on such a roll on blogging back in October. Not only was I on top of posting the cookbook of the month recipes I was also posting quite a few other recipes as well. I even got so far caught up that I have prewritten some blog posts and typed out the recipes for a few different things and just have to upload and edit the pictures (that is a chore though, in and of it’s self).So I was doing so good, ahead of schedule (even on my personal blog I have been able to post pretty regularly, lately).

So then why, you ask, have I not posted anything in a week! Well the reason that I haven’t posted any cookbook recipes yet is because to be honest I hadn’t even made anything from the cookbook I chose this month since August (that is when I made the ribs I posted about last week). AND I had a couple of recipes that I REALLY wanted to make from this Dean Bros Cookbook to post this week but was so busy that I just never had time to get to the store to get some of the missing ingredients. AND I had good intentions of posting some of those other recipes that I had prepared but didn’t have time to do that either!

The past week has been EXTREMELY busy but I guess that is to be expected this time of year. So my very good excuses as to why I have been MIA the past week is the fact that I have been swamped at work, I have had quite a few extracurricular activities/events to attend, and this past weekend I went out of town to visit my mom (Aw I am such a good daughter).

And like I always say… That is no excuse!

So this cheese sauce was not my top recipe to feature this week from the Dean cookbook but it was one that I defiantly wanted to try and I had all the ingredients on hand so I could make it. This sauce was very rich and cheesy! The hint of mustard and tabasco went perfect with the pretzel sticks. This sauce would have also been perfect with a soft pretzel (like the ones from the mall or Sam's Club) or over broccoli or asparagus. The recipes calls for cheddar cheese but I think Velveeta would be better. Also the original directions say that after you melt the cheddar cheese remove pot from eat and add cream cheese. Don't this or you will have chunks of un-melted cheese in your dip. I show my modifications to the original recipe below:

Another not so 'hot' pic but how else are you supposed to make cheese sauce pretty!

Cheesy Pretzel Dipping Sauce

adapted from The Dean Bros. Cookbook: Recipes From The Road

1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups (8 oz) sharp cheddar cheese or Velveeta
4 (oz) cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon mustard
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce
salt and pepper
pretzels, bread, veggies for dipping

In a large saucepan, bring the milk and butter to a boil; reduce heat. Add cheeses and stir until melted. Reduce heat to lowest setting and stir in remaining ingredients. Transfer sauce to serving dish. Serve with pretzels, bread, or veggies. Reheat sauce in microwave if it becomes firm. Makes 2 cups.