An interesting recipe for you

  Today is bright and snappy. I let my horse Spike out because he's not going anywhere with all of this snow on the ground, but he refuses to let me catch him. The cold air is making the 21 year-old pretty excited. Speaking of that, his birthday is Jan. 1 (as all Standadbred's are) and he'll be 22. Boy time goes fast. I got him when he was seventeen. Here's a very unfocused picture that will make you dizzy, courtesy of Clarissa. Spike is the dark brown one, Sunny's got her head stuck in the feeder. Clarissa thought it was really funny, because when the camera occasionally flashed the horses would go running!

  The recipe is for a cheese ring, a deliciously unhealthy thing you can make to go with pizza. Except for the crust, I basically made it up. Here it is:

 Delicious Cheese Ring

Note: I make this recipe in a bread machine. If you don't have one, you can make it as you would any other dough  with appropriate times to rise, etc. If you really want clear directions on how to do that, you can email me.

1/2 t. Salt

3 cups All-purpose flour

1 -1/2 t. Active Dry Yeast

7/8-1 cup water

2 T. Olive or Vegetable Oil 

Butter

Dried Minced Garlic

Mozzarella Cheese

1. Combine all of the first set of ingredients into the bread machine pan, and select dough setting.

2. When dough is done, pull it out of the bread machine and roll about half of it out onto a floured surface. You can use all of the dough, 1/2 of it or even 1/4 of it depending on how large you want the cheese ring.  (Because we have such a large family, I can usually make 2 fairly large cheese rings from the dough.) It should be rolled out between 1/4-1/2 of an inch thick depending on how much bread/how fluffy you want it.

3. Place the rolled disk onto a pizza pan. Take an empty round container such as a sour cream cup and use it to make a hole in the center of the dough. Next, spread butter all around the dough's surface. Sprinkle about 2 Tbs. minced garlic (or to taste) around  the ring. Then sprinkle Mozzarella cheese around the outside of the dough. (How much depends on how big your cheese ring is.)

4. Roll the ring up. It should look like a bulgy under inflated tire when you're finished. Make sure to pinch up the edges so that the cheese doesn't leak out.

5. Bake at 400 degrees for 14-20 minutes, (once again, it depends on how big your ring is) Be careful, it can be hard to tell when it's done. I've bit into a doughy cheese ring more than once. Let cool before tasting.

I know, I know, what an appropriate recipe for Thanksgiving! I just had it last night though, so I it was pretty fresh in my mind. And note: this recipe will take a lot of trial and error. And if you do try it out, let me know how it tasted because it might not actually be delicious I just might have a really weird sense of taste!

Thanksgiving is 2 days away! I hope you have a happy one!

    The Dairy Queen