Herbed Parmesan Cheese Straws Recipe

I had a huge surprise in store for the family this Thanksgiving. Now that the surprise has been blown by my husband’s inability to simply accept that I am acting shady and planning something behind his back, I can freely talk about my plans to the world. I have arranged for Jon’s sister to fly in from Vietnam for Thanksgiving!

I really wanted Jon to come home from work one day and have her sitting in our living room; his mind would have been blown. Instead I will now make him drive to Houston to pick her up from the airport. Sweet revenge for my ruined surprise.

For years we never had a Thanksgiving without Auntie Jenny; she was actually the first person that I got hooked on my mother’s Thanksgiving Dinner recipes. Since she started working overseas, and we moved from Maine to Texas, we haven’t been able to celebrate with her in over two years. Jenny and I used to have some serious fun over the Holidays. I’m talking put the kids to bed, drink boxed wine, and belt out some terrible karaoke kind of fun. Every. Single. Night. Oh my poor neighbors. Those were some of the most memorable holidays we’ve ever had though.

When first planning this post I was going to cook up something fabulous and add it to my Thanksgiving Day appetizer menu. Last night I quickly realized what a bad idea that was! As fabulous as mini savory vegetable tarts would have been, they certainly would take a lot of time to prep. I need more time for boxed wine (maybe we’ll upgrade to bottled wine this year) and karaoke!  I don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen for days trying to put appetizers together. How am I supposed to fill Jenny with Christmas Joy if I’m constantly cooking? It has been years since she’s had the American Holiday experience and I plan to shove her full of joy and Holiday magic! I’ll be waiting for you with bells on Auntie Jenny!

My new recipe plan is simple, easy, can be prepared ahead of time, frozen, and cooked as needed.  So perfect for the woman planning more craft projects than can be done in a week. Herbed Parmesan Cheese Straws are the new appetizer on my menu. Most cheese straws contain Italian seasonings, or no herbs at all. I’m using Litehouse’s Poultry Herb Blend. Just smelling this herb blend makes me think of Thanksgiving with the sage, marjoram, rosemary, and Thyme. It will fit in perfectly with the big Turkey Dinner and will work great as a side to leftover turkey soup the next day. They take on a nutty salty flavor from the parmesan cheese, are full of familiar Holiday herbs, and are so flakey they will melt in the mouths of my guests! They will also most likely be used as swords by the boys, for that they will work well too.

While most recipes use store bought puff pastry, I’ll be making my own dough so that I can blend the herbs and cheese directly into the dough itself. It is so much easier than you may think, cheaper than buying expensive pre-made dough, and makes a huge difference when it comes to taste! I’m rolling up my sleeves today and whipping up a big batch of these Herbed Parmesan Cheese Straws to freeze and save myself time in the kitchen later on! There are many bad karaoke songs that need to be sung this Thanksgiving and I plan on rocking out to all of them!