On the Air with tpt and a Great Muffin for Later

"Lights! Camera!!! Quiet on the set!!!"
What a way to kick off our self-declared "National Potluck Month!"

There we were, away from laid-back Potluck Paradise headquarters and in the midst of "Hotdish Television Studio On-The-Go" as Twin Cities Public Television ( tpt to those of us who watch and love it) took over the fabulous ALL Appliance store in St Paul for a day-long taping session. The show features seven wonderful hotdishes -- Minnesota's quintessential Potluck food -- casseroles or "covered dishes" to the rest of the country. We prepared one, but you'll have to tune in to see what it is. We're sworn to secrecy. The photo shows all that's left of this wonderful and easy-to-make dish. The show will debut in early March along with the opportunity to get your hands on the first in the series of tpt cookbooks -- tpt Cooks - Hotdish.

Talk about drama, fun, and glamor! And some mystery ingredients!

We got to cook in a wonderful new demonstration kitchen . . saw a few appliances that would fit right in at Potluck Paradise headquarters. The tpt staff were as good a set of prep cooks as any one could want. And we even got our make-up put on with an airbrush -- la-de-DA!

As to the recipes, you'll have to watch the show, or become a Member of tpt and get a copy of the new cookbook to find out. . . We can give a hint or two. The dish we prepared has eight ingredients, can be put together in less than 7 minutes, and bakes in less than half a hour. Interested? And one more hint. . . one of the ingredients is the ever popular crushed potato chips.

We'll leave it at that, but here's a great recipe you can enjoy right now.


These tasty, healthy muffins are the perfect compliment to any hotdish. Low fat and low sugar, the trick of combining the cornmeal with the warm milk to swell the grains, makes a rich corn taste with a "non-gritchy" texture. You can use all dates or all dried cranberries, but here at Potluck Paradise headquarters, we like the mixture.

Cranberry Date Cornmeal Muffins

1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries and dates, mixed
about 1 cup hot water
1 1/4 cups milk, could be non-fat
2 tablespoons brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg. lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine the dried fruits and water in a microwave-save dish and microwave until fruits are softened -- about two minutes at half power work in my large microwave. Set aside to cool, then drain off the water. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer. Turn off the heat and add the brown sugar and butter, stirring until well combined. Then gradually stir in cornmeal. Mix until there aren't any lumps and set aside to cool to lukewarm. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Stir in the cornmeal mixture, the drained dates, and egg. Mix well. The batter will be fairly thick. Spoon in to lightly greased muffin tins and bake until firm and lightly browned, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Yield: 12 3-inch "regular" muffins and 12 mini-muffins. Or 18 of the 3-inch size.