I’ll admit that sometimes being a food blogger is tough work. Slaving over the stove each day, trying out new recipes, sampling this and that…all for you, our dear readers. For example, guess what challenge I am currently taxed with? Creating a new Fench fry flavor for Alexia foods! It is going to require day after day of creating and testing various flavors of fries trying to find the most unique and perfectly blended flavor combination to tempt your taste buds. Hard, grueling, difficult work, I tell ‘ya. I am willing to do it though because I want what’s best for everyone and their fry cravings. I’m such a giver that way.

Over the next few weeks, I, along with several other bloggers, will be getting busy in the kitchen trying out various seasonings and spices on Russet potatoes and sweet potatoes. I’ll work with different fry cuts and will begin narrowing down the choices until I have the perfect fry cut / flavor combination in hand. At that point I will hand my creation over to the judges who will determine if my fry creation is worthy of a top 4 spot, which means a trip to the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco.

So, to get my creative juices flowing, I’d love to know about the absolute best fry you’ve ever had. For me, I haven’t met a fry that beats the fries at the greatest Kansas City barbecue joint –  Oklahoma Joe’s. I go a little crazy for their fries.

Tell me… what’s the best fry you’ve ever tasted?

Make sure to follow along with all the bloggers through the Alexia Facebook Page and the Twitter hashtag – #AlexiaFoods. I can’t wait to be inspired by you!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored challange through Alexia fries. I am being compensated for recipe development, however all opinions expressed are my own.

The post The “Reinvent a Classic” Challenge with Alexia Fries appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Tabitha is a mom of four kids. She works part-time, volunteers for everything under the sun, and is a very involved mom. Well, of course she doesn’t have it all together, dude. She is soooooo busy, how could she possibly have it all together? I think I took such offense to his judgment on Tabitha because I am sure that is what people say about me sometimes. To be honest with you, before having kids, I probably would have thought the same thing about her, but now? Now I do not judge anyone for the things they do/don’t do as a mother. (I’m not talking about abuse here… just various parenting styles).

Have you ever fed your kids crackers for breakfast because you forgot to buy milk the night before and you are running late and there is nothing else in the house that is portable to feed them? I won’t judge you. Have you bribed your kid with a cookie to get them to stop having a fit? No judgment from me! Do you have a kid who is addicted to french fries and won’t eat much else at all so you always make sure to have some form of the spud on your dinner table just so they get something in their belly? I can absolutely relate and therefore, will not judge.

My three year old is my french fry addict and this whole not eating out thing is causing her to have some serious withdrawal. Not that its a bad thing that she isn’t getting her weekly dose of fries, but the girl LOVES her fries. Loves them. I don’t like to fry foods at home, but baked fries are quite tasty, so we have been having a lot of baked fries over the past couple of weeks. I wanted to share a recipe for a rib rub that we actually like to put on a lot more than ribs. It is called “Rib Rub That Rocks” and my husband mixes it into hamburger before he grills them, we sprinkle it on chicken breasts, mix it with mayo to make a zesty sauce and more. The other day I thought to try it on our baked fries and it was so good, I just had to share it with you! Just don’t judge me if I tell you these fries are all my kid had for dinner that night. Okay?

Rib Rub That Rocks (from Recipezaar)

10 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 32 , 2 cups

For instructions on how to bake the fries, head over to this post

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I would often go over to Jennifer’s house to play and would end up staying for dinner. When I was there, her mom would always make us homemade chicken strips and french fries. It was her special meal that she would make when I was there because she knew how much I loved them. I had never had chicken strips and fries that tasted so out of this world delicious!

Birthday’s were a pretty big deal in our house growing up. My mom, who was also a fantastic cook, would always let us choose what we wanted for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would choose things like Funnel Cakes for breakfast, and my mom would happily oblige.  Chocolate cake for lunch? Sure… coming right up. One year, whatever year it is when you become a major brat, my mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner. When I told her that I wanted homemade chicken strips and french fries she delivered. When she placed my wish meal out on the table, I took one look at the chicken and fries and balked… “I don’t want your chicken strips and fries. I want it to be like the kind Mrs Treiber makes!” Being the age of bratiness, I didn’t take one single bite. Can you imagine how much my mom probably wanted to smack my smug little face? I am sure she was so proud of making exactly what she thought I wanted, and here I go and repay her by being a complete jerk.

I am sure I hurt my moms feelings (sorry mom!), but even after that show of ungratefulness my mom called Mrs Treiber to find out what her secret was. The fries were normal homemade fries, deep fried and salted to perfection. The chicken strips? Schwans. Yep… the chicken strips that I raved and raved about and stabbed my poor mom in the heart about were frozen, deep fried, Schwans chicken strips!

I cannot make homemade french fries of any kind without thinking of Jennifer, her mom and that birthday dinner. I can tell you that tonight, when I sat the fries out on the dinner table, my four year old took one look and said “I thought you said we were having french fries with dinner… I want fries like McDonalds, Mom!”

And what is it they say about paybacks? I have a feeling, I’m about to find out!

Zesty Oven Baked Fries, from Recipezaar

A little bit of housekeeping…

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