Cheese Fila and Katie's Birthday Party

My first recipe post since my LONG break. So, it's  got to be something special. Can't think of anything more special than cheese fila which were made for my baby's first birthday party. It's the perfect come back recipe!

I went shopping after work on Friday to buy the ingredients for the fila. I only had one hour to make the fila and I had other things to cook as well, but I was determined to do it. And excited because I was making one of my favorite of my grandmother's recipes for my daughter's first birthday party and so this was a fun thing. My daughter was very happy to see me after I had been away all day at work and wanted me to hold her. How am I supposed to make fila with her in my arms? I kept putting her down and she would get distracted by all of her birthday toys and then 5 minutes later she wanted me to hold her again. Which was fine. After all, she didn't ask for this party.  It's technically for her birthday, but really it's for my husband and me and our friends. Right? First thing I had to do was mix the 2 type of cheeses together. Time was a tickin'. I put the farmer cheese into the bowl. I poured the mozzarella cheese on top of it. And immediately I smell it. The mozzarella cheese I had just picked up from the market moments before was rotten. Gross. I had to throw it all away and just use whatever cheese was in my fridge. I had a little bit of feta, a little bit of tomato and olive cheese, a little bit of cheddar. I was going to make this work. Even if things weren't going as planned and I was running out of time. I was determined!

 I had to throw away a whole entire package of cheese!

 I mixed the cheeses together. My daughter was playing nicely now with her toys. Phew! And now for the time consuming part. It's easy but time consuming. Really fun thing to do with a friend, parent/child, or spouse.
First I rolled out the fila and cut it into 3 pieces. My grandmother used to only cut it in 2, but 3 goes farther! And I like the fila better when they're smaller. Notice my 3 pieces are completely different sizes. Try to make your pieces more equal than mine. Or not. Since mine did come out delicious!

Now put all 3 piles on top of each other. You want to work somewhat fast because the fila dough dries up when it is out too long and becomes difficult to work with. Take each piece, one at a time of course, and spread melted butter on it with your pastry brush and then fold.

Now put a little bit of cheese on each corner and fold into the shape of a triangle (up down up down).

The fila were delicious and my daughter's party was so much fun! 

The party was Sesame Street themed. Here are some pictures of my Sesame Street creations. And yes, most of my ideas were inspired from Pinterest.

Elmo, Oscar, and Big Bird Veggie Platters. Cookie Monster Donuts.

Homemade mini vanilla donuts with blue frosting, marshmallow and chocolate chip eyes with a cookie in their mouths!

While I based Oscar and Elmo from multiple posts on Pinterest, I'm proudest of Big Bird because he was my own creation. I made my Aunt Sharon's delicious corn salad (corn, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and basil), made onion dip eyes with olive eyeballs, and used baby corn as the beak!

Cheese Fila

What you need:
1)1 package of fila dough
2)Butter (at least one stick)
3)8 ounces mozzerella cheese
4)8 ounces farmer cheese
5)2 eggs
6)Pastry Brush
7)Sesame Seeds (Optional)

Mix mozzerella and farmer cheese together in a medium bowl with the 2 eggs. Mix until combined.

In a cup melt butter. I did not specify how much butter because I never know. What I do is cut half a stick of butter and melt it for 30 seconds in the microwave. I melt more as needed throughout the whole process.

Open the package of fila dough (usually it is sold in the frozen section, so make sure it is defrosted before you use it.) Roll out the fila dough and cut it into 3 even sections. Pile the 3 sections on top of each other.

Take one piece of fila and use the pastry brush to brush the melted butter onto it. Now fold it in half, using the butter to help seal it. (You do not want to skip this step. The butter is part of the reason that cheese fila is so amazing!)

Take a small spoonful of the cheese mixture and place it on the end of the fila and fold over into a triangle, and continue folding until you get to the end. Repeat with each piece of fila. As you complete one, put it on an ungreased baking sheet. Put them on the tray with the points facing inwards and so that they make squares. Like this picture:

When the tray is full spread melted butter on top of all the fila and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Now you can either bake them or freeze them, or probably both.

Freeze them on the tray so that they don't stick together. Then move them to a tupperware and make sure to put wax paper between each layer.

Bake on 350 degrees on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 30 minutes or until slightly brown and toasty.