The best part of the party was the cheese sticks

No, actually the party was great.  The weather cooperated and the rain was over and it was just overcast.  Having all the food prepped so that I only needed to pull it out of the refrigerator and put it on the table was a great help.  And making everyone do their own grilling kept me from becoming the cook/waitress for the party which is my usual role.  Turnout was a bit lighter than expected so I've frozen some of the fabulous steaks that were left.  The steaks were really fabulous but what turned out to be the hit of the party were the cheese sticks.  I made these before the famous Father's Birthday Party and had them in the freezer since I didn't need them for that party.  I pulled them out for this party, crisped them in the oven a few minutes and everyone LOVED them.  And they are so easy to make you can have them anytime.

Parmesan Cheese Sticks

1 puff pastry sheet, thawed according to package directions.  I used Trader Joe’s and thawed about 10 minutes.  The Trader Joe’s pastry comes two sheets in the package so go ahead and double the recipe since these can be frozen.  The amounts below are for ONE sheet of pastry.

1 C fresh, finely grated Parmesan cheese

½  - 1 teaspoon paprika (I use Hungarian paprika that has a bit of taste, not the regular paprika which is just red color)

½ teaspoon cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Sprinkle half of the cheese evenly on the work surface and roll out the square of pastry on the cheese. 

Combine remaining cheese, paprika and cornstarch and sprinkle on the pastry.  Keep rolling the cheese mixture into the dough, turning over a few times until all the cheese is embedded in the dough and the pasty is about 1/8 inch thick.

Use a pizza wheel to cut into ½ inch strips about 5-6 inches long.  Carefully place the strips on a “Pam-ed” or parchment paper lined cookie sheet (do not use the “air” cookie sheets or these will never brown).

Bake 13-16 minutes until browned and crisp.  Keep checking on them.  Mine seem to get brown really quickly toward the end of the cooking time. 

Cool 5 minutes on the pan and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.

Can be frozen.  Just crisp up in oven before serving.