These corn sticks are very addictive. They can be made instead of muffins on your dinner table or when you're having a party they are a favorite.

2 cups of water
1 1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2.cups of fine corn meal
1/8th teaspoon of Sazon con achiote (optional)
1 cup of grated sharp cheddar or Monterrey jack cheese or Queso de bola

In a pot add the water and salt and bring to a boil then remove from the heat. Add the corn meal to the water and mix well. Place the pot back on the stove in medium heat. Keep stirring until for 3 to 5 minutes and until the dough unsticks from the bottom and the sides of the pot. Remove the pot from the heat and add the grated cheese and mix well.

When it cools slightly with a spoon take some of dough onto your palm and make a corn stick about 3 inches long and 3/4th of an inch thick. Fry them in lots of hot vegetable or corn oil (375 degrees) until golden brown then remove onto absorbent paper towels, serve hot.

Make 45 to 50

Luquillo beach (pictured). Puerto Rico has three main physiographic regions: the mountainous interior, the coastal lowlands, and the karst area. The mountainous interior is formed by a central mountain chain known as the Cordillera Central in the west and the Sierra de Cayey in the east. The highest peaks, Cerro de Punta (1,338 m/4,390 ft), Cerro Rosa (1,267 m/4,157 ft), and Cerro Jayuya (1,250 m/4,101 ft) are found toward the center of the island in the Cordillera Central near the cities of Jayuya and Orocovis. Another mountain chain is the Sierra de Luquillo in the northeast. The second main physiographic feature is the coastal lowlands, which extend 13 to 19 km (8 to 12 mi) inward in the north and 3 to 13 km (2 to 8 mi) in the south. A series of smaller valleys lie perpendicular near the west and east coasts. The third important physiographic feature is the karst region in the north. This limestone region is an extremely attractive zone of extensive mogotes or haystack hills, sinkholes, caves, limestone cliffs, and other karst features. The karst belt extends from Aguadilla, in the west, to a minor haystack hills formation in Loiza, just east of San Juan.