Acorn Squash Casserole

This is one of those awesomely sneaky recipes. It's called a casserole and served as a side dish, but it actually tastes like a dessert. Reminiscent of those delightful candied yams or sweet potato casseroles served alongside turkey and stuffing at Thanksgiving, this acorn squash casserole has a wonderfully sweet autumnal flavor. I found the recipe over at Cooks.com, where it was titled "Heavenly Squash Casserole." I have to agree, this stuff is heavenly.

Sorry about the picture, it was an afterthought. It wasn't until after dinner that I decided I needed to post this recipe so I could have it available whenever I wanted it. So I scooped out another serving just for the picture. Then I ate it. Of course. Can't let it go to waste. :)

Acorn Squash Casserole
(adapted from Cooks.com)
2 large acorn squash
1 cup white sugar
1 stick butter, softened
4 tsp. vanilla, divided
4 eggs, well beaten
Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
2/3 cup flour
1 cup pecans, chopped (didn't have these, but they would have been an amazing addition)

Split each squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place cut side down in two large baking dishes. Unless you have one large enough for all four halves. Then by all means use that one. Add 1/4 inch water around the squashes. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until tender. Scoop out squash into large bowl and beat with mixer or potato masher until smooth.

Add sugar, butter, and 2 tsp. vanilla to the squash. Mix well. In a separate bowl, beat together the remaining 2 tsp. vanilla and eggs. Add to the squash mixture and mix thoroughly. Place in a greased 2 qt. baking dish or 9x13 pan.

Combine topping ingredients and mix well. Sprinkle over top of squash mixture in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve warm.

This is great served on its own, but topping it with whipped cream takes it to a whole new level. Just saying.

Linking to:
Think Tank Thursday 
Link Party Palooza
Strut Your Stuff Saturday

Green Tomato Pickles

Yet another green tomato recipe. I made these a few days ago. Normally I don't care for sweet-style pickles very much, I prefer dill. But these turned out quite good. I used this recipe, cutting it in half because I accidentally cut my finger while slicing tomatoes, and didn't feel like doing any more slicing that night. :-} So remember to be careful when you're slicing the tomatoes, don't get lazy and start chopping up your extremities.


Green Tomato Pickles
1 peck (40 small) green tomatoes, thinly sliced
4 cups onions, thinly sliced
Salt
4 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
2 tbsp. celery seed
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
3/4 oz. mustard seed
12 whole cloves
8 whole allspice seeds

Alternate layers of tomatoes and onions on a large platter. Shake salt on each layer like you’re salting a meal. Cover platter with plastic wrap and store overnight in refrigerator. Salt will draw moisture from the tomatoes and onions, so place platter on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any water that may spill.

The next day, drain tomatoes and onions in a colander. In a large pot, add the tomatoes, onions, sugar, white vinegar, celery seed, bay leaf, ground mustard, and mustard seed. Place cloves and allspice in a cloth bag, and add to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Spoon into sterilized canning jars and seal (I did 5 minutes in a boiling-water bath).

Green Tomato Relish

Next in my series of green tomato recipes is this deliciously tangy relish. After cooking this up this morning, I was left smelling strongly of cider vinegar, but I think it was worth it. The relish has a really wonderful flavor, and will be a great accompaniment to lots of future meals! I used this recipe, but instead of refrigerating and then serving right away, we put it in jars to freeze.


Green Tomato Relish
1/3 c. salad oil
3 lg. onions, diced
1 lg. garlic clove, minced
8 lg. green tomatoes (about 4 lbs.), cut into bite-sized chunks
4 med. green peppers, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips
4 med. red peppers, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips
3 c. cider vinegar
1 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger

About 4 hours before serving or up to 1 week ahead: In 8-quart Dutch oven or heavy saucepan over medium heat, in hot salad oil, cook onions and garlic until tender, stirring occasionally. Add green tomatoes and remaining ingredients; over high heat, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, uncovered, 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens.

Ladle into jars or freezer containers, cool to room temperature, then freeze. Or ladle into sterilized jars and process in a boiling-water bath for 30 minutes.

Green Tomato ... Jam?

Hello, autumn weather! We had a stormy, windy, frosty night last night, which means it's time to bring in the green tomatoes. Do you have any idea how many green tomatoes you get from 19 tomato plants? A lot more than I currently know what to do with! So far we've brought in three large bowls brimming over with green tomatoes - at least 16 quarts. And that's just from three or four plants.

Anticipating a large green tomato crop, I've been looking up recipes for green tomatoes. This is one I found particularly interesting. Mixing green tomatoes, sugar, and jello to make jam definitely isn't something I would have thought to do, but the recipe had pretty good reviews, so I decided to give it a go.


Green Tomato Jam
4 cups shredded green tomatoes (I just tossed the tomatoes in the food processor)
4 cups white sugar
1 6-oz. box flavored gelatin mix (original recipe calls for raspberry)

Combine tomatoes and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir and cook about 10 minutes. Add the gelatin, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Spoon into hot, sterilized jars and seal; or, pour into freezer containers and freeze.

This turned out similar to the orange pear jam I made last year, which is also made using jello. And it was easy to make; the hardest part was standing there stirring it. I made three batches, using lime jello, strawberry jello, and then orange jello. I ended up with about 8 1/2 pints.


I'm sure I'll be posting a few more green tomato recipes in the near future, I still have a lot of tomatoes to use!

And another picture, just because I think this jam is so pretty!

Mini Winter Squash Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies are so fun - cakelike cookies sandwiched with a creamy filling. They are usually a few inches across, but this recipe makes much smaller cookies, about an inch across. Fun, bite-sized cookie sandwiches. This was originally a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies, but I didn't use pumpkin. We had some banana squash that we purchased on clearance that needed to be used. So we cooked it in the slow cooker, then pureed it and used it in this recipe.

There is a very large variety of winter squash available - acorn squash, banana squash, hubbard squash, butternut squash - that can be used interchangeably in many recipes. We don't usually have pumpkin on hand, so it's nice to have alternatives when it comes to fall baking. The flavor and color will be different depending on what squash you use (my cookies are much more yellow than the original orange of pumpkin cookies), but they turn out equally delicious.

To prepare winter squash for use in baking, simply cut up the squash and remove the seeds, cook in either a slow cooker or the oven until it is soft, remove the skin, and mash the squash into a puree.


Mini Winter Squash Whoopie Pies
Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup winter squash puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

For cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add squash and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

For cream cheese filling: Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

Spread a heaping teaspoon of filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

Warm Caramel Apple Cake

On Sunday I invited some friends over for lunch the next day, Labor Day. I hadn't planned a menu or anything, it was a spur-of-the-moment invite. So after church Jeff and I were planning out what we were going to have for lunch. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit salad, potato salad, the typical summer holiday menu. I got stuck trying to figure out what to do for dessert, until I happened to glance at the fridge and see my calendar.


I love my calendar; each month has a different recipe, and they all look so delicious! This month's was Warm Caramel Apple Cake, and I decided right then and there that I had found the perfect thing to make for dessert.

I did do a bit of doctoring to the original recipe, mostly with the topping. Instead of caramel topping and canned frosting, I used some cinnamon caramel apple dip that I got on clearance, and some of my favorite cream cheese frosting. Here's the recipe as I made it for our get-together. It was definitely a big hit with everyone! (click here to see the original recipe)


Warm Caramel Apple Cake
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash each nutmeg, allspice

Topping:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/3 cup sugar
Caramel apple dip or caramel topping

Heat oven to 350°F. In 1-quart heavy saucepan, cook butter, milk, and brown sugar over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into 13x9-inch pan. Sprinkle with pecans; top with sliced apples.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, eggs and spices with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Carefully spoon batter over apple mixture.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen sides of cake from pan. Place heatproof serving platter upside down on pan; carefully turn platter and pan over. Let pan remain over cake about 1 minute so caramel can drizzle over cake. Remove pan.

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in whipped topping and sugar. Microwave caramel dip about 30-60 seconds, until thin and smooth. Serve warm cake topped with frosting mixture and drizzled with caramel.

Caramelized Apples on French Toast

We got a loaf of French bread on clearance yesterday, and Jeff wanted to use it to make French toast this morning. I'm not going to give a recipe for the French toast, we just do it very basic and everyone has a recipe for basic French toast - milk, egg, some cinnamon, dip the bread, cook the bread, yada yada.

But I am going to post the recipe for the delicious Caramelized Apples we used to top the toast. I found this recipe on Real Mom Kitchen, and it was wonderful! The perfect topping for French toast, pancakes, waffles, or ice cream and other desserts.


Caramelized Apples
3 Tbs unsalted butter (I used margarine)
5 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I just use vanilla flavoring)

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add apples, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir apples into sugary, buttery mixture until coated. Let apples cook and caramelize, about 15 minutes, stirring every so often (reduce heat as needed). Remove skillet from heat and stir in vanilla. Can be served warm, room temperature, or cold as desired.


Easy and delicious!

Fantastic Fall Casseroles

I've made a couple delicious casseroles in the past few days. I thought I'd make up for not posting in a while (has it really been a week and a half?) by putting them together into one post.

First up is Harvest Hamburger Casserole. I've made this one several times - we love the combination of flavors. It's a tiny bit similar to Shepherd's Pie, with a beef and tomato layer and a potato layer, but different enough that it's a completely different and unique dish. It's hearty and flavorful, and one of my favorites.


Casseroles are funny things - by that I mean funny looking! No matter what angle I try to shoot at, it just ends up looking like a big blob on a plate. But it's definitely a very tasty blob!


Harvest Hamburger Casserole
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sliced potatoes
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 package (10 oz) frozen corn, thawed
1 package (10 oz) frozen lima beans, thawed (I usually skip this)
1 green pepper, cut into strips (this time I used a combination of green and red)
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded cheese

In a mixing bowl, combine beef, onion, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. Spoon into a greased 3-qt casserole. Layer the potatoes, flour, corn, lima beans, and green pepper on top. Bake, covered, at 375 for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and continue baking, uncovered, for 30 minutes longer.


Next up is Apple/Sausage/Sweet Potato Casserole. I just made this for the first time today, and it was incredible! I knew as soon as I read the recipe in one of my many little recipe books that I wanted to make it as soon as I could. A layer of sausage, topped with sweet potato and brown sugar, and finished off with apple slices - the delicious definition of a fall casserole!


Apple/Sausage/Sweet Potato Casserole
1 lb. seasoned lean bulk pork sausage
1/4 cup water
1 can (23 oz) sweet potatoes, drained and thickly sliced (I used the equivalent in boiled fresh sweet potato)
1/4 to 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 medium apples (red cooking variety), cored (I used one huge apple)

Form sausage into patties; brown in a skillet and drain. Place patties in bottom of an ungreased 2-qt casserole. Add water. Layer thick slices of sweet potatoes over sausage. Sprinkle with sugar; dot with half the butter. Cut unpeeled apples into 1/2-inch slices; layer over all. Dot with remaining butter. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer.


Oooohhhh, this one turned out so delicious! This flavor combination is so awesome. Between Jeff and the kids and I, we didn't have any leftovers. Thomas particularly enjoyed the apple slices; Zaylee adored the sweet potato. Jeff and I, we just loved the whole thing!

***By the way, today is National Chocolate Day. Go eat some chocolate and celebrate this inspired holiday!!!!***

Salmon Chowder and Irish Soda Bread

In addition to all the delicious apple and pumpkin goodies that are floating around this time of year, fall is also a wonderful time to make comforting soups and hearty breads. Together these make a delicious and filling meal that warms you right up.

The salmon chowder is adapted from a tuna chowder recipe in an old cookbook I have. The soda bread is from my sister's blog, Fabulous Food! Both turned out delicious, perfect comfort food for a crisp autumn evening. As an added bonus, both were also fairly quick and easy.


Salmon Chowder
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
3 tbsp. butter or margarine
3 cups diced raw potatoes
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
1 (14.75 oz) can salmon, drained, bones and skin removed, broken into chunks

Saute onion, celery, and carrot in butter until tender, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, water, salt, and pepper. Heat to boiling and cook over medium heat about 15 minutes.

Combine flour and milk. Stir into potato mixture. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add salmon. Heat through and serve.

Irish Soda Bread
3 cups wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 cups buttermilk or milk soured with lemon juice

Sift the white flour and baking soda together. Add the wheat flour, salt, and brown sugar and mix well. Make a well in the center and add about 2/3 of the buttermilk. Quickly and gently mix the flour in with the milk, use your hands rather than a wooden spoon. If too dry, add some more of the milk. Shouldn't be too firm, keep it a little sticky. Kneading is not necessary, just dust your hands with enough flour so you can shape it without it sticking to your fingers.

Shape into a round loaf and place on a baking tray. Cut two deep slashes across the top, either side by side like a loaf of french bread, or criss cross. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce to 400 and bake another 15. Take out, turn over and tap the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it is done. If it doesn't, pop it back in for another 5 - 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

Pumpkin Butter

Another deliciously spiced autumn fruit spread. I've made pumpkin butter once before, but this time I used an actual recipe. It turned out so delicious, just as wonderful as the apple butter I made recently. I made pumpkin pancakes this morning specifically to serve with the pumpkin butter. I won't post the pancake recipe - they were dense and heavy, and not as good as I had hoped. Edible, just not post-worthy. Anyway, the pumpkin butter was the star of the meal, and it shone brightly.


Pumpkin Butter
1 (29 oz) can pumpkin puree (3 1/2 cups if you're using fresh puree)
3/4 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar

Combine pumpkin, apple juice, spices, and sugar in a large saucepan; stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently.

Pack into small, freezer-safe containers leaving 3/4 inch space at the top. Store in the freezer. Makes 2 1/2 pints.


This would be good over regular pancakes, biscuits, bagels, toast, whatever! And it's also good over the pancakes when you add some maple syrup, yum...

Apple Butter

I'm loving all this fall baking and cooking. This is totally my favorite time of year! We got lots of apples and pears for really cheap ($.33/lb) this week, so I was excited to use them to make delicious treats. I'm planning on using the pears to make pear honey, but first I wanted to use up some apples by making delicious apple butter! This was my first time making apple butter, but it won't be the last - this stuff is fantastic. It tastes like autumn itself.


Apple Butter
8 apples - peeled, cored, and chopped
4 cups sugar (my apples were already pretty sweet, so I used three cups, one of which was brown sugar)
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt

Fill a slow cooker with diced apples, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt (I also added a bit of allspice - that stuff goes great with apple dishes). Cover, and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 12 hours, or until thick and dark golden in color.

Pack into small, freezer-safe containers leaving 3/4 inch space at the top. Store in the freezer. Makes 2 1/2 - 3 pints.


So that's what the recipe says to do. But my slow cooker is apparently incredibly slow. After cooking several hours longer than the recipe says, my apples still hadn't thickened into an apple butter texture - they were just pieces of very soft chopped apple floating in a fragrantly spiced syrup. So I whirled the mixture in the blender in batches, leaving a few larger chunks, and was able to get the right texture that way.

This really is so delicious. We served it over homemade biscuits for breakfast this morning - doesn't that look so good?

Apple Betty

Today is National Apple Betty Day, and what a perfect day for this absolutely delicious dessert! Here in Utah, the temperatures have been dropping, the skies turning cloudy, and fall is definitely in the air. What better way to get warm and cozy than with a delicious spiced apple and crumb dessert?


Apple betty (also called apple brown betty) is a simple dessert featuring apples and a crumb topping. It is thought to date back to Colonial times. So you know it's pretty good if it's stuck around for that long. I found this wonderfully simple and easy recipe on allrecipes.com, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it as our after-lunch treat. I wish we had some ice cream, it would have been super fabulous. But even by itself it was fantastic. I did make a couple changes, using brown sugar for half of the white, and adding some cloves and allspice.


Apple Betty
4 cups thinly sliced apples (peeled if you want, I didn't bother)
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash each cloves and allspice
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie plate.

Mound sliced apples in the pie plate. Sprinkle with orange juice.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugars, spices, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Scatter over the apples.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Serve warm.


This was so delicious. The topping was crisp, and the apple filling was gooey and caramel-y. The spices went wonderfully together; the whole dessert was just so deliciously warm and comforting, the perfect fall dessert.

Pumpkin Bread (Well, Not Really...)

Here's another delicious autumn-inspired sweet bread. This was originally a recipe for pumpkin bread, but I had some other squash that needed to be used. So I made a crookneck squash/acorn squash bread. I also added raisins and chocolate chips just for fun, and doubled the recipe to make two delicious loaves. I'm really not sure what to call this, so I'll go ahead and keep calling it pumpkin bread, but just know that you can use any pureed squash or combination of squashes and get delicious results.


Pumpkin Bread
3 cups flour
1 tsp. of salt
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups pumpkin puree or other squash puree, canned or made from fresh
1 cup oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda.

Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the raisins and chocolate chips.

Pour into 2 well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pans and let cool on a rack.


I have two big cans of pumpkin puree and lots of big, shiny apples that are just itching to be used in more delicious autumn goodies. I'll probably wait until this bread is all eaten before making more; gotta ration my overeating, you know. But I'm so excited about fall and getting to make lots of wonderfully and warmly spiced baked goods!

Celebrating Fall with Gooey Apple Bread

Yay for Fall!!!! Yesterday was the first official day of Fall, my absolute favorite season of the year. We bought some apples yesterday and I made this delicious bread to celebrate. I just used a recipe for apple bread, cooked it in a bundt pan (so I wouldn't have to wash the bread pans after making bread a couple days ago...), and added the gooey butterscotch sauce from Southern Plate's Apple Dapple Cake. It turned out so rich and delicious! More like a cake than a bread, and I'm okay with that. :-)


Gooey Apple Bread
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups diced apples (without skins)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon flour

Mix flour, cinnamon, soda, salt and baking powder together.

Beat eggs and add sugar and oil.

Add vanilla and dry ingredients.

Stir in apples.

Mix walnuts in a tsp of flour and add to batter.

Pour into 2 greased loaf pans (or one greased bundt pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. It took about 1 hour 15 minutes in the bundt.

Gooey Sauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup margarine (1 1/2 sticks)

Mix and cook 3 minutes after it begins to gently boil, stirring constantly. Pour over hot bread while bread is still in pan. Let bread cool completely before removing.

I just LOVE Fall!

Our Big Ol' Family Dinner

My house is in shambles - we need to have everything in boxes and ready to load into the truck on Wednesday morning, so I've been really busy. So this isn't going to be the big, wonderful post that I had hoped for and planned on doing. Oh well, the food was good!

Our meal was very much like a regular Thanksgiving dinner, with turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy, fruit salad, and lots of other stuff. My contributions were a roll of cranberry butter, a jar of spiced cranberry sauce, some freezer crescent rolls (they thawed and rose beautifully, you just have to remember to keep them covered while they thaw and while they rise), and a simple chocolate cream pie.

The delicious turkey (sorry for the bad picture, Dad was still carving the ham and wouldn't let me get too close, lest I try to sneak a piece).


My beautiful, gem-like cranberry sauce.


The crescent rolls.


My yummy chocolate pie.


I also have posted a recipe for wheat salad, a delicious salad made with whole wheat berries. I plan on using that idea in a number of other salads, once we've settled in. I think you could use cooked whole wheat berries in place of noodles in a pasta salad with fantastic results! I really couldn't get enough of this salad.


Our dessert was a trio of pies provided by my sisters and I. We're kinda funny, we all decided to start slicing the pies all at the same time, providing these fun pictures.



You may notice that my sister who brought the pecan pie (left) is getting nowhere with her pie - it was kind of hard and she was having a hard time getting the knife to slice through, hence the funny faces! She was finally able to slice her pie with a big pizza slicer. :-) All three pies turned out absolutely delicious.

Anyway, sorry this isn't the big, wonderful post I promised, but I have to get back to packing and cleaning. Don't expect much in the way of posts for the next while, we're packing the computer tomorrow. I'll miss blogging and I will get back to posting regularly as soon as I can! Yesterday was my birthday and I'll post about my cake when I'm able to.

Wish us luck!

Wheat Salad

I didn't make this one; Mom did. You know those recipes that are made specifically to use whole wheat, and they always taste like whole wheat? They're okay and all, but they just taste wheaty. This isn't one of those recipes. It tastes delicious.

Wheat Salad
2 cups cooked whole wheat*
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1 boneless chicken breast (Mom used canned chicken)
Dressing:
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar

Mix together first four ingredients. Make dressing and pour on top of wheat mixture. Chill well and serve.


*To cook whole wheat berries: Place 1 cup whole wheat berries into crock pot with 4 cups water. Turn on low and cook for 8 hours. Drain any extra liquid.

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

I've made this sauce with and without cloves. The cloves added a really great flavor, and this tasted fantastic with turkey!

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 12-oz package fresh cranberries
Dash ground cloves (optional)

Heat water and sugar to boiling in medium saucepan. Add berries. Return to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Berries will pop and release their juices, making some fun little noises! Remove from heat and add cloves if desired. Cool completely at room temperature, and chill in refrigerator.

The berried contain natural pectins that jellify the sauce, making it almost like a jam. It's so pretty!

Cranberry Butter

There weren't a lot of people on my poll who voted for unique cranberry sauces, but there were a few, and I wanted to post at least one special cranberry accompaniment anyway. This is a delicious flavored butter to spread on your Thanksgiving rolls, such as Freezer Crescent Rolls. It is sweet and rich, thanks to the brown sugar and honey, and it is tart and pink, thanks to the cranberries. It's very pretty, and is sure to be a hit.

Cranberry Butter
3/4 cup butter, softened (margarine is okay too)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. honey
1 cup chopped fresh cranberries
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts, optional

In a small mixing bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and honey until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add cranberries and walnuts if desired; beat 5 minutes longer or until butter turns nice and pink.

Transfer to a sheet of plastic wrap; roll into a log.


Refrigerate until chilled. Unwrap and slice or place on a butter dish. Yields 1 1/3 cup.

This would be perfect on those crescent rolls I posted this morning, but since I didn't have any baked right now, I threw together some hoe cake and we ate it with that. Delicious!

Maple-Glazed Carrots

Here's another great vegetable dish to grace your Thanksgiving table. Carrots are julienned (cut into thin strips - it looks really fancy), then cooked and coated in a sweet and citrusy glaze. Tonight I made one quarter of the recipe - 3 carrots seemed a much more appropriate amount for our family than 12!

Maple-Glazed Carrots
12 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2/3 cup orange juice
5 tbsp. maple syrup
5 tbsp. melted butter or margarine
1 tbsp. grated orange peel (Jeff hates citrus zest, so I skipped this)
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large saucepan, bring 1 inch or water and carrots to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until tender crisp.

Meanwhile, in another saucepan, combine the cornstarch and orange juice until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened (since I made such a small amount, it took less than 2 minutes).

Drain carrots; transfer to a serving bowl. Pour glaze over carrots; gently stir to coat (I took the picture before stirring, because it looked so pretty).


These carrots were quite good. They are a bit unique as far as glazed carrots go, because of the orange juice and maple syrup. It was a good flavor combination, perfect for Thanksgiving dinner, or any day.

Pumpkin Apple Spice Streusel Muffins

When I visited my family yesterday, I learned that they had not used all of the pumpkin puree we made on Saturday. There were still about three cups of delicious homemade puree available for me to use. So I checked out some blogs online and found a couple recipes for Pumpkin Apple Muffins. The first (from Real Mom Kitchen) had a delicious-looking streusel topping that I wanted to incorporate, and the second (from My Kitchen Cafe) had a higher ratio of pumpkin to flour and sugar. So I made the batter of the second recipe, and topped it with the streusel of the first and came up with these delicious muffins.

These muffins are fantastic - light and moist and flavorful. Next time I want to substitute in some whole wheat flour - the pumpkin and spices are the perfect mask for the heartier flavor and texture of whole wheat.

Pumpkin Apple Spice Streusel Muffins
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice**
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped

Streusel Topping
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons butter or margarine softened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine pumpkin, butter, and eggs in another bowl and add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in chopped apple and spoon into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full. Combine streusel ingredients and sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.


**If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, use the following combination: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon cloves. Mix together for the equivalent of 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (and it is much cheaper than buying it premade).

I think I used too much butter in my streusel (I didn't measure, I just eyeballed it), so it came out with a strange texture. But the flavor was spot on. So measure your streusel ingredients - you'll be glad ya did!