Thanksgiving 2011

Our menu:

Placesettings: pilgrim hats. We used smaller mint cookies but then they (oops) didn't have a brim!
Holiday salad with queso fresco instead of swiss or feta
Cranberry juice mixed with Sprite

Turkey
Cranberry sauce
Mashed potatoes
Gravy--yum, made with lots of cream
Rolls
Butter, room temperature
Stovetop stuffing
Corn

Pies: chocolate mousse (2), Pioneer Woman's pumpkin cream (Shannon and I prefer pumpkin cheesecake), PW's Nantucket cranberry (my favorite!), banana cream, peach (3), and pecan.
Whipped cream
Vanilla ice cream

The kids made hair bows and ornaments and stuffed owls out of felt.

Peach Pie

8-inch:

8-inch pastry--1 for top and 1 for bottom!

4 cups sliced fresh peaches

1 tsp lemon juice

2/3 cup sugar

3 TB flour

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

1 TB butter

OR

9-inch:

9-inch pastry--1 for top and 1 for bottom!

5 cups sliced fresh peaches

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup sugar

¼ cup flour

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

2 TB butter

Heat oven to 425. Prepare pastry. Mix peaches and lemon juice. Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon; stir into peaches. Turn into pastry-lined pie plate; dot with butter. Cover with top crust that has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 min of baking. Bake until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, 35 to 45 min.

Pecan Pie

9-inch crust

3 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup pecan halves or broken pecans

Heat oven to 375. Prepare pastry. Beat eggs, sugar, salt butter and syrup with hand beater. Stir in pecans. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.

Bake until set, 40 to 50 min. Cool slightly. Serve warm or refrigerate.

Heidi’s Peanut Butter Bars

Cream together:
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1 c. butter, softened (2 cubes)

Add:
2 eggs
1 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix and add to the rest:
2 c. flour
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt

Last, add & mix all up:
2 c. oats

Press mixture in cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes (until golden brown). Let cool. Spread peanut butter (warmed in microwave) on it. Cool again and spread chocolate frosting on top.

Frosting:
¼ c. cocoa
2-3 c. powdered sugar
¼ c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ c. evaporated or whole milk (evap. makes it more smooth)

Tip: cut bars while still warm—much easier than afterward.

Salt

1 TBS of Table Salt = 2 TBS of Kosher Salt (Diamond Crystal brand)

Kosher salt is not used in baking normally due to the fact that it does not dissolve as well unless there is ample liquid to facilitate it.


Another conversion I found:

1 teaspoon table salt = 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons table salt = 3 teaspoons kosher salt

Grilled Pigs

Another version of pigs in a blanket (as always, I used this roll recipe).

If I do this again I'll grill the hot dogs slightly first and then wind the bread around. Oh, and I'm a fan of all-beef hot dogs.

Pizza Quesadillas

The perfect pizza dough has been eluding me. I think the worst thing is when I don't prebake the crust long enough. If the pizza isn't crispy, it's just blah, especially when I'm sneaking whole wheat flour in it. I thought these pizza quesadillas up the other day and the kids loved them. I used this tortilla recipe and filled the tortillas with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni pieces and Italian seasoning (in some).

Skillet Bread

This bread is a dream come true! It smells like cornbread and tastes like a mix between cornbread and biscuit. Start to finish takes 20 minutes. The first time I made it we devoured it very quickly (hence, I forgot to take a picture of it untouched) and I decided this is my new favorite recipe. The second time I made it with 50% whole wheat flour and it was just not as exciting. If you use salted butter and use 4 TB it's a bit on the salty side around the edges. Mmmm.

You can throw in flavor additions like a handful of cheddar cheese, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, etc.

Before I got an oven-proof skillet, I used an 8x8 pan.

August 2019 great results in a smoker! Used my skillet and melted 4 TB butter in it while the smoker heated up to 400 degrees. For the batter, I used 3 c flour, 1 1/2 TB baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 1/4 c milk, generous handful of shredded cheese, and then dumped in some of our garlic bread seasoning. It needed the whole 20 min to bake. Perfect crispy bottom. Yum.

My Favorite Whole Grain Bread

In the past, I've been pretty content just having a decent whole wheat bread recipe and my trusty white roll recipe. But lately I've felt a little more adventurous and have been kneading up different recipes by hand instead of with my mixer--feeling the therapeutic power of kneading. I also bought some rye, ground it up and added that to a country loaf I learned at Heidi's neighborhood bread class. So, though I still like my recipe binders relatively simple, I keep finding bread recipes I want to try--and I'm learning a few tricks and getting a better feel for how much flour and kneading the dough needs. For instance, did you know that it's okay to put less yeast in your bread and let it just rise for a longer time--then you get less yeast taste and a different texture? And bread still rises in the fridge--just at a slower rate.

At the bread class, we did the country loaf I mentioned (and I don't think she has it on her site, so I will post a simplified version here after making it on my own one more time) and this whole grain sandwich bread. When I brought home the whole grain bread I tried a slice, liked the flavor a lot, and then forgot about it in my fridge for a day or two (because we enjoyed the country loaf that night with dinner). When I remembered the whole grain bread I got it out and it was still moist and dense and yum (this is a big deal for homemade wheat bread!). So, I've found a favorite whole grain bread, though it isn't 100% whole wheat.

Try it out. I let it raise a little longer in the pans and my cooking time is a little less than she states. You can find molasses at a whole foods store for less than at the grocery store.

Here are some others I want to try. It looks like this would be another great alternative (like the popovers) when you don't have a lot of time to spare before dinnertime: skillet bread. And I'll have to try this sometime because I've loved a similar rosemary foccacia at my favorite Italian restaurant. Heidi also has tons of sweet breads that look heavenly. Her orange rolls are next on my list to try.

Pretzels

These are always fun to make. When I made a batch last week I froze them individually to throw in my kids' lunches in the place of chips or store-bought pretzels. They were made with half whole wheat flour and the kids really liked them. I just brush olive oil and sprinkle regular salt on them before baking. They're best right out of the oven, but my kids don't mind them later on when they've lost their perfectly crisp bottom.

Oh, I also only do 16 pretzels, not 18, on 2 cookie sheets.

Popovers

Dang, I forgot to take a picture of these last night (and they were so pretty because I only used white flour!), and don't know who to credit with this recipe since it's been on my computer for quite a while, but I added garlic to the ingredient list, so maybe I'm not absolutely plagiarizing.

If you ever get to about 45 minutes before dinnertime and wish you'd made some bread or rolls, make popovers instead (no rising required)!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk well:
1 cup milk
2 large egg whites
1 large egg

Add, whisking well:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Put a 12-portion muffin pan in the oven to preheat for 5 min. Take out and coat with cooking spray, then fill up the muffin pan with the thin batter (I didn't pay attention because I was in a hurry last night, but I think about 1/2 full each?). Sprinkle 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese on the tops and then bake for 35-40 min. These will puff up high, leaving you with a hollow center. Kids think they're cool. Makes 12 small popovers.

Lemon Cream/Crumb Cake

Half the time I call this a lemon cream cake, and the other half a lemon crumb cake. Either way, it's pretty dang good. Claire wanted a green cake for her birthday this year, so I threw in some green food coloring in the cake mix and the crumb mixture.


First, make a white cake--2 round layers. Frost between and around the stacked cake layers with the lemon cream frosting and then sprinkle with the crumb topping, pressing it lightly onto the sides also.


LEMON CREAM FROSTING:
1 cup heavy whipping cream

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
4 tsp lemon juice

Whip the whipping cream first and set aside. Mix the rest of the ingredients until nice and smooth, then gently fold the whipped cream into it.


CRUMB TOPPING:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cold butter, sliced
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix everything together until crumb-like. I like to use a pastry cutter.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Sometimes you just feel that need for sweet white bread that makes your kitchen smell like heaven. Halfway through the process you wonder if it's worth the work/wait and the dishes you have to wash. But then you're really proud of how beautiful the hand-kneaded dough looks as it rises. Finally, you get to present to your husband the most gorgeous loaf and you eat way more carbs that you're supposed to in one sitting. Yeah, that's how it was with these loaves from this recipe. Mine were done baking in 35 minutes instead of 45.

Teriyaki Bowtie Spinach Salad

Here.

Cheddar Crackers

Another first for me: homemade crackers! Everyone at our house gave these a thumbs up.

True Lasagna

I got this recipe from my sweet friend who served a mission in Italy. I've changed it around a little so part of it's done in the crockpot and I tried oven-ready noodles last time (gasp! I know, I'm SO not authentic). The trick is that it has a white sauce instead of cottage cheese or ricotta in it--so yummy. And the original recipe actually calls for adding pats of butter on top before cooking it. So if you need a little more fat in your diet, go ahead and do that :).

Update for my kids: omit tomato sauce, puree 2 cans tomatoes, and skip the carrots and celery.

In crockpot (or on the stove, sauteeing the veggies and then letting simmer with everything else) make your red sauce:
1 lb. Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 small onion, diced
2 grated carrots
1 celery stick, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 small cans tomato sauce
basil and parsley to taste

I let it go for about 4 1/2 hours on low (my sausage--already cooked--and onions were frozen) while we were at church.

Make your white sauce on the stove:
6 TB butter
scant 3/4 cup flour
2 1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste (for me, about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper)

Grate 1 cup parmesan cheese (to divide up between layers--you can also use mozzarella for even cheesier)
Cook 9 lasagna noodles (or use oven-ready like I did last time)

Dirty a 13x9 dish with red sauce. Layer like this three times:
3 noodles
red sauce
white sauce
parmesan

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
If refrigerated first, bake for 30-40 minutes.

If using oven-ready noodles, bake at 425 degrees for 1 hour (check after 50 min.) with double foil covering it.

Crepes--if only I were the patient type

Mr. Brady is a crepe maker; I am not. He throws ingredients in the blender from memory and has the patience to flip over each paper-thin one. The kids love them! They sprinkle powdered sugar and drizzle lemon juice on them. Um, I'd rather have a thick pancake with homemade syrup. BUT, there are two crepe fillings that I absolutely adore, so if Mr. Brady will make the crepes, I'll happily make a sweet or savory one: berry cream filling and curry chicken filling.


Berry Cream Crepe Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 TB lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup heavy cream, whipped
Berries of choice

Beat the first ingredients with a mixer until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Fill and roll your crepes up and put the berries on top.



Curry Chicken Crepe Filling:


1/4 cup butter (I used olive oil last time)
1 1/4 cups diced celery
1 cup diced onion
2 TB flour
3/4 tsp curry powder
2 cubes chicken bouillon
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup sliced black olives
2 1/2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 cup milk

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Melt butter; saute celery and onion in a big skillet. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat until bubbly and smooth. I like the cheese added very last--kind of melting just on the top of the filling--the original recipe says to sprinkle the cheese on top of the rolled up crepe. Fill up your crepes and put them in a 9x13 baking dish at 400 degrees for about 12 min. I love these--especially the slight crunch of the celery in there!

Whole Wheat Bread

This turned out very soft and yummy for us. Mine had to rise in the warmed oven for quite a bit longer than the recipe states. Still, I love that it all rises in the pan.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm a big girl now! I made my first homemade noodles. I used this yummy recipe. After rolling out the noodles with my rolling pin, I cut them with a pizza cutter. The chicken I used in the soup was already seasoned previously and was sitting in my freezer, so I'll probably never get that particular flavor again, but it was awesome and it will be fun to see what it tastes like next time. I used whole wheat flour for some of the flour content in the noodles, and I also threw in my diced onions from the freezer and omitted the peas.

Mandarin Creaminess

This was originally from a C**king Light magazine, but here it is how I usually make it:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 13x9 baking dish.

Crust:
9 TB butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt

Blend crust ingredients together well and pat into baking dish. Pierce bottom of dough with a fork. Bake 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool crust on a wire rack. (Turn off oven.)

Filling:
2 (11-oz) cans mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained, reserving 1/2 cup juice
1/4 cup sugar
24 oz. sour cream (low fat if desired)
2 (3.4 oz) packages vanilla instant pudding mix

Combine juice, sugar, sour cream and pudding mix in a large bowl; stir well. Fold in the orange segments. Spoon orange mixture over crust, spreading evenly.

Topping:
8 oz. Cool Whip or sweetened whipped cream