Cauliflower Stuffing

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine and stir until everything is well coated:
1 head cauliflower (chopped)
1 large onion (sliced--I diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 cup celery (chop)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt (watch this amount; the original recipe said a full tsp and that was too much)
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp pepper

Spread out on cookie sheet. Bake 15 min. Add:

2 TB parsley
1/4 cup pecans
Roast 10-15 min until cauliflower is browned and onion starts to caramelize.

Coconut Cream Pie--makes 2

I finally snagged this recipe after having it two Thanksgivings in a row without being tempted by any other pies.

Bake pie crust and let cool. I used a deep dish pie pan.

Combine and let chill to set up a bit:
1 big box instant vanilla pudding
2 1/2 cup milk

Whip:
small carton heavy cream
powdered sugar to taste

Beat smooth:
6 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)

Mix together:
pudding mixture
cream cheese
coconut flakes (as many as desired)

Fold in half the whipped cream. Pour into baked crust. Chill. Other half of whipped cream is for serving on top!


*You can use this same recipe for banana cream pie--just do bananas instead of the coconut.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

We sampled some of Dad's Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie last night that he'd made for Thanksgiving. Mmmmmm.

Maree's Rolls

This is from Cox's Hon*yland recipes. The yummiest rolls always seem to have potato flakes and scalded milk in them. Since I've been afraid of scalding milk, I've never tried to make them--but after watching Maree do it at Thanksgiving I'm ready to make these melt-in-your-mouth rolls for special occasions.

2 TB yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar

2 cups milk, scalded
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 heaping tsp salt
1/4 cup potato flakes
1/2 cup honey
5-6 cups flour
3 eggs

Dissolve yeast in warm water and sugar. To scalded milk add butter, salt, potato flakes, honey and 4 cups flour. Add eggs one at a time and then add remaining flour to dough until it holds together in bowl but not stiff. If you put in too much flour you will have a tough roll. Let rise until double. Punch down and roll out (oil counter for rolling out). For dinner rolls, cut with circle cutter, dip in melted butter, fold in half, put in pan and let rise. Bake at 350 for 15 min or until light brown.

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.

A Pie to Try: Pumpkin Cream

I do not like pumpkin pie, so I want to try this one.
We tried it 2011; Shannon and I like the pumpkin cheesecake better.

Chocolate Mousse Pie

Mr. Brady made 2010--most popular pie

1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup white sugar
4 TB water
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
3 eggs, separating whites from yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 TB white sugar

2 TB cocoa powder
2 TB powdered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Sprinkle the gelatin on top of 2 tablespoons water. Separate the eggs.

In a small saucepan, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water; stir constantly. until melted. Add softened gelatin to the saucepan, and heat until completely dissolved. Remove pan from heat, and gradually beat in egg yolks. Return to pan to heat. Cook until mixture thickens slightly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool slightly.

While chocolate mixture is cooling, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold whipped egg whites into chocolate mixture. Whip 1/2 cup cream until stiff, and fold into chocolate mixture. Spoon into pie crust. Chill.

To Make Topping: Add cocoa and confectioners' sugar to 1 cup whipping cream. Chill mixture 30 minutes, then whip until stiff. Stir in vanilla. Top the pie with this chocolate whipped cream. Chill several hours or overnight until set. Filling with be a little soft.

Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Yummy crunch and almond flavor. Crust is like cake.

We left off the top sugar last time we made it--it was still great!

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

Here

Thanksgiving Tips

Don't need cranberry bread (so many starches)
Keep rolls small
Relish tray for munching while cooking!
Make enough gravy

Cranberry Apple Pie

Cranberry apple pie--makes enough filling for about 2 pies

Banana Cream Pie

Banana cream pie that is awesome!!!! (and less time-consuming than Betty Crocker's)

Holiday Salad

Salad:

Romaine and Red lettuce
Pomegranate (could skip)
Craisins
Cashews
Pear
Apple
Swiss Cheese (want to try feta)
Bacon pieces?

Put as much of an ingredient in as you want. Don't put the cheese and cashews in until you are ready to toss the salad with dressing.

Dressing:

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 TBS chopped onion
2 TBS lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 TBS poppy seeds

In a blender mix vinegar and sugar together, then add oil and blend. Add onion and blend really fast and hard; add lemon juice, salt and blend; add poppy seeds and blend. (Enough dressing for 2 big bowls of salad. Dress the salad 5-10 min before serving.)

Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potatoes with a pecan and brown sugar topping. Shannon says add an egg to it.

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce made with orange juice

Rolls

This is the first yeast dough I ever tried (when I was a newlywed), and it's always worked perfectly for me. I've been using this recipe for a decade. The girl who gave me the recipe wrote it down on lined paper on BYU campus from memory--I still have the handwritten copy in my binder. Of course, you can do milk instead of water and melted butter instead of oil and make them even yummier.


Let stand for 15-20 mins:

4 cups warm water
4 TB yeast
1 cup sugar


Mix together with water & yeast; knead dough for 10 mins.:

10 cups flour (half whole wheat flour if desired)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (or could substitute melted butter)
4 tsp. salt


Let raise. Roll into rolls. Let raise again. Bake at 350 for 10-15 mins.