Thanksgiving 2018 Recipes

I tried two new recipes for Thanksgiving this year. I love using phyllo dough cups since they are so easy and perfect for bite-sized appetizers. I thought I was bringing cranberry sauce, but turns out that dish was already taken. Since I already bought the berries, I coated them in sugar and added them to a sweet potato tartlet recipe that I found. They were so pretty and really added a lot of flavor! Plus, the original recipe topped the tartlets with brown sugar pecans, but I absolutely love Trader Joe’s sweet & spicy pecans since they have a kick to them, so I used them instead. 

In addition to the tartlets, I brought iced tea (I’m pregnant so no wine for me this year). We have a lot of rosemary growing in our backyard so I threw that into the tea with some peaches and a ginger simple syrup. The tea was really tasty but I should have given myself more time to make it. I put the hot water into my drink dispenser to brew the green tea but the heat ruined the seal so it started leaking. Luckily my grandma had a backup dispenser that we transferred it to when we got there.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got to spend quality time with your loved ones! 

Sweet Potato Tartlets with Sugared Cranberries, Sweet & Spicy Pecans & Mint (adapted from My Recipes)

Ingredients:

• 4 (1.9 oz) packages frozen mini-phyllo shells, thawed
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 sweet potato
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 T vanilla extract
• Trader Joe’s sweet & spicy pecans (if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, you can follow this recipe to make them yourself)
• Sugared cranberries (recipe below)
• Mint leaves

Directions:

1. Wash the sweet potato, stab holes in it, rub in olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, then cook in the crock pot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high (or cook the sweet potato by your preferred method).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place shells on baking sheets.

3. In a food processor or with a mixer, blend cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sweet potato (no skin), sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Spoon filling into shells.

4. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until center is set. While still warm, press on pecans.

5. Once cooled, garnish with mint leaves and sugared cranberries.

Sugared Cranberries (adapted from Cincy Shopper)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1 cup water
• 12 oz fresh cranberries

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat water and 1 cup sugar over medium heat until boiling. Keep just at a boil for 10 minutes or until it thickens slightly.

2. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a cooling rack over. Toss batches of cranberries in the simple syrup and transfer to the rack to dry (try to space the berries out so they don’t stick together).

3. Allow to dry for 30-45 minutes, then toss the berries in the remaining 1 cup of sugar.

Iced Rosemary-Ginger Peach Green Tea (adapted from She Knows)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups boiling water
• 6 green tea bags
• Several rosemary sprigs
• 2 peaches, slices
• ¾ cup fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• Ice cubes
• Cranberries for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Add tea bags and rosemary to a pitcher and top with boiling water. Allow to steep for 6-8 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea.

2. Remove the tea bags and allow the tea to cool.

3. Meanwhile, boil 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and ginger in a small pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium then allow to simmer uncovered until the syrup thickens Remove from heat and allow to cool.

4. Fill a drink dispenser part way with ice. Top with sliced peaches, cranberries, rosemary iced tea, and ginger simple syrup.

Thanksgiving 2016

This year, Lance’s parents joined us for Thanksgiving, so for the first time we did it with both sides of the family.  My parents hosted and most of the traditional dishes like stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc were already taken by other relatives, so I contributed a couple appetizer dishes and a punch.  They were all new recipes to me that I found on Pinterest, and luckily they were all keepers. 

My first dish was a fig crostini.  When I went grocery shopping, we found out that fresh figs aren’t in season (I called around to all our local stores…) so I settled for dried figs.  Everyone actually loved it with the dried ones though, so I think I’d do it the same way again next time I make it. 

Fig Crostini (adapted from Alexandra’s Kitchen)

Ingredients:

• 12-15 dried figs
• Sea salt & fresh black pepper
• 2 T honey
• 1-1/3 cups ricotta
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 3 T chopped chives
• 1 baguette
• 1 cup fresh Basil

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Cut the baguette into slices about 1/4" thick and put in the oven to toast (keep an eye on it until they are slightly browned)

2. Mix the ricotta, Parmesan, and chives. 

3. Cut the figs into slices.

4. When the bread is toasted, remove from the oven.  Top with the ricotta mixture then the sliced figs.  Garnish with a piece of basil then drizzle with honey. 

Stuffed Mushrooms (adapted from Marla Meredith)

Ingredients:

• 12 whole baby bella Mushrooms, rinsed & pat dry
• 3 tablespoons Bacon crumbles, set 1 tablespoon aside
• 1 oz fresh cheese (I used Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar, which is a white cheddar mixed with Parmesan)
• 1 t fresh Rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped Chives, plus some for garnish
• pinch of Garlic Salt
• pinch of cracked Black Pepper
• pinch of Smoked Paprika
• Cooking Spray

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.  Cook bacon according to the package, let cool, and crumble into pieces. 

2. Gently remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop into small pieces.

3. Spray a nonstock skillet.  Over medium heat, sauté the mushroom stems, chives, thyme, garlic salt, pepper, and smoked paprika for a few minutes.  Mix in 2/3 of the crumbled bacon. 

4. Put the mushroom cap-side down into a glass baking dish.  Add cheese into the mushrooms, top with the mushroom cap mixture, then top with more cheese.

5. Bake for 20 minutes until cheese is melted.  Garish with extra bacon and chopped chives. 

Cranberry Pineapple Punch (adapted from Celebrating Everyday Live)

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts pineapple juice
• 1 quart 100% cranberry juice (not from concentrate)
• 8oz pomegranate juice
• 1 liter ginger ale
• 12oz fresh cranberries

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients (wait until you’re about to serve to add the ginger ale to make sure it’s still fizzy).  That’s it!

In previous years I’ve made some sort of turkey shaped dish (2 years ago, cinnamon rolls and last year some cupcakes).  This year, my mom-in-law, Rita, made cheese-filled crackers with pretzels, carrots and olives shaped into turkeys. 

My parents had some fun with this year’s turkey and put a sliced lemon beneath the skin to give the turkey some enhancements. 

We enjoyed a huge meal, then later on, ended it with several Mike’s Pies desserts. 

We’re finishing the day up now watching the Steelers game on our new Black Friday purchased TV (early Christmas present).  I’m normally completely against shopping ON Thanksgiving since I think stores should be closed, but our TV took a dive when our wall mounted console fell last month, so it needed to be replaced. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by your loved ones.  

Spicy Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

 

This recipe is so easy and delicious that I made it for two different holiday parties last year.  Our friend Tony had a potluck yesterday for his birthday, so this was my contribution.  It’s been a hit each time I’ve made it! 

Spicy Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip (adapted from Jaime Cooks it Up)

Ingredients:

·        1-12 ounce package fresh cranberries

·        ¼ cup green onion, chopped

·        ¼ cup cilantro, chopped

·        1 small jalapeño, seeds removed (or a larger pepper if you'd like it extra spicy)

·        ¾ cup sugar

·        ¼ t cumin

·        2 T lemon juice

·        Dash of salt

·        2-8 ounce packages cream cheese  

·        Crackers for serving

 

Directions:

1.  Put your cranberries, green onion, cilantro, and jalapeño in a food processer and pulse until coarsely chopped into small bits – you don’t want it completely liquefied. 

 

 

2. Mix in cumin, lemon juice, and salt.  Place in bowl in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (I left mine there overnight) so the sugar soaks into the cranberries. 

 

3. When ready to prepare, spread your cream cheese at the bottom of a bowl.  Top with the cranberry mixture, and then serve with your choice of crackers.