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.  

Chocolate Peanut Butter Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Today at work we had a Thanksgiving potluck.  I was excited to try out these cupcakes with Nutter Butter turkeys that I’d found on Pinterest.  I’m a big fan of any creative themed treats – last year I made these cinnamon roll turkeys for Thanksgiving breakfast and some of my favorite cupcakes were these tropical themed ones from a girls’ night I had awhile back. 

These were actually pretty easy to make.  The hardest part was finding candy corn this time of year – now that Halloween is over, all the treats are Christmas themed.  Luckily, Lance tracked some down at Big Lots.

I cheated a bit by using a boxed mix for the cupcakes, but I added chocolate chips to the mix and made the frosting from scratch. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Thanksgiving Cupcakes (adapted from Mommy Savers)

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 box chocolate cake mix, plus any ingredients needed on the back of the box
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• Candy corn
• Nutter Butter cookies
• Mini M&Ms
• Candy eyes
• Craisins

Frosting Ingredients: (this actually made WAY more frosting that I needed…next time I’d reduce by a least half)

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 8-oz package cream cheese
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 T cocoa powder

Edible Glue: (Yield 1 cup – again, you can half this recipe & still have plenty…)

• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 large egg white
• ½ t lemon juice 

Directions:

1. Prepare cupcakes according to the box, adding in chocolate chips.    

2. While the cupcakes bake, prepare you edible glue by mixing powdered sugar with an egg white & lemon juice.  One the icing is thick and smooth, use it as a glue to attach the candy eyes, mini M&Ms, and craisins to the Nutter Butter cookies.

3. Use a mixer to beat together the butter and cream cheese for the frosting.  Add in the vanilla and peanut butter and blend until combined.  Slowly add in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder until fully blended. 

4.  Frost the cupcakes then gently press the Nutter Butters and candy corn into the tops.  Then enjoy how cute & delicious they are!

Thanksgiving Dinner 2014

 

I already posted recipes for 3 of the dishes from yesterday’s feast (see these posts for Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie, Cinnamon Roll Turkeys, and Baked Brie with Apricots & Almonds), but I thought I’d share some photos of the rest of our meal. 

 

Most of my contributions this year were pretty unhealthy, but I did make coconut Brussels sprouts (recipe I posted a few months ago here). They are one of my family’s favorite veggies.  If you don’t think you like them, try them this way, because I guarantee you’ll change your mind.  My Grandpa Jon apparently wasn’t a fan of Brussels sprouts, but my dad said that even he would have eaten these ones.  

 

 

 

For something else healthy, my mom put together a veggie platter arranged like a turkey! 

 

My favorite dish is the sweet potato casserole – which is basically a dessert by the time it’s topped with the brown sugar pecan topping and toasted marshmallows. 

 

 

 

My Grandma Pat actually cooked the stuffing separately from the turkey this year and it was amazing!  It was her grandmother’s recipe – so my great, great grandmother’s – with sausage and plenty of veggies.  I’ll try to get the recipe from her to share. 

 

 

The turkey was stuffed instead with oranges, cranberries, and spices.  My dad had photos gnawing on a huge turkey leg from his very first Thanksgiving, so we recreated the picture this year!

 

The Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie was devoured quickly – it was the best pie I’ve ever made.  My dad went all out with his birthday slice (you can barely see the pie under all the whipped cream & ice cream…)

 

 

We had our meal pretty early, so after a few hours of digesting, we went to celebrate more with my dad’s side of the family.  My cousin Marty’s family made ten different types of pies.  I had slivers of several different kinds, but the one that really stood out was the Crack Pie, which was made using the official recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar.  It has a crumbly oat cookie crust with a sweet gooey filling.  Averie Cooks has a copy of the recipe if you want to try it out yourself. 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from my family to yours!