Thanksgiving 2013

Highlights from the holiday weekend...

This past weekend, while we were driving in the car, Pearl asked if we have an Elf on the Shelf at our house. She had just seen one at her cousin's house and also has one at her mom's house.

Her question reminded me of a parody version that Eric and I had seen recently at TJ Maxx, called Dwarf in the Drawer. I told Pearl how there are helpers hiding everywhere to catch you when you're bad, including Elf on the Shelf and Dwarf in the Drawer.

By this point, I was all over this "secret helper" thing and couldn't stop myself. I told her that she's always being watched- even when she's in the car...

...by Monk in the Trunk.

I told her how Elf and Dwarf and Monk all work for Santa and God and they report back to them when kids are naughty. She asked what Monk in the Trunk looked like. Eric joined in and described a baldish man with hair around the sides, wearing a brown robe, natch. You know, traditional Monk stylings.

She thought it sounded creepy, but I'm planning my retirement on this cash cow.

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Do you ever watch way too much of a television show marathon that the next day you can't stop thinking about the people on the island show and you find yourself wondering how they're doing and feeling bad for the woman who was told she has endometriosis, but then happy for her when she miraculously finds out she's pregnant, but then immediately feel sorry for yourself because that kind of hocus pocus bullshit magic only happens to other people or in fake ass television show marathons? Is Sun's baby Jin's? -Or is it the English teacher's? Why isn't everyone fighting to live in the hatch? Charlie's teeth are distracting me.

I watched LOST all day yesterday. I didn't get off the couch once, except to install a hair donut and make myself look "presentable." FYI: the inventors of the hair donut need to have a disclaimer on their product that lets all the people know you will have a floppy donut after laying on the couch for seven hours straight.

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Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving.

A pumpkin cheesecake from Trader Joe's

The BEST onion dip that's ever existed (and that I'm now addicted to, thanks to my in-laws)  

This caramel apple upside-down cake is the worth far more than the $6.99 we paid for at Whole Foods. I'd definitely pay at least $9.50. Actually, the outer crust of crispy, buttery caramel is worth the $9.50 just by itself. Really, it's REALLY good. Eric and I polished off the leftovers with coffee for breakfast.

Brownie bites that Pearl basically made on her own.  

My homemade sweet potato casserole (this recipe) was a hit! Growing up, I was never a fan of sweet potatoes. But this recipe turned me, forever. Thanks to my in-laws for this one too.

This Food Network recipe for cranberry sauce was something I tried on a whim and was very happy with. Again, I'm not usually a fan of the holiday cranberry stuff because it all seems overly sugary and brightly colored in a non-edible way. This recipe was super easy and smelled/tasted like holidays. I plan on making it again next year for sure, but I think I'll use a little less juice so it thickens up quicker. 

The dinner spread, complete with my signature burnt rolls. 

Paper table covers and paper placemats, courtesy of the Christmas section at Target. (Cloth was not budget approved.) The clean up was much easier. 

If this meal were a movie, it would be Gone in 60 Seconds 

This is where the magic happens: the dessert table. Cranberry fluff, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie, brownie bites, caramel apple upside-down cake, and ice cream.

Mom, lookin' good in the neighborhood! 

Note: I made sure to omit the shots where the exhaustion had arrived and my face was settled into Droopy Dog mode.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

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Recipe: Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Cookies.

Sometimes I blog about a recipe I've attempted and then I try it again at a later date and end up doing a much better job. So then I blog about it again and pretend like the first time never happened.

This is one of those times.

OLD-FASHIONED PUMPKIN COOKIES 
According to VeryBestBaking.com

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup pure pumpkin
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
Glaze

GLAZE INGREDIENTS
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp melter butter
1 tsp vanilla


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F (176 C). Grease baking sheets.

1. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until thoroughly combined.

3. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

4. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes.

Remove from sheets and place cookies on wire racks to cool completely.

5. Combine all of the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and beat until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cookies.

NOTE:
Instead of greasing my baking sheets, I just lined them with parchment paper. Baked goods always seem to cook more evenly (I.e. not burning the bottoms) with parchment paper.

I added white chocolate chips to my recipe. I don't remember how much though, so just eyeball it. This recipe yields a cake-like cookie, so the white chocolate chips were the perfect addition to break up the chewiness. If you don't like white chocolate (which is a shame, because really, the white chocolate chips were perfect in these cookies), I'd suggest butterscotch chips.


I made these for a Thanksgiving dinner my family decided to have before Halloween. They were a hit. Not to mention, super easy to make. This is a great recipe for cooking with kids.

Boner'ppetite!

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Thanksgiving: The Holiday Where I Eat Too Much for Two Months Straight.

Since I'm sure everyone is over and done with the whole "I'm thankful for blah-blah-blah" posts, I'll spare you the thankfulness act. Instead, I'll just overload you with a photo dump from the holiday weekend.

We spent Thanksgiving day with Eric's family. His parents recently bought a new house and this was my first time seeing it. I loved it. I also loved the new furniture. And I especially loved the endless supply of holiday food. In fact, when we first arrived I put away nearly a whole dish of French onion dip/ Fritos all by myself. The pilgrims would have been proud.

Pearl and her cousin working on an archeological dig project that we bought at the Gem and Mineral Show.

Eric's parents, who graciously hosted the delicious meal.

Eric's sister and brother-in-law, Vicki and Tate.

The table setting I fell in love with.

Still in love with it.

Eric and his brother Todd.

Pearl and her cousin modeling holiday attire 2012.

Nephew Mark playing the guitar.

Eric and I doing our best "teenager" impression.

Two days after Thanksgiving, we hosted our own get-together for my family at our house. Since everyone was all turkey'd out, we switched up the menu and went with Mexican. Eric and I slaved away over enchiladas, Mom made Mexican rice, and my sister Tanya made the refried beans. My brother Chris brought beer and margaritas. I'm not exaggerating when I say EVERY item on the menu was mouthwatering. Eric and I even ate it again the next night as leftovers and it was even better the second time around.

The kids acting like they have deep thoughts.

Sister-in-law Joy chatting with the girls.

Sister Tanya and niece Annalise.

Mom, probably telling the story about how she swears the movie Losing Isaiah is a real story that she heard about on the news.

Nephew M, his flared nostrils, and Biscuit.

The enchiladas from Heaven.

The enchiladas from Heaven (continued).

The younger kids played Tennis on the original Nintendo, while the older ones played Halo.

All of the kids made their own sundaes for dessert.

My sister, the Unoriginal Thinker. We all acknowledged that this was the best picture taken of her the whole night, so I agreed to actually making it available to her.

Pearl and her new BFF. At one point, I actually saw Pearl run up behind Annalise and casually put her arm around her. You know, like on an awkward date.

Nephew L lounging around while watching TV.

My brother Chris. In our family, it's not a party unless at least one person ends up like this.

That's it for my Thanksgiving round-up. Both celebrations were a success and lots of fun. How did it compare to yours? Pretty standard, I'm guessing. Except fort he enchiladas. Unless you're Mexican. In which case, it was still pretty standard.

Boner'ppetite!

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Recipe: Pumpkin Cheesecake Pasties.

If you've never lived in the U.K., or been to the U.K., or had friends from the U.K., or spent any time getting tanked in a British pub, you've probably never heard of a pasty.

Basically, a pasty (pronounced pass-tee) is a pocket of dough filled with meat, vegetables, or sweets. Kind of like an empanada. In case you're wondering, this is what they typically look like. In the good, old fashioned England times, worker men would take pasties in their lunches because they were essentially fully-contained party bags for your stomach.

I don't know how pasty'ish this recipe is because they actually look and taste nothing like any pasties I've ever had. (My qualifications? I did spend a short amount of time living in London, I was married to a Brit, and I eat a lot of food.) They seem more like rugelach, if you ask me. But they're still really, really delicious and definitely worth your while. Especially because people like to maximize their pumpkin intake during the month of November. That's a thing, right? I mean, I know I do.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pasties
(Recipe from Bakingdom.com)


INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
8 oz cream cheese
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
3 to 4 sheets of frozen puff pastry

For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

For the egg wash:
Whisk one egg with two teaspoons of water until frothy


DIRECTIONS

Thaw puff pastry before you start baking. To thaw, I usually wrap each roll of pastry (typically, two come in a pack) with a clean tea towel and let it sit for 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator. I saw on a cooking show one time that the towel prevents the dough from getting soggy as it thaws. So far, it's worked great for me. If you've never used puff pastry before, it's surprisingly foolproof and usually results in something very impressive looking.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.

Using a mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar mixture until light and fluffy, about one minute. Add egg and stir until combined. Make sure to scrape down the walls of the bowl every so often. Stir in pumpkin puree until throughly combined. Stir in vanilla and lemon juice. This is your filling.

Roll out the puff pastry until it's roughly 12x12. To avoid the dough sticking and/or ripping, make sure to flour both side of your dough. Liberally. Trust me on this.

Move your dough to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Use a pizza slicer to cut 16 even squares.

Spoon a generous helping of the filling into the center of each square.

Brush all four edges with the egg wash.

Fold two opposite corners up, so they just overlap on top.

Do this until all of your dough or mixture is used. Chill for 30 minutes.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to FULLY COOL before glazing.

To make the glaze, whisk sugar and milk until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla. Drizzle glaze over pasties. To get an even "drizzle" effect, I used a piping bag. If you don't have piping bags, just load your icing into a Ziplock baggie and cut off one of the bottom corner tips. Finish with a dusting of confectioners' sugar.

Note:

I've only made these once, but they turned out surprisingly well. Not one slip-up or mistake. I took them to Eric's office as a nice midday snack. I hadn't even been back on the road for five minutes when I got the text that they were all gone. I also found out the next day that one of his coworkers took one for her daughter, a notoriously picky eater. Apparently, she ate it right up. My voodoo priestess magic is working afterall!

With that said, these ended up causing quite a scene in our kitchen by the time I was done baking. And by "quite a scene", I mean it could have easily been mistaken for one of Def Leppard's 1985 hotel rooms. It was a disaster. Baking sheets and cooling racks: everywhere. Mixing bowls: everywhere. Powdered sugar: everywhere. Glue-like icing: everywhere. I think you get the idea. Don't make these if you're going to be pressed for time with guests coming over. Unless you have a housekeeper. In which case, why aren't you hosting more events for me to come to?

Try these out and let me know what you think! Maybe serve pasties instead of the usual pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Even with all the effort and cleaning involved, the presentation and taste are totally worth it.

Boner'ppetite!

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