Sweet Potato Suffle

Thanksgiving Menu

Growing up, I remember an uncle of mine would bring sweet potato souffle to the table, but honestly I could never get past the combination of sweet potatoes and marshmallows... Fast forwarding several years, I was re-introduced to a slight variation on the dish and really like it! The crunchy brown-sugary nut topping, really sealed the deal. The flavor is very fitting for fall and reminds me somewhat of a crustless pumpkin pie.  In other words, its like getting dessert served with dinner!

This recipe came from another sister-in-law and is the one we chose to use this year.  However, a friend shared her recipe with me and it was almost exactly the same other than the sugar and butter in the souffle itself, were cut by almost a 1/3 and plenty sweet, so it is easy to reduce both and still be tasty!

Sweet Potato Soufflé

3 cups cooked sweet potatoes (boil the same way you would mashed potatoes)

4 tbsp butter

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 sugar

-Blend together until creamy.

-Spread into a 9x13 for a thinner Souffle or a 8x8 for a thicker version

Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

4 tbsp butter (softened)

-Combine together to form a crumb-like mixture.  

-Sprinkle on top of souffle and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  

Fried Turkey

Thanksgiving Menu

Fried Turkey anyone?

What would Thanksgiving be like without the turkey? Well, in this case about 4 gallons less of peanut oil.  My brother, a skilled experimenter... (ha ha) decided to show us a thing or two about cooking a turkey in a huge pot of boiling oil.  Of course, to preface the event, he showed us several videos on youtube of what not to do, and since this was his first time frying a turkey AND at my house, I was a little nervous, mostly fearing burns or my house blowing up... BUT everything went well, the turkeys were injected with flavoring before frying and they were amazingly tender.  I have to admit, I think I am a fan.  Would I ever cook one myself? No, I am [chicken], but I will gladly eat the turkey!

Just wanted to show the before and after crispified pictures.

Cheese and Fruit Platter

Thanksgiving Menu

Like most folks out there, we tend to eat an early dinner/late lunch for Thanksgiving.  This year, instead of trying to prepare meals for the kid-os while trying to prepare dinner, I decided to just set out some foods that everyone could snack on while waiting.  Who could resist a tray full of cheese, some good-o-fashioned crackers, refreshing fruits and crunchy veggies?! That's what I thought.  Unfortunately, because of the simplicity of the items, I don't have any recipes to share, just an idea to keep the family/extended family sane and the cook sane while waiting to feast on the feast.

Parkerhouse Rolls

Thanksgiving Menu

I like the turkey, I like the sides, but I LOVE the rolls on Thanksgiving day and they are pretty much what I live off of the remainder of the weekend. YUM! Anyhow, I also admittedly get bored with too much routine and so I like to try a variety of variety of recipes. This year, I tried a variation of parker house rolls. A friend made some over Easter and they were melt-on-your-mouth to die for. However, because I have vouched to not post her family recipes on my website, I have posted the variation I made on Thanksgiving that were equally tasty and awesome the next day served heated up with a slice of cheddar and left over turkey. The original recipe and printable copy can be found here.

Parker House Rolls

Makes 16 rolls

3 cups flour

1 tbsp dry active yeast

3 tbsp sugar

1 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup instant mashed potato flakes

3 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

1 large egg

4 tbsp melted butter (to brush on rolls before baking)

-Gently heat egg and milk together to speed up rising process. In a large mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients to form a dough. The dough should remain slightly sticky to the touch to  create a moist and and soft dough, so its best to add flour last, incase the full 3 cups aren't necessary to reach desired texture.  

-Knead dough for about 10 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a moistened towel and place in a warm area to rise about 1 1/2 hours. It will almost double in size and be puffy.

-Punch down dough and divide in half.  Place half of the dough on a lightly greased working surface and flatten to a 4"x 24" rectangle.  Brush a light coat of butter over the surface of the dough.  

-Fold the dough over lengthwise, to about 1/2" of the bottom edge (the bottom will stick out 1/2" past the  folded edge.)

-Cut the dough crosswise into 8- 3"rectangular rolls.

-Repeat process with remaining dough.  

-Place rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Cover the pan and let rolls rise until puffy, but not doubled, about 1 hour.

-Bake at 350 degrees 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush with remaining butter.

Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving Menu

There are a handful movies on my own 'must-watch-during-the-Holidays' and While You Were Sleeping is one of them.  It is a sweet, Sandra Bullock classic.  One of my favorite lines from the movie, is when the grandma finds herself among awkward conversation and not quite following what everyone is saying, so instead she repeatedly comments on how, "these mashed potatoes are so creamy." Well, ever since the movie came out, it was a classic quote heard around our own Thanksgiving table and so I try my best to make my mashed potatoes as 'creamy' as possible, along the way I have found a few key ingredients (and a few more calories) really help with the texture.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

8-10 large russet potatoes, washed, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup milk
4 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cube butter (not cup)
8 ounces sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

-Place potatoes in a large pot and add enough water to completely cover potatoes. Bring potatoes to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.  Drain potatoes and return to pot. Using a hand mixer, combine: milk, cream cheese, butter and sour cream with potatoes.  Beat until smooth, add pepper and salt to taste.  Serve warm.

NOTE: If potatoes seem a little dry or not creamy enough, add a few extra tablespoons of sour cream or cream cheese.

Green Bean Casserole

Thanksgiving Menu

I typically like to eat my vegetables plain, without adding salt, pepper, butter etc... however, there is something nostalgic about comfort foods served at our my Thanksgiving table, and here is one of my favorites, cream soup and all. I think like it because I didn't know such a thing existed until a roommate at college fixed it once, I thought it was an awesome vegetable casserole, only to find that half of the world serves this dish on a regular basis, so if your not impressed or already fix this, feel free to move on,  if not, here is the recipe:

Green Bean Casserole

1 can 10 3/4 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp. black pepper
16 oz frozen cut green beans
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce OR Soy Sauce
1- 1 1/2 cups French Fried Onions

-Mix soup, milk, pepper, and Worcestershire Sauce together. Stir in frozen green beans and half of French Fried Onions, mixing until well coated.  Transfer to a 9x9 inch baking dish and top with remaining French Fried Onions.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and hot, removing foil after 20 minutes of baking time.

NOTE: If onions start to brown too much, cover with foil

THANKSGIVING - Turkey Bento Box Lunch

Tom the Turkey Bento

This was a much better Thanksgiving lunch creation than the last.  I used an orange yogurt container and permanent marker to create a pilgrim hat.


Fruit: I also had a 'harvest' of fruit and corn snacks. The fruit is strawberries and grapes. I have cornucopias and corn nuts mixed together also.


Maple leaves: I have fall leaves I made using a mini leave cookie cutter and a S'mores Pop Tart.


Turkey: The main meal was a cheese and meat wrapped tortilla.  I laid meat and cheese open-faced on a tortilla, then cut the tortilla into 4 triangles, rolled up and secured with a decorative pick. I used edible eyes and cut squiggles out of cheese.  The center/beak is a sauce container for dipping the wraps. The cheese body was free-handed (obvious from lack of symmetry.)

This lunch was 'gobbled' up fast!

THANKSGIVING - Bento Box Pilgrim Lunch

Grateful Pilgrims Bento

There are so many things to be grateful for, such as: being able to create a fun lunch for my kids! Okay, maybe some people wouldn't be adding a chore like packing lunches, to their thankful list, but I have fun with it and they are more excited about lunch when it comes in fun shapes, people and sizes.

This was Thanksgiving theme number 1.


Pilgrims: It is made up up cheese and crackers (not pictured because they were boring.) To cut the pilgrims, I use mini gingerbread man/woman cookie cutters and then free-handed the hats.  I colored them in with black edible marker and made skirts using cheese-it crackers with the top corners cut off.


Veggies: I attempted to make corn on the cob with the baby carrots, but hard to tell in the picture. I also have bugles for cornucopias and fruit snacks and coins for 'harvest treasure' treat.


Turkey:The strawberry and lettuce are supposed to resemble a turkey, so if you see it, great if not, no worries that required more creative thinking than it was worth.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Here is a super simple muffin recipe. So simple, I actually got it from my daughter's preschool teacher who cooked with the kids a few times a month. If 4-year-olds can make them, so can you! I love to make a variety of foods with cranberries when I start seeing them at the grocery store in the fall. I think they are excellent in muffins because I love sweet and tart in combination and cranberries are awesome at fulfilling that request.   It even uses 1/2 whole wheat for a healthier snack or breakfast.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1/4 cup halved, raw cranberries

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup oil

1 cup whole wheat flour (I prefer whole wheat pastry flour, it isn't as dense)

1 cup flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

-Mix cranberries and powdered sugar well and set aside.

-Beat egg, milk, orange juice and oil together. Add whole wheat flour, then sift together and add remaining ingredients. Stir just until blended. Fold in cranberries with as few strokes as possible. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. 

-Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins

NOTE: There are several variations for this recipe. For example, instead of using orange juice, increase milk from a 1/2 cup to 1 cup and add 1 tsp almond extract. Or top orange cranberry muffins with a sprinkle of semi-sweet chocolate chips before baking.

THANKSGIVING - Cranberry Salad

Everyone has their traditional foods that show up on the Thanksgiving table every year, there will be additional recipes to follow, but one of my all time favorites is Cranberry salad.  It is a creamy, sweet and tart, slightly crunchy fruit salad that puts cranberry sauce and regular fruit salads to shame.  I PROMISE it is worth making/trying at least once and who knows maybe it will become your family favorite too!  

Cranberry Salad

2 packages cranberries (rinsed and sorted)

1 large can crushed pineapple (drained)

1 1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup almonds 

2 cups whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups mini marshmallows

Use blender or food processor to coarsely chop almonds.  Place almonds in a medium-sized salad bowl with a lid. Once cranberries have been cleaned and sorted, place 1/4 of cranberries and  into a blender or food processor until coarsely chopped, then add to almonds.  Repeat with remaining berries (when berries are placed in food processor in smaller batches, they blend more evenly.)

-Add pineapple and sugar to cranberries and almonds, mix well and let set.  

-Meanwhile, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form, add vanilla. Add whipped cream to salad bowl and mix gently.  Stir in marshmallows.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Best chilled overnight. 

-YUM!

THANKSGIVING - Pilgrim Hat

After Halloween, it seems like the next couple of weeks become a 'Dead Zone' where the enthusiasm of dressing up is over, but it is still a little too soon in on too much Christmas excitement.  All too often, I feel like Thanksgiving gets overlooked and is mostly an after thought (except for those hosting the Thanksgiving Feast.) And so, I created a fun treat to bring on the Thanksgiving cheer!

Pilgrim Hats

chocolate cookies or fudge striped cookies
orange frosting
Rolos candy OR Reese's mini peanut butter cups
Mini yellow or orange candy (square Chixlet or round m&m)

To assemble: Flip cookie upside down for a flat top surface.  Attach unwrapped candy with a small amount of frosting in center of cookie.  Pipe frosting around the candy and attach one small yellow or orange candy in the middle front of the hat shape to form a 'buckle.'

THANKSGIVING-Turkey Treats

'Tis the season for turkey, family, darker days and cold weather.  Here was a fast, simple thanksgiving creation that the my girls made together for a neighbor who needed some cheering up.  I actually was on a limited schedule so I cheated and bought Fruity Pebble cereal snack bars, however these can also made at home with fruity pebbles following the same Rice Krispie Treat recipe.  

Turkey Treats

Hershey Kiss

Mini M&M's

frosting (I just picked up a mini orange frosting gel tube)

Rice Krispie Treats

Fruity Pebble Cereal Bars (which come already drizzled with white frosting)

2 sizes heart shaped cookie cutters

Using the small heart cookie cutter, cut out three mini hearts (you might have to use multiple bars.) Using the larger cookie cutter, cut out heart from Rice Krispie Treats.  Use three mini heart cut-outs to form a semi-circle.  Take a larger heart, turn upside down and attach with a small amount of frosting to the smaller hearts to form the look of a feather tail.  Attach an unwrapped Hershey Kiss to the main 'body' of the turkey to form a head. Make two small frosting dots for eyes on the kiss and attach one red mini M&M with frosting near the top of the kiss.

Rice Krispie Treat {Generic} Recipe

1/4 cup butter 

1 package mini marshmallows

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

6 cups Rice Krispie Cereal

Over medium low heat, melt butter in a large sauce pan.  Then, add marshmallows.  Stir occasionally until marshmallows melt, then add vanilla and stir well.  Add cereal and mix until mixture is evenly coated.  Press into a buttered cookie sheet to cool.