What's Cooking for Thanksgiving

Just in case you need some last minute inspiration, I thought I'd share what I'm making for Thanksgiving.  We actually had an early Thanksgiving last weekend with my hubby's family.  Then we'll be on to my side's for the actual day.  (My cousin and his family are back from a yearish long stint in India.)

Last weekend, I made Pumpkin Dump Cake and Sugar Cookie Bars.  The Pumpkin Dump Cake is a wonderfully easy version of upside down pumpkin pie, a pumpkin pie layer topped with a crunchy streusel type crust.  The Sugar Cookie Bars I have already posted on.  D requested those and by adding some fall sprinkles, they were perfect for Thanksgiving.  For this week's celebration, I'm making Three Fruit Relish.  It combines tart apples, raspberries, and cranberries with a hint of orange for a sweet and sour, cold salad.  I'm also going to make a dessert snack tray with caramels and fudge.  I decided to try a new Microwave Caramel recipe.  Um, yummy!  And easy!  No worrying about scorching the caramels or overcooking and ending up with hard as a rock candy.  I honestly think I will be using this recipe a lot.  The recipe, as listed, is a bit bland but I personally thought it was much better when I added in vanilla and some sea salt.  I also topped it off with sea salt so it was kind of a take on salted caramels.  I'm also trying a new recipe for the fudge.  Pumpkin Fudge sounded like a grand way to use up my leftover pumpkin puree from the dump cake I made earlier.  It is kind of eggnog meets pumpkin pie meets white chocolate fudge.  And because two new recipes weren't enough, I also opted for another candy with fall flair:  Maple Peanut Fudge.  In all fairness, I'm not really sure I'd classify it as a fudge, more of a candy mixed with a fudge.  I added maple flavoring and then drizzled chocolate over mine.  It has the consistency and texture of a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup but with subtle maple flavor.

Best part of all my efforts?  I have extra so I can use the three candies during the Christmas season either as gifts or as goodies to share.

More Thanksgiving Fare

Since I shared with you my pie selection for Thanksgiving, I thought I'd also share my side dish:  Three Fruit Relish.  Raspberries and apples are unexpected partners with the usual holiday flavor duo of orange and cranberry.  It's a tart version of cranberry relish so if you're wanting sweet, it's probably not for you.  But I'm guessing my aunt Sheree will make her cranberry jello salad whose sweetness will compliment this perfectly.

Watermelon, Watermelon...

I bought a 15 pound watermelon today.  For the four of us, that's basically asking us to eat watermelon every day for the next week.  You get to the point where you've eaten it so often that you are beginning to wonder if it's somehow regenerating itself in the fridge because the bowl just doesn't seem to be getting any emptier.  I'm sure some of you with smaller families can relate to that. 

Watermelon is kind of one of those tricky fruits too.  The normal methods of food preservation like dehydration or canning don't apply.  But freezing can actually work.  Cube up the watermelon and then place the cubes on a cookie sheet so that they don't touch.  Make sure you don't make the cubest too large because if they are too large, your blender/food processor might have trouble with them once you are ready to use them.  Freezing the cubes keeps the watermelon from sticking together into one giant watermelon blob.  Once they've frozen, pop them off of the cookie sheet and place them in a freezer bag.  These are perfect for making frozen or liquid watermelon delights like a watermelon lime slushie.  I usually don't follow a recipe; I just kind of dump.  Watermelon and lemon are also a graet combination; consider adding dry lemonade mix (either presweetened or unsweetened, sugar free or regualr) with some watermelon and ice.  Or mix with other fruits like strawberries, rasberries, or other melons.  It's easy to just slowly add  your chosen ingredients, flavoring with sugar or juice as you go.  You can also use frozen watermelon chunks to make granita or sorbet.  I haven't tried the sorbet so that may be what I try this time around.  Regardless of what I try this time around, I am going to deliberately save some of my frozen watermelon for the winter.  It's such a fun wintertime treat to have a summery watermelon treat in December.

Summer salad series

My mom always encouraged nutrition by setting out two fruits/vegetables at each meal.  I despised this at the time and in fact, in my usual tactless way, once told my a friend's mom in high school that I loved eating at their house because she let them eat whatever they wanted without worrying about nutrition.  But as a grown up, I am thankful for my mom's insistence at two fruit or vegetable servings at lunch and supper.  It's just a great habit to have.  I do find myself getting tired of the same old fruit and vegetable offerings.  (Usually frozen, canned, or fresh fruits and veggies.)  Salads are a nice departure from that. 

My friend, Cari, recently did a post on summer salads.  So I thought I'd share the recipes she shared.  You know, a few new recipes for the end of summer.  I also thought I'd share a couple of tricks I use to jazz up fresh fruit.  If you've got a killer salad recipe or trick for jazzing up fruit/veggies, don't hesitate to share. 

First, a few tricks:
You can easily give fresh fruit a face lift by adding a "dressing" to the fruit.  It's a great way to add another layer of flavor to your fruit.  The best and easiest kinds of dressings are those that require little work and actually 'make themselves.'  One trick is to use jelly or jam as a fruit glaze over fruit.   Nuke the jelly or jam for a bit until it liquifies and then toss to coat your fruit.  It works great with mixed salads like strawberry over grapes, bananas, and strawberries.  Or it's good alone like tossing bananas in strawberry jelly.  Another trick is to use a smidge of sugar and a bit of citrus zest over fruit.  Oranges, strawberries, and apple chunks taste great with a bit of sugar and orange zest.  What about strawberries with kiwi, sprinkled with lime zest?  You can also squeeze a little of the citrus juice over the salad for more citrus flavor.  Of course, if you're really feeling daring, adding some fresh herbs can also be a great mix into a zest based dressing.  Mint and cilantro are two of my favorites.  But if you're like me, you rarely have anything like that when you need it.

And some new recipes to try, straight out of someone else's recipe file:

Snickers Salad
6 Snickers candy bars
2 pkgs instant vanilla pudding mix
8 0z Cool Whip
5-6 Granny Smith apples
3 C milk


Peel & cut apples into bite-size pieces (I don’t always peel; sometimes I use my apple wedger & then cut the wedges into chunks). Cut candy bars into bite-size pieces. Mix milk & pudding together; fold in Cool Whip. Add apples & candy bar pieces.

Asian Slaw
16 oz. broccoli slaw mix
2 pkgs. beef ramen noodles
¼ C sliced almonds
½ C sunflower nuts
2 T vinegar
¾ C oil
1/3 C sugar


Mix together ramen noodle seasoning packets, vinegar, oil & sugar. Crumble raw noodles. Add remaining ingredients; pour dressing over and toss well. Serve immediately. (If making ahead, add crumbled noodles only right before serving.)

Acini de pepi Salad (old family favorite from my Grandma Peterson)

16 oz. pkg of acini de pepi (small pasta, similar to tapioca in shape)
Cook in salted water for 8 min; rinse & drain well. Cool.

Dressing:
1 C sugar
3 eggs
½ tsp salt
2 T flour
1 ¾ C pineapple juice (use from drained pineapple to add in later)
Mix & cook til thick. Pour over pasta & refrigerate overnight.


Add next day:Small can crushed pineapple, drained, regular size can pineapple tidbits, drained, 2 small cans mandarin oranges, drained, 10 oz. pkg mini-marshmallows (optional) and 8 0z. Cool Whip

Refrigerate; best if stands awhile. Makes a very large batch. Freezes well.

Broccoli Orange Salad
4 C fresh broccoli florets, bite-size
½ C cashews
Small red onion, chopped
½ C buttermilk ranch dressing
2 T orange juice
1 T horseradish sauce
Small can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix ranch dressing, orange juice & horseradish sauce together. Poor over other ingredients, adding mandarin oranges gently at end. Mix well & chill for 2 hours.

Grape Salad
2 C fruit (can use mixed berries, but I prefer just grapes)
2 individual containers vanilla yogurt
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix

Mix pudding mix & yogurt together (will be very thick); fold in Cool Whip. Add in fruit gently.

Berry Peach Bellini Salad
¼ C orange juice
3 T sugar
4 medium peaches, peeled, pitted & cut into bite-size chunks
1 C raspberries or diced strawberries (I prefer strawberries)
2 C sparkling wine or lemon-lime soda (I’ve only ever used Sprite or 7-Up; can use diet)


Mix orange juice & sugar together. Add peaches & berries. Divide fruit evenly into 4 individual serving cups. Cover & freeze at least one hr. About ½ hr before serving, remove cups from freezer. Let stand until slightly thawed. Poor sparkling wine or soda over fruit evenly. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Buttermilk Salad (aka Striped Cookie & Mandarin Orange Salad)
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
1 ½ C buttermilk (will make mix a bit thicker & tangier, but can use reg. milk)
8 oz Cool Whip½ pkg fudge-striped shortbread cookies, crumbled (can use caramel-striped as well)
Small can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix pudding with buttermilk; fold in Cool Whip. Add crumbled cookies & oranges; mix gently. Serve immediately. (If making ahead, add crumbled cookies only right before serving.)

Strawberry Pie...errr...Dessert

Super Saver had strawberries for 1.15 a clamshell last week! Crazy! So I bought three, figuring I'd use them in something. I was going to make Strawberry Pie but had my plans changed by one impish little girl who pulled the pie crust off of the counter while it was cooling. (Even though she was supposed to be outside with Papa...even though she knew she wasn't allowed to eat anything other than her pasta which she refused to eat at lunchtime. So she got to clean up the mess and then didn't get to eat any of the end result once it was finished.) Since pie was out of the question, we changed it to a variation on a that yummy strawberry jello that has a pretzel crust. I used the strawberry jello mixture from the recipe and poured it over strawberries that I put in a 11 x 7 pan. Then I covered it with Cool Whip and topped it with pretzels that I had cooked on the stovetop with a little melted butter and sugar. All's well that end's well, I guess.

Ham and Bean Soup, carrots and celery


Gingerbread pancakes, bacon, fruit


Roast beef sandwiches, frozen fruit cups, cooked carrots


Orange chicken, California blend vegetables, rice


Blushing Penne Pasta, California blend, Autumn Apple Salad


Swiss steak supper, jello with fruit

Menu Planning Monday

Wonton Soup
Fruit Salad

Pork Roast with a Twist of Orange
Mashed potatoes
Green beans

Ham and Cheese Pasta
Mixed vegetables

Taco Pan Pizza (Divide into two pans before baking; freeze one for later.)
Fruit Salsa with cinnamon chips

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza (Sauce of ketchup, mustard, and spaghetti sauce. Sauce + crumbled cooked bacon+ browned hamburger + onion + chopped dill pickles, all on pizza crust and topped with cheese)
Carrots and celery

Pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit

Menu Planning

Steak Fajitas (Toss cooked steak strips with taco seasoning, peppers, and onions)
Corn
Fresh fruit



Lettuce salad with fajita meat
Cinnamon Chips with fruit salsa



Ham and Cheese Pasta
California Blend


Pork Steaks with a Twist of Orange (Brown 1 large sliced onion and 1 1/2 t. minced garlic in butter on stove. Add 1 finely chopped jalepeno, 4 1/2 t. chilli powder, 1 t. salt, and 1 t. pepper. Gradually stir in 1/ cup chicken broth, 2/3 cup orange juice, and 4 pieces of cooked bacon, diced. Place roast in slow cooker; pour liquid mixture over roast. Cook on low for 4 1/2 to 5 hours until meat is tender. Can make gray using cooking juices.)
Mashed Potatoes
Mixed Veggies



Italian Bean Soup (In stock pan combine 3 chopped celery ribs, 3 chopped carrots, 1 chopped small onion, 2 cans of chicken broth, 2 cans of drained butter beans, 1 can of diced tomatoes, and 1 t. basil. Heat through.)
Lettuce Salad
Breadsticks