Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone :)

This recipe is a slight adaptation from a recipe that’s been going around for years.  The traditional recipe calls for a graham cracker crust, but I always felt that was lacking something.  So, one year, I tried it with toasted pecans, and wahhlaaalaaa – it was great.  If you don’t want to use the pecan crust, try a Gingersnap or Graham cracker crust instead.

Enjoy!

No Bake Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crust

Pecan Pie Crust (recipe below)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 teaspoons water
1 16-ounce can pumpkin

Combine the milk, egg, spices and salt.  Set aside.

In a sauce pan, sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the water and let stand for 1 minute, then begin stiring over low heat, until the gelatin is totally dissolved – about 2-3 minutes.

Keeping the heat on low, and using a whisk, blend in the milk/spice mixture into the gelatine.  Stir until the mix is slightly thick, about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat, stir in the pumpkin, mixing well.  Pour into the pecan crust and chill at least 6 hours, but overnight is best.

Garnish with extra pecans, if you haven’t eaten them all ;)

Toasted Pecan Pie Crust

2 Cups toasted pecans
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon water

Lay the pecans on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for about 2-3 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Watch them carefully

Remove and place the pecans in a food processor and grind until fine.  Add the remaining ingredients and continue to process until the mix starts forming a ball and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Press into a 9 inch pie pan, pressing the mix evenly across the bottom and up the sides.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

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Dessert on Thanksgivng!!

The traditional thing is Pumpkin Pie, and I’m all for that (there’ll be an upcoming recipe for it, too), but one thing that I think always hits the spot after Thanksgiving dinner is a nice cool dessert.  The house has been heated up all day, your tummy is full of hot turkey, potatoes, yams, stuffing, and corn — and to round out dinner, a chilled dessert always seems to fit the best.  Last year I made Roosamanna Semolina Pudding, and this year it will be Cranberry Cream Pie.

You can use canned whole cranberries if that is your preference, though I usually use a homemade cranberry sauce (as is linked below).  Use what you like, and what you have though.

Enjoy!

Frozen Cranberry Cream Pie

Graham Cracker Crust (see below) (No need to bake, just refrigerate before filling)
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup Orange Cranberry Sauce (Or one can of whole berry cranberry sauce)

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy.

In a second bowl, combine the whipping cream, sugar and vanilla.  Whip until thick, but not stiff peaks.  Gradually add in the cream cheese, beat until smooth and creamy.  Fold in the cranberry sauce. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the cranberry sauce for garnish.  Spoon the mixture into the graham cracker crust and freeze at least 4 hours.  Overnight is best.

To serve, remove from the freezer about 10 minutes before hand.  Top with the remaining cranberry sauce and any left over whipped cream.

Graham Cracker Crust

1 2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until well-combined. Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate or tin. For baked pies, preheat oven to 350 F and pre-bake crust for 7 to 9 minutes. Cool before filling. For no-bake refrigerator or freezer pies, no baking is necessary.

I have my notes from the day here beside me now – the only thing that is “exact” measurement was the sausage – everything else was an estimate.  I later made this recipe again, being much more careful about measurements, and the note taking. 

One thing I will say about this recipe —  it goes fast, and I do mean that.  Super fast.  Make extra if you want leftovers.  This recipe should serve 6-8 easily.

Sausage, Mushroom & Sage Dressing

1/2 pound Italian sausage
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 pound mushrooms – sliced
3/4 cup celery, chopped
1 medium onion – chopped
salt and pepper to taste
6-7 cups dry bread, cubed
1/2 teaspoon dried sage or 1 teaspoon fresh sage, minced fine
2 1/2 –3 cups chicken stock
drippings from the turkey

In a frying pan, brown the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.  Once the sausage has cooked, remove the sausage and set aside. Drain away the grease from the frying pan, leaving a bit left in the pan.  Add the butter, and melt it.  Add in the onion, celery and mushrooms and cook 3-5 minutes, or until the onion is clear. Add in the sage, and then salt and pepper.  Add the sausage back in, add the cubed bread, and enough of the stock to moisten the bread. 

Place in a greased baking dish.  2 quart casserole dish is best, but a 9×13 cake pan will work fine, too. Cover and bake at 350F for about 30 minutes.  Add in a few teaspoons of drippings from the turkey once or twice, just to give that extra depth of flavor.  Uncover and bake about 10 more minutes.

Notes:

• If the Italian sausage you get is in casings, just remove it and break it up as much as possible.  Well.. cut it into tiny pieces, as it is impossible to actually “break” up.
• Mix up the sausage – use sage sausage, or your favorite sausage
• I don’t really like poultry seasoning, which is why you see drippings from the turkey added into this recipe, but if you do, add in about 1 teaspoon when you mix in the sausage to the onion-mushroom-celery mixture.
• Try other additions:  raisins, currents, any kind of good fresh mushrooms, water chestnuts
• One final note – you can easily double the amount of sausage in this recipe, and it’ll be just as fantastic (if not better – but then again, you all know I love sausage!! :D )

I’ve made this the day before Thanksgiving, and kept it refrigerated, until about 1 hour before I want to put it into the oven.  Allow it to come to room temp before you bake it.

Simple Baked Cream Corn

2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 cans of creamed corn (14.75 ounce cans)
2 tablespoons butter, chopped in pieces
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2  teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with the milk.  Mix in corn and butter.  Blend in remaining ingredients.

Lightly spray a baking dish — I use an 8×8 dish, or a pie pan.  Transfer the corn mixture to the baking dish, and bake in a 350F preheated oven for about 50 minutes, or until it is bubbly and golden brown.

Let this sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

What my Gram used to do was something similar — she would take what was left after making the mix for pumpkin pie, and mix it with cold milk.  But because that has eggs, I just do as follows:

Grams Pumpkin Juice

3 cups milk
1 cup half and half or cream
1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or more/less to taste)
cinnamon
Whipped Cream
Add the milk and pumpkin to a blender and blend well.  Add all remaining ingredients.

Garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

This can me made a day or two ahead of time – Just keep refrigerated.

Serves 4

The original recipe called for soaking the cranberries in ‘grape juice’, but that just seemed so odd to me.  I then experimented with cranberry juice and orange juice.  Both work really well.   See below for some variations.

Acorn Squash with Cranberry and Apples

2 acorn squash
6 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup cranberry juice (or orange juice)
3 medium apples
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Prep the squash by cutting it in half, and cleaning out the seeds & strings.  Brush the top

with melted butter. On a baking sheet, place the squash face down, and pour 1/2 cup water onto the baking sheet – it should be just enough to cover the bottom.  Bake for about 30 minutes at 350F.

Meanwhile, soak the cranberries in the cranberry juice (or orange juice).  Peel, and chop the apples until they are about 1/2 inch or so.  Melt the remaining butter (about 4 tablespoons) in a frying pan, and add the apples.  Cook about 5 minutes.  Stir in the brown sugar and lemon juice.

Once the squash has baked for about 30 minutes, flip it over.  Drain the cranberries, and mix into the apples.  Fill the squash with the apple-cranberry mix, and return to the oven, baking about 30 minutes more, or until the squash is tender.

Garnish with a bit of cinnamon.

Note:

• You can replace the cranberries with raisins or currents.
• Soak the fruit in red wine
• Add some chopped walnuts to the apple cranberry mix before you stuff the squash

I like to individually wrap these for Halloween.  You can get the papers at places like AC Moore or Michaels Arts and Crafts. I usually buy these at SugarCraft.com as you can get various papers for almost anything at great prices.

Maple Pumpkin Fudge

2 cups sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 12 ounce package white chocolate chips
1 7 ounce jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts – pecans or walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, mix sugar, brown sugar, butter, evaporated milk, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices.  Stir constantly, making sure sugar is dissolved.  Once the mixture begins to boil, continue stirring constantly.  Boil this until a candy thermometer reaches the soft ball stage between 234F and 243F degrees.  I usually go for about 237, if possible.

Remove from the heat and stir in the the chocolate chips.  Once the chocolate chips have melted, add in the marshmallow creme, nuts and maple.  Mix well and pour into a lined or buttered pan — use a 13×9 cake pan, if you have it.  Otherwise, pour it into 2 8×8 pans.  Allow to cool and then cut into squares.  Store in an air tight container, and refrigerate up to 10 days.

The BEST thing about carving pumpkins for Halloween, or making fresh pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, is the pumpkin seeds.  I have always loved these, and can’t wait to roast them.

I have two different ways I roast pumpkin seeds.  The first is a brine method, which needs at least 24 hours, and the second is a quick version — less than an hour from carving pumpkins to eating roasted seeds.

The reason I prefer the brine method is simple — the seeds last longer and taste amazing.

A brine is just a mix of water and and a lot of salt.  You can use brines for everything from meats to vegetables.  Traditionally, a brine was used as a preservative, as it inhibits the growth of bacteria.  But a brine can also enhance flavors, and help meats stay juicy and tender.  I’ll be using a brine again soon,  when I prepare my Thanksgiving turkey, so I will talk more about brining then.

For this application, though, my intentions are to have a crunchy pumpkin seed, that is full flavored, with the salty goodness only a brine can bring to my pumpkin seed party.  ;)

If you have time, do try the brine method.  If not, the second option works well, too.

Enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

First things first — prep the seeds:

Rinse the pumpkin seeds under cold water, removing the pulp and pulpy strings.

Option 1 – The long method. Using a heavy brine to salt the seeds

Create a brine, using 1 cup salt to 3 cups water (or more as needed with a ratio of 1 cup salt to 3 cups water) See note below) and add the pumpkin seeds.  Mix well, and then allow this to sit overnight.

The next day, heat the oven to 325F.  Drain the pumpkin seeds.

Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a greased baking sheet (or a parchment lined baking sheet).  Bake for 30-45 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes.

*Note: This may take a bit longer than 35 minutes, depending on the size of the seeds.  Add time as needed, until the seeds are done, up to about 20 minutes.

Option 2 – The quick method

Heat your oven to 325F.

Place the pumpkin seeds on a heavily oiled baking sheet.  Stir to coat the seeds.  Salt the seeds liberally, and then bake for around 25-30 minutes.  Stir every 10 minutes. *See note

Remove the seeds from the oven and allow to cool. Store in an air tight container.

Notes:

• The times are not really exact, because the size of the seeds, as well as the density and moisture content of the seeds are all unknown variables.  You might have huge seeds, or tiny ones.  Just watch, stir, and see how it goes.  Don’t be stuck to the timer, but rather be aware of how the seeds are baking.
• Brining – The ratio is 1 to 3.  The more seeds you’ll have, the more you will need.

1 cup salt to 3 cups water

2 cups salt to 6 cups water

3 cups salt to 9 cups water

2 Cups toasted pecans
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon water

Lay the pecans on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for about 2-3 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Watch them carefully

Remove and place the pecans in a food processor and grind until fine.  Add the remaining ingredients and continue to process until the mix starts forming a ball and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Press into a 9 inch pie pan, pressing the mix evenly across the bottom and up the sides.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.