Thanksgiving Recipes

I looked at a lot of recipes for a cranberry jello salad and this is what I came up with for my version.

Cranberry Jello Salad

1 large package Sugar Free red Jello
2 cups boiling water
2 cups cold water

Make Jello following directions on box.  Put in refrigerator until thickened, about 1 1/2 hours


1 12 oz bag cranberries
2 oranges peeled and segmented
2 apples chopped
1 cup seedless grapes cut in 1/4s
1 large can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 - 1 cup Splenda

In food processor add half cranberries and 1 orange and finely grind.
Put in bowl.  Do the same with the remainder of cranberries and orange.
Add the Splenda and mix well.
Add 2 apples diced or chopped in food processor.
Add the pineapple, grapes and walnuts and mix well.

Add to thickened jello and mix to blend.
Pour into a bowl and put in refrigerator overnight.


Since we were going to Aunt Harrie's for Thanksgiving, where we always went as kids, I decided to make chopped liver in memory of Aunt Mill.  I remember that as the dish she always brought.  Nadine remembers sweet and sour cabbage.

Chopped Liver
1 lb chicken livers
1 large onion
oil
1 hard boiled egg

Saute onion in oil.  Remove onion then cook the liver until no longer red in center.
Put liver, onion and egg in a food processor and combine to desired smoothness.

Holiday Snowball Cookies and OOPS!

Holiday Snowball Cookies

    •    1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
    •    3/4 cup powdered sugar
    •    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    •    1/2 teaspoon salt
    •    3 cups all-purpose flour
    •    1 3/4 cups (10-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Holiday Shapes & Morsels
    •    1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
    •    1 sprinkle powdered sugar

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. 



BEAT butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour; stir in Shapes & Morsels and nuts.

Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets. 



BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. Store in airtight containers.




I wanted to make these cookies since I saw a picture of them in the Wegmans Menu magazine.  I found the recipe and then I couldn't find the chips.
One day I found the chips in the back of the store and bought two bags and it was a good thing because the next time I was there, which was probably the next day, there weren't any more.
Yesterday I made the cookies but had a little mishap in the middle.  I was adding the flour (needs 3 cups) and specifically thought to myself that I need to keep track of how much flour I was adding since I was mixing in between each add of a cup.  At some point I remembered a couple of items for my shopping list and added them, then Larry came into the kitchen and when I went back to the cookies, "Did I put in 2 or 3?"

I looked up what the pitfalls were for too much or too little flour and this is what I found
. . . If you add too much flour, your baked goods will be hard and dry. If you don't add enough flour, the recipe will fall and fail.. . .
I added  1/2 cup more and hoped for the best.  The batter tasted good, they held their shape when I put them in and took them out and Larry said they tasted good.  I'll have to try another batch and pay attention and see how they compare.

Note (12/3/13):  I made another batch with the correct amounts.  I think I shorted the flour the first time, but there wasn't really a noticeable difference.  The one thing I did do the second time is make them smaller.  I think I rolled my balls too big the first time.  This weekend I'm going to make them again, everybody loves them.

Med Cruise Photo Books

Five months after our cruise and travels in June and one day before my Groupons expired I ordered my photo books.  One came yesterday and the other today.

Here are the links to each.  I love the covers which I created since I finally learned to use Photoshop Elements

Visit with Laura and Greta - Nov 2 - 8

This was a spur of the moment, sort of, visit.  Greta was giving her notice at Bloomberg and then was going to have three weeks off before she started her new job, as VP of Brand Strategy at Pitney Bowes so she suggested I come to visit while she had some time off.  After a weather delay on Friday, Nov 1, I left on Saturday to go to Laura's.  We hung out on Saturday, had a late lunch and then decided to go to DSW before it got dark.  When we went down to her car, the battery was dead.  She called AAA and they came really quickly and installed a new battery.  After that we decided we didn't want to go to the store.  It was already dark and we were tired.
The next day we went to the gym, Laura to Zumba and me to Yoga.  Then we stayed after and Laura did the stairmaster and I walked around the track.

View from the track.

There's Laura on the stairmaster.

After we came home, Laura had an event at Sherry's to go to and I went to the store and made my squash soup that we had for dinner.  I brought a quart with me and we ate it on Saturday.
Her place looked really neat now that she's becoming so organized and neat.

On Monday morning we went to DSW and Laura got a new pair of boots.  Then we went to the train station and picked up Greta.  We went out for lunch then Laura and Greta went to the gym and I worked on emptying Laura's cabinets so that they could get as organized as everything else.

We had squash soup for dinner again and took a break for a group shot.  I hardly took any pictures this time but we did take a few corny ones later on for fun.

Tuesday when Laura went to work, Greta and I drove to her house.   Monopoly was the game of choice with the boys and we played the electronic version and also the old fashioned one too.

A picture of the boys.  The only one I took of all of them.  What was wrong with me??  Well, I'll see them again at Thanksgiving, which now is only

She did a presentation for Hunter's class on Wednesday about marketing as a career and then the kids broke into groups because each group had to do a commercial which she came back to film and edit.

After we left there we went to lunch at the Cos Cobber where we went when we were there for Mother's Day and I got the exact same lunch, a Grilled Vegetable Wrap and it was as good as the first time.
Thursday morning I drove home.

Laura's Poem

Laura was at a Woman's Weekend this past weeked and one of the projects they had to do was write some sort of message to their mother.  Laura wrote this poem (in only the 15 minutes they were allotted) and when she read it to me over the phone we both had tears rolling down our cheeks.  I wanted to save this forever.  I love you Laura!!

A poem for my mother
A woman like no other
Who I love with all my heart
To me you're a beautiful piece of art
With you I have so much fun
Our good times are never done
Over the years we've had some disagreements and fights
But always share our love for each other by that night
Our anger never lasts long
Because we know to stay mad is wrong
You've been with me through thick and thin
It's because of you I'm able to love myself from within
There were times when life got tough
I'd call to say I'd had enough
You'd listen to what I had to say
And tell me to make my way
Sometimes you had no sympathy
But I know you were being tough for me
You showed me how to be independent and strong
Something you've been all along
Together we've done so many things
I look forward to new adventures our lives bring
It's time to bring this poem to an end
I love you Mom, you're my best friend.

Happy Halloween

We went to a pumpkin carving party at Ann's before Halloween. I wasn't going to do a pumpkin but I brought one anyway along with an old pumpkin carving kit I had.
I made these cupcakes to bring.

When Ann's neighbor Nancy said she would clean out my pumpkin if I would cut the top off of it, I decided that would be a good deal. Once I got the top off and looked inside I thought that it would be pretty easy for me to do myself and I did.  But that was as far as I got.
These are the pumpkins that other people did.

And these are more.

When I got home I decided to carve the pumpkin using my kit.  I didn't know how old my kit was, but when I opened the book of patterns, the pages were pretty yellow and there was a coupon in there for Halloween candy that expired Nov. 2000.  Guess I had it for a while.
This was the cat that I did and I just love it.

This is what it looked like without the light.

Butter news

This weekend I became a baking expert.  After years and years of baking, I happened to look up the difference between using melted butter or creaming the butter and found out all kinds of iformation I never knew before.  It was the science of baking.
As an example, for mixing and creaming, butter should be about 65 degrees: cold to the touch but warm enough to spread. Just three degrees warmer, at 68 degrees, it begins to melt.  For my pumpkin bread I actually checked the temperature of the butter and started the process at the correct temperature.  It used to be that I would take out my sticks of unsalted butter and let them sit out all day or overnight until I got around to beginning.  WRONG!!!

This time I cut the butter into pieces and it got to the correct temperature in a short time.

I used it to make pumpkin bread with fresh cranberries.   I added a cup of cranberries to my favorite pummpkin bread and you can find the original (hard copy) recipe here at the bottom of the page..

The next thing I looked up about butter was whether there was a certain temperature to use for creaming the butter for making frosting. I didn't see anything about temperature but I did find that the key to perfect frosting is a lot of beating.

Buttercream Frosting
   Unsalted butter
   Sifted confectioners sugar
   Milk
   Vanilla

Use 2 cups confectioners sugar for each stick of butter.
Cream butter for 2 minutes at high.  Turn down to medium and add sugar 1/2 cup at a time.  Add vanilla to taste and milk to get desired consistency.

Honey, Mustard and Rosemary Pork Roast

Honey, Mustard and Rosemary Pork Roast
Bon Appétit | July 1994
Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
    •    3/4 cup beer
    •    1/2 cup Dijon mustard
    •    6 tablespoons honey
    •    1/4 cup olive oil
    •    2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried
    •    2 tablespoons chopped garlic
    •    1 2-pound boneless pork loin roast

    •    1/2 cup whipping cream
Preparation
Whisk first 6 ingredients to blend in 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Add pork and turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour or cover and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Transfer pork to rack set in roasting pan; reserve marinade. Roast until thermometer inserted into center registers 150°F., about 55 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes.
Strain marinade into heavy medium saucepan. Add cream and juices from roasting pan. Boil sauce until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Slice pork; arrange on platter. Drizzle some sauce over. Serve, passing extra sauce separately.

Note:
I made the recipe using 6 pounds of pork, no whipping cream and there was loads of thick delicious sauce and lots of leftovers after serving 5 hearty appetites.

Pumpkin Dutch Apple Pie

I was going to make an apple pie but then I looked at the centerpiece on my island - a cooking pumpkin.

So I looked for a recipe that uses both and found this one that I'll try tomorrow and add the picture.


Pumpkin Dutch Apple Pie

So Many Good Recipes

We had dinner at Lila's tonight and each of us brought something and everything was so good I needed to post all the recipes so I have them for future use.  Unfortunately I didn't take pictures to include so I guess that means I will have to make the recipes and then upload the pictures along with the them.  For now, here are the links:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Honey-Mustard-and-Rosemary-Pork-Roast-2130
http://www.food.com/recipe/broccoli-with-red-onions-blue-cheese-and-mint-349535
This is Audrey's salad but she added dried cherries and apricots, and used spinach and field greens
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/fall-salad-recipe/index.html

I made a pumpkin pie for dessert and did it a little differently this time by putting a caramelized pecan topping on it.  I took this picture after I got home with the leftovers (for Larry).
The original recipe, with instructions for using a real pumpkin are here --->http://divertedtodistraction.blogspot.com/2011/10/fresh-pumpkin.html

And this is the addition:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:
While the pie is baking, chop the pecans and add them to a sauce pan
with butter and brown sugar. Over low to medium heat, let the butter sizzle and caramelize the sugar, but be careful not to let the butter burn!
Remove from heat and set aside until the pie has cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour and has firmed up a bit and just looks soft or wet in the center.  Then open the oven, and sprinkle the pecan topping evenly all over the top of the pie.

Another reason to love Wegmans

After going to a bunch of stores, my last stop was Wegmans and I had a desparate need for the Ladies room.

When I got there the door was blocked and the restroom was closed, but then I noticed this sign in front of the Mens Room

Thank you Wegmans!!!

Star Lake

Mary organized a trip to Cobble Crest on Star Lake for a group of 10 women.  Here are some of the highlights.  This is the house right on the lake.

Here's the floating dock that we took out twice for happy hour.

Here's one of our trips out.

I took a hike with Ann, Mary, Carol I, Jean M and Carol Z from the Ranger school.

When we came back we saw a little turtle on the road and rescued it and put it in the grass.

This was my bedroom with a private bath,  I got it from a random drawing :-)

Here we all are after dinner when we carved our clementines (missing Trudy)
Jean D, Jean M, Ann, Carol Z, Carol I, Me, Mary, Jo, Chris (in case I forget who everyone is when I'm old and senile (oops, forgot, I'm already old).

This was my outstanding creation.

The next time I took a hike it was to Inlet.  The day was beautiful but it was very wet.  After taking an hour to go 1 mile because it was such slow going, Carol and Jean went back to get the car and pick us up at the other end.  Good thing.

Trudy, Mary, Jean D and I went on while Jean M and Carol I went back.

Once back at the house, we had Trudy's famous Godfathers (equal amounts of scotch and amaretto, YUM!!)

Mary and I getting ready to pack up

while Trudy and some others went out for a last kayak trip

Hilton Head

On the way to Hilton Head we stopped for awhile to visit Gerry at Wadmalaw to see the final version of the house, which still hasn't been put up for sale.  On the road going to his house we ran into a swarm of love bugs and Larry still can't get them off his car.  This is an interesting article about them.

This is a view into the kitchen

 and I got to see one of those great spiders too.

We arrived at our resort about 4 and were greeted by the friendliest staff.  We were given a room on the third floor of buildin #4 - Osprey with a great view of the marshes.  It was such fun watching the landscape change everytime the tide came in or went out.

Our first stop was to Publix, my favorite southern store to get some food for the week and some 2 for 1 specials.  We had pizza for dinner that night (one of the 2-1) and again before we left.

On Sunday morning there was a welcoming brunch that had to be held indoors because of some rain.  There were door prizes and Larry, who's on a lucky streak at these things lately, won 2 decks of Marriott Vacation Club cards.

We rented bikes for the week and went out for a ride on the bike paths that are all over the island.

On Monday we finally got out of here around 2 and went for a bike ride.  We rode over to Piggly Wiggly to get more coffee,

came back and played tennis

 and then went to a wine and cheese gathering at the pool.  We played 2 games of Name That Tune

and even danced a little.  After we got back to our place the sky opened up and it poured.

On Tuesday the winds picked up and our nice peaceful water developed whitecaps.  We did a bike ride even though it looked like it was going to rain, but it never did.

On Wednesday we played golf

and we were lucky to have a perfect day.

We obeyed the sign and didn't feed the alligator.

These birds were right near the alligator, did they want to be dinner?

I don't remember what we did on Thursday, but we did see a beautiful sunset.

Friday we went to Harbor Town to walk around

 and saw some dolphins

Low tide and great for kayaking with what looks like lots of islands

And high tide,  we read that there was an 8 foot difference

On the way home we stopped in Fredericksburg and stayed at the Fairfield Inn.