Thanksgiving Eve

 

 

 

Pecan Pie

"The Holidays" and "Pecan Pie" are synonymous, in my opinion. Maybe it's because it has been my favorite dessert as long as I can remember. As important as it is to have for dessert after the big holiday meal, it is a tradition to compete with my dad for the breakfast slice in the morning.

Eight years ago I suddenly developed a severe allergy to tree nuts. After enduring both the skin test and a blood test, it was undetermined whether or not I was allergic to pecans because one test came back positive while the other was negative. I cried on the way home, even as the song playing on the radio was boasting something about a good day. At my next appointment, I asked if there was any way we could come to a definite conclusion about pecans, as my life would never be the same without pecan pie. A five hour food challenge was conducted and, hooray!, I can eat pecans! What a relief! The entire staff of the allergist's office celebated with me and requested that I bake them a pecan pie that Thanksgiving.

Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas I am told that I bake the best pecan pie. This comes from the people who love me the most, of course. But, I give all the credit to my secret family recipe: the one on the back of the Karo Syrup Bottle.

This simple recipe never fails. You can put it together in under five minutes. Stir everything together, in any order, and you'll have a perfect pecan pie filling. Because the nuts are stired into the sugary-syrupy mix, they are candied and delicious. My sister-in-law can never resist picking a few of the pecans off the top before we even have dinner.

The crust, on the other hand, can be a bit trying. I don't know how my mom's pie crusts come out perfectly every single time she prepares them. I have "good days," and "bad days," when I set out to make pie crust. I have tried many recipes, but always come back to the one my mom uses, because even on a "bad day," when my crust does not look photo-worthy, it still tastes good: light and flaky. And while store-bought pie dough is not an altogether bad option, it just doesn't compare to the homemade version.

Luckily, today was a pretty good day for pie crust! Mine still don't look as flawless as mom's, but the dough was not sticky, and it held together when I rolled it and transferred it to the pie plates.

I filled them with the sweet filling and popped them in the oven. As I wait for them to finish baking, I'm feeling thankful that the other pies we'll enjoy tomorrow, pumpkin, apple, and chocolate, are mom's contribution to the Thanksgiving feast (so they are guarunteed to be perfect!).

Timer is set for 55 minutes. And how do you know that they are done, you wonder? They will be a beautiful golden brown, and you will see the top layer breathing and bubbling. Take them out to cool, then cover them with some plastic wrap and leave them alone until it is time to eat them.


An important note: Dad and I don't need to fight over the last slice for breakfast any more. Pecan pie still makes a perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving, so I make sure to make two pies these days ensuring I can send some home with him and still keep some here for Adam and me.

Veggies and Dip

The next task on today's list is to prepare the veggies and dip for the before dinner veggie platter. I saw an adorable idea on Facebook this morning: a veggie platter that looked like a turkey!

 

 

There is absolutely no way I will do anything like this, but isn't it cute?

What I will do is make a ranch dip and slice up some celery, carrots, broccoli, radishes, and cucumber so that we will have some healthy and tasty snacks to munch on throughout the afternoon.

 Yep - the dip took all of 1 minute to mix together! Tomorrow I'll put it in a pretty bowl before serving time.

Veggies are cut and in zip-lock bags, ready to plate tomorrow. The colors are so vibrant and they will taste crisp and fresh, especially with a dip in the ranch. 

 

Confession: since the Lays chips were BOGO at the grocery store this week, I went ahead and grabbed a bag of classic and wavy, because they will also taste crispy and delicious with a dip in the ranch! Most likely the salty potato chips will disappear before the fresh veggies do, but I have not doubt it will all be yummy.

 

Set-Up

Furniture is temporarily rearranged, and the table is extended and covered in one of Grandma's tablecloths. Tomorrow I'll need to set up our beverage station in the hallway and clear away the small appliances from the kitchen.

As we do not plan an early meal, there is plenty of time to do these little things, in addition to preparing the turkey and sides.

As for tonight, pumpkin scones and bread are thawing for breakfast (thank you, Summer!) and we are off to bed to get a good night's sleep.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

A Tasty Week

Fall is making its approach and my craving of comfort foods has begun. I find that nothing suits a cool Fall night better than a hot casserole or a slow cooked pot roast.

The menu this week included Salmon Burgers, Chicken and Broccoli Casserole, Pot Roast, Fish Tacos, and Chicken Stew with Dumplings.

My kitchen companion was my mom, and I was glad to have her assemble the Salmon Burgers, as I tend to struggle with the food processor. It was an easy process (for her, since she has mastered the art of using this equipment!) chop the salmon into fairly fine pieces in the food processor, add an egg white, bread crumbs, dill, salt and pepper, and then process again for a moment to combine the ingredients. Form patties and cook them. I grilled mine on the Foreman Grill and they came out just right. We ate them on whole wheat buns with ranch and had some roasted potatoes and salad on the side. Anyone can make these- as long as they know how to operate a food processor!

As mom worked on that, I boiled broccoli and then chicken for the casserole. Those were chopped and mixed in a casserole dish and smothered in a creamy parmesan sauce, then topped with cheese and a sprinkle of bread crumbs.

Next I made one of my all time comfort food favorites, Chicken Stew with Dumplings. Nothing beats it, and the recipe came from weight watchers!

I prepped the Pot Roast and Veggies so they were ready to roast in the slow cooker. This recipe came out very moist and delicious. The roast was so tender it shredded to pieces.

Finally, I made the Fish Tacos. I used cod and made some "oven-fried fish" by coating pieces of the fish in milk and then a mixture of bread crumbs, corn meal, dill, paprika, salt, and pepper. After drizzling a bit of olive oil over the top these were baked at 500 for about 10 minutes. They were served on corn tortillas and topped with onion, cabbage, cilantro, lime, and chipotle ranch dressing. I regret not taking a picture as they looked so fresh and tasty on my plate.

Now that this week is coming to a close, it's time to plan my next menu, go shopping, and get back in the kitchen! I hope next week's meals will be this good.

No room in the fridge!

After a very busy weekend, we ended up with a lot of  leftover ribs and chicken kebabs in the fridge, so I only needed to prepare a few meals for the upcoming week. Still, after grocery shopping, it was evident that there was no space to fit the fresh food, let alone our prepared meals. As JC celebrated his 40th Birthday Saturday - or should I say, tried to avoid celebrating it - our refridgerator is full of beer! Silver gifts from his friends who have stopped by to either drop them off or share a few.

My creativity in packing and storing were definitely called upon today! The stuffing for the lobster rolls did not turn out with the abundance I'd hoped for. I had convinced myself that all the other goodies that were going into the mixture were going to help fill up the bowl.  The good news is that it fit into a very small container. The bad news, though, is that we will have very small sandwiches or I'll have to make another batch. It was my first time working with lobster tails. Now I know what to expect!

Along with that, I stuffed into my bursting refridgerator a ziplock bag of chicken legs marinating in soy sauce, white wine, green onions, and garlic. These will be delicious once they are BBQ'd and served up with a "faux" fried rice with corn and basil.

Finally, I made some burger patties. This week's selection: Spicy Poblano Burgers! They are mixed up with some delicious cumin, paprika, and corriander along with fresh cilantro and roasted peppers. Into the freezer these went to wait for us to grill them up on Friday.
 

For the recipes, go to MyRecipes.com and search for these:
Asian Marinated Chicken with Corn and Basil Faux-Fried Rice
Spicy Poblano Burgers with Pickled Red Onions and Chipotle Cream
Picnic-Perfect Lobster Rolls


Now, let me warn you, that you may take a look at the recipes and think they are too complicated. Let me assure you, that if you can set aside just a little time and focus, they come together in a snap! I once was a afraid of recipes with too many ingredients, or too many steps, too. But, you can adjust the steps to fit your need, and adjust the ingredients to suit your style. I made many swaps today!  I decided to make lean beef burgers in place of turkey burgers. I opted out of the pickled onions (although I have made them before and they really are very good), but I will make the chipotle sauce on burger night. I switched up chicken thighs for drumsticks and swapped out oven cooking for grilling. I used chenin blenc instead of sweet rice wine in the chicken marinade - because that was what I wanted to drink while I cooked! Give these recipes a try, and even with your own subsitutions, you won't go wrong.

My fridge is full and I am all ready for the week. Unfortunately it won't take long before I hear one of the kids say, "There's nothing to eat!" So, for now, with my chenin blanc in hand, a toast to a full refridgerator - to family, friends, food, & wine. Happy eating!

Ready for another week

We are keeping it simple this week:
Tonight's dinner is a basic burger seasoned with salt, pepper, worcestershire, paprika, onion and garlic powder (charcoal is heating up now) and corn on the cob rubbed with olive oil, salt and pepper and wrapped in foil. It will go on the grill, too. I will toss together a salad to go on the side.

I had company in the kitchen for just a few minutes as JC created a rub for some pork chops we will grill later in the week. He decided that dry wouldn't do, so he added some beer to the mix. I'm sure they are happy chops now! The rub was made of onion power, garlic powder, paprika, seasoned salt, pepper, worcestershire, and liquid smoke (yes - same seasonings for two meals! convenience is good). The recipe for Smoky Grilled Pork Chops can be found on allrecipes.com.

Then I was alone again for the remainder of my prep work. I put together some chicken kebobs with garlic herb seasoning on the chicken (I found the jar of seasoning in my cabinet); a marinade for salmon made of green pepper jelly and soy sauce called Peppery Jelly and Soy Glazed Salmon on myrecipes.com (I did not take a picture, but it looks like salmon soaking in a green sauce with sesame seeds); and a casserole I put together based on what I needed to use up in the kitchen: zucchini from Summer's garden, turkey sausage, some chicken that didn't fit on the kebabs, ricotta cheese, parmesan, a can of diced tomatoes, garlic, onion, green bell pepper, and mozarella. (I think that's all of it!) It looked delicious all mixed together in the casserole dishes, and smelled good, too. I topped it off with some bread crumbs that will hopefully soak up any extra juice.

Since Summer was out of town all last week, she still has some food stocked up in her freezer. I am sending over some kebobs and zucchini sausage casserole anyway.

Now let's hope the weather remains nice this week so we can enjoy some outdoor eating!
Time to get out to the BBQ!

All alone but back on track

School is back in session this week and it is time to get back on a regular schedule. After spending this summer season slacking off- well, maybe not exactly slacking off, but cooking day by day, I was ready to make a meal plan and execute it. There is such comfort in knowing we can have a home cooked meal for dinner, regardless of how tired I feel at the end of the day.

Since Kate is somewhere between chopped and dropped (I wish she would come back!), and Summer was out of town for the weekend, I had to cook alone. It was not nearly as much fun, but mission accomplished.

In about two hours I prepared a cheese lasagna (meatless, so I'm bracing for the grumbles), beef stir-fry, chicken tetrazzini for the slow cooker, and chipotle turkey burgers. The other two meals were deliberately chosen because they are so quick and easy.
Sides this week are a breeze, too. Salads, brown rice in microwaveable bags from Trader Joes, and a few other veggies.

With two dinners in the freezer and two in the fridge, this week should be smooth sailing. Food reviews to follow!

Kate got chopped!

I know, Kate and Doug, that I haven't been a faithful writer. Shame on me! But, let's forget about that, because I have a better story and it's all about Kate.

We had some trouble with scheduling this weekend, and then decided that Summer and I could work it out without Kate, since dear Kate was backed up on meals anyway. Summer and I planned a new menu, made our grocery list, and did the shopping. We got back home and started right to work. Everyone was very concerned, though. "Where's Kate?" they kept asking us? So, we gave them a delightful response: Kate got chopped!

"Chopped? What does that mean?" the kids would ask.

"You haven't seen that T.V. show? It means she wasn't good enough. She cuts vegetables too big and, you know, she's English, so we kicked her out of the club."

You should've seen their faces! Every member of this family inquired about the lack of Kate on this cooking day, and every one of their jaws dropped in disbelief when we told them our story. We did, however, admit that we missed her dishwashing skills very much and thought we might reconsider, when my sister-in-law, Vicky, showed up to try her hand. It was perfect timing! We told the family that she was trying out to be Kate's replacement!

All in all, we had a lovely day, created five delicious meals once again, and enjoyed Vicky's company very much. We will, however, allow Kate to return as soon as her schedule allows. We missed you, Kate!!

Stuff it in some bell peppers!

Summer, this one's for you...
The "chicken asiago casserole with rice and fire roasted tomatoes" was very good! Josh said it tasted like pizza - it must have been the combination of the sweet tomato, oregano and cheese! I served it with artichokes and as we were eating, I said, "Maybe next time we should stuff this into the artichokes. That would be good!" But, I think Jason's idea was better: stuff it in some bell peppers. Wouldn't that be both delicious and pretty?