No Toast Required

Hello Sweets,


Happy Friday y'all!!  I hope you have some quality kitchen time scheduled for this weekend, I think I'm going to take a break from packing and do some creating myself.  I woke up today so unbelievably stiff this morning thanks to my tumble down the stairs yesterday, which has made doing anything difficult.  However, nothing was going to keep me from giving y'all something juicy to read ;)  And no I'm not taking about the latest gossip, but I am talking about berries.

Keeping with my Thanksgiving throw back, I have the final recipe that I used back in November!  This particular Thanksgiving accompaniment is something I'm not a huge fan of, but that being said the homemade version I whipped up tasted pretty good on it's own lol.  I have to try everything I make in order to adequately write a good post, well that and I ask the person I make it for.  Today's post contains cranberries, so you can only guess what I used them for.  If you guessed cranberry jelly then you'd be correct!  Nathans dad loves it with his turkey, so I asked him if I could make it for him.  He agreed on the condition that I didn't vary too far from the flavor his lovely canned stuff tasted like >_<  Of course I took that as I could make it flavorful but don't add too much extra spice to it, lets be honest most pre packaged stuff doesn't have much flavor period.  Since I haven't eaten too much cranberry jelly in my life (okay, any lol), I had to do some research to see what types of spices others had used.  Thankfully I had a general understanding on how to make the jelly itself from when I made my pie fillings, it's a little different but not overly.

Cranberry Jelly

Ingredients

2 1/4C cranberries

1 1/2C sugar

2/3C apple cider

1/2 lemon, juice only

dash of cinnamon

cinnamon was a last minute addition

Directions:

1)  Place everything, except cinnamon, in a medium sauce pan.

 

2)  Over medium-high heat, cook until cranberries burst.

 

3)  Stir regularly, adding a splash of water if the mixture becomes too thick.

 

4)  Once finished, place in a sieve and push with a rubber spatula.  Continuing until only seeds and skins are left.  Add the cinnamon, stirring to incorporate fully.  Chill at least 12 hours to set.

completely solidified, even has markings from the Ziploc container

  

Nathans dad really liked it, he said it tasted better than the canned stuff.  He even like the subtle cinnamon flavor I added, and now I hope he'll let me do it every year :)  This, just like the pumpkin pie, was something I had never tried before.  I don't think it's beginners luck, but I do think because I am becoming more confident in my kitchen skills it is transferring over to my creations.  Not much makes me smile more than being able to make something for those I care most about :)

Since this is a shorter post I wanted to share some updated photos of my new place, now that everything is installed.

 

 

 

I  am so excited, it's so close that I can barely contain my excitement!!!  I know it's been official for a while, but now that everything is installed and working it actually feels real :D  I get my key on Tuesday and then I start the move, so if you don't hear from me daily y'all will know why.  I am going to do my best to post, but if I haven't done any baking or cooking you may just get a quick little blurb :)  Until next time...

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Not Your Average Country Pumpkin!

Hello Sweets,

Guess what this smarty pants did this morning, I fell down the dang stairs :(  Yup queen of balance herself fell from the very top all the way to the bottom, all with a glass in my hand.  Ironically the glass made it down unscathed, me on the other hand, I'm bruised all over my left side.  Some are even raised.  Ah well what am I going to do right?  Thankfully I was already scheduled to see my doctor this afternoon, but I hadn't done any serious damage to myself besides my ego :p  Well that, and my toush hurts....a lot lol.

Yesterday I promised a trip back to the American Thanksgiving, with a sweet little treat to make the whole thing worth while!  There are staples to every Thanksgiving meal, turkey and mashed potatoes are obviously number one and two.  But that's where all roads take different turns, every family has their own special recipes, whether it's with the main meal or with dessert.  However there is always one dessert that is almost always present at any Thanksgiving meal, pumpkin pie!  Most people don't bake their own but instead buy it, but we all know that is not my style.  I personally don't particularly care for pumpkin pie so I made a coconut meringue pie for Nathan and I (and a few other family members thoroughly enjoyed it lol), but Nathan's mother and Granny both like pumpkin pie so I was going to make it for them.  In true Canuckette form I couldn't just make a traditional pumpkin pie, I had to jazz it up and make it extra special.  Trust me when I say this, it is worth the work and it tastes even better then your regular old pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Pie Spectacular

Ingredients

(filling)

 2C gingersnaps, crushed

1C pecans, chopped

1/2C powdered sugar

1/4C butter, melted

1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2C sour cream

1tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp vanilla

1/4tsp ginger

7 thin ginger cookies, halved

(streusel)

 1/2C light brown sugar

1/2C flour

1/4C butter, firm

1/4C pecans, chopped

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Fit pie crust into a 9" deep dish plate; fold edges under and crimp.

2)  Stir together; crushed ginger snaps, pecans, powdered sugar, and butter.

 

 

3)  Press into bottom of pie crust and 1/2" up the sides.  Bake for 10 minutes, cool completely on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

4)  Stir together; pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, sour cream, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla until well blended.

  

 

5)  Pour into prepared pie crust.  Place on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet, baking for 30 minutes.

 

6)  Mix the streusel ingredients together, and sprinkle edges of the crust.

 

I had a little extra pie dough, so I created a cute little pumpkin :)

  

7)  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until set.  Shield edges with tin foil for the last 25-30 minutes if necessary.

 

 

8)  Insert ginger cookies around edges of crust.  Cool completely on wire rack for one hour. (I chose not to add the extra cookies, it was too pretty to add anything else).

Look at those lovely layers!

Perfectly set!! Love it when it all works out

  

This was my first and only attempt I've made at a pumpkin pie, and I am so glad that it turned out perfectly!  The layer of sweetened pecans and ginger snaps give the pie a whole new dimension, dare I say even a more grown up twist to the traditional Thanksgiving dessert :)

My lovely Thanksgiving day duo

  

In addition to these two lovely sweets, I also was in charge of the gravy, potatoes, and another dinner accompaniment.  Yes I know I'm being very secretive about what it is, but that's only because I haven't blogged about it yet and I don't want to spoil it for y'all!  Y'all know that's how I do this lol, but only because I love y'all so much.

Since I have about one more week left before I have to move to my new place *happy dance*, I really need to finish up my packing.  I don't have much left to do, but I'd rather finish everything I am not using before, so that way I am pretty much done and nothing is left but my daily items.  Ah the joys of moving, worse part is the packing!  Remember to check back tomorrow for another Thanksgiving addition :)  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Thankful

Hello Sweets,

So I haven't been baking too much lately :(   But that's because I baked a whole bunch only a few days ago lol, and I've currently got something in the oven right now.   I am currently making my great grandma's Christmas cake, and I'm very excited because both loaves are coming home with me :).  Nathan has never had/heard of it so he has agreed to try it, and I'm confident he will like it too!

I realized although I had written a thanksgiving post, I hadn't said what I'm thankful for.  The list isn't very long but none the less it important ;)  I'm thankful for my loving and supportive family, the natural ability to create all things in the kitchen that god has graced me with, the life I've lived thus far.  Most importantly I'm thankful for the wonderful relationship Nathan and I have, full of love, laughs, support, and the friendship that is the foundation of it all. 

I am spending a few days at my grandparents house so I may or may not create something lol.  Oh who am I kidding?  Y'all know I'll be making something, whether it's sweet or savory.  But for tonight I'm going to kick my feet up and wait for this delicious Christmas cake to done ;)  How come when you want to eat something so bad it takes longer to cook?  Until next time.....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Why Did the Turkey Cross the Road Eh?

Hello Sweets,

Happy Thanksgiving!! To all the Canadians that is lol, and yes I know the Mayflower landed in November but since it gets cold so early here we celebrate the harvest.  With my family we do the dinner on the Sunday because lets face it no one wants to spend Monday doing the clean up lol.  As my regular readers know, sleep for me never comes easy, but last night I was so "turkey tired", I crashed early and got at least 8 hours of solid sleep!!  I was trying to talk to Nathan last night but I kept yawning and he told me to go to sleep because he had a good feeling about my likelihood for achieving it.  As much as I hate to admit when he's right, he was dead on this time lol.

So yesterday we all traveled out to my mothers house, she lives about 45 minutes from where we are.  Since we were going to her house, she was doing most of the cooking.  My responsibility was desserts (of course), and since I had made cupcakes for a birthday I had some left over.  What's more thanksgiving festive than Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes?  However, my mom really wanted to try the Chocolate Mud Pie I had made Nathan for our anniversary.  I made some small changes to the recipe though, instead of using boxed chocolate pudding and cool whip I made everything from scratch.  I used the chocolate pudding recipe from earlier this month, then I made some whipped cream from scratch.  Let me give you the recipe for the whipped cream and then I'll share some pictures from our family fun day!

Whipped Cream

Ingredients

1C heavy cream

1tsp vanilla

1Tbs confectioner's sugar

 

**DO NOT use a light cream as it will take forever to whip**

Directions:
1)  In a large cold bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks just begin to form.

 

  
 2)  Beat in vanilla and sugar until stiff peaks form.

 

3)  Make sure to not over beat cream or it will become lumpy and butter like.

 

Everything I read online about subbing real whipped cream for cool whip said it would be too heavy and it may change the structure.  However I did not seem to have that problem, I actually felt that it was the same consistency as cool whip.  When I subbed all the homemade ingredients into the recipe I actually felt the structure was better than it was with all fake stuff.

 

It was so full I had to wait to put the whipped cream on at my moms or it would have gotten squished!

  

see how the layers are nice and strong :)

I was very proud that it turned out, even better, than the original!!  Needless to say I won't be making it the old way ever again :)  Now let's see some thanksgiving pictures!!

 

pre-dinner play time!

 

 

 

 

 

He decided to sit at the cool kids table ;)

 

mmm my yummy dinner, and there are even more brussels sprouts under the bread!

now you see it...

now you don't!!

 

this is sugar pie, never heard/had it before but it is soooo good :D

 

 

a little after dinner transformer play!

Needless to say it was a wonderful day full of family, fun, and laughs.  Of course everyone left with full bellies and a package of leftovers (my favorite part!), I was so full I actually dozed off a little with Miguel on the drive home.  It was sort of cute, I helped him get comfy on his doggy pillow which made him lean to my side.  Then when I fell asleep I was leaned up against his car seat, so it looks like we were resting on each other :D  I love my little monkey!

I'm thinking tomorrow I will do a small post on what I do with leftovers, other than the obvious of reheating it as is lol.  But I do have a couple of ideas in the works, and my mother gave me some old school cookbooks so you know I'll be baking something out of there too!  Until next time....

Stay sweet,



Jennifer xoxoxo