Thanksgiving 2013

Gearing up for our first time hosting family for Thanksgiving AND our first Thanksgiving as homeowners in our new place!

I thought I would share the menu, now that I've got it set, to help inspire anyone still working out their details- PLEASE share your menu and links (to recipes only please, spam will be deleted) so we can all get ideas & prepare for next week's food-fest!
CHEERS!!

                                                   

PRE-GAME
Devil'd Eggs

Turkey-veggie tray (above is the one we made last year)

Sweet potato chips- Costco had the Terra Chips last week so I got those

Crackers- Trader Joe's

Hummus- I'm buyin it at Trader Joe's

April’s jalapeno dip from the amazing Kevin at CLOSET COOKING

Cranberry cheese log- Also Trader Joe's- I buy at least one of these a year- SO GOOD!

Nuts- Trader Joe's assorted

MAIN EVENT

Turkey- I will have to post AFTER we make it, we will be smoking our bird in the smoker this year! First for everything!

Gravy

Garlic Mashed (no-peel) potatoes- I make these often, will add a recipe in my wrap-up, basically when making so much other stuff to cut down on prep, I bake the potatoes whole then scoop the inside away from the peel instead of peeling the potatoes and boiling them.

The BEST Stuffing EVER

Cranberry Relish (I am making my own version, similar to THIS (with apples & orange zest, but no celery)

Sweet Potato Souffle

Corn Bread Pudding

Green beans with bacon & crispy home-fried onions- making this one up as I go so like the Turkey, look for this recipe after Thanksgiving.

AFTERMATH

Pumpkin pie

Cherry pie

Chocolate pudding pie

Cranberry Blueberry Crumble (THIS filling with an oat & brown sugar crumble crust topping)

COFFEE.

                               

Easiest Halloween Party "recipe" ever....

This is easier than it looks, if that's even possible, like, I suppose you could do it in more than the 30 seconds I spent & make it a little more "pretty" ;) - this is 2 bags of organic carrots at .79 per bag- peeled and chopped into sticks and 2 cans of olives (that were 2 for $1) drained & rinsed.
We are talkin $3 total here people. Plus $4 on a big tub of Trader Joe's Hummus Dip (my favorite)- boom. Big, festive pumpkin face party plate for under $10!! HOORAY!

Pumpkin Bread/Muffins

It's pumpkin MANIA~ This is an easy, not-too-awful-for-ya recipe- my favorite kind!

Here's what you'll need:

3 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour ( I used 1 cup whole wheat flour, 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose because that's what I had here)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons + 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
1 15oz can pumpkin
4 eggs
1/2 c veg oil
1/2 c apple sauce
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
(I made 1 standard sized loaf and 12 regular sized muffins- I also use THESE baking pans, sheets etc so no greasing or foil lining required and muy, muy easy clean-up. I can't recommend them enough.)

                               

Preheat your oven to 350.
Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and spice mix into a medium bowl.
Combine the eggs, pumpkin, sugars, apple sauce, oil and flax in a large bowl- mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Slowly mix in dry ingredients, until everything is well mixed together.
I filled one standard size loaf pan about 1/2 to 2/3 full & 12 regular size muffins/muffin tin 1/2 to slightly over 1/2 full.
I put both in at the same time.
Pull the muffins out at 25-30 minutes, cook the loaf 50 minutes- until a butter knife inserted in to he center comes out clean.
Serve w some coffee....mmmmmmmmm.

Fourth of July Pie

I initially made this pie with blueberries and cranberries here , but I am posting an alternative recipe to make it with raspberries instead. Both blueberries and raspberries are very much in season and delicious at the moment, or if you prefer, another way I've made this is in pot-pie tins with blueberries and black cherries HERE.So if you are having a get together this weekend for the 4th, this pie with some vanilla bean ice cream would make a great addition, and in it's own way reps the Red, White & BLUE~ HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

I pretty much use Dorie Greenspan's Good for Almost Anything Pie Crust recipe~ you can find it as posted by Dorie HERE
Blueberry Raspberry Pie
3 cups blueberries (if fresh rinsed & pat dry, or frozen- I used frozen)
2 cups raspberries(I used fresh, rinsed & patted dry)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 T plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a wee pinch nutmeg
1 T butter (cut into small cubes)
Top and bottom pie crust for a 9" pie

Preheat oven to 375 & grease a pie tin (or glass in my case)line with bottom pie crust. In a large bowl mix berries, sugars, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg until berries are coated. Pour berries into bottom crust and sprinkle butter cubes evenly over the top. For the top pie crust, it's your choice- I did mine lattice.
After the top crust is on securely, cover the edges of the pie crust with foil to prevent burning (I totally forgot that step & burned the crap out of mine). Place on a foil covered baking sheet & bake for 45-50 minutes or until pie crust is golden brown.
Then turn off the oven and let pie set in oven for 15 minutes. Then let pie cool on the counter for at least one our before slicing.

Cocktail Latkes

These are a fabulous, and relativity in expensive appetizer for a party or a holiday dinner.
I made these "cocktail-sized" (using about 1 T. of the potato mixture per latke) and following that method this makes about 80-something latkes
You can always make them more traditional-sized and that would probably produce 1/3 as many.

I've made these a few times before and this is my recipe...it is a bit time consuming (when you are making a whole bunch of them!) but totally worth it. These are served with homemade apple sauce & sour cream~



8 medium-large Idaho baking potatoes
1 cup matzo meal
7 eggs
Salt
Onion powder
1 1/4 shredded sweet white onion



Wash & peel the potatoes, then grate (I get out a giant bowl and fill it with ice water, the potatoes sit in that while waiting to be grated)...I used the larger grater blade on my food processor. Immediately after shredding soak the potatoes in cold/ ice cold water, rinsing with clean cold water until the water is clear and shredded potatoes are clean and white.
Press as much of the water out as possible using your hand and some paper towel. Lay a piece of wax paper over a cookie sheet and place several layers of paper towel on that.
Dump the potatoes out onto the cookie sheet and press a few layers of paper towels on top, a few times to remove as much of the water as possible. You can also strain them quickly with a cheese cloth to get additional moisture out.
Shred the onion, squeeze the liquid out as much as possible.
In a small bowl whisk the eggs
In a LARGE bowl combine the shredded potato, the onion, the eggs, the matzo meal, onion powder and salt, mix well.

Heat just enough oil to keep the bottom of the pan covered on medium low heat for about 5 minutes. Drop the potato mixture into the heated oil (I did about a tablespoon at a time), then press to flaten a bit. Fry about 4-5 minutes on each side (until golden) and set on paper towel to cool. Serve warm or room temprature with some applesauce and sour cream.

These can be made up to two weeks ahead and frozen. I buy some good sturdy disposable plastic storage (the "oven ware" is a great size), line it with wax paper and then add a layer of cooled latkes, topped with a layer of wax paper...and so on, like lasagna I cover the top with press-n-seal to keep it really well locked in.

To re-heat...
Pre-heat oven to 350
Cover a baking sheet with foil, spread latkes over the foil, cook for about 7 minutes or until hot!

Holiday Cranberry Crackers

I discovered these last year when my co-worker Nicole brought them to our office, and posted about them HERE. I can not believe how easy they are to make, store (for holiday cookie plates) and EAT!! They are also fabulous for getting creative and topping them with anything you can think of~



2 packages of Salteen crackers (there are 4 packages in one box)
2 sticks of butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
a package of saltine crackers
1 bag mini dark chocolate chips
Almonds, chopped, crushed or slivered
Crazins

Preheat the oven to 400. Get a cookie sheet out, cover with foil and lay crackers out all over the cookie sheet. Take the butter and brown sugar and melt together in a medium pot over medium heat don't stir until it is all melted!!, now wait for the sugar/butter to caramelize (you will notice big bubbles)- once that happens, remove the pan from the heat and use a spoon to drizzle the caramelly goodness all over the crackers. Then sprinkle the crushed nuts on top.
Bake for 5-7 minutes. Take the crackers out and IMMEDIATELY sprinkle the chocolate chips over them, then transfer off the cookie sheet to cool before the chocolate chips re-harden.

The BEST Stuffing EVER.

This is seriously the BEST stuffing I have ever had in my life. I don't know that I'd ever want another type of stuffing ever again, this ROCKS! A HUGE thanks to Colleen Beauregard for sharing this family tradition with our family this year and letting me make (and share) her sensational stuffing recipe~ She noted that she usually quadruples this recipe for her family because it is such a favorite. And added in the email she sent, "I used to make extra casseroles and freeze extra batches to send with the kids back to college. You know, back in the day!!!"
Well, I couldn't get enough of this and although we only made a single batch I wish I still had some in the freezer to heat up and enjoy!!



Italian Sausage Stuffing
(Bake in casserole and in turkey.)

1/2 c butter
1 lb. sausage (out of casing)
1 c chopped celery
1 medium size onion, chopped
1/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 package (10 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.
1/2 c each raisins and grated Parmesan cheese
1 c sliced almonds
3/4 c of dry white wine
1 t each rosemary and oregano * Note from Co: "I always use more...till it looks good"
1 package of stuffing cubes (about 4 cups)

In 4 - 5 quart pan, melt butter. Add sausage, celery, and onion. Cook over med-high heat until sausage is cooked...about 20 minutes. Stir often so sausage is crumbly. Add mushrooms, stir until most of liquid from mushrooms has evaporated...about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in all remaining ingredients.Add the stuffing last...it seems to blend better. Taste and add any additional rosemary or oregano and salt.

Spoon stuffing into a buttered casserole, cover with foil and bake in a 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes.Remove foil for the last ten minutes or so of baking.

You can make the stuffing ahead of time....just don't stuff it in the turkey until you are ready to put the turkey in the oven.

Also you can take a baster full of turkey drippings and drip it on the casserole you plan on cooking on Turkey day. All the extra casseroles/frozen batches never get this extra treatment and still taste marvelous so it is not really necessary.



From the kitchen of~
Co Beau

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

This recipe was suggested by my friend Erin, we were huddled around some baked potatoes at a USC game this past fall and she mentioned twice-baked sweet potatoes using cream cheese, I couldn't resist!! Unfortunately the lighting was pretty whack, but dinner was delicious and I'll be making these again for sure!

For 8 people
8 small sweet potatoes
1 8oz package of cream cheese
4 T butter
cloves
cinnamon
brown sugar
salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350, wash the potatoes. Place the potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for about 55 minutes or until soft all the way through. Let them cool, until they are warm but ok to handle with out burnin' your mits off!
Cut a diamond/ oval shape opening in the top of each potato and spoon the inside into a large bowl- leave enough potato attached to the skin so it stands up and isn't just a floppy peel. In the bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, cloves, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt.
Re-fill each potato with the mixture and bake again at 350 for about 30 minutes or until warm all the way through and golden on the top. You could also add a few marshmallows to the top before baking, but I knew I was going to be eating half a TWO-FER PIE, so wanted to save the calories for desert! HA!

Tuesdays with Dorie~ Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

Nate was excited about this pie all week. Who wouldn't be? I mean it's such a great idea, and sounded so delicious!! Pecan AND pumpkin pie all in one crust is what this weeksTUESDAYS WITH DORIE is all about. The selection for the Thanksgiving Holiday edition of TWD was chosen by Vibi of LA CASSEROLE CARREE. Click over to h blog to see the full recipe~ and be sure to visit the TWD Blogroll for tons of stunning, creative, delicious versions on this pie!
I found that I agree with Dorie's hubby on this one and liked it much better the second day after it'd been in the fridge.



The next time I make this yummy holiday pie, I think I'll use my own pumpkin pie recipe for the bottom. I thought I was going to love the rum in the mix, but thought it was a little overpowering and wanted it to be more traditional pumpkin-pie-y.

I'd had this recipe marked since the day I bought this book and had a great time making it.

Sweet Life Pumpkin Roll

Look at little Artie in the background- I literally had to wrestle with him while taking these pics, he was relentless and wanted that cake!!
I've been making different pumpkin cakes this month, trying to find a recipe I love and discovered I was not super into the powdered sugar intense frosting...don't get me wrong, I am not a frosting hater. I love making MY PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD at this time of year and making spiced cream cheese to spread on it...so I made this version that was a little less sweet and a little more in the spice-filled-cheesecakey-filling neighborhood. I used the "kitchen towel" covered in confectioners sugar method, as most pumpkin roll cake recipes do...This sounds gnarlier than it really is and it's a fun way to make a delicious good lookin' cake! Here is a useful link to a video on the Libby's Pumpkin site that shows the whole process step by step! CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO



Sweet Life Pumpkin Roll Cake
This is my version of a pumpkin roll, the cake is moist and spicy and the filling is more of a cheesecake than a frosting

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice

Filling
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/3 c sugar
1 small/regular container cool whip, thawed
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Pre-heat the oven to 375...grease the bottom of a jelly roll pan,W then line with wax paper, then grease again and dust with flour.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, spices, salt & baking powder.
Prepare a thin kitchen towel on a flat surface by dusting it with powdered sugar. (see video above)
Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or the aforementioned hand mixer or strong arm) whisk the eggs and sugar for several minutes. Add the pumpkin and lemon juice, and mix a few minutes more. Slowly add the dry mixture until it is fully incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 17-20 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.
Invert the cake onto the towel and roll up slowly. Let cool about 15-20 minutes.

Combine all frosting ingredients in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix until well combined and smooth.

When cake is completely cooled, unroll it and frost, then roll it right back up in some plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 or more hours, slice up and enjoy~

Pumpkin Cake...

One of the things that makes our place smell spectacular at this time of year is pumpkin cake.

Here are two ways (my favorite coming soon...) to make either a pumpkin roll cake or some yummy bars that will make it feel officially like fall...even if it is 80 degrees, like it has been here in LA.

I used a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan, greased the pan then lined it with wax paper, then greased the wax paper. greeeeasy. delicious... ~





Pumpkin Mini-Rolls or Bars
this recipe is a bit more moist in the cake dpt, and uses more of a cream cheese frosting for the filling

3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cups pure pumpkin puree
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
a small pinch of nutmeg

Frosting
8oz cream cheese, softened
5 T. Butter
1 cup powdered confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

about 1 cup crushed pecans

If you want to go with a roll- dust a thin kitchen towel with powdered sugar so you can roll it up (more on this in the next pumpkin roll post!)

Preheat oven to 375

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and spices.
Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a hand mixer (or a whisk & bowl if you are a total badass, which I am not) mix the eggs and sugar, until bright and well combined. Add the pumpkin to the eggs and sugar and mix until fully incorporated, slowly sift in the flour/spice mixture. Pour into the jelly roll pan and make sure the batter spreads evenly to each corner, tip it slightly in all directions. Bake for 15-17 minutes....

While the pumpkin cake is baking, whip up the frosting!
Combine all frosting ingredients using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

BARS~

Remove cake from the oven...to make bars let the cake cool a few minutes, then invert the cake onto a sheet of wax paper and let cool completely before frosting.
Cut the cake in half (so if the jelly roll is 10 x 15 you want two 10 x 7.5 inch pieces) frost 1 half of the cake with the frosting, sprinkle with pecans and layer the other half on top. Frost the top, sprinkle with pecans and cut into bars~ (not pictured, got totally scarfed, really FAST!)

MINI-ROLLS~

Remove cake from the oven and let cool 2 minutes, then dust the top with powdered sugar, cover with another piece of wax paper and flip out onto a flat surface removing the pan. Roll the cake up (not too tight) and let cool about 20-30 minutes...unroll and remove the top wax paper. Frost and cut in half, then into thin strips to make "mini-rolls", slice & top with crushed pecans. (this is also a good way to do the roll if you are going for a full sized roll cake and part cracks or breaks!)

Swampy Spinach Dip~ Halloween Party Recipes

This was another Halloween party treat, there is no real slime involved! This is a very basic recipe for a cold spinach dip, with a little green food dye, helping to bring a little veggie love to the fiesta. I served this with bread, carrots, celery and red bell peppers... I would make this again with out the dye (swampyness) because it was a really great dip!! I know this is a few weeks late, but I'm feeling pretty productive getting it up before Thanksgiving! More Halloween fun to come!!

This recipe is courtesy of All Recipes, click the link for the original recipe.

Here's my "Swampy Party" version...
Serves 30-40
1 1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 16 oz. container sour cream
2 1.8 oz) package dry leek soup mix
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
3 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
Fresh cracked black pepper (just a bit to taste)
Green food dye- for swampy spookieness

Mix all of the above ingredients in a large bowl and add the food dye until it is the desired color of swampy green. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours to overnight. Serve with chopped Italian bread & veggies like celery, carrots & bell peppers~

Rosmary & Garlic Roasted Prime Rib- Happy NEW YEAR!

HOORAY FOR MEAT!! I know, not everyone loves it, but I sure do!! I have never made a prime rib before but we were talking about eating it a few days ago and we are trying not to go out to big fancy dinners right now (so I figured I'd just bring a big fancy dinner to us!)
As you may know, oven is a total jerk. We've had our disagreements and I was a little unsure of how I was going to roast a 7.5 lb prime rib and get it to come out perfectly medium-rare, I had visions of it being charcoal on the out side and raw inside, or just way overdone all together, but I figured I would never know, and never be able to figure out if I could beat the oven if I didn't give it a try. So off to the market I went. I did a bit of research on the net before I got going, but once I was at the store, just threw it to the wind and asked the butcher for "Enough Prime Rib for 4 people, trimmed so it is ready to cook" which is how I suggest handling big-meat purchases, leave it to the pros!

So, home I went with my big hunk of meat- and much to Leela's delight I unwrapped it so I could check it out. Much to her dismay- it stayed up on the counter.
I took out my roasting pan and lined it with foil BIG TIME. I am not a scrubber, so the less mess the better.



Then I mixed up a rub that sounded like it would make for a good roasted prime rib. Here is what I did...



Rosemary & Garlic Roasted Prime Rib
Serves 4 with 2 big slabs leftover :)
By Me, Beth G.
You NEED a meat thermometer for this recipe~



7.5 lb prime rib, trimmed, tied and with the rib bones!
4 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
4 cloves chopped/ crushed garlic
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/8 cup black pepper
2 T olive oil

Place Prime Rib fatty side up, rib bones down in a foil lined roasting pan. Combine rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper & olive oil in a bowl and mix well. Rub the mixture all over the exterior of the prime rib. Cover and refrigerate for 3-24 hours (I did 5 hours this time around).
When you are ready to roast, take the prime rib out of the fridge and un cover it.
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees, and when oven is pre-heated, cook the roast at about 20 minutes per pound depending on desired done-ness.(I had to cover mine with foil so my oven didn't turn it into a briquette for the long stretch of cooking at 325. For us a prime rib should be medium rare, so that is how I prepared it. check http://tinyurl.com/2xlc7j HERE for a table of meat temperatures. When mine got to be about 125, I removed it from the oven and let it sit in the pan for 5-7 minutes, then removed it to a platter where it set for about 15 minutes before we cut it to serve.
Nate did the carving, using a very sharp Santoku knife. First he cut off the string, then made slices- we saved the bones so I can make some beef stew this weekend. It was delicious, serve with horseradish, of course.

Holiday Oreo Truffles

This was a fun twist on a delicious classic. Nate and I both agree we like the original Oreo Truffles best CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE, but I wanted to make these a bit pep-o-minty for our holiday party. I thought about just adding some peppermint extract to the mix, but then I took a trip to Trader Joes for our weekly groceries. They have their own version of the Oreo cookie- the "Joe Joe's" which can most definitely be used to make Oreo Truffles instead of Oreo Oreo's. Well, good ole TJ's had their HOLIDAY PEPPERMINT JOE'JOES right there by the register in a candy-striped box and I was so excited! This helped keep it super simple and I really just followed the original recipe- but I am pretty sure if you added 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract to original oreos it would yield about the same result.



When made this way (rolling smaller balls) this makes about 60-70 truffles

1 1lb bag of Peppermint Joe Joe's Cookies
1 8oz package of Cream Cheese (softened)
1 8oz package of Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate
Wax paper, food processor, large stockpot & small sauce pot

Crush the cookies in the food processor or blender.
In a large bowl combine soften cream cheese and cookie crumbs & refrigerate the mix for 45 minutes to make the ball rolling easier. To melt the chocolate fill the large pot with water (bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer) and put the chocolate in a small pot, hold the small pot over the large simmering water pot so that about a 1/2 inch to an inch of the bottom of the small pot is in the boiling water- melting the chocolate. Roll Oreo mix into 1/2 inch balls Dip in melted chocolate & place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.I sprinkled red deco sugar on all of them (1/2 of them I melted some white chocolate and drizzled it over the top, then added the sugar). Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Cocktail Latkes, photoless but delicious...

I can NOT believe I forgot to snap a picture of my yummy cocktail latkes!! OYE! Oh well, it happens, I got a bit too wrapped up in prepping for the par-tay. I have always LOVED potato latkes, one of my favorite foods of the holiday season, but have never attempted to make them on my own. I found THIS RECIPE on ALL RECIPES and did a little doctoring after reading the feedback from others that had tried it.

Click the link above for the original recipe and suggestions. Below is the modified version that I made for our Holiday Party 2007.

6 C of cleaned, peeled, shredded potatoes (using grater on food processor)
1/2 C shredded sweet white onion (using grater on food processor
2 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 C T of Matzo Meal
4 eggs
1 roll of paper towel
Cheesecloth
Oil for frying

Clean peel and shred the potatoes- line a plate with 6-7 pieces of paper towel and pour potatoes onto plate- take another 6-7 paper towels and press down on potatoes squeezing out liquid, change to fresh paper towels and do this about 3 times- then layer about 10 paper towels on a cookie sheet and spread potatoes out across the sheet, let them sit out for about an hour to an hour and a half.
Take potatoes and wrap them up in a cheesecloth & SQUEEEEEEZE out as much of the remaining liquid as possible.
In a large bowl combine VERY WELL DRAINED potaoes, onion, egg, bread crumbs, salt & pepper and Matzo Meal. Stir until all ingredients are well combined.
Because I was making these for 20-30 people at a cocktail party I wanted to make them itsy bitsy (like silver dollar sized) vs. traditional normal-sized latkes. Heat enough oil in a large skillet to create a layer about 1/4 an inch on the bottom of the pan. Slowly heat the oil on low temperature for about 10 minutes (If you have a deep fryer, just bust them out in that thing!) When the oil is hot add the potato mix in 1 T sized lumps- pressing them flat down to 1/2-1/3 inch thickness. Cook each side about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown- flipping once- move to a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and layers of paper towel.
I made these a day ahead and put them in the fridge overnight- then reheated them at 325for about 5-7 minutes. Serve with a little dab of applesauce and sour cream on each one!

Holiday Sweater Party

It's that time of year, the Holidays are upon us and it's a perfect time to celebrate everything! I love throwing a cocktail party at this time of year because everyone is in such a festive mood. Our theme this year was to celebrate classic Holiday Sweaters, or as it always will be, anything that is EXTREME and super festive works too (we had a sexy elf which is always nice!)



Our Menu was....

The items I made...
Goat Cheese Tartlettes with Caramalized Onions & Fig
Spicy Cranberry Cocktail Meatballs
Cocktail-sized Potato Latkes
Peppermint Oreo Truffels
Caramel Rice Krispy Treat Pops

Other...
Cheese plate with herbed goat cheese, Tillamook Sharp cheddar, Garlic Jack cheese & fresh mozzerella (Nate's favorite)
Garlic Stuffed green olives, 3 olive tapenade, dry almonds
Veggie plate with some dip :)

On the Beverage front;
Nate made his World Famous Black Out Cider*

and we did the usual bar-stuff; beer (Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale), Crown, Skyy, Jack Daniles, there was Patrone (thanks Brian) and some Bombay, mostly being mixed with club soda and limes. I did a Martini party one year but those glasses are so spilly & messy, we stick with cider parties now...



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

HOW DARE YULE! DARING BAKERS YULE LOG

This might get a record for my longest post ever, so bear with me here- it will also be FULLA photos, documenting this momentous occasion.
Where do I even start?!? This post marks SO MANY FIRSTS! First of all it is my FIRST CHALLENGE AS A DARING BAKER! If you don't know about The Daring Bakers, visit the DARING BAKERS BLOGROLL HERE to learn all about and see all the blogs in this FABULOUS GROUP!!
In addition to this being my FIRST challenge as a Daring Baker,(and let me just say, CHALLENGE was the right word.) it is also the first time that I have ROLLED anything! I have never made a pumpkin roll, jelly roll or until now...a YULE LOG also known as a Buche de Noel. On top of all of these firsts there are a few more bonus firsts- I had never made Butter cream Frosting, nor had I ever made marzipan!

I was really excited to see the December challenge was a Buche de Noel because I would get the opportunity to try SO many things I have never done before! I want to thank Lis of La Mia Cucina & Ivonne of Creampuffs in Veince



I started with the buttercream~ It needed to be ready when the cake came out of the oven and just in case my first attempt didn't work out I decided to do that first. One of the best thing I hope to hone in completing these monthly challenges is becoming a more PATIENT person in the kitchen. I did well at heating my egg/sugar whisking project, but didn't let it cool quite enough before adding the butter and the end result was very liquid-y. So I jumped online and found the good advice to use an ice bath (big bowl of ice, set frosting-filled mixer bowl on top of the ice.) I whisked it for about 5 minutes and then it started to separate and look not right- so I pulled it off the ice and whisked it really fast and somehow I got lucky and frosting magically appeared!! The texture was pretty good and I was VERY excited about that!!



Next came the Genoise cake, I opted to go chocolate on that because I love chocolate cake and thought it would be yummy with the espresso buttercream...this time I was MUCH more patient with the whole egg heating process, and the cake mix mixed up very beautifully!!



I spread the batter out on the jelly roll pan...and, here I will have to digress for a moment to 'splain a bit about my oven. It is CRAZY, I've had the gas company look at it, the dial never matches the ACTUAL internal temp and it has a tendency no matter how low the heat is to get SUPER hot and burn the crap out of what ever I am cooking in a VERY short time- so I've got to keep an eye on it... Here is where I went a bit astray with this lil'recipe. I kept testing it with toothpicks, watching the temp and touching it for spring-y-ness, I pulled it out at about 7-8 minutes and it was ALMOST done, in retrospect I would not have put it back in for 1-2 more minutes, I would have just LET IT COOL and I think it would have rocked. What I did instead was put it back in for 1-2 minutes and I think it got a bit dry (ie-cracky when rolling!).... Anyhow, here comes that reminder to LEARN PATIENCE again; The next time I make this I will wait for the cake to COOL ALL THE WAY before flipping it onto fresh parchment...it was sill a weeeee bit warm when I went for it and the cake stuck to the new layer of parchment which made it a TRICKY (and dry/cracky) mutha to roll!!

The good news is it DID roll- kept together with the buttercream & hazelnuts I added to the interior layer of frosting.



So into the fridge it went to chill out for about an hour, I put my frostin in there too to chill out so it didn't get melty...Time passed and I pulled the log and frosting out of the fridge, right away I knew the buttercream was jacked up! It started to separate, becoming curdled and liquidy and pretty freaking gross looking.
I was super bummed, but decided to re-attempt the next day and frost my lil'log.

Then all hades truly broke loose, the next night I came home from work with more butter ready to have a re-match with the frosting, and my sink was filled with black sludge. I could not believe it. As indicated above by the reference to my fabulous oven, the building management here is not striving to impress anyone by any means. My hubby and I bailed the sludge with a bucket until 1am, all day Tuesday we waited for the plumber they promised that never showed and at 6pm Tuesday night when our kitchen completely flooded, we called our own plumber and decided The Man can shove it, we'll deduct the $400 from rent and they'll just have to deal with it- of course there is more fun to it than that, BUT the good news is by Wednesday (and not a moment too soon) it was time for my re-match with the espresso butter-cream. With some fabulous advice from Ivonne, I used MUCH more patience and whipped the hot egg whites and sugar for over 7 minutes with the electric mixer and this time the consistency was beautiful ALL THE WAY! I had thawed my log and when the buttercream was ready I frosted it up. I used a fork to "bark" it and sprinkled it with some cinnamon and powdered sugar to give it a snowy look.





Then it was on to the Marzipan. This went pretty smooth from the get-go, even though I dumped the WHOLE 2 CUPS of powdered sugar into the mixer with the almond paste. I kneaded well, and made up some mushrooms!



I feel so fabulous that I have completed my FIRST DARING BAKERS CHALLENGE (as well as my first roll, first buttercream (and second butter cream), first marzipan and first YULE LOG, I think I will make the Yule Log an annual tradition from now on to commemorate this fabulous challenge and my favorite holiday!!

Recipes~


Chocolate Genoise:

3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
3/4 cup of sugar
1/3 cup cake flour - spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off (also known as cake & pastry flour)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cocoa

one (1) 10 x 15 inch jelly-roll pan that has been buttered and lined with parchment paper and then buttered again

1.Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

2.Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat so the water is simmering.

3.Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar together in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Place over the pan of simmering water and whisk gently until the mixture is just lukewarm, about 100 degrees if you have a thermometer (or test with your finger - it should be warm to the touch).

4.Attach the bowl to the mixer and, with the whisk attachment, whip on medium-high speed until the egg mixture is cooled (touch the outside of the bowl to tell) and tripled in volume. The egg foam will be thick and will form a slowly dissolving ribbon falling back onto the bowl of whipped eggs when the whisk is lifted.

5.While the eggs are whipping, stir together the flour and cornstarch.

6.Sift one-third of the flour mixture over the beaten eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour mixture, making sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl on every pass through the batter to prevent the flour mixture from accumulating there and making lumps. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture and finally with the remainder.

7.Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

8.Bake the genoise for about 10 to 12 minutes. Make sure the cake doesn’t overbake and become too dry or it will not roll properly.

9.While the cake is baking, begin making the buttercream.

10.Once the cake is done (a tester will come out clean and if you press the cake lightly it will spring back), remove it from the oven and let it cool on a rack.

Coffee Buttercream:




4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
24 tablespoons (3 sticks or 1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 tablespoons rum or brandy

1.Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl over simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are hot.

2.Attach the bowl to the mixer and whip with the whisk on medium speed until cooled. (about 7-8 minutes) Switch to the paddle and beat in the softened butter and continue beating until the buttercream is smooth. Dissolve the instant coffee in the liquor and beat into the buttercream.

I also chopped 1 cup of hazelnuts in my food processor and spread those over the buttercream in the center of the cake

Marzipan Mushrooms:



8 ounces almond paste
2 cups icing sugar
3 to 5 tablespoons light corn syrup
Cocoa powder

1.To make the marzipan combine the almond paste and 1 cup of the icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on low speed until sugar is almost absorbed.

2.Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and mix until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

3.Add half the corn syrup, then continue mixing until a bit of the marzipan holds together when squeezed, adding additional corn syrup a little at a time, as necessary: the marzipan in the bowl will still appear crumbly.

4.Transfer the marzipan to a work surface and knead until smooth.

5.Roll one-third of the marzipan into a 6 inches long cylinder and cut into 1-inch lengths.

6.Roll half the lengths into balls. Press the remaining cylindrical lengths (stems) into the balls (caps) to make mushrooms.

7.Smudge with cocoa powder.

Assembling the Yule Log:

1.Run a sharp knife around the edges of the genoise to loosen it from the pan.

2.Turn the genoise layer over (unmolding it from the sheet pan onto a flat surface) and peel away the paper.

3.Carefully invert your genoise onto a fresh piece of parchment paper.

4.Spread with half the coffee buttercream (or whatever filling you’re using). I sprinkled the hazelnuts here

5.Use the parchment paper to help you roll the cake into a tight cylinder.

6.Transfer back to the baking sheet and refrigerate for several hours.

7.Unwrap the cake. Trim the ends on the diagonal, starting the cuts about 2 inches away from each end.

8.Position the larger cut piece on each log about 2/3 across the top.

9.Cover the log with the reserved buttercream, making sure to curve around the protruding stump.

10.Streak the buttercream with a fork or decorating comb to resemble bark.

11.Transfer the log to a platter and decorate with your mushrooms and whatever other decorations you’ve chosen.