Pumpkin Pies in a Jar

I am sure you have seen the cute little pies in jars around. I think they are just adorable and I decided way back over the summer I wanted to adapt one of my pumpkin pie recipes to use in jars for Turkey Day. Over the last month or so we have tried a couple of variations and this was our favorite (and will be on the table on the holiday)

I have made the original recipe a few times with whipped cream instead of Cool Whip but found we like the flavor and the texture better with the Cool whip.

One of my favorite things about the pies in jars is they seem to take up so little room in the fridge. Face it on Thanksgiving the average fridge is way too full and a big pie takes up a lot of valuable real estate in there. The jars can be stacked up and spread to small free spaces to they are much easier to work into the already full fridge.

I like to make these the day before I am going to serve them so they are nice and cold and set up. If you don't have time the day before you will need to get them done early in the day so they have some time before you want to eat them.

I used the 4 oz quilted jelly jars made by Ball for my pies. It is much easier in the straight sided jelly jars than if you got ones that are curved. I like the small size too, just right after the huge holiday meal.

Pumpkin Pies in a Jar

Crust

1 cup Graham Cracker crumbs

2 Tablespoons sugar

¼ cup melted butter

Filling

2 cups cold milk

1 (3.5 oz) package instant vanilla pudding

1 teaspoon pumkin pie spice

1 small can pumpkin

1 (8 oz) tub cool Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place 12 (4 oz) jelly jars on a rimmed baking sheet.

Combine the cracker crumbs and sugar then add the melted butter. Divide this mixture evenly between the jelly jars and press down firmly to make a nice flat crust. I used the bottom of a narrow juice glass.

Bake the crusts for about 5 to 8 minutes until lightly browned. Set these aside to cool completely.

When the crusts are cool you can begin making the filling.

Combine the milk, pudding mix and pumpkin pie spice in a mixing bowl. Stir until thickened and smooth (about 2 minutes) Stir in the can of pumpkin.

Measure out 1 ½ cups of this filling reserve the remaining fillign for the next step. Divide the 1 ½ cups of filling among the jelly jars.

Add 1 ½ cups of Cool Whip to the reserved pudding mixture and add this as your next layer in the jelly jars trying to divide it as evenly as possible.

Put the lid/rings on the jars and place them in fridge for at least 2 hours.

At serving time remove lids/rings and top each serving with a dollop of the remaining Cool Whip. 

 

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Bacon

I have to admit this recipe is a last minute change in my menu this year. I do always serve sweet potatoes but mine normal recipes feature orange juice and maple syrup. I was looking for a recipe for something totally off topic for the holiday in my cookbook collection and ran into this recipe. The flavor profile intrigued me so I decided to give it a last minute “audition” as a replacement player for Thanksgiving dinner. These are incredible! We loved them, in fact my 14 year old son ate almost half the recipe by himself, he kept going back for more. I know these are going to be a regular on our table long after the holiday is gone. I think they will pair wonderfully with almost any roasted meat especially poultry or pork.

Just a hint, for the big dinner next week I will be making these the day before and heating them back up. I tend to do most of my cooking for big dinners the day before, I don't want to be stuck in the kitchen while my guests are all in the living room having a good time. I'll try to get my game plan typed up and post it here on Friday so you can see what I mean. Hopefully you will get some hints you can use to make your day easier too.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Bacon

3 pounds dark sweet potatoes (about 4 large ones)

8 slices of bacon, cut up

1 large (or 2 medium) onions, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

¼ cup half & half

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Thyme sprig to garnish if desired

Begin poking some holes in the sweet potatoes and baking them on a rimmed baking sheet at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (or until tender)

Allow to cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Remove the bacon from skillet to a paper towel lined plate. Reserve enough of the bacon fat in the pan to cook the onions (about a 1 Tablespoon)

Cook onions in the bacon fat in skillet along with the ground cumin. Cook until the onions are tender.

Peel the sweet potatoes and mash them until smooth. Add the bacon, cooked onions (with cumin) and thyme leaves. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve now or place in a casserole dish and refrigerate up to 24 hours. To heat place in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until heated through.

Garnish with some sprigs of fresh thyme if desired. 

 

Basic Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

This is my all time favorite recipe for dinner rolls year round. It's the recipe I pull out almost everytime I need to make some basic rolls. Not only are they a very tasty dinner roll but the bread machine does most of the work for you.

You can make these ahead; shape the dough as directed, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for anywhere from 4 to 48 hours. Take them out of the fridge, remove the plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 2 hours then bake as directed.

If you want rolls that a are crispy all around put them on a rimmed baking sheet to rise and bake as directed.

If you want rolls that are soft on the sides use a 13”x9” baking dish.

I've also used a muffin tin to make rolls that were more muffin shaped.

You can brush the tops before you bake with beaten egg for a chewier, brown crust (also this will allow you to sprinkle them with sesame seeds) or with milk if desired. Or do like I do and brush them with melted butter after they bake for a wonderful buttery crust. (wrap them in a damp towel briefly too for a softer crust)

You can make these the day before and simply re-heat them in the oven wrapped in foil too. Like I said they are really versatile.

showing 3 variations on shape

Basic Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

1 cup warm water

2 Tablespoons room temperature butter

1 egg

3 ¼ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon yeast

Measure all the ingredients into your bread machine in the order specified in your owner's manual. If you don't have the manual anymore the order I listed them in is the order my machine calls for.

Use the dough cycle on your machine to form the dough.

At the end of the dough setting remove the dough from the machine to a floured surface. Cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Grease your pan (see above)

divide the dough into 15 equal sized pieces, shape each piece into a ball. Place in prepared pan. Cover and rise in a warm (draft free) place for 30 to 40 minutes or until double in size.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Brush the tops with melted butter if desired.

Serve warm or cool on a wire rack.

Apple Juice Brined Turkey

Well, Turkey Day is almost here do you have your menu all figured out yet? Do you go with a very traditional menu or do you modernize those traditional flavors a bit?

At our house we start “auditioning” recipes for the big day sometime in mid October. I actually start looking for recipes and collecting ideas in about January but things start to come together about a month or so before the holiday. This auditioning of the recipes is a long standing tradition and we take it very seriously. If you happen to be at our house for dinner on one of the nights we are doing this you will be expected to join in the conversation. We discuss at length the merits and downfalls of each dish over dinner. We compare it to other recipes in the same category that we may have tried recently and with those recipes we have served other years. We discuss if the recipe will “play well” with the rest of the meal. It really is a fun tradition, you should try it at your house.

This year I had run into this different brine recipe for the turkey, I always brine my turkey (actually any poultry I am going to roast/ grill whole) and I have shared my traditional recipe on this blog in the past (check it out here  just double the ingredients for a turkey) This year I wanted to try something a bit different, a bit more special. I was looking through my cookbook collection and found this recipe well, I found the starting point for this recipe since I can never leave any recipe alone. I did make some changes from the original. Last week we gave it a try with a turkey breast and it was amazing! The only really problem I found was that the skin got very dark very quickly. I think because of the higher sugar content of the brine from the one I use normally. It still tasted fantastic not burnt at all it was just dark in color. The flavor the brine gave the meat was so fantastic definitely worthy of a place on the holiday menu this year.

I also now have my gravy for Thanksgiving Day in the freezer waiting for me. This is important since we almost always cook our turkey on Thanksgiving on the grill. We love the flavor that the charcoal grill gives the meat but it doesn't work very well for gravy because the drippings always get ashes in them. For this reason I always make my gravy up a week or two before the holiday and freeze it. I then defrost it the day before and put it in my small (1 quart) slow cooker to re-heat for dinner. So easy and one less thing to have to think about when company arrives.

You will need a large container to hold your turkey and the brine, I use my cooler. I add plenty of ice and let it sit in my kitchen which tends to be a pretty cold room. If you have a garage that would also be a good place to let your turkey do its time in the brine.

Remember to allow plenty of time for the turkey to defrost if you are buying a frozen one. I find that since I keep my fridge a bit colder than most people do I need to allow an extra day or two from what most of the websites say. Also you will need to have your turkey thawed out the day before you are going to cook it since it will need to sit in the brine for a good 18 hours.

For the apple juice in this recipe you don't need anything fancy just make sure it is actually apple juice and not a “juice cocktail” with a lot of added sugar. You do need a 100% juice for this. I am going to probably use the correct amount of frozen concentrate with water for mine depending on what is the better value. I am assuming you are oven roasting your turkey so I am including the recipe for the fantastic gravy.

Apple Juice Brined Turkey

Brine and turkey

1 gallon of apple juice (no sugar added)

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup kosher salt

½ cup chopped fresh (or 2 Tablespoons dry) sage

½ cup fresh thyme leaves (or 2 tablespoons dry)

2 Tablespoons whole peppercorns

1 Turkey, thawed if purchased frozen (rinsed, neck and giblet package removed)

water and ice as necessary to cover turkey

1 onion (cut in quarters)

1 lemon (cut in quarters)

a few springs of fresh thyme

a few sprigs of sage

melted butter or oil to coat turkey

Gravy and basting sauce

½ cup butter

1 Tablespoon fresh sage

5 cloves garlic (minced or grated)

¼ cup all purpose flour

2 cups chicken or turkey broth

salt and pepper to taste

Reserve 1 cup of the apple juice to use in the basting mixture (be sure to refrigerate)

In a large container combine the rest of the apple juice, the brown sugar, kosher salt, ½ cup fresh sage (or 2 Tablespoon dry) ½ cup fresh thyme (or 2 Tablespoon dry) and the whole peppercorns. Stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add the turkey to the brine mixture and add enough water to completely cover the turkey. If you are brining in a cooler add ice with the water.

Allow to brine for about 18 hours.

Remove turkey from brine 1 hour before time to begin cooking. Rinse turkey to remove excess brine and allow the skin to dry. Place quartered onion, lemon and sprigs of fresh herbs in cavity of turkey.

Tuck wing tips under back of turkey and tie legs together. Coat skin well with melted butter or oil.

Roast at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for time needed for the size of your turkey. (there are many charts online and in cookbooks to find the correct time)

Combine the reserved apple juice with the remaining ½ cup butter and garlic in a small saucepan. About an hour before the turkey is expected to be done begin basting the skin with this mixture about every 15 minutes, using all the mixture.

Check the temperature of the turkey in the thigh to be sure it is cooked. Don't rely on the pop up timer, I have rarely had them give me an accurate indication of doneness.

When your turkey is done remove from oven allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile pour the drippings into a measuring cup. Skim off and reserve the fat.

In a medium saucepan combine ¼ cup of the fat from the drippings with the flour to form a roux. Add the liquid from the drippings along with the 2 cups of broth stirring to make a gravy. After the gravy comes to a boil taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Meat and Pasta Casserole

This has always been a dish that lands on our dinner table on a regular basis. When my oldest son was little he absolutely loved this so that was one reason (we all actually have loved this one from the first time I made it) Another reason I have always made it a lot is that it is just so versatile, it really is what you want it to be each time. Feel like Mexican food this casserole can give you that. What if you want Italian, no problem, this casserole will go there too. The reason is this is really just a basic road map, you fill in the blanks and make it just the way you want it.

First you choose what ground meat you want to use this time. I have made this with all of the following: ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, ground pork, bulk Italian sausage, bulk pork sausage and Chirizo. All of them worked wonderfully! So whatever you have on hand or in the mood to use.

The canned soup: any of the condensed cream of whatever soups, cheddar cheese soup, nacho cheese soup, or tomato soup. Just so it is a condensed soup (you know the ones you would add water or milk to) and it has a creamy base.

Seasonings: dried herbs, (whatever goes with what you have in mind) some ideas: basil, tarragon, dill, oregano, Italian seasonings, etc

Spices: chilli powder, cumin, caraway seed, etc

Pasta: whatever shape you have on hand elbows, ziti, egg noodles just about any shape.

Crumb topping: dry bread crumbs (mix with a bit of melted butter), Parmesan cheese (mixed with bread crumbs), fresh bread crumbs (mix with a bit of melted butter) crushed tortilla chips, crushed potato chips, chow mien noodles (crushed)

So you see you really can go anywhere with this. I love to do the following combinations:

Ground beef, chilli powder, cumin, cheddar cheese soup and top with crushed tortilla chips.

Any ground meat, Italian seasonings, tomato soup and topped with a mixture of dry bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and butter

Meat and Pasta Casserole

4 oz pasta

1 pound of ground meat

1 onion, diced

2 ribs celery, sliced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

(1 clove garlic, chopped optional)

1 (10 to 11 oz) can condensed soup, cream based

½ cup sour cream

½ cup milk

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

½ to 1 teaspoon seasonings of your choice

Crumb topping, about ¾ cup total or to cover your casserole dish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Cook pasta according to directions on package, drain when cooked

Brown meat until cooked through and set aside. In the same skillet sweat the vegetables until slightly tender.

Combine canned soup, sour cream and milk until mixed well. Add seasonings, cooked meat. Cooked pasta and vegetables.

Pour mixture into an 8” x 8” casserole dish

Top with topping

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until heated through and top is browned.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is yet another of my recipes for chicken in the slow cooker. I know a lot of us are always on the look out for new ideas for both chicken and slow cooker recipes. I will say that for my taste this is really too sweet but I know other family members that absolutely love it. I have a feeling a lot of the sweetness level also depends on the brand of sweet and sour sauce you use. My grocery store only carries one brand and it is very sweet. Also you can always add some heat to this too.

Since this recipe requires you to pay a bit of attention at the end of the day plan it for a day when you have some time before dinner. Also it gives the perfect opportunity to out some brown rice in the rice cooker while dinner finishes up.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 ½ to 2 cups carrot sticks

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 medium onion sliced

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 jar (about 9 oz) sweet and sour sauce

1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks

Place the carrots, bell pepper and onion in the slow cooker. Top with the chicken and sprinkle with the pepper flakes.

Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours until cooked through.

Drain off and discard the liquid that has accumilated in the slow cooker.

Add the sweet and sour sauce and the pineapple chunks to the chicken and vegetables in the slow cooker and heat on low for an additional hour.

Serve over rice

Salmon Chowder

There is nothing like a warm bowl of soup for dinner on a cool fall evening. This one is so wonderfully creamy and tasty that I know you will love adding it to your meals this fall.

I am starting with a salmon fillet but if you want to use a couple of cans of salmon feel free to do so, just skip the first part of the recipe. It will be just as good and a bit quicker too.

Salmon Chowder

(poached salmon)

½ cup water

¼ cup dry white wine

1 carrot, sliced

½ onion, sliced

1 sprig parsley

salt and pepper to taste

½ pound salmon fillet (cut to fit pan)

In a medium size skillet combine the water, wine, and veggies bring to a simmer and add the salmon fillet pieces. Cook at a low simmer until fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove fish from pan and allow to cool. Strain liquid and reserve for chowder.

(chowder)

salmon and its cooking liquid (or a large can of salmon)

4 slices bacon, chopped

½ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

reserved salmon cooking liquid

1 cup water

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups finely diced potato

2 cups half and half

Cook bacon until crisp and remove from pan. Sweat the onion and garlic in the bacon drippings until softened. Add the salmon cooking liquid, water, chicken broth and potatoes bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are cooked through and very tender.

Meanwhile flake cooked salmon (I like to use my finger for this to be extra sure I don't miss any bones)

When the potatoes are cooked add the half and half and the cooked salmon.

Heat through

Taste and adjust the seasonings.