This month I’m sharing some of my family’s favorite Thanksgiving recipes. The box pictured above isn’t one of mine. That’s right, I have SIX recipe boxes, crammed with delicious recipes! I inherited three of them from relatives. I cherish those not only for the recipes, but also for the hand-written notes and the peek into the past.

Both my hubby and I had a Great Aunt Rose. This recipe comes from his great aunt. I wasn’t privy to the recipe until I married into the family, and I’ve used it every Thanksgiving since.

The dressing is sweet, but  I happen to love the combination of turkey with a sweeter dressing.

Ingredients and Directions
Note: ingredients are in bold type
2 quarts bread crumbs made as follows: remove crusts on approx. 15 slices of white bread; toast lightly (I place slices on a cookie sheet and broil on both sides until barely starting to brown). Cut into cubes and place in a large bowl
Gently stir on 1 cup sweetened condensed milk

Add and mix carefully in the order below:

1 1/3 cup seedless raisins, washed in warm water
2 1/2 cups unpeeled, diced apples (I like Granny Smith because this apple holds together so well)
1 medium onion, chopped and fried in butter until golden brown (I use ¼ cup butter)
2 Tbs sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Add:
½ tsp baking powder combined with ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup warm melted butter
Makes a great stuffing in your turkey. If baked in a separate pan, pour some turkey basting juice in the bottom of the dish before adding the dressing. Cover with foil and bake slowly until raisins are cooked. I cook at 325 for approx 20-30 minutes.
Happy Eating!

Until next time,
Ann

This month I am sharing some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes.

These delicious rolls contributed to many happy meals in my family.  They’re great any time of the year, but I always  make them for Thanksgiving. So  did my mom and my grandma. They are light and fluffy, and no kneading required! The secret is to handle them as little as possible. Over-handling makes the dough tough, and who wants that?

The rolls are excellent straight from the oven, but they’re also great reheated the next day.  I like to slather butter and jam or honey on mine.  Or stick a slab of leftover turkey in the middle.  Or dunk a warm roll in coffee and enjoy with eggs, bacon or sausage.  Or…the list is endless.  If you decide to make bread instead of the rolls (see below), the bread goes especially well with beef stew and soups.

This recipe feeds about 20 guests. Halve it if you want– or make it all and freeze for later use.

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 heaping Tbs Crisco
• Add these ingredients to a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cup boiling water and stir to dissolve Crisco. Set aside to cool.

While mixture cools, in a small bowl combine 2 packages yeast with 1/2 cup tepid water; stir to dissolve. When Crisco mixture has cooled to tepid, add yeast, 2 beaten eggs and 7 cups flour. No need to knead this, just mix with a spoon (will be very gooey). Cover with a damp cloth, set in a warmish place, and let rise for 2 hours.

Flour a surface, turn out dough and roll to 1/’2 inch thick. Don’t over-roll!. Cut out rolls. I use a round cookie cutter, but a glass dipped in flour works well, too. Use a dinner knife to crease each roll,  then fold over and pinch the edges together. Set on greased cookie sheets. Let rise 1 hour. Bake at 425 degrees for approximately 10 minutes, until golden brown.

For the bread:
After the letting the dough rise 2 hours, turn out onto floured surface and knead two-three times. Divide in half, roll into balls and place each ball into a greased bread pan. Let rise 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy! And if you try these, let me know how you liked them.

Until next time,

Ann

Another Great  September Recipe: Glazed Orange Coconut Cake

This recipe is freaking delicious!! Try it, you’ll love it… and so will the lucky people who get to enjoy it with you.

(Recipe courtesy of Global Table Adventure…. With a few tweaks by me. 🙂 )

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup finely shredded, unsweetened coconut
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh orange juice (2-3 oranges)
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (my addition)

Orange glaze: (revamped by me)
Make after cake has completely cooled. Whisk together until smooth:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs milk
1 ½ tsp orange oil (found in special food stores)–or you could try 1 Tbs orange juice and cut the milk to 1 ½ Tbs. However, I prefer the pure orange oil.
1 Tbs light corn syrup

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour and next five ingredients (flour through salt).

In a small bowl, combine coconut milk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and orange juice and rind. Slowly add to dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until smooth. Pour into prepared bundt pan.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from pan. If you don’t, it might break!

The chocolate chips will settle at the bottom, which becomes the top of the cake when you put the cake on a plate.

With a knife, add glaze to completely cooled cake, letting it run down the sides .

Happy Eating!

Ann

September Recipe: Blackberry Good Stuff

Here in the U.S., it’s blackberry season. In the Pacific Northwest, where I live, blackberries are everywhere. I pick them and freeze, so that we have blackberries all winter long. Freezing is so easy! Just pick, spread on a cookie sheet and freeze for several hours. Then pour into a freezer container.

One of my favorite recipes is a cobbler I call Blackberry Good Stuff. Once you try it, you’ll be hooked. This recipe calls for an 8 x 8 inch pan, but I like to make more than that… my family demands it! 🙂 If you want to make a bigger batch, double the crust recipe and use a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine:
1 cups quick-cook oats
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 cup sugar

Cut in 1/2 cup soft butter until crumbly.

Spread half this mixture in an 8 x 8 lightly greased pan. (Note: This stuff sticks, so greasing is essential. When I made this recipe last week, I substituted parchment paper instead and it worked, too.) Bake the crust at 350 for 10 minutes. While baking, mix filling:

Combine:
2/3-1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbs lemon juice
t tsp tapioca

Pour over and mix gently with:
4 heaping cups fresh blackberries (actually, any berry should work)

Pour berries evenly over partially-baked crust. Sprinkle the remainder of the crust over the berries. Bake 45 minutes.

To die for! Great warm or cold, served plain or with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!!

Summertime is ice cream season. This yummy concoction came from my local newspaper. It’s easy to make–you don’t need an ice cream maker or any fancy gadgets. Warning: It’s rich as sin. 🙂

Note: This recipe requires overnight freezing , so plan to make it a day in advance.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

serves 8-10

• 1 can (14-oz) sweetened, condensed milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate syrup (I use the expensive stuff that comes in a glass jar, but any kind will do)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup mini-marshmallows
• 12 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts

Mix sweetened, condensed milk and chocolate syrup. Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold into the chocolate mixture. Add marshmallows, chocolate chips, and peanuts. Freeze overnight. Store in an airtight container. Will keep up to two weeks–but I’m betting it won’t last that long. 🙂

Until next time,

Ann

Comments welcome!

My hubby and I are cutting back on red meat. This recipe for turkey meatloaf is delicious and satisfying. Try it, you’ll love it. Some years ago I cut it out of our local paper and unfortunately I don’t have the name of the author, but I suspect it was created by John Owen, aka The Intermediate Eater. The recipe is supposed to serve six, but if you’re like me and can’t stop nibbling on it, it serves more like four. 🙂

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
2 Granny Smith apples
1 onion
5 tsp curry powder
1 Tbsp coriander
1/2 cup minced parsley
2 lbs ground turkey (I use Jenny-O)
1 egg
2/3 cup fine breadcrumbs (I use panko, browned gently in butter)
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Peel, core and chop apples into small pieces. (I don’t bother peeling the apple) Peel and chop the onion. Heat butter in skillet and add apple and onion. Cook until the onion begins to brown, then add curry and coriander. Cook 2 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Put onion mixture into a bowl and add all the other ingredients. Moosh thoroughly with your hands for about 4 minutes. Pack into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Bake for one hour or microwave until fully cooked.

Let the loaf sit for 3 minutes. Pour off any juices, then slice loaf. Servr with chutney or ketchup or just enjoy it plain.

This is my all-time favorite apple pie. To make it, I combined the best parts of two recipes from two celebrated cooks– my mom and the Barefoot Contessa.

First, make the pie crust.
Ingredients :
• 2 cups flour
• 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, fresh from fridge and cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup Crisco solid shortening
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4-6 Tbsp ice water
Use the metal blade of the food processor. Pour flour and salt into food processor, add butter and shortening. Pulse (process in short bursts) till crumbly and about the size of peas. Do not over-pulse. Add ice water, 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing briefly after each addition. Continue adding water until mixture pulls away from sides and forms a ball. Do not add too much water or the dough will be tough. Dump onto wax paper, wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. While dough chills, begin making filling.

Ingredients for apple pie filling:
• 2 – 2 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 pound Braeburn or Macintosh apples, cored, peeled and quartered
• 1 Tbs each lemon zest and orange zest
• 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp allspice
Place apples in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with zests and lemon and orange juices, gently stirring to coat the fruit. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Pour over apples and gently mix until apples are coated.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven heats, roll out crust to fit a 10-12-inch pie tin and top. (The standard 9-inch pan is a little too small, but if that’s all you have, go for it anyway.) Place bottom crust in tin. Add apple filling; cover with top crust. Make several slits in top crust to vent the steam. Place on a cookie sheet. (This is a fat pie and may drip over, and the sheet prevents nasty oven cleanup later.) After 40 minutes, lower heat to 350 degrees, and bake an additional 30 minutes, until crust is browned and juices are bubbling. Serve hot or warm, with cream or ice cream.

Years ago I dreamed of starting my own food company.  I would create and sell hot fudge sauce.  Can you imagine?

I attended classes in food manufacturing, creating logos and labels, and other practical aspects of the business.  At the same time, I worked feverishly on just the right recipe.  At first that was great fun–all that hot fudge sauce to sample, tweak and sample again. My husband and kids enjoyed it too, as did their friends, who willingly tasted and offered feedback.

Believe it or not, after six months of daily taste-testing, I all but lost my taste for the stuff.  Very sad!  Then I discovered writing romance and traded my interest in bottling my hot fudge sauce for my passion in crafting stories.  A whole lot less fattening!

Within a year or so, my taste for hot fudge sauce returned. I made a batch, of course, and enjoyed every spoonful.

My brother tweaked the original recipe and created a winner.  If I had started that food business, this hot fudge sauce would’ve been my flagship recipe.

Ann’s Hot Fudge Sauce

1 cup whole milk
1 Tbsp Karo syrup (light, not dark)
3/4 cup sugar
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp vanilla

In a heavy saucepan, mix milk, sugar, and Karo.  Bring to a low boil and let boil 14 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Beat in unsweetened chocolate until melted; add vanilla.

Store in the refrigerator–if there’s any left!

Especially good on ice cream or angel food cake. Or just dip in a spoon and indulge.

Enjoy!!

P.S. Makes a fabulous sweet treat for you special Valentine.