Thanksgiving Charcuterie Boards

Here are some fun and festive Thanksgiving food ideas without making a huge turkey dinner.

Above: First, map out and decorate your table. Just pull each tray off of it as you prepare the food.

Above: Turkey Charcuterie Board

Turkey Charcuterie Board

Ingredients: 

Large round butter crackers (14 or so crackers)

Various thinly sliced deli meats of your choice, such as salami, peppered salami, and soppressata

Crostini slices

Sliced cheddar cheese

Sliced Colby Jack cheese

Parmesan crisps

Bosc pear

Two candy eyeballs

Directions:

First layer:

Place large round butter crackers and place them around the outer rim of a round serving platter. Top the butter crackers with thinly sliced deli meat (such as salami or soppressata). 

Second layer:

Place a layer of crostini slices on top of the meat. Use leaf cutters like these (found on Amazon) to cut cheese slices into leaf shapes. Place the leaf-shaped cheese on top of the crostini slices. 

Third layer:

Place a layer of another type of sliced deli meat on top of the leaf-shaped cheese, being careful not to completely cover the leaf shapes. Cut square Colby Jack cheese slices into four equal parts to make four cheese squares per slice. Place these on top of this layer of deli meat. 

Fourth layer:

Place another layer of sliced deli meat on top of the Colby Jack squares (I used peppered salami this time). Place Parmesan crisps on top of the sliced deli meat. Break the crisps to fit, if desired.

Turkey Body:

Decide which side of the pear you want to be the front. Place it on the platter and see how it sits. If necessary, cut a slice off of the curved portion of the back of the pear so the turkey sits up the way you want it to, and so it doesn't roll around.

Using a sharp knife, cut a slice of cheddar cheese into a small triangle for the beak and cut out the legs and feet to your desired shape. Use a little deli meat for a wattle. I used a little white Betty Crocker cupcake icing to get the eyeballs, beak, and wattle to stick to the pear. You could also use some corn syrup. Simply place the legs/feet onto the platter under the pear/turkey body. 

Chill until ready to serve.

Above: I made a basic veggie platter with broccoli, jicama, grape tomatoes, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, black olives, and green olives with ranch dip.

Above: I used chocolate hummus on one side and a store-bought yogurt fruit dip on the other. The fruits I used were pears, red and green apples, cutie oranges, red grapes, green grapes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, golden berries, and dried apricots. I started by covering the opening to hide the aluminum foil within the cornucopia. See below for instructions on how I made the cornucopia.

Cornucopia

Ingredients:

Aluminum foil

Cooking spray

4-5 cans seamless crescent dough sheets (not pre-cut)

Pizza cutter or kitchen shears.

Various fruits and fruit dips

Directions:

Using aluminum foil, form the shape of a cornucopia. Once you have achieved your desired shape, place the foil mold on a baking sheet, and spray the aluminum foil mold with cooking spray.

Using seamless crescent dough sheets (not pre-cut), cut the dough into strips using a pizza cutter.

Twist each strip of dough, if desired, to give the cornucopia more texture. Wrap the dough strips one by one around the foil mold, starting at the back and working your way to the front. Make sure to avoid any gaps.

Repeat until the cornucopia is completely covered. Braid some of the strips and use them to decorate the opening of the cornucopia.

Bake the cornucopia at 350 degrees F, rotating during baking, if necessary, until it is evenly browned. 

Cool the cornucopia completely before placing it on your serving tray and arranging the fruit and fruit dips.

Above: I purchased some cinnamon swirl, honey rye, and cranberry orange bread from a local bakery. I cut them into smaller pieces and served them alongside some homemade freezer jams (peach, strawberry, and pear). I also had butter on the side for anyone who wanted it.

Above: This tray had various fall-inspired treats. Maple leaf cookies, white yogurt-dipped pretzels, pumpkin-shaped candies, apple cookies, pumpkin cookies, fall Werther's caramels (cinnamon, caramel apple, and pumpkin spice), and some sliced apples with caramel dip.

Above: This tray had various pretzels with mustard, some mini quiches (spinach as well as egg and bacon), and some slow cooker meatballs.

Pie Drop!

Since we didn't get to spend Thanksgiving together as a family, my mom decided to do a pie drop instead. She made a bunch of different kinds of pie (while cooking with a mask on) and then drove around and dropped them off on our porches. Then we had a Zoom meeting that night to visit after we had all had our Thanksgiving dinners.

Here are the recipes for the pies she made for us! The pictures don't do the pies justice because I couldn't give them the beautiful presentation they deserved, but they were absolutely delicious. My mom made seven pies. We felt that five of them were absolute keepers as is. The Shaker Lemon Pie and the Candied Orange Pie won't be posted because they need a bit more tweaking and experimenting to get them just right before posting them.

Key Lime Pie VII

Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) prepared graham cracker crust
3 cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup key lime juice
1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 5-8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of the pie. Do not brown. Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream, if desired.

Nutrition information: 8 servings. 553 calories; 10.9 g protein; 84.7 g carbohydrates; 20.5 g fat; 45.3 mg cholesterol; 324.5 mg sodium.

Source: Allrecipes, recipe by AnnRichardson. You can find it here.

Notes: This was just fantastic. Refreshing citrus flavor and pretty presentation.

Above: I tried to transfer them so that I could get pretty pictures of these beautiful and delicious pies. It didn't work. Ha ha. I lost some of the graham cracker crust in the transfer. However, this was a beautiful and surprisingly sturdy (though creamy) pie. Seriously, a keeper. The other pies didn't transfer at all. So, what you see in the mix with all of the other pies is what you get.

Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup natural-style, reduced-fat creamy peanut butter (such as Smucker's)
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
12 ounces frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
2 (6-ounce) reduced-fat graham cracker crusts
20 teaspoons fat-free chocolate sundae syrup

Directions:

Combine powdered sugar, peanut butter, and cream cheese in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add milk; beat until combined. Fold in whipped topping. Divide mixture evenly between crusts; chill 8 hours or until set (pies will have a soft, fluffy texture). Cut into wedges; drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Nutrition information: 20 servings (each pie will be cut into 10 slices), 302 calories; 10g fat; 3.8 g saturated fat; 3.3 g mono fat; 2.8 g poly fat; 6.9 g protein; 45.8 g carbohydrates; 1 g fiber; 11 mg cholesterol; 0.6 mg iron; 252 mg sodium; 59 mg calcium.

Source: My Recipes. You can find it here.

Notes: This was a favorite, especially with all of the guys. Rich and decadent, and yet, as you can see, lightened up. 

Maple Chess Pie

Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon maple extract
5/8 cup chopped pecans, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Press the pie crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch deep dish pie plate.

In a medium bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in the cornmeal, vinegar, and maple extract until well blended. Fold in pecans (if using) so they are evenly distributed. Pour into the unbaked pie crust.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. Bake for 30 additional minutes, or until the top of the pie is golden brown, and the filling is set. When removing the pie from the oven, gift it a gentle shake. If there is no movement, the pie is set. The pie will thicken and shrink slightly upon cooling.

Nutrition information: 8 servings. 457 calories; 4.8 g protein; 50.1 g carbohydrates; 27.6 g fat; 100.3 mg cholesterol; 225 mg sodium.

Source: Allrecipes recipe by David Robinson. You can find it here.

Notes: We left out the nuts because of my son's tree nut allergy. It was smooth and melt in your mouth delicious.

Debbie's Easy No-Bake Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups whipping cream
1 graham cracker pie crust
1 can favorite pie filling (such as cherry, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, or peach)

Directions:

Blend together cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Whip 2 cups whipping cream and sweeten to taste with sugar. Combine whipping cream and cream cheese mixture. Pour into graham cracker crust. Freeze at least 1/2 hour before serving. Top with pie filling of choice.

Source: My mom got this recipe from her friend, Debbie, many years ago. 

Notes: This time, we topped it with strawberry pie filling. This one always brings back childhood memories for me.

Apple Butter Pie

Ingredients:

8 ounces gingersnaps
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup spiced apple butter
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Garnishes: whipped cream, crumbled gingersnaps

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pulse gingersnaps in a food processor 20 times or until finely ground. With processor running, pour apple butter through food chute, processing until blended. Press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together sweetened condensed milk and next 3 ingredients. Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Chill 2 to 24 hours.

Sources: My Recipes. You can find it here.

Notes: The My Recipes test kitchen noted that they used Smucker's Spiced Apple Butter. I thought this was so good. Before I knew what it was actually called, I referred to it as the gingerbread pie because it reminded me so much of gingerbread. This one is a keeper!

Depression Era Pie

 

I had to try this pie. It seemed fitting this year. I was fascinated by the shortages that we have had because of the pandemic and how they compared to the shortages people had during the depression. 

At the beginning of the pandemic/beginning of shutdown, bread, flour, sugar, eggs, milk, toilet paper, paper towels, tissue, sanitizing wipes, and many cleaners disappeared from the shelves.

During the Great Depression, people really had to make things stretch. Casseroles and soups were a way to stretch protein and vegetables to fill hungry stomachs. People still had a sweet tooth, and desserts were also often simplified to make a few simple ingredients go a long way. This pie is one of those recipes.

I actually thought it was very good. It was a lot like a custard pie...without the egg and milk. I think you will like it too! Heads up though, it is very sweet, so a little is enough to take care of your sweet tooth fix.

Water Pie

Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie crust, unbaked
1 1/2 cups water
4 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
5 tbsp butter, cut into five pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and set empty pie crust on a baking sheet.

Pour 1 1/2 cups water into the pie crust.

In a small bowl, stir together flour and sugar. Sprinkle evenly over water in crust. Don't stir.

Drizzle vanilla over water in pie crust. Place pats of butter on top of this.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and cover sides of crust, if needed, to prevent burning. Continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes.

The pie will be watery when you pull it out of the oven, but will set as it cools. Allow to cool completely and then cover and place in the refrigerator to completely chill before cutting.

Source: Southern Plate. You can find it here.

Pickle Pie?

 

My mom found this recipe and it just sounded way too intriguing not to try. People sounded horrified by the name, but those who tried it responded with, "I don't hate it," "It's not horrible," and "I actually kind of like it." Ha ha!

Serving it with a dollop of whipped cream is a must. Though whether you decide to make the "pickle cream" or regular whipped cream is up to you. It tastes somewhat similar to pumpkin pie. In fact, my son kept asking for another piece of pumpkin pie throughout the week and every time I said, "Do you mean pickle pie?," he would get mad at me, so I just started calling it pumpkin pie to him. Shhh. It's our little secret.

Utah Pickle Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 package refrigerated rolled pie dough (such as Pillsbury Pie Crusts), or frozen pie crust
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
5 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest (from one lemon)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sweet pickle chips, plus more, for garnish
1 1/2 cups whipped cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Form pie dough into a 9-inch pie plate, and crimp the edges.

Whisk together sugar and 2 tablespoons of the cornstarch in a large bowl. Add eggs and half-and-half, and beat with an electric mixer until combined. Add butter, zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg; beat until well combined.

Process pickles in a food processor until finely chopped, reserving 1 tablespoon for topping. Stir pickles and remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch together until lightly coated; stir into filling. Pour filling into unbaked pie shell.

Bake in preheated oven until lightly golden brown and filling is just set, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack until room temperature, about an hour. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving, so it is well chilled.

Stir together whipped cream and reserved 1 tablespoon chopped pickled in a medium bowl. Top each slice with pickle cream; garnish with a pickle chip, if desired.

Source: My Recipes. You can find it here.

Notes: I used a frozen pie crust and just filled it with the filling and baked it from frozen. It worked great. I also did not make the pickle cream. I just used a can of ready made whipped cream for the top. I also didn't top it with another pickle chip. It was plenty pickle flavored without those extra added touches. It was a unique flavor, but I liked it! It grew on you.

An Old Family Christmas Tradition

 

We used to make this dessert most Christmases and sometimes we would make it on the holidays. It just has that holiday feeling to it and brings back good memories. It's tasty stuff to boot! Oh, and while the name of the recipe may say otherwise, this is no salad.

Pretzel Layered Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups pretzels, crushed
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
12 oz. Cool Whip
6 oz. raspberry Jell-O
3 cups boiling water
8 1/4 oz. crushed pineapple, well drained
1 pkg. frozen raspberries, unthawed

Directions:

Mix pretzels, sugar, and butter. Press into 9x13 pan. Bake 400 degrees F. for 5 minutes. Cool. Mix cream cheese, sugar, and Cool Whip. Fold in pineapple. Spread mixture on crust. Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Add frozen berries. Let set until syrupy. Pour over cream cheese mix. Refrigerate until set.

Source: Who knows? I've seen this just about everywhere. So many people have some version or another of this recipe. Most recipes use frozen strawberries and strawberry Jell-O, but we prefer raspberries in this recipe.

Notes: This is just so good. It is best the very first day. It's still good the second day, but after that, the pretzel crust starts to get soggy and it goes downhill fast...but it's good while it lasts!

We're Not the Only Good Cooks

 

My family is full of good cooks. We know good food when we taste it. However, of course we aren't the only good cooks out there! It's so fun to try traditional foods from other families too. Plus, it's so fun to share these recipes. My sister-in-law's family is full of awesome cooks. Here is one of their recipes that I tried and loved years ago and finally got a copy of this year.

Steadman Family Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

2 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
4 green onions
1 jar of dried beef
Pecans

To decorate like a turkey:

1 Slim Jim (jerky stick)
1 spaghetti noodle soaked in red food coloring
Green and yellow food coloring
Pretzel sticks

Directions:

Chop green onions, dried beef and pecans.

Mix cream cheese, green onions, and dried beef togeteher. Roll into a ball and then roll in the pecans.

For turkey:

Put the Slim Jim in the cheese ball for the turkey's neck and head.

Color a little bit of the cream cheese green and yellow. Use cream cheese to create two green eyes and the beak on the Slim Jim.

Put pretzel sticks into the cheese ball for the turkey's tail feathers.

Source: This is a Steadman family recipe. It was recently shared here.

Notes: I rolled my cheese ball in chopped almonds since my son is allergic to pecans. It turned out great. Also, life is crazy with a new baby and I didn't have time to shape my cheese ball like a turkey, but be sure to check out the link above because it looks really cute as a turkey. This is really delicious. It makes for a great appetizer to satiate those pre-Thanksgiving dinner appetites!

Did You Forget to Thaw the Turkey? Bake it from Frozen!

 

If you are like me, you either forgot to thaw the turkey in the refrigerator five days in advance, or it is hard to make room in the refrigerator when you have so many other Thanksgiving feast items and ingredients in there.

Well, Thanksgiving isn't ruined. You can bake your turkey from frozen! This isn't a fancy turkey, this is a "get the job done" turkey. You won't be able to brine this turkey or inject all sorts of fancy seasonings, etc., but you will have an actual cooked turkey to serve if you blew it in the thawing department.

Here the the sources I found to back this up:

1. Williams-Sonoma blog
2. the kitchn website
3. The Mayo Clinic (of all places!)
4. Wikihow 

Here's what you do:

 

Cooking a Frozen Turkey

Ingredients:

Frozen turkey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Unwrap turkey and place in roasting pan. No need to wash turkey. Bacteria won't have time to grow.

Place the turkey in the oven and bake for two hours. After two hours, check to see if the turkey is thawed enough to remove the giblet packet. If the packet is a paper packet, you can actually cook it in the turkey, but if it is plastic, it has to be removed, otherwise it will melt. If the giblet packet is plastic and it melts, it will contaminate your turkey with harmful chemicals and you will have to throw the whole thing out (packet, turkey, and all). My packet was made from paper, but I still opted to remove it. I wasn't able to remove mine until around the three hour mark though. I never did get the neck out (until I was actually cleaning the bones after carving the turkey), however, the neck can safely cook inside the whole time.

From completely frozen to completely cooked, your turkey will take about 50 percent longer to cook than normal. So, if you have a 21 pound turkey (like I did) that would normally take about 5 hours to cook, you have to add a 50 percent longer cooking time--or 2 1/2 hours--for a total of 7 1/2 hours of cooking time.

The turkey cooks as it thaws, and all bacteria that might have an opportunity to grow as the turkey usually thaws has no opportunity to grow and do any damage when you bake the turkey from frozen.

The skin on my turkey started to brown pretty early, so I tented it lightly with a little aluminum foil to keep it from over-browning and drying out.

You will want to use a meat thermometer to test different parts of the bird, but when all of your readings come out at 165 degrees or higher, your turkey is done.

Estimated Cooking Times for Frozen Turkeys:

8-12 lb. turkey: 4 to 4 1/2 hours
12-14 lb. turkey: 4 1/2 to 5 3/4 hours
14-18 lb. turkey: 5 3/4 to 6 1/4 hours
18-20 lb. turkey: 6 1/4 to 6 3/4 hours
20-24 lb. turkey: 6 3/4 to 7 1/2 hours

Source: The four websites listed above.

Notes: Surprisingly, my turkey was well done throughout and yet still quite moist. The moisture frozen within the turkey acted as a natural basting process as the turkey cooked. This worked great!

On the actual day of Thanksgiving this year, I made my turkey in a slow cooker (I bought two full turkey breasts and cut out the backbone and fit them into my two slow cookers). However, I had bought a full turkey to make around Christmas time just so we could have turkey sandwiches. I ended up getting a terrible cold right before Christmas break and I was too sick and tired to cook a turkey. I ended up making the turkey in February! It was a very last minute decision. One morning I thought, "I should see if I can bake a turkey from frozen." When I found out I could, I thought, "Great. I am getting that turkey out of my freezer and baking it today. We are having turkey sandwiches for dinner tonight!"

Oh, and since one of the sources is the Mayo Clinic, you know this has to be a safe thing to do!

Also, I didn't think to take a picture of the finished turkey before I started carving it, so the only pictures I have were after I sliced the turkey up to put it in the fridge.

It's a Sign of the Season

 

I just have to make at least one thing (or five) with pumpkin during this time of year. However, with a new baby, I needed a shortcut. This is the perfect shortcut for pumpkin bread (unless you want the ultimate shortcut of picking up some pumpkin bread through the drive through at Kneaders).

Cake Mix Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (15 ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

Stir cake mix and sugar together in a large bowl. Beat pumpkin, eggs, and milk with the cake mix mixture until you have a smooth batter. Stir chocolate chips into the batter, if using.

Pour batter into prepared bread pan.

Bake bread in preheated oven until top is golden and springs back when lightly pressed, and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by paisleyorchid. You can find it here.

Notes: This tasted just like the bread at Kneaders, so I was satisfied. Besides that, my quick bread recipes are unreliable up here on top of the mountain I live on because of the high altitude. If I use a cake mix, my bread is guaranteed not to fall.

The recipe found on Allrecipes had the option to create a smaller loaf of bread and 24 mini muffins. I didn't want muffins, so I just poured it all into one loaf pan. As a result, it needed a long time to bake. I pulled mine out of the oven at around 60 minutes...but I should have left it in for another 10 minutes or so.

This is Going to Be a Yearly Tradition (for Thanksgiving or for Pi Day!)

 

Look at how serendipitous this is! I am posting a pie recipe on Pi Day! It totally wasn't planned...but I'm going to go with it and say that it was totally planned. Happy Pi Day!

Anyway, since my son is allergic to tree nuts, we can't have pecan pie at Thanksgiving. However, I discovered this pie recipe in 2013 and we made it again for Thanksgiving in 2014. This is definitely going to be a yearly tradition for Thanksgiving for my family. I previously posted the recipe here, but I am sharing it again with a few of my changes.

Pretzel Pie

Ingredients:

Filling:

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 regular frozen pie shells (not deep dish), unbaked

Topping:

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For Filling:

Place first five ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix with wire whisk until well combined. Pour into pie shells, dividing evenly between the two.

Combine all topping ingredients in medium bowl and stir well with a spoon to coat pretzels.

Sprinkle topping evenly, dividing it between the two pies.

Bake in 350 degree F. oven for 1 hour, covering with foil after 30 minutes to prevent over browning.

Allow to cool completely before serving. Can be made a day or two ahead of time and stored in refrigerator.

Source: Slightly adapted from Christy Jordan's Southern Plate. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: Wow, the woman who created this recipe is a genius! The pretzels were such a good stand-in for the pecans. My husband said this is probably his new favorite pie. Fantastic stuff!

I changed it to use regular pie crusts instead of a deep dish one this year simply because I accidentally bought a regular pie crust instead of deep dish. For me, this turned out to be a serendipitous accident. I had thought the year before that I might decrease the amount of pretzels I used for the topping because I felt that it was just a bit too much for us...too pretzel heavy and hard to cut into. However, when I made it into two pies, I just divided the pretzel topping between the two of them and I felt like it worked out perfectly for my tastes. We all loved it and got our pecan pie fix--without the pecans (and thus, without any allergic reactions)! That is a win in my book.

 

 

 

 

Above: This is one fantastic pie!

Keep in Mind for Thanksgiving

It's hard to think about Thanksgiving when spring is only a week away, but keep these cranberry sauce recipes in mind for your next Thanksgiving dinner. It's only 8 months away! Here are two great cranberry sauce recipes to keep on hand for the future.

Apple and Cranberry Sauce with Orange and Crystallized Ginger

Ingredients:

4 medium Gala apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced
1 (12 oz) package fresh cranberries
5 tbsp. brown sugar (or more to taste)
1 tsp. grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Directions:

Place all of the apple pieces and cranberries in a large bowl and stir in brown sugar and orange zest.

Pour orange juice into the bottom of a large slow cooker and add the apple mixture.

Cover and turn on the slow cooker. Cook on low heat setting for about 8 hours, stirring occasionally, and breaking up the apple slices and cranberries with a wooden spoon as they soften.

Stir in crystallized ginger. Taste and add an additional brown sugar, if you find the sauce to be too tart.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Cookin Canuck. You can find it here.

Notes: Tasty stuff...and it always adds a nice touch to have homemade cranberry sauce instead of canned.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp. cinanmon
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
Ground ginger, to taste, optional
Fresh cranberries (12 oz)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except the cranberries in a slow cooker. Stir well.

Add cranberries and stir to evenly coat.

Heat in the slow cooker on high heat setting for 3 hours, stirring the cranberries every hour.

After three hours on high, mash the cranberries. Continue to heat on high with the lid off for another 45 minutes.

Let cool and transfer to serving dish.

Recipe Notes: You can make this the day before Thanksgiving. It also makes the house smell amazing.

Easiest Green Bean Casserole Ever

As has already been established, I am very, very behind on my posts. This is usually a Thanksgiving staple rather than something you crave in the spring, so file this one away for Thanksgiving 2015. It is an incredibly easy side dish to throw together...which is really nice because Thanksgiving dinner is so time consuming and labor intensive to make. This recipe is an easy way to fit in another side dish without taking up a ton of extra time.

Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cans (14.5 oz each) French-style green beans, drained
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup (see notes)
1/4 cup milk (see notes)
1 can (2.8 oz) French-fried onions (see notes)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In 1 1/2 quart casserole or glass baking dish, mix green beans, soup and milk.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes, topping with onions during last 5 minutes of baking, until bubbly.

Recipe notes: You can substitute cream of chicken or cream of celery soup if you like. You can also get this dish ready the day before. Store covered in your fridge until ready to bake. Add a few extra minutes of bake time because it will be cold when it goes in the oven.

Source: Betty Crocker website. You can find it here. An almost identical recipe can be found on the Pillsbury website (they are sister websites owned by the same parent company--in fact, the picture is the same one on both sites). You can find that one here.

Notes: The ingredient amounts/sizes are slightly different between the Betty Crocker and Pillsbury websites. The recipe listed above is from Betty Crocker. I actually followed the Betty Crocker recipe in regard to the cream of mushroom soup/milk, but the Pillsbury recipe for the French-fried onions. Let me explain. The changes on the Pillsbury website are to use an 18 ounce can of Progresso creamy mushroom soup that is not condensed (instead of the condensed soup), and as a result, the milk is eliminated in that recipe. The Pillsbury recipe also uses a 6 oz can of French-fried onions instead of a 2.8 oz can and calls for mixing half of the can into the green bean mixture and topping the remaining half of the can on top of the green beans.

So, this recipe is flexible. It is up to you! Use condensed soup...or not! Also, add your own desired amount of French-fried onions.

Personally, I think I will follow the Betty Crocker recipe exclusively in the future. I loved the onions on the top, but I found the onions that were mixed into the green bean mixture to be a little overpowering and distracting. It was just a little too oniony for my tastes. Plus, the onions that were mixed in ones got a little soggy and I prefer them crunchy. However, even still, this is really good and really easy...and easy to customize to your own tastes!

Pie Night!

Pie night was awhile ago, but I'm not going to lie to you, just looking at these pictures, I feel like I should loosen my belt just a little. Lots of amazing pies!

Enjoy!

Cake Batter Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 package Golden Oreos or 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 11 graham cracker sheets)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Pudding:

3 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons Funfetti Cake Mix

Whipped Cream:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
Rainbow sprinkles

To make the crust:

In a large food processor, grind up the Golden Oreos into fine crumbs. You should have 2 cups of cookie crumbs. Put the crumbs in a large mixing bowl and add the sugar. Mix the ingredients together. Then add the melted butter and mix to coat all of the crumbs with butter.

Put the crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Press the crumbs into the sides of the pie plate and into the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

Cool the crust completely on a cooling rack before filling with the pudding.

To make the Funfetti Cake Batter pudding:

Pour the milk into a large saucepan. Heat the milk over medium heat until almost simmering. Make sure you watch the milk so it doesn't overflow while you work on the next step.

In a large mixing bowl with the paddle attachment (a handheld mixer works too), mix together the egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar, and kosher salt for 4 minutes on medium speed. The egg mixture should be thick.

On low speed, carefully pour the milk into the mixing bowl.

Continue to mix until the milk is combined with the other ingredients.

Pour the mixture back into the large saucepan and heat over medium low heat and constantly whisk the mixture. The pudding should take 7-10 minutes to thicken.

Once the pudding has thickened, remove the saucepan from the heat. Add in the unsalted butter and vanilla extract. Whisk.

Put a sieve over a large bowl. Pour the pudding mixture into the sieve and using a spoon or spatula, press the pudding through the sieve. This will help eliminate any lumps in the pudding. Then whisk in the cake batter mix. Make sure you whisk the ingredients thoroughly to avoid lumps of cake batter mix in your pudding.

Pour the pudding into the cooled pie crust. Evenly spread it out with a spatula.

Cover the pie with plastic wrap. Be sure to press the plastic wrap against the pudding in order to avoid a film forming on the pudding.

Chill the pie in the refrigerator for 6 hours.

To make the whipped cream:

Pour the heavy whipping cream in a large mixing bowl with the whisk attachment (a handheld mixer works fine too). Turn the mixer on high speed while it is mixing. Slowly add the sugar. Mix until stiff peaks form.

Once the pie is done chilling, top the pie with the whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.

Source: This recipe was found on Pizzazzerie. You can find it here.

Notes: This was so good. Definitely the surprise of the night. I think no one expected this to be as good as it really was. Tasty stuff. Oh, and if you want a much easier version of this recipe, you could simply make a package of vanilla pudding and mix some Funfetti Cake mix into it.

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

One 9-inch pie crust
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
3 large eggs
1 cup apple butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
3/4 cup half and half

Streusel/crumble topping:

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 stick cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecan pieces, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Prepare or thaw a 9-inch pie crust and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs until yolk and whites are combined and no strings remain. Add pumpkin, apple butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and combine well. Stir in half and half.

Pour into pie shell and place in oven. After 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Bake until center of pie no longer trembles and has set, about 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow to sit for 30 minutes at room temperature and then transfer to refrigerator.

Prepare streusel/crumble by combining flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Using a cheese grater, grate the very cold butter into small pieces directly onto flour mixture.

Rub between your hands to turn streusel into small lumps, and consequently into crumbles. Stir in pecans, if using.

Spread evenly onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and place in a 350 degree F. oven until fragrant and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Stir mixture halfway during baking for even baking results. When cooled, store in a plastic bag.

To ensure a crisp streusel/crumble, sprinkle this topping generously on the pie right before serving.

Source: Imperial Sugar website. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: We used almonds in place of the pecans because my son is allergic to pecans.

Vinegar Pie

Ingredients:

Flaky pastry dough
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup cold water
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Cinnamon, for dusting
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving, optional

Directions:

Make pie shell:

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Fit dough into pie pan or tart pan and trim excess, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to form a rim that extends 1/4-inch above pan. Prick bottom shell all over with a fork and chill for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven until edge is pale golden and sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove weights and foil and bake shell until bottom is golden, 8 to 10 minutes more.

Make filling while shell bakes:

Whisk together eggs and 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl until blended well. Whisk together flour and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then whisk in water and vinegar. Bring to a boil, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Add to egg mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly.

Pour filling into saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until filling coats back of spoon and registers 175 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer, 12 to 15 minutes (do not boil). Immediately pour filling into a 2-cup glass measure. If pie shell is not ready, cover surface of filling with a round of wax paper.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F, then pour hot filling into baked pie shell in middle of oven and cover rim of crust with a pie shiled or foil (to prevent overbrowning). Bake pie until filling is set, 15 to 20 minutes, then cool completely in pan on a rack. Dust evenly with cinnamon.

Source: We found this on Gourmet.com. You can find it here.

Recipe notes: You can make this in a pie pan or in a fluted tart pan.

Old-Fashioned Fudge Pie

Ingredients:

2 squares (2-ounces) semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sugar, then the eggs; beat well. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 25 minutes, or until just set. Serve warm or cols, with ice cream or whipped cream.

Source: Food Network. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: We decided to top our pie with both whipped cream and mini chocolate chips. This was good, but beware, this was also sooooo rich!

 

Tangerine Chess Pie

Ingredients:

1 (14.1 ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plain yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons tangerine or orange zest
1/3 cup fresh tangerine or orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
Garnishes: sweetned whipped cream, tangerine slices, and/or tangerine zest

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Unroll piecrusts; stack on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 12-inch circle. Fit piecrust into a 9-inch pie plate; fold edges under, and crimp. Prick bottom and sides of crust with a fork. Bake 8 minutes; cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together sugar and next 8 ingredients until blended. Pour into prepared piecrust.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40-45 minutes, or until center is set, shielding edges with foil after 20 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Cool 1 hour.

Source: MyRecipes.com. Southern Living, February 2012. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: If you love citrus, this pie is for you. It is bright tasting and tangy.

Lazy Caramel Pie

Ingredients:

1 prepared graham cracker pie crust
1 can (14 ounces) Dulce de Leche
Sweetened whipped cream, to taste

Directions:

Soften dulce de leche slightly by stirring it or microwaving it in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds (this makes it a lot easier to spread it in the graham cracker crust).

Spoon dulce de leche onto prepared graham cracker pie crust and spread over bottom. Refrigerate to allow dulce de leche to set (this makes cutting/serving easier).

When ready to serve, top with sweetened whipped cream and cut into wedges.

Source: The inspiration for this pie recipe came from a cookbook of mine. I can't seem to find it online, but it is a Cooking Light recipe that came from a cookbook called Cooking Light Cook's Essential Recipe Collections: Slow Cooker. You can find more information on that cookbook here.

Notes. This was so easy. Really tasty stuff too. Everyone who tried it really liked this one. Dulce de leche can be found in the baking aisle next to the sweetened condensed milk. In the cookbook, a can of sweetened condensed milk was cooked in a slow cooker for hours until the can's contents turned into dulce de leche caramel. I just skipped that step and simply bought a can of dulce de leches instead.



Old-Fashion Oatmeal Pie

Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) pie crust
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup light corn syrup
1/8 to 1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal (uncooked)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat eggs until frothy.

Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.

Add eggs; mix well.

Add corn syrup, melted butter, and vanilla.

Mix in oatmeal.

Pour into uncooked shell.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Source: Food.com. You can find it here.



Recipe notes: "This great pie recipe goes back over 100 years. The recipe came from my grandmother's grandmother who was living in Charleston, South Carolina during the 1860's. Family history has it, that during the Civil War, since pecans were in short supply in the south, oatmeal was substituted for the traditional pecan pie, and the results were astonishing. Now served at every family gathering since that time."



Source: We found this on Food.com. You can find it here.

Notes: This was like a pecan pie, just with oatmeal in place of the pecans. Count me in for caramel anything!



Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon grated lime peel
1 teaspoon orange peel
1/2 cup lime juice
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 baked pie shell of pastry or graham crackers

Directions:

Blend milk, lime juice, lime peel, and salt. Mix with egg yolks slightly beaten. Beat egg whites with sugar and orange peel until very stiff. Fold into milk mixture. Pour into shell and sprinkle with orange peel. Bake in oven 15 minutes. Chill and serve. Makes one 9-inch pie.

Source: I'm not quite sure where my mom got this recipe from.

Notes: So good. Fresh citrus flavors. A nice and fluffy key lime pie. Very refreshing and delicious!


 

Above: I'll have a piece of that.



 

Above: Maybe just a little bit more.

Kool-Aid Pie

Ingredients:

1 (0.13 ounce) package unsweetened fruit-flavored drink mix (such as Kool-Aid)
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

Directions:

Whisk fruit-flavored drink mix with sweetened condensed milk in a bowl until thoroughly combined and thick. Gently fold whipped topping into mixture until light and fluffy. Spread filling into pie crust and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by blue. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: We made this literally so we would have a kid-friendly pie. The kids naturally just gravitated towards it. They liked the color and the texture and fluffiness was really kid-pleasing.

Faux Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

Filling:

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
Deep dish pie shell, unbaked

Topping:

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For Filling:

Place first five ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix with wire whisk until well combined. Pour into pie shell.

Combine all topping ingredients in medium bowl and stir well with a spoon to coat pretzels.

Sprinkle topping evenly over pie.

Bake in 350 degree F. oven for 1 hour, covering with foil after 30 minutes to prevent over browning.

Allow to cool completely before serving. Can be made a day or two ahead of time and stored in refrigerator.

Source: Christy Jordan's Southern Plate. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: Wow, the woman who created this recipe is a genius! The pretzels were such a good stand-in for the pecans. My husband said this is probably his new favorite pie. Fantastic stuff!

 

Above: Mine didn't look as pretty as the recipe creator's, but who cares? it was super delicious!

Cookie Dough Pie

Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Transfer the pie crust to a 9-inch pie dish.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars using an electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until combined. Add the vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and salt until well combined; then stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using), until combined.

Transfer to the prepared pie shell, and bake for 60 minutes or until set.

Place the heavy cream in a large bowl and use mixer to whip cream until stiff peaks form. Add the mini chips and stir to combine. Serve the pie with the chocolate chip cream spread over the top or on the side.

Source: We found this recipe on this site.

Notes: We divided this up and made it in mini pie pans for the kids. We skipped the walnuts because of my son's allergies.