These are a few of my favorite things….
I hope everyone had an amazing holiday! We’re still on vacation and I’ll check back in with you in a couple days!
Christmas 2011
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Tag Archives: Holiday
Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays! I’ll be off celebrating and doing a whole lot of nothing for a few days. I’ll be back on Monday to check in with you to see how your holidays were and to discuss very important things.
What we all ate while we were being festive.
Here’s a few recipes to get you through the holidays and if you have enough energy left for some baking. Or perhaps you’re still looking for a few items to add to the table.
Bourbon Applesauce, perfect for any time of the day. No really, it is.
French Onion Soup For Two, when you want some quality time with your special someone.
Fig and Date Coffee Cake makes for a great Christmas morning treat.
Kale Hash when you’re looking for something a little different.
Spaghetti and Eggs, to lighten things up and make a quick and easy dinner.
Have a great holiday gang and I’ll talk with you next week!
2011 International Blogger Cookie Exchange Roundup
Whew that’s quite the title! The day has arrived where we get a chance to look at all the lovely cookie recipes that were passed around for this year’s cookie exchange!
Please take a look at these links and have fun checking out all the cookies that everyone made!
Diana made Whiskey Molasses cookies, recipe by yours truly.
Rachel made pecan brittle bars.
Alyse made gingerbread cookies.
I made Italian Chocolate Meatball Cookies.
Also swing over to Lori’s site to see the rest of the roundup! She’s got a big list of recipes to share!
Thanks to everyone who participated this year! What fun to see all these cookies!
Sweet Potato Pie
Pumpkin pie is one of those items that I stopped making for our Thanksgiving dinner a few years back. Don’t get me wrong, I love pumpkin!
But we have it all the time and I use it in a lot of different applications. Sweet potatoes were something that was completely traditional for Scott to have at Thanksgiving so we couldn’t skip them.
What to do? They had to be part of the menu yet as a side dish would put us way over the edge.
I decided to remove them as a side dish and return them as dessert.
This has worked out very well! We’re still getting sweet potatoes for the big day but not as a sticky gross mess (sorry but that whole marshmallow thing needs to go!). Instead it’s served up in pie form!
And if you’ve got folks who claim they hate pumpkin (GASP!) you can serve them this instead!
This year I experimented a little and added a crumb topping and some good rum into the mix.
Leftover Idea: Turkey Nachos
Everyone else is starting to post holiday cookie recipes and I’m over here still talking turkey.
This is my last leftover post and then you are free to put Thanksgiving behind you. Or if you’re like us, you’ve got leftovers in the freezer and might be pulling them out soon to make this.
It was two days after Thanksgiving and I wanted to use up a little bit more turkey before it was wrapped up and placed in the freezer. I thought of making sandwichs and I knew soup was right out.
I wanted something fun and a little different. Plus it was a game night and game foods started running through my head.
I finally settled on nachos!
Turkey nachos, easy, different, and fun to eat.
Andrea’s Turkey Nachos
- Leftover Turkey, cubed or shredded
- 1/2 Red Onion, chopped
- 1 Green Pepper, chopped
- 1 Carrot, shredded
- 1 Can Pinto Beans, drained and rinsed
- 1C Frozen Corn
Bourbon Brined Turkey
Beer brined, cider brined, and I’ve used wine in a brine. This year I decided to just throw caution to the wind and bust out the big guns.
Bourbon.
For Thanksgiving this year, I decided to go with a Southern inspired meal. Mashed potatoes and stuffing were standard but I made collards for a side dish and wanted to make my turkey have a bit of a Southern flair to it.
I went back and forth on what to use in the brine. Finally it occurred to me that bourbon would probably be really tasty when used in a brine. It’s sweet, smooth, and it’s made in the south.
I put the brine together the day before Thanksgiving and it smelled amazing! And a little boozy. Happy Holidays!
Andrea’s Bourbon Brined Turkey
1, 12-14lb Turkey
Brine Foundation:
- 2/3C Bourbon, I used Knob Creek
- 3 1/2C Chicken Stock
- 4C Hot or Boiling Water
- 1C Kosher Salt
- 1/2C Brown Sugar, Packed
Additional Seasonings and Ingredients:
Leftover Idea: Potato Pancakes
Growing up, we ate these all the time. Almost every time we had mashed potatoes, my mom would make potato pancakes with the leftovers. This was what I knew potato pancakes to be.
It wasn’t until I moved away to college in central PA that I learned most people call latkes potato pancakes. Imagine my surprise when I ordered potato pancakes at a restaurant once and was served up latkes instead of what I know as potato pancakes.
No worries, I adore latkes because I will eat potato just about any way you want to serve it to me!
I honestly am not sure how my mom made her potato pancakes but this is how I do mine.
Amounts on ingredients will vary depending on how much leftover mashed potatoes you have. If there’s a lot, you will probably need to up the flour and egg amounts.
Andrea’s Potato Pancakes
- Leftover Mashed Potatoes
- 3TBSP White Whole Wheat Flour
Brining A Whole Turkey
If there’s one thing I hope you know about me, it’s going to have to be my obsession love for brining pork and poultry. Each year I talk with you and stress the importance of brining your turkey for the big Thanksgiving meal.
Yet I realized that I haven’t really talked with you about the equipment you’ll need or how to go about brining a whole turkey.
Because even a “small”, 12-14lb turkey is still a big thing to brine.
Do you need special equipment?
Yes.
Is it expensive and can only be purchased at a speciality cooking store?
No.
All you need is a hardware store and you’re good. No really, I’m serious.
You need a bucket, a large one. You can purchase a large bucket at your local Home Improvement store for super cheap.
In that picture is a 5 Gallon bucket.
When brining a whole turkey, you need to have a bucket or pot large enough that the whole turkey will easily be able to be submerged in brining liquids. No part of the turkey should be out of the liquid and exposed to air.
Thanksgiving 2011
Thanksgiving 2011 was a huge success this year! There was a lot of experimenting going on and I have to say that everything turned out perfectly.
The day started off with a 2.5 mile run for me while Scotty slept. I tried waking him up but he kind of mumbled, rolled over and went back to sleep. I was on my own. The body was a little stiff and sore from all the prep work earlier this week (mostly my back was super achey) so I just did a short run.
Back home to some fantastic coffee and a date and fig coffee cake. My favorite coffee cake and made with beer! Whoo!
Once Scott got up, I pulled the turkey out of the brine and let it rest on the counter for a bit before setting it in the oven to get roasty and delicious. I kept the menu simple this year, making a few key items, but experimented along the way.
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope you have a great holiday full of joy and love! That your day is everything you want it to be!
We’re in full celebration mode over here and I’ll be back on Friday with a Thanksgiving recap.
To help you get through some leftovers without losing your mind, I have a few suggestions:
Stuffing Fritatta (my favorite!)
Happy Thanksgiving!!