Candy Corn Cupcakes

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 18.25-oz. white cake mi

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

Yellow and orange Wilton food gel (about a heaping 1/2 tsp. of each)

A double batch of Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 24-cup muffin tins with white paper liners (although you may not make it to 24 cupcakes). Combine all ingredients except for food coloring in a large bowl and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat on medium for 2 additional minutes.

Divide batter equally into two bowls; you should have about 2 1/4-2 1/2 c. of batter in each bowl. Mix about 1/2 heaping tsp. of yellow coloring into one bowl of batter and 1/2 heaping tsp. of orange coloring into the other bowl.

Divide the yellow batter evenly among the muffin tins. I used a standard cookie scoop, which measures about 1 Tbsp. I only had enough to make 20 cupcakes with the cups filled about halfway. Holding the edges of each pan firmly, bang the pan a few times on the counter to level out the batter. Repeat the process with the orange batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Oreo Turkey Cookies

Oreo Turkey Cookies

Ingredients:

Double Stuff Oreos
Candy Corn
Whoppers
PB Cups
Chocolate frosting
Yellow Frosting
Red frosting
black non-pariels

Directions:

First step:  Grab a cookie.  Squeeze some chocolate frosting inside on one side. Stuff in your candy corn. Go ahead and do all of the cookies through this step.

Next put a dab of frosting on the opposite end of the cookie and secure it to the "base" cookie.  It helps to place them next to a wall as they dry so they stay put.

While those are drying, unwrap your PB cups. Take a sharp knife and cut a sliver off of one end. It helps to gently cut in a sawing motion so you don't break the PB cup

Once those are ready, flip your cookies over, but you may find it's easy to keep them next to the wall. Place a dab of frosting on the pb cup, and place it on the cookie. Now glue a whopper on there with frosting as well. I put frosting on the side of the whopper that hits both the cookie and the PB cup.

While they're still laying there, use a dab of frosting (I use yellow) and glue on the white tip of a candy corn for a beak.  Put two yellow dots on for eyes, and for the black spots in the eyes you can use a dab of chocolate frosting, or a mini chocolate chip, or a little sprinkle like I've used. A sprinkle is really the perfect size if you have them.

Once the beak stays put you can flip them over and draw on some little yellow feet.  If you have red frosting too (usually comes in a set with the tube of yellow) you can add a little gobble gobble.

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Ingredients:

1/3 C pumpkin, canned or homemade
1/4 - 1/2 C milk
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/16 t cloves (just use a 1/8 t measure and fill it half way, or do a pinch)
1/16 t nutmeg
2 T brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
1-2 graham crackers

Directions:

Pop everything but graham crackers in a blender. Start with 1/4 C milk and then slowly add more if needed to make the blender process it all. I used somewhere between 1/4-1/2 C.

Sprinkle with crushed graham cracker crumbs before serving. It reminds me of DQ's Pumkin Pie Blizzard!

Artichoke Parmesan Sourdough Stuffing

Artichoke Parmesan Sourdough Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 pound mushrooms, cleaned, ends trimmed and sliced or chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 onions (3/4 lb total), chopped
1 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2-2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 loaf (1 lb) sourdough bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 jars (6 oz each) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 C freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves or 3/4 tsp dried
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten.

*If desired, first toast chopped bread in a 400 degree oven until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes.

Directions:

In a 12-in. frying pan over high heat, cook mushrooms, butter, onions, celery, and garlic, stirring often, until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Pour into a large bowl. Add a bit of broth to pan (a few tablespoons) and stir to scrape up browned bits. Add to bowl.

Pour 2 cups broth into bowl and add bread, artichoke hearts, parmesan, poultry seasoning, and rosemary; mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add beaten egg and mix into stuffing.

Preheat oven to 325° to 350° (meaning the temperature is flexible if it's going in the oven at the same time as other things.  If it's going in alone, bake at 350).  Spoon stuffing into a shallow 3-qt. (9- by 13-in.) casserole pan. For moist stuffing, cover with foil; for crusty stuffing, do not cover. Bake until hot (at least 150° in center) or lightly browned, about 50 minutes.

Make ahead: Up to 1 day ahead, make stuffing, put in casserole, cover, and chill. Allow about 1 hour to bake.

Serves 12, makes approx. 10 cups

Garlic Basil Knots

Garlic Basil Knots

Ingredients: 

1 cup of water
2 tbsp of butter, softened
1 egg (hold under warm water before breaking it)
3 1/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp regular active dry yeast

Directions:

Place all dough ingredients in the bread machine= in the order listed. Select the dough cycle and press start. Once the bread machine stops (it was one and a half hours on my machine). Place a silpat mat on a baking sheet then coat with cooking spray. Flatten the dough onto a well floured surface then using a pizza cutter, cut into strips. Take each strip and tie into a knot, making sure to keep it well floured so it doesn't stick together. Place each knot onto the baking sheet. Once you have tied all the strips into knots, cover them with a cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake 9-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Other ingredients:
1-2 tbsp of butter, melted
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
3-4 fresh basil leaves, chopped finely

Add butter and minced garlic together and cook in the microwave until melted. Add the fresh chopped basil and stir. Once the knots are out of the oven, brush the top of each knot with the garlic basil butter. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 12 large sweet potatoes
• 3/4 cup (11/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup toasted pecan pieces
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash the sweet potatoes, scrubbing them well to remove any dirt. With a fork, prick the sweet potatoes in a couple of spots and place them on a sheet pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center goes in easily.

In a large bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, and flour together until it's crumbly-looking. Add the cinnamon, salt, pecans, and marshmallows; fold the streusel topping together to combine.

Slice the sweet potatoes lengthwise down the center and push the ends towards the middle so it opens up. Stuff the sweet potatoes generously with the streusel topping and return to the oven. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and brown.

Pumpkin Pie-sicles

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs. butternut squash
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup

• 2/3 cup light cream
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

1. To make a batch, cut a butternut squash into quarters and scoop out the seeds.
2. Boil, bake, or microwave the squash until it’s soft. Let the squash cool a bit before scooping its flesh into a medium-size bowl.
3. Add pure maple syrup, light cream, and pumpkin pie spice to the bowl. Use a potato masher to mush the squash and blend all of the ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into ice pop molds (we were able to fill 10), add sticks, and freeze for at least 6 hours before serving.

Thanksgiving Pot Pies

Thanksgiving Pot Pies

Ingredients:

turkey

mashed potatoes

stuffing

gravy

creamed corn

green bean casserole

a bag of frozen peas

pie crust

Directions:

Pile mixed ingredients in a premade frozen pie crust, you need 2 crusts for each pie. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cover crusts with foil halfway.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Homemade Cranberry Sauce 

Ingredients:

1 (12 ounce) bag of fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Directions:

In a saucepan, mix water and sugar and heat on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and bring to a low boil. Stir frequently and reduce heat to keep the sauce at a low boil for about 10 minutes. When the sauce begins to thicken and the cranberries begin to burst remove from heat. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Rolls

Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 TB yeast
1 TB sugar
1/4 cup warm water
3 eggs
1 cube margarine
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Heat milk in suacepan until almost scaled. Remove from heat and add margarine, sugar and salt. In measuring cup, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. In large bowl, beat eggs. When margarine is melted, add milk mixture to eggs. When yeast has risen, add to mixture. Add flour and mix well (no kneading!). Let rise and double. Divide in half. Roll each 1/2 on floured surface into large circle about 1/2" thick. Spread with melted margarine. Cut with pizza cutter. Roll up into crsecents. Put on greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Deconstructed Green Bean Casserole

Deconstructed Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

Fried Onions
1 lb Fresh Green Beans
Scallions, for tying
Pepper, for garnish

Mushroom Celery Gravy:
1 TB Olive Oil
2 Cups Sliced Mushrooms
2 Ribs Celery, diced
1 pinch Salt
4 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
4 Tbs Flour
1 to 1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Thyme
Black Pepper

Directions:

Green Beans:
Next, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Blanch the green beans for 1-2 minutes, or until tender crisp but still bright green. Shock in an ice bath to stop the cooking, drain and set aside.

Gravy:
In a skillet, saute sliced mushrooms and celery in 1 Tbs of oilve oil until tender and fragrant. Season with a pinch of salt. Remove to a bowl and add earth balance margarine to the same pan over low heat (don’t bother to clean it out!). Once melted, add flour and whisk well to create a roux. Slowly add in the milk while whisking, turn the heat up, and whisk while it thickens to form a smooth sauce. Add thyme and salt to taste, adjusting the thickness by adding more soymilk if needed. Stir the mushrooms and celery in.

Slice the chives in half, lengthwise, and use them to tie up little bundles of green beans. You can reheat the green beans before serving by placing in a low oven or quickly steaming. To serve, place a few spoonfuls of gravy on a dish, and place the bean bundle on top. Sprinkle with fried onions and grind fresh pepper over everything. Serves 8