Mini Pecan Pies!

Finally, I'm caught up to the proper month! These Mini Pecan Pies were actually made by me in November  of 2012, the same month as this blog post! They were created as one final (and seasonal) treat for my coworkers at the public library to bring to the wonderfully sweet goodbye party they threw for me. The recipe basically comes from my Bourbon Pecan Pie recipe that I wrote about last year (which, incidentally, I also made this year for Thanksgiving just yesterday). Except I cut back on the bourbon (one Tablespoon instead of two so it wouldn't taste overwhelmingly alcoholic for those coworkers underage) and I used refrigerated pie dough cut into small circles about three inches in diameter to line a muffin tin sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. I also cut the baking time back to 12 minutes instead of 22. That seemed to do the trick and cause these treats to come out firm but not burnt.

So there's no real recipe needed to type here (check out my Holiday Feast post from last year for further details) and just spend your holiday weekend relaxing. Thanksgiving baking is over. You still have a few days before you have to start worrying about...Christmas cookies....  =)

Holiday Feast!

Okay, this really should have been posted in November so that if I decide to look back on my blog for recipes come next Thanksgiving I'll be able to actually find them.... But it is true that same kinds of desserts and sides made for Thanksgiving can also be made at Christmastime (Plus that whole Bronchitis for a month thing really messed up my November plans). So before it gets too late into December, let me post the traditional (and soon to become traditional) Thanksgiving recipes I made this year.

In addition to my regular Pumpkin Pie (I made the recipe this year already in October for a bake sale before baking two more at Thanksgiving), I also had my annual Bourbon Pecan Pie that I've been making for at least five years now, adapted from Paula Deen's recipe. And if that wasn't enough pie, I decided to break tradition and make one of my favorites that I hadn't done in about five years: Sweet Potato Pie. To round out the menu (since Thanksgiving can't be just about dessert--I know, it's sad) I also created a Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce side (hmm, also a sweet dish) and a sweet Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip (wow, maybe Thanksgiving at my house can be all about dessert?), leaving the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing to my mom.

The easy thing about these pie recipes is that they start with a pre-baked pie shell (I buy whole wheat crusts from Whole Foods) so you don't have to make the dough from scratch and can just focus on the delicious filling. While the cranberry sauce is slightly more labor intensive than the kind from a can (and yes, we had that at Thanksgiving too--don't mess with tradition), it comes together fairly easily with only four ingredients. The pumpkin dip was something new to our Thanksgiving table (a recipe I made for a fall scrapbook party last year), which I served with apple slices and graham cracker sticks. All in all, I think our holiday was quite festive and successful, and I might just have to repeat some of these recipes for Christmas dinner too!

Bourbon Pecan Pie


Ingredients:


1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1 and 1/2 to 2 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup whole pecans (may need more depending on how many it takes to cover the top of the pie)
2 Tablespoons bourbon (I've been using the same bottle of Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey for the past five years)
1 pie shell (8 or 9 inches in diameter)

Directions:


1.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and butter. Add the corn syrup, eggs and bourbon, stirring after each addition. Then stir in the pecan halves.

2.) Pour almost all the filling into the pie shell. Leave some liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Add your whole pecans to this liquid and coat them thoroughly. Using your fingers (they will get sticky), carefully lay each coated pecan on the top of the pie's filling to form a pattern (I like to start around the outside edges and just make circles. This part takes a little patience, but the aesthetics of the end result is worth it).

3.) Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees, putting foil around the edges of the pie to prevent the edges of the crust from burning. Then lower then temperature to 350 degrees and bake for about 22 minutes longer until the top of the pecans become firm and a deeper brown. Let cool on a baking rack and serve at room temperature or refrigerate overnight and serve cold the next day. Basically, this pie tastes good at any temperature, and can be eaten for several days after Thanksgiving for dessert, in your lunch at work, for breakfast....

Sweet Potato Pie


Ingredients:


2 cans (16 oz. each) candied yams (I prefer the kind in light syrup, not heavy syrup, since I can't seem to find any without syrup)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk of your choice (I used a can of fat free evaporated milk since I'd been using that for the pumpkin pies)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 pie shell

Directions:


1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the filling, stirring until the eggs are beaten and the yams have been mashed in (though I like a few remaining chunks in mine).

2.) Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for approximately 35 minutes. You can again place foil around the edges of the pie to prevent the crust from burning, or just take your chances if you trust your oven!

At this point you can also top the pie with about 1/2 a bag of mini marshmallows and bake it for an additional 15 minutes to let the marshmallows melt and brown. But I decided to skip the marshmallows this year and just focus on the flavor of the sweet potato, which came out being not too sweet, but just right for me and my younger brother who, it turns out, likes sweet potato pie better than pecan or pumpkin. Looks like this recipe will be a keeper in our house!

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

2/3 cup water 
1/3 cup orange juice
1 cup brown sugar
12 oz. cranberries (frozen or fresh--this is usually one package of Ocean Spray Cranberries)

Directions:

1.) In a large pot, bring the water, juice and sugar to a boil. Add the berries and return the mixture to a boil again.

2.) After it's started boiling again, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer for approximately 30 minutes, stirring at regular intervals, until it becomes thick and begins to stay coated on the spoon you use to stir.

3.) Remove from heat and pour into a heat-resistant (glass or ceramic) bowl. Cover and cool in the fridge a few hours or overnight before serving--it tastes best cold rather than warm or room temperature.

I can't remember exactly where this recipe originated from, but I know that during some baking experiments a few years ago I tried to adapt the cranberry sauce recipe from the back of the Ocean Spray bag, combining it with a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com (the inspiration to use orange juice). For a more tart sauce you can experiment with more orange juice and less sugar, but this recipe has served me well for several years as a nice compliment to the canned cranberry sauce tradition as well.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

2 packages (16 oz.) lite cream cheese
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 teaspoons maple syrup (this time I used a "pumpkin syrup" I found!)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1.) In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, brown sugar and canned pumpkin with an electric mixer until most of the larger chunks are broken up and no longer visible.

2.) Add the syrup and cinnamon and continue to beat until smooth.

3.) Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, though overnight works well too. Since this is a sweeter dip, serve with fruit, graham crackers, ginger thins, vanilla wafers (basically any kind of mild cookie) rather than chips. Though you could try it with chips. I've never done that before.

Again, I don't remember where this recipe originated from now, though I do remember experimenting with proportions and ingredients last year when I first created it for my scrapbooking party. It makes a nice appetizer for guests who can't wait for the official dinner to be ready, or a lighter dessert for people who choose fruit over pie. Due to the dairy in the cream cheese, I can't eat very much of this dip, but I did taste test in small amounts and absolutely love how the fall flavors shine through. You only get to use pumpkin for so long during the year--I take advantage of every opportunity!

So that was the basic Thanksgiving menu on my end (I still don't know how to cook a turkey and have a personal vendetta against mashed potatoes ever since I learned they are secretly made with milk or cream). But in another year (or maybe for Christmas dinner?) I might add a few new experiments to the list. One day I do plan to try recreating my mom's recipe-less cornbread stuffing, which I never wanted to eat as a kid (due to chunks of celery and onion) but I just can't get enough of now! Overall, my best advice for holiday dinners is just make what you like, try balancing tradition with something new, and (most importantly) don't stress over the food--take the time to enjoy just being with the people that mean the most to you.

Happy Holidays! Christmas cookies and chocolate will be up next!

Say Sangria!

It's an Italian Sunday dinner at my house tonight--and since we're relaxing after a long week, that means take-out from Metro Pizza. You can pick up a Ranch Chicken Salad, a Baked Ziti pasta, or even a Flying Piggle pizza of BBQ pork and butter pickles (check out their enticing menu), but you just can't take home their Sangria. So I thought for tonight, and for my mom especially, I'd make my own.

I remembered a recent e-mail received from another restaurant--Mimi's Cafe--ever since I joined their eClub. In the message, their Chef Adam offered summer party tips including a recipe for Sangria that provides a whole serving of fruit in the dish! Healthy fruit + red wine + just a bit of sweetness sounded like a winner in my book.

To put my own twist on it, I used a 2007 Beaujolais-Villages red wine we had around the house instead of their suggested Pinot Noir (I know nothing about wine, but mine looked nice), and a glass bottle of Sprite from Mexico (since they use sugar cane to sweeten their soda instead of the processed High Fructose Corn Syrup). I also didn't cut my fruit slices in half, preferring the look of whole orange, lemon, and lime circles in my pitcher for presentation.

All the ingredients you need!

 
The resulting recipe for Sangria emerged:

Ingredients:

1 bottle red wine
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup lemonade
1/2 cup orange juice
1 bottle (8.45 oz.) sparkling water (I used San Pellegrino)
1 bottle (12 oz.) Sprite
2 oranges, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 lime, sliced
4 medium-sized strawberries, sliced

Directions:

1.) In a large bowl, whisk the wine, sugar, lemonade, and orange juice together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the sparkling water and Sprite and then stir again.

2.) Place the slices of fruit at the bottom of a large glass pitcher (Chef Adam suggests a 6-quart container), then pour the wine mixture in and stir.

3.) Refrigerate the pitcher until ready to serve. Stir once before pouring (I recommend placing a few slices of fruit in your glass first and then pouring the Sangria on top) and enjoy!

In Chef Adam's recipe, the Sangria needs to refrigerate at least four hours or even overnight to intensify the fruit flavors. Ours lasted only as long as it took for my dad to pick up the pizza (about an hour, give or take). Still, there were no complaints at our dinner table!

Just thought I'd note here that, no, Sangria is not a baked good, but this recipe is still short, sweet, and decadent, with a healthy kick of fruit that can be nibbled on after the Sangria's all gone. Yes, I just finished watching Food Network Star and am probably channeling Giada.

Buon appetito!