Cranberry

This recipe came from my mothers mother. My Grandma makes this cranberry mold for Turkey feast it is better then the basic cranberry. My grandmother uses fresh cranberries. I will try that the next time I make this dish. She also uses Queen Anne Cherries, but they are hard to find, so my mother substitutes them with Mandarin oranges. It is easy to make and should be made at least 1 day before your meal. It has been in our family for as long as I can remember, I make it every year for our Thanksgiving feast.  

Ingredients  

1 can whole berry cranberry

1 pkg raspberry jello

1 8oz pkg of cream cheese cubed

1/2c chopped pecans

1 can of Queen Anne cherries or Mandarin Oranges

Method

Heat cranberry on stove, add Mandarin orange or cherry juice and jello, cook for recommended time on box. Turn off heat and add remaining ingredients. Pour into a mold and refrigerate until firm and comes clean from the mold.  To remove from mold dip into warm water until loosened. place plate on top and turn over onto plate.

Peanut Butter Cereal Treats

I  recently made a cake for Starbucks. It was a big cake that I am proud to have accomplished.  Prior to making the cake I expearimented with baking medias in order to make the cake. I perfected a delectable treat, in my process. These are sure to disappear fast.

Ingredients

6c Rice Krispies

1 10.5oz bag mini marshmallows
¼c unsalted butter
1¼c creamy peanut butter

1 bag semisweet chocolate chips
1c peanut butter

Method
Melt butter and marshmallows in medium saucepan. Add peanut butter  and melt remove from heat and fold in cereal. Make sure the mixture is well coated and not soggy, if too wet add more cereal. Press into a greased Pyrex pan. Melt chocolate in a double boiler add peanut butter and spread on top of cereal bars. Cool until set.

Yellow Birthday Cake

I made this cake for a 3year old's birthday. It was fun. 3 layers...for 3 years. I used a simple yellow cake recipe that I found from Martha. I used my own buttercream recipe. The cake was perfect for layers, dense for stacking but moist enough to love

Ingredients

1c  unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/2c all-purpose flour

1/2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp baking soda

1tsp salt

1 1/2c sugar

2 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

2tsp pure vanilla extract

1c low-fat buttermilk

Method

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.



In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture;



mix just until combined.



Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack. Let cool completely. Place one cake, bottom side up, on a cake stand. Using an offset-spatula or table knife, spread top with Buttercream. Top with remaining cake; frost top, then sides.

Brine your Bird

If you want the best Turkey do a brine. It will be the most moist and flavored to perfection. Not to mention you will have the best gravy ever. My German Grandmother made the best Thanksgiving ever. I believe the turkey and gravy were so amazing because of the brine. I buy a fresh bird, not frozen, start your brine the night before the turkey will cook. I put the turkey and brine in the garage in a clean cooler. Its cold enough to keep your bird at the right temperature. I also do not stuff the bird with stuffing I use aromatics.

Brine

1 turkey

1cup kosher salt

1/2cup light brown sugar

1 gallon stock

1tbsp black peppercorns

1 gallon heavily iced water

Aromatics
1 cinnamon stick

1c water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

1 apple quartered
1 onion quartered

Method

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, with ice, The night before you'd like to eat: Combine the brine, water and ice in COOLER Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine. Place the bird on roasting rack upside down inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 350. Halfway through flip the turkey over and insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast. Add Turkey stock to the bottom of the pan. Set the thermometer alarm to 161° degrees. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil  for 15 minutes before carving.

Better than your Mama's MeatLoaf

Meatloaf is one of those meals that don't sound to great, too many bad experiences with the mystery meat. I love my mothers meatloaf. Its easy and very good. I serve the meatloaf with twice baked potatoes or a garlic mash. You cant go wrong with this meatloaf.

2 lbs of 80/20 Hamburger
Onion Chopped
1 box Stouffer's stuffing
2 eggs
5 strips of bacon

Knead together all ingredients except bacon, Mold into a loaf pan. Lay strips of bacon on top of the meatloaf. Bake at 350° until meat thermometer reads 155°. Take out drain off fat. Slice and serve.

Parker House Rolls

Every holiday someone brings some store bought rolls. This Harvest Day I decided to make my own from scratch rolls. I found this recipe everywhere. I used the one I found in my Grandmas recipes. I also would highly recommend making the dough in a bread machine it ensures the correct temperature and kneading. The rolls were soft and superb. Its well worth your extra time to make these for your next holiday celebration.

Ingredients

6c AP flour 

1/2c sugar

2tsp salt

2 packages yeast

1c margarine or butter softened

1 large egg

2c hot tap water 120° to 130°

Method

In a large bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast; add 1/2 cup margarine or butter. With a mixer at low speed, gradually pour water into dry ingredients. Add the egg and increase speed to medium for 2 minutes. Beat in 3/4 cup flour or enough to make the batter thick. Continue beating 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. With a spoon, stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough, approx 2 1/2c.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, working in more flour (about 1/2 cup) while kneading. Shape dough into a ball and place in greased large bowl, turning over so that top of dough is greased. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place (80° to 85°) until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. (2 fingers pressed into dough leave a dent.)
Push down the center or dough with fist, then pushing edges of dough into center. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface knead lightly to make smooth ball, cover with bowl for 15 minutes, and let dough rest.
Preheat oven to 400°
Melt remaining 1/2 cup margarine or butter grease bottom of a square Pyrex pan with melted butter. On a lightly floured surface roll dough into balls, dip both sides into melted butter pan. Arrange dough balls in rows in pans, each nearly touching the other. Cover pan with towel; let dough rise in warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.
Bake rolls for 15 to 18 minutes until browned