Another dessert item I decided to take with me for Thanksgiving were these little cookies.  Okay, they really aren't little, but they sounded interesting none-the-less.  I needed to use up that big ol' can of pumpkin I had opened, and who doesn't like snickerdoodles? 

Ingredients:

for cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1&1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2&3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons cinnamon and 3 teaspoons sugar (can be white or brown) mixed together for rolling.


for filling:
8oz cream cheese
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Directions:

for cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.
2. In a medium bowl cream sugar and butter together until fluffy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
4. In a separate bowl stir together dry ingredients except cinnamon and extra sugar together.
5. Add to creamed mixture and combine well.
6. Chill dough for about 20-30 minutes.  (I chilled mine overnight and it was just fine)
7. Roll into tablespoon sized balls and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, coating evenly.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and soft. 

for filling:

1. Beat all ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth.  Adjust sugar to taste (I completely left out the white sugar). 
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  This I also refrigerated overnight with no negative consequences.

to assemble cookies:

1. Remove cream cheese mixture from refrigerator.
2. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mixture onto the flat side of a cookie.
3. Press another cookie onto it to make a sandwich.
4. I then stored these in the fridge until we ate them!

  Pumpkin pie is a huge staple of Thanksgiving dinners.  Really- how often do you not see pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving?  It's blasphemous! 
 
  I, however, get tired of having the same thing over and over again.  It becomes mundane and boring.  When I signed up to bring a dessert, I knew that a pumpkin pie would not only be expected, but that I might very well get shot if I didn't!  Not wanting to do the same thing again though, I began searching for a twist on the traditional pie that would satisfy the family's desire for pumpkin pie, as well as my desire for something a bit out of the norm, without straying too far.

When I found this recipe, I knew it was the one.  It kept with the traditional pumpkin pie, but gave a bit more pizazz to it.  The addition of gingersnaps was just the kick I wanted.  It went over really well with everybody, and it has been requested that I make more! 

Ingredients:

1&1/2 cups finely crushed gingersnaps (about 32 cookies)
1/4 cup butter, melted
4oz cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1&1/2 cups whipped topping
1 cup cold milk
2 packages (3.4oz each) instant butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and butter.   Press into the bottom and up the edges of an ungreased 9-inch pie plate.  Bake at 375*F for 8-10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Cool.
2. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Fold in whipped topping.  Spread over crust.  The original recipe I had did not call for it, but I think at this point it needs to be refrigerated for a bit, otherwise the next step does not work very well.  Refrigerate at least until the cream cheese is somewhat set.
3. Beat milk and pudding mixes in a small bowl for 1 minute.  Stir in the pumpkin, pie spice, vanilla and cinnamon. Spread over cream cheese mixture.
4. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. Garnish with additional whipped topping.  I used a homemade whipped topping, and then sprinkled more crushed cookies on top.  I then evenly spaced whole cookies on top.

  A cheesecake I wanted to make for Thanksgiving called for caramel.  Well, I thought I would be snazzy and make my own at home.   When I got around to it, I realized I did not have enough of the heavy cream to make it.  Frantic, I searched for an alternative.  I knew you could make caramel using just a can of sweetened, condensed milk, however, I did not have the hours necessary to make it.   While scouring the Internet, I came across this recipe.  It still uses the sweetened condensed milk, but only takes a handful of minutes to prepare- not hours.   

It came out perfectly.  Just the right consistency and flavor.  We used what we needed for the cheesecake, and the rest we plan to use for a whole variety of things: on top of the waffles (using the leftover apple filling from said cheesecake), drizzled on top of ice cream, as dippers for apples, Boyfriend even dunked his string cheese into it to try and said it was pretty tasty! 

This recipe makes about 4 cups of sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups brown sugar
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk (more, if needed)


Directions:

Stir sugar and condensed milk together over low to medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved..  
Add butter and vanilla.  Stir well.
Remove from heat and add milk.  Stir until well mixed and thickened.
Use immediately, or store in the fridge.

  I have always wanted to make fresh bread, but have always been highly daunted by it.  The thought of having to knead, punch and let it rise just right always scared me enough to keep me at bay.   It was one of those things I always told myself I would get to- one day. 
 
Then my boss brought in some fantastic homemade bread for Homemade Bread Day (which is November 17th, by the way).  I had expressed to her my desire and she shared with me this unbelievably easy recipe, which was the one she had used.  It uses just 4 ingredients that I always have on hand.  I cannot believe I have never made bread before!  We just pulled it out of the oven about 10 minutes ago, and it is already gone!  Granted, I started off making a small loaf, but it was devoured!   I cannot see myself NOT making this bread every day now!   

Now, the name is a bit misleading, as it does take more than 5 minutes.  Well, I guess it only takes a few minutes to mix everything together.  But, on baking day give yourself about an hour. 

To give credit where credit is due, this came from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.   There is a YouTube video here.

This recipe makes about 4 1-pound loaves.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups lukewarm (room temperature) water
• 1&1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1&1/2 packets)
• 1&1/2 tablespoons coarse kosher or sea salt
• 6&1/2 cups flour
• (cornmeal for the pizza peel)

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl mix water, salt and yeast.  Add flour. 
2. Stir until just mixed.  I used a KitchenAide mixer with the bread hook.  You can use just a wooden spoon.
3. Cover loosely and let sit for about 2 hours at room temperature.
4. You can use the dough at this point, or put in the fridge for up to two weeks. The longer you let it sit in the fridge, the more of a sourdough taste it takes on.

To Bake:

1. Prepare pizza peel (or the back of a cookie sheet, which is what I did, since I do not have a peel.  It has been added to my wish list, though!) by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking.
2. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour.  Cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit sized) piece.  Hold in your hands and sprinkle with more flour to keep from sticking to your hands.  Gently pull the sides down to the bottom.  You may want to view the video to see the way to do this, as it sounds much more complicated then it really is.
3. Place the ball on the pizza peel and let rest, uncovered, for about 40 minutes.
4. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450*F with a baking stone on the middle rack.  Place an empty broiler tray underneath to hold water.
5. Dust the top of the loaf with flour and slash with a serrated knife.
6. Slide loaf off the peel onto the baking stone.  Quickly pour about a cup of water into the broiler pan.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch.
7. Refrigerate remaining dough in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next two weeks.  Dough can be frozen, just pull out the day before baking and defrost in the fridge.

  I have a love affair with banana bread.  It may not seem that way, because I do not make it often, and when I do, most of it is usually thrown away, uneaten.  Despite this, I do love banana bread.  However, I've also been searching for ways to use up those old, rotting bananas that my family will also enjoy.  Enough so that I am not throwing the majority of my work down the trash can's gullet at the end of a couple weeks.  You'd think I'd have grown more acquainted with my freezer, and I very well should, but at this point I have not. 

 I found this recipe today when looking for ideas on using the bananas that sat blackening in my fruit basket.  It sounded interesting, and I thought maybe the cake-like appearance would appeal to my children more.  So I gave it a shot.  It turned out pretty tasty.  Time will tell whether or not it is eaten up or left for the garbage man.  I am thinking it very well might get eaten, though!

Ingredients:
2 eggs, separated
2/3 cup shortening
1&1/2 cups sugar
1 cup mashed bananas (I used 5 small ones)
1&1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
slivered almonds (optional)

Directions:
In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Now, I have no idea what the heck this means, so I just beat the heck out of it for a couple minutes and called it good.  Set aside.
In a large bowl cream shortening and sugar.  Beat in egg yolks; mix well.   Mix in bananas.
Combine flour and baking soda.  Add to creamed mixture, alternating with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. 
Add vanilla and egg whites. 
Pour into a greased 13-in by 9-in baking dish.  Sprinkle with slivered almonds. 
Bake at 350*F for 45-50 minutes. 

Nutritional info: 
Cut cake into 12-16 servings.   1 piece equals 1 serving.  Nutritional info approximate.
Calories:  213
Fat: 8g (2g saturated)
Cholesterol: 27mg
Sodium:  89mg
Carbohydrates: 31g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 2g