Thankful

Thanksgiving is my sister's favorite holiday.  She loves the Thanksgiving meal - the sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing, green beans, cranberry sauce, gravy and turkey.  It's a meal she looks forward to all year long.  Seriously.  She's hard-core.  Me, I like Thanksgiving, but surprisingly it's not the food part as much as the whole spending time with family and friends thing.  I think the big reason why is because I'm not really a turkey fan.  It's okay, but I've never had one that blows me away.  And I don't like that jellied cranberry stuff either.  Do those two statements make me un-American?!?!



GROSS!

We did Thanksgiving with my extended family this past Sunday and it was wonderful.  Despite the 80+ degree temps, everyone had a wonderful time stuffing their faces and catching up on life.  Mom and Sis are both nurses so we've become quite creative over the past 5 years as to when we actually celebrate the holidays.  We're going to my in-laws' a little later today for a small family meal.  It's quite nice - two Thanksgiving celebrations, but they aren't squeezed into the same day! 



How we entertained ourselves at our early Thanksgiving dinner

 I'm struck this year by how many things I have to be thankful for.  I'm thankful that even though last year was one of the toughest of my life (personally and professionally), I was able to learn so many valuable lessons from it.  I'm thankful for my family, I no longer take their health for granted.  I'm thankful for my job, I no longer just assume that because I'm a teacher I will always have one.  I'm thankful for the friendships we have, they truly have become our extended family.  I'm thankful for the Hubs who keeps me sane and supported me through last year.  I'm also thankful for his incredible talents and how he is able to use them to bless so many other people.  Finally, I am thankful for Little C.  This unexpected blessing has already changed our lives so much and she's still just cooking!  God definitely knew what our little family was missing. 

Little C @ 20 weeks (she's a LOT bigger now)

One last thing I'm thankful for: non-traditional Thanksgiving desserts.  We don't have these often (Dad loves and insists on the traditional pumpkin and pecan pies), but occasionally I try to sneak one in.  One of my favorites is Pumpkin Creme' Brulee.  Super simple and super delicious!  A great make ahead dessert that pairs perfectly with those Thanksgiving leftovers everyone nibbles on all weekend.

PB & C

I think I've blogged about making these before. 

 I cheated this time though. I used a box mix for the cupcakes and only made the frosting myself. That's my Lazy Girl short cut for when I'm in a time crunch. My theory: If you use delicious frosting nobody will notice that the cupcakes are just "okay".

Chocolatey Stacks of Goodness

Our PTO held a luncheon for us the other day.  The dessert table is always my favorite part of the event.  Good stuff.  Always.  Yesterday however, there was something new.  Reese's stuffed Oreos.  No, that is not a typo.  It's a Double Stuff Oreo with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup stuck in the middle and then dipped in chocolate.  I didn't have one (I'm a slow eater and they were all gone by the time I got to dessert), but all of my friends around me did get one and said they were amazing. 

They looked pretty simple to make so this morning I purchased some supplies at HEB and get to work.  Turns out they are even easier to make than I thought!  The dipping was incredibly easy because the Oreo filling acts like a glue that holds everything together.  Hardest/most time consuming part was untwisting the Oreos.

For each 10.5 oz bag of snack size PB cups you will need one 15.35 oz package of Double Stuff Oreos and a 1/2 pound of melting chocolate.  Simply sandwich a PB cup between 2 Oreo halves and then dip the stack in melted chocolate, put it on parchment paper-covered cookie sheet and allow it to chill for about 15 minutes.  That's it. 

I'm thinking these are going to be my "Go-To-Dessert" this holiday season.  So easy.  So rich.  So yummy. 

Lazy Girl Mini Key Lime Pies

The Hubs loves key lime pies and I make a really mean one (if I do say so myself), but my "go-to" recipe involves baking.  And right now it's way too hot outside to even think about turning on the oven.  Solution: the Lazy Girl mini key lime pies. While they don't pack quite the intense key lime punch that a regular pie does, they're a pretty darned good summer substitute.

There's something just perfect about citrus flavors in the summertime. I found the recipe via foodgawker the other day and couldn't get it out of my mind. The only cooking is on the stove top to make the lime curd (8 minutes tops), but if you were really feeling lazy you could just substitute a jarred version.  Also, it looked as if she made her own tart shells, but since my whole goal was to avoid using the oven I made a Lazy Girl substitution and just used Keebler mini graham cracker crusts (6/pkg). 

Basically all you do is fold lime curd into the some sweetened whipped cream, fill the crusts, garnish and let them chill a few hours.  Could it be any easier?!?!  I was really pleased with how the little pies turned out.  I had exactly the amount of filling for my 6 shells, making this recipe perfect for a dinner party.  They are super cute and make for a nice, refreshing dessert. 

The only change I'll make next time is to increase the ratio of lime curd to whipping cream.  She has it at 1:1 and I'm thinking 1.5:1  would provide a more key lime-y punch.  I also think this would be great if you swapped lemon curd for the lime curd and garnished it with fresh berries.

Need a chocolate fix?

If so, have I got the cupcake for you.  Seriously, these are gooood.  Really good. 

I've always been a huge fan of cream cheese frostings, but this one reaches a whole new level of deliciousness.  I've used the frosting on this particular chocolate cupcake recipe twice, as well as on a batch of white cupcakes.  Both combos were amazing.

Next time I'm thinking about swapping some Kahlua or Bailey's for the heavy cream and vanilla in the frosting.

PS: These make the best breakfast and pair really well with a cup of hot coffee.

PPS: Does anyone have a birthday or special occasion coming up soon?  I would love to have an excuse to make yet another batch of these yummies.

The Odd Couple

I resisted this heavenly combination for way too long.  It just sounded too weird.  Or maybe I thought it just sounded gross.  I don't know what I was thinking. 

 

I have come to my senses and embraced the perfect pairing that is beer and ice cream. 

The Perfect Summer Dessert

My Aunt Dorothy is one of the most interesting women I know.  Really, she is.  She had (and continues to have) a fabulous career in advertising, travels the world and is a phenomenal cook.  Actually, both she and Ed are fabulous cooks.  I love hearing about their latest culinary adventures - both domestic and abroad.  So the other day when she emailed me a recipe for Apricot Gelato (or Gelato di Albicocche) that she had tweaked a bit, I knew I just had to try it. 

Dorothy's Texas-twist on an Italian treat ... using Fredericksburg peaches in place of the apricots.  Brilliant! And incredibly convenient for me considering Mom just brought me half a bushel of those juicy gems.  It's as if the planets aligned and the heavens are willing me to make this gelato.  Who am I to resist Fate?

In the process of making this gelato I learned the coolest trick for removing the skins of peaches. I've always just blanched and shocked the peaches and then peeled the skins off in frustratingly little pieces. Turns out there is a much simpler way to do it. Cut the peaches in half, remove the pits, place them cut-side down on a pan and broil them for about 12 minutes. After they cool a few minutes the skins come right off in huge sheets! (Thanks, Aunt Dorothy, for that tip)

Although there were several steps involved, none of them were particularly difficult and there is a lot of hands-off time in this recipe while you wait for things to cool or freeze.  The only special piece of equipment I needed for this recipe was an ice cream maker.  Everytime the Hubs and I want to make ice cream at home we have to borrow my parents' 25 year old machine, purchase lots of ice and rock salt and babysit the machine outside for the 30+ minutes it takes to freeze the mixtures.  While it makes delicious ice cream it is inconvenient, loud and tough to clean.  This gelato recipe provided me with the perfect excuse to purchase my own quiet, easy to use and easy to clean Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker!  I see many more frozen treats on our future menus.

A quick run-down of Dorothy's procedure:
After broiling and peeling the peaches, chop them in to tiny pieces and let them hang out with some sugar for half an hour. 

When time's up add in some peach preserves, some milk, some cream and a pinch of salt (I forgot that part!) and bring the mixture to a boil. 

Strain it.  Dorothy put her mixture through a food mill, but I just ran mine through a fine mesh sieve.

Be patient, this process takes a little while!  Cool completely.  Overnight is best.  That gives the ice cream maker's bowl a chance to freeze completely, too. 

It made so much gelato mix that I had to freeze it in two batches, but then again, my ice cream maker is only 1 1/2 quarts.  It only took 20 minutes to freeze each batch in the machine and then I let it firm up a little more in my freezer before serving it. 

To say this gelato was delicious is a major understatement.  I'm already making plans to try the recipe again, but with other fruits.  One lady tried it with mulberries and said it was phenomenal. 

You have to check out Silvestro's site, and not just for this recipe, but for others too.  He seems like such a cool guy - cook, sommelier, teacher and photographer!  He also runs the Awaiting Table cooking school in Lecce, Italy... anyone up for a road airplane trip next summer?!?!

Paris and Comfort Food

As an experienced traveler, I typically laugh at those who make "rookie" mistakes while on the road.  I, sadly, made one of those rookie mistakes the other day.  I left my purse on the plane we took from Houston to Paris. 

As soon as I realized it was missing I began trying to recover it, all to no avail.  The Air France agents were very helpful, but the purse never surfaced. In it was my drivers license, insurance card, 2 credit cards and a tiny bit of cash.  Fortunately, I never travel without wearing my money belt, so my passport and 400 Euros were on my body.

This was both disheartening and humiliating at the same time.

So to cheer myself up during our 5 and a half hour layover at CDG I visited a delightful little pastry shop. 

The window displays were absolutely gorgeous, but I was not allowed to take photos of them.  My only other option was to purchase a few treats for myself and photograph them...

Macarons were all the rage and there were countless options.  Enough in fact to truly paralyze my decision making abilities.  So I did what I always do in that situation, ask for recommendations from the person working the counter. 

Her choices for me were a Currant and Violet flavored macaron and a Salted Caramel flavored one. 

Aren't they gorgeous?!?!?

 I liked the Currant and Violet flavor, very interesting.  I'm not a big jam or preserves person, so I didn't like the filling of that one as much.

But the Salted Caramel one... Oh. My.Word. 

I felt much better after these.

Peachy Keen

(The Hubs so kindly agreed to professionally document our session this morning.  All photos in this post are his work.  I want to make sure to give credit where credit is due.) 

Meet my friend Shannon.  She's the girl on the right.  That's me on the left.  No, we weren't mad at each other, we were simply "divinding and conquering".

No, we weren't mad at each other, we were simply "dividing and conquering".

Shannon really likes to cook too.  That makes it really easy to be friends with her.  Well, that and the fact that she is one of the kindest (and funniest) people I know.  This girl has a heart of gold. 

The last 2 Wednesdays we have gotten together to cook and it's been a blast!  Last week was biscotti, homemade nutella and nutella panna cotta.  So basically, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. 

This week Shannon wisely suggested we be a little healthier and chose this fabulous menu:

Peach and Brie Quesadillas  

Served with Grilled Peaches over Arugula with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto.

(For dessert I picked another recipe from Real Simple - Irene's Peach Surprise...but more about that tomorrow.)

Anyone picking up on a theme here? 

Since we really didn't vary from the way each of the recipes were written, I won't worry with typing in detail about steps and procedures.  Instead, I will let the Hubs' pictures explain it all.  Enjoy!

The Prep Work:

Of course there were peaches to deal with.  Lots of peaches.

There were also ingredients other than peaches to prep -

Chives

Brie

Limes and Eggs

And sauces / dressings to make -

Honey Balsamic Syrup

Honey Lime Dipping Sauce

Cooking and Assembling:

Quesadillas first -

Now for the salad -

 

(a sprinkle of crispy prosciutto)

(a drizzle of honey balsamic syrup)

I'm not sure if there was more laughing or cooking going on -

Lunch is Served:

My favorite Taste-Testing Neighbor joined us for lunch.  (She is a professional taster, you know.) 

Both dishes paired nicely with the Riesling I had chilling in the fridge.  The recipe also said a Chenin Blanc would work well. 

All 3 of us agreed there was not a thing we would change about the salad.  To say it was delicious would be an understatement.  A definite keeper. 

We also all agreed that while the quesadillas were good, they fell a bit flat in the flavor department.  Even with the dipping sauce (which was very good) they still lacked pizazz.  Georgia suggested adding cinnamon to the peaches mix and Shannon suggested cilantro.  Either (but not both at the same time!) would make a delightful addition.

Coming tomorrw: Dessert re-cap and why we re-named it Baked Georgia.