Caramel Walnut Pie

I was trying to come up with my meal plan for "Thanksgiving Part 2" last year (2009), and started by looking through the latest food magazines. I got the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine in the mail, and came up with a bunch of recipes I wanted to try. I don't particularly like pecans, but I LOVE walnuts. When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. Not only did I love it, but so did everyone else.

• 1 frozen pie crust, thawed
• 4 large eggs
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ cup light corn syrup
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 ¾ cups walnuts, halved
• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 2 Tbsp. honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.
2. Fit the piecrust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" glass pie dish. Crimp the edges to form a ¼-inch high border and refrigerate.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar until smooth.
4. Whisk in the corn syrup, butter, vanilla and salt.
5. Gently stir in the walnuts.
6. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake until the filling is set in the center, 35-40 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the cream and honey until stiff peaks form.
8. Serve the pie with the honey whipped cream.

Cranberry Sauce

Martha gave me this recipe in 2009 in preparation for our big after-Thanksgiving dinner that we hosted for the Lindow and Lentini families. I'm personally not a huge fan of cranberry sauce, but this is definitely a must-have for any Thanksgiving meal and turned me into a homemade cranberry sauce convert. Now that Thanksgiving is coming up again, my friends and I decided to have a pre-celebration that we called Mini Thanksgiving. Martha was going to make cranberry sauce to bring, but unfortunately got sick at the last minute, so I volunteered to make it in her place. I'm hoping I did her proud.

To read Martha's original entry, visit her blog at:http://www.throwingspoons.com/2007/11/t-minus-three-weeks-and-counting.html

• 1 bag cranberries, rinsed and picked over
• 1 cup sugar
• Juice of 1 orange, plus grated rind (I used only about half of an orange for the gratings)
• ¼ cup water
• Ground ginger, to taste (optional)
• Ground cloves, to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Grate the rind of the orange and set aside
2. Combine the berries, sugar, orange juice, and water in a saucepan and cook, covered, over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the berries have all popped open.
3. Stir in the orange zest.
4. Cool and then transfer to refrigerator containers until using.
   
   May be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Another fast seller for Timmy's 5th Grade Bake Sale was the Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Shockingly, it's another recipe from my friend, Martha, however, credit should be traced back to her best friend, Andrea. It was a really easy recipe that produced amazingly moist cupcakes. The frosting was courtesy of my friend, LaDawna, who spent the night before the bake sale making and frosting baked goods with me.

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• Ingredients called for on the box of cake mix, MINUS the water
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• ½ tsp. pumpkin spice (I didn't have pumpkin spice, so I used ¼ tsp. allspice)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.
2. Line 2 muffin tins.
3. Mix yellow cake mix with all of the ingredients, EXCEPT the water. Add the can of pumpkin, plus the pumpkin spice.
4. Bake at 350 Degrees for approximately 18-22 minutes.
5. Cool and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ½ cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature
• 8 oz. (1 package) Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pumpkin Bread

Getting ready for Timmy's 5th Grade Bake Sale, I asked my friends what would be good items to have for sale. Being that it is now Fall, there were some shout outs for anything pumpkin. Guess who volunteered their Pumpkin Bread recipe? You guessed it -- Martha! My friend LaDawna amped up the WOW factor, by suggesting that we slice it horizontally at the center and at the top, and then add Cream Cheese Frosting. GENIUS! Huge seller at the bake sale, not to mention extremely scrumptious!

For more information on Martha's recipe, you can visit the post in her blog at:http://www.throwingspoons.com/2007/10/great-pumpkin-bread.html

• 3 ½ cups flour
• 2 ½ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 can (15-16 oz.) pumpkin puree
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour TWO 9x5x3" loaf pans.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together pumpkin and oil (it will look curdled -- it's ok!)
5. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each.
6. Make a well in the flour, adding pumpkin, and stirring to moisten.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
8. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ½ cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature
• 8 oz. (1 package) Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cranberry Bread

My friend Martha seems to be my go-to person for recipes. For Thanksgiving 2009, she gave me her recipe for Cranberry Bread, that she calls "Fred's Cranberry Bread". I also pulled this recipe out for Timmy's 5th Grade Election Day Bake Sale, and they sold out almost immediately.

To read more about Martha's recipe, visit her website:
http://www.throwingspoons.com/2007/11/cranberry-bread.html

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• Approximately ¾ cup orange juice
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 2 cups fresh cranberries, washed, picked over, and halved (not chopped)
• ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.
2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
3. Combine vegetable oil with enough orange juice to make ¾ cup
4. Stir egg into juice mixture and pour into dry ingredients. Mix enough to dampen.
5. Gently fold in cranberries (and walnuts, if using).
6. Spoon into greased loaf pan, spreading sides slightly higher than center.
7. Bake at 350 Degrees for 50-60 minutes.
8. Turn out of pan to cool on rack.

Yields 1 Large Loaf, or 3 Mini-Loaves

Chicken Pot Pie

It was two days before Halloween, and Timmy and I had some time on our hands after school ended, but before the school Halloween party that evening. My friend Lora invited me to come over and hang out at her house. I ended up getting there before she did, so we hung out with her husband Mike. When we entered the house, a heavenly scent was coming from the kitchen -- Mike was making Chicken Pot Pie! In all honesty, he got the recipe off of allrecipes.com, but I will definitely give him the credit for making one of the best Chicken Pot Pies we've ever had!

• 1 pound skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves, cubed (I probably used about 3-4 chicken breast halves)
• 1 cup sliced carrots (I think I used about 10-15 mini carrots)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ½ cup sliced celery
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• ½ butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• ½ cup flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• 1 ¾ cups chicken broth (1 14oz. can)
• 2/3 cup milk
• Puff pastry

DIRECTIONS

1. Take puff pastry out of freezer to thaw.
2. Boil chicken until cooked through, cool, and cube.
3. In a separate saucepan, add water to cover carrots, peas, potatoes, and celery, and boil for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
4. Combine with cubed chicken, and set aside.
5. In a saute pan, over medium heat, melt butter and add diced onions, cooking until soft and translucent.
6. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper.
7. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk.
8. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick.
9. Remove from heat and set aside.
10. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
11. In an oven safe dish, scoop the chicken and vegetable mixture at the bottom, pouring hot liquid mixture over the top.
12. Roll out puff pastry, and place over top of chicken/vegetable dish, sealing edges, and cutting away the excess dough.
13. Brush top of pastry with an egg wash, and cut slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape.
14. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
15. Cool for 10 minutes until serving.
    

Bourbon Slush

This delicious concoction comes from Nick's Uncle Bob. It brings back memories of summer vacations in Wells, Maine. Although Halloween is not a summery time of year for a nice slush, I ended up pulling out this recipe for our contribution to the Sherborne Circle Halloween of 2010 Trick or Drinking exchange. I got many compliments, mostly from the dads of the neighborhood. I'll have to remember to make this again next summer, when it's not so chilly out.

• 2 cups boiling water
• 4 tea bags
• 1 12-oz. can of frozen lemonade
• 1 6-oz. can of frozen orange juice
• 7 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ cups bourbon (12 oz.)

Directions
Steep 4 tea bags in 2 cups of boiling water until cool, and then remove the tea bags.
In a sealable tupperware container, mix together remaining ingredients with the tea water.
Freeze covered, stirring occasionally, as you remember.