Friday, November 22, 2013

November 22, 2013

Last week I told you I was going to see a movie; it was FANTASTIC!!!!!  I saw About Time with some of my gal pals and it was fabulous.  The writing was cute and witty, the main characters were adorable and believable.  All in all...it was great.  I own hardly any movies, and I may have to add this to my collection in the future.  Clearly no requirement to see this on the big screen, but borrow it from the library (or me once I own it) when it comes out.

Can you believe this...Thanksgiving is less than a week away!  Wow!  We tried a new dinner recipe this week, but it didn't earn keeper status, but I do have a DIY pumpkin pie spice recipe that might come in handy during this holiday season!  It is convenient to have pumpkin pie spice on hand, but who wants to pay $4 or so for a specialty spice that you can likely put together from what is already in your spice cabinet?  I made this, used it in a pumpkin pie and in pumpkin squares and it worked well.

I've put a few links to some of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes below.  And if you want to help me out, let me know what are some of your favorite post-Thanksgiving recipes!

Happy cooking - especially if you are making and hosting the Thanksgiving feast!

New Recipes
DIY pumpkin pie spice

Tried and True Recipes
Turkey brine
Traditional stuffing
Popovers
Easy crescent rolls
Classic Pumpkin Pie

Ideas for Thanksgiving Leftovers
Buffalo Chicken lasagna (use turkey!)
Chicken Pot Pie (use turkey!)
Cranberry turkey salad
Enchiladas

DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice

Ingredients
* 4 tsp cinnamon
* 4 tsp nutmeg
* 4 tsp ginger
* 3 tsp allspice

Directions
Mix the spices together, then measure and use as your recipe requires.

Notes
You can adjust this if you want, but it was great in pumpkin pie and pumpkin squares.

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
* 2 cups pumpkin (fresh if you have it!)
* 2 eggs, slightly beaten
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp ginger
* 1/4 tsp cloves
* 1 can evaporated milk
* 1 nine inch unbaked pie shell (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Mix the filling ingredients in order.  Pour into the pie shell.
3. Bake for 15 minutes at 425, then reduce the heat to 350 F and continue baking for 45 additional minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
4. Cool completely.  Serve room temperature, or chilled.

Notes
Yes, I put that the pie crust is "optional".  All season I've been making crustless pumpkin pie, and it has been great!  It is easy to make the filling and it cuts and serves just fine without the pie crust.  So for me, the crust is optional!  Also, I did also swap out the spices for 1 3/4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. Feel free to do so as well.  

I process pumpkin each autumn and use it in our pumpkin recipes.  So instead of a can of pumpkin (make sure you don't buy pumpkin pie filling if you do buy pumpkin) you can use 2 cups of fresh pumpkin.