Thanksgiving Leftovers

We had a rather impromptu Thanksgiving dinner this year.  We had planned to eat at our friend's house but they had a family emergency so we gracefully uninvited ourselves. 

Lars thinks the best part of Thanksgiving are the left-overs, so even though we had other plans, he still bought a turkey.  Lars got it in the brine around 11 and in the oven around 4.  Needless to say, we didn't sit down to eat until 7:30 p.m.  I had already made whipped sweet potatoes with hazelnut struessel, roasted brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce with orange and ginger, and apple crisp.  I made stuffing, mashed potatoes. dill carrots and a pumpkin pie.  Lars finished the turkey and made gravy and we ate a feast!  It was delicious and we had a wonderful day cooking and being together as a family.

I just got my camera back from being fixed (HOORAY!!) in time to document my leftover Turkey Sandwich creation.

Rosemary Turkey Salad Sandwiches

1/2 c olive oil mayo
1/2 c fat free sour cream
1 t lemon juice
2-3 t chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
1 t dried minced onion
1 stalk celery minced
Mix all.  Add more or less of anything to your own taste.
Stir into 4 cups chopped turkey.

Serve on bread or croissants with left over cranberry sauce!
(If you don't have any cranberry sauce stir some Craisins in with the turkey salad.)

Devil's Churn

 L and E at the top of the hike.

 Down at Devil's Churn

 E and myself carrying H back up

 E, L, H, Lars and N.  always have to have one happy camper :)

Cape Perpetua lookout

About 15 miles south of us is an amazing area of Oregon called Devil's Churn and Cape Perpetua.  On Saturday we went as a family for the nice little hike down to the water and then up to the lookout.  Naomi wouldn't get near the water and was freaking out the whole time that Lars was going to fall in while he was taking pictures.  She stayed on the trail and wailed until he Dad came away from the edge and back up to her.  It was kind of sweet...I guess.  After the hike Lars treated us all to ice cream.  it was a great afternoon together.  :)

Mr. Owl, How many licks does it take?

Thanks to Leah, the world WILL know...

Half Wheat Bread

So I came across this recipe for "No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread".  Made me laugh because it's actually only half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour.  I suppose Whole Wheat bread sounds better than Half Wheat Bread.  :)

No-Knead (Half) Whole Wheat Bread
(Taste of Home's Holiday Get-Together Cookbook)

1 T dry yeast
1 1/4 c warm water
2 T honey*
2 T butter
1 t salt
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Stir in honey; add butter, salt and whole wheat flour.  beat on low speed until well-blended.  Stir in all-purpose flour.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Pour batter into a greased bread pan.  cover and let rise in a warm place until batter reaches edge of pan, about 30 minutes.  Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Makes 1 loaf. 

*My girls didn't like the honey taste so I just used brown sugar instead.  I think it has a better taste with honey, but my opinion just doesn't count in this vote.

Apology

Heidi was sitting at the kitchen table coloring with a marker.  I was by the stove making dinner. 
"Sorry 'bout that!"
I look over, "Sorry 'bout what Heidi?"
"Sorry 'bout coloring on the table!"
Upon closer inspection, I noticed Heidi was sitting at the kitchen table coloring with a marker, ON the table.  (While smiling and batting her eyes at me...and continuing to color on the table.)
Apparently an apology absolves you of any misdeed, even mid-offense.
Love that girl.

400 cookies

This is officially my 400th blog post.  Who knew I had so much to say?  (Don't answer that.)

Today for my baking adventure I was jonesin' for some Molasses cookies, but I wanted pumpkin in them.  I found a recipe for molasses cookies on food.com and made my own adjustments to it.  They turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  :)

Soft Molasses Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup softened butter 
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light colored and fluffy.  Add in pumpkin and mix thoroughly. 
3. Beat in molasses and eggs; set mixture aside.
4. Dump in salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves and cinnamon.  Mix thoroughly. 
5. Add in flour.  Mix.
6. Scoop out 1 1/2 inch balls of dough onto the cookie sheet.
7. Pour a bit of white sugar in a bowl.  Dip the bottom of a cup into the sugar and press the cookies flat.
8. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes.  Do not over bake!

Let the baking begin

Seems like once November hits, I get the baking bug.  There aren't many complaints when this bug comes to stay, aside from tight pants.  My first experiment was a layered pumpkin cake. 

It was actually a very simple cake with ingredients I already had on hand.  The only thing I didn't have was whipping cream for the ganche, so I used canned milk and it worked out just fine. :)

Pumpkin Sandwich Cake from Better Homes and Gardens, November 2008

3/4 c flour
1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3 eggs
1 c sugar
3/4 c canned pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Grease bottoms and sides of two 8 inch round cake pans.  Line bottoms with waxed paper.  In bowl combine flour, spice powder and salt; set aside.
2.  In a second bowl beat eggs and sugar until thick.  Beat in pumpkin.  Add flour mixture; beat just until combined.  Spread cake batter in prepared pans.  Bake 16-18 minutes.  Cool on wire rack 10 minutes.  Remove and cool thoroughly. 
(My layers were pretty thin, so I repeated steps 1&2 to have 4 layers of cake.)

Filling
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c whipping cream

3.  For filling, whip cream to soft peaks.  In another bowl mix cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Fold in whipped cream. 
(I doubled the filling for 4 layers of cake.)

To assemble cake, place on layer on a serving platter.  Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over bottom cake layer.  Top with second layer of cake.  Spread with c.c. mixture, repeat with 3rd and 4th layers.  Place in fridge while preparing chocolate ganache.

Ganache
1/2 c whipping cream
1 c bittersweet or semisweet chocolate pieces
(I doubled this as well.)

4.  In small saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat.  Remove.  Pour over chocolate pieces in medium b owl (do not stir).  Let stand 5 minutes.  Stir until smooth.  Cool 15 minutes.  Spread over top and sides of cake.   

Store loosely covered in the fridge. 

I will conveniently "forget" to include to nutritional content of this cake.  Remember it's fat free as long as you are giving it away.  :)

The end of the season

Naomi had her last soccer game on Nov. 5th.  They actually had two games that day.  She scored the last goal of the season!  I've never seen Naomi so ecstatic about something.  She wasn't jumping around like a crazy person, she just had the biggest glowing smile on her face and she looked so happy I thought she would cry.  (Of course, I didn't get a picture of this because I dropped the camera...yes, the one I just bought...in a mud puddle and jammed the lens.)  But here are a few picts from the season. 

front and center, ready for kick off

Halloween

The library had an evening activity for the kids with Halloween stories, tattoos, candy bags and a pumpkin to decorate. 

L was a tiger, N was a Gothic vampire, E was a cowgirl and H was a butterfly fairy.

H was SO excited to go trick-or-treating.  She had been practicing for days!  After every house that gave them candy, H would come back to Lars and me and say, "Wow!  That guy had candy!"

Happy Birthday E!

For her 6th birthday, Emilia wanted a Tinkerbell Tea Party.

Then of course there was dancing...

chocolate cup cakes...

and presents.

:)