Thanksgiving 2023 (Better late than never)

I think anyone who reads my past Thanksgiving entries knows this is my absolute favorite holiday. It gets simpler each year. At least that’s what I think. I get up and am in the kitchen by 9 and leave by 9 so it’s a long day. I just absolutely love being in my kitchen. Also, I prep starting Monday. I like to post these entries so some day when my kids look at my blog they will remember the times we spent together. Not just Thanksgiving but all our Fridays since forever. Only time we miss Pizza Fridays is when I am out of town and that isn’t too often. Only person missing is Martin. He lives in NYC and visits other times during the year. Here goes:

Rooney loved the turkey wings!

Menu
Turkey/Gravy/Stuffing (for stuffing used Johnsonville Breakfast links cut up small this year. It was a hit)
Mashed Potatoes (Eric’s special recipe)
Sweet Potato Casserole (Paige’s special recipe)
Roasted Broccoli
Rolls – this year I baked Rustic Rolls and Red Lobster Rolls YUM!
Dessert – this year Rachel brought Apple Pie and Ice Cream. Apple Pie courtesy of Uncle Mikes Bakery. One had a caramel topping YUM!

Monday / cut up 1 loaf of Pepperidge Farm Hearty White Bread – Baked at 300 degrees for about 30 mins (Ended up cutting up 1/2 loaf of Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat Bread on Wednesday.) Weight after toasted 1#5ounces. Also, made herb butter that I brush on the turkey before baking.

Tuesday / made stock during the day. Used turkey wings. Bakes 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Put in stock pot and let simmer from 11am-5pm. Came downstairs and simmered down a bit too much. Added a bit more water. Wings fell apart and Rooney enjoyed that. Stock was really delish!

Thanksgiving Day around 9am / Fresh turkey from Maplewood Meats this year. Started with stuffing. Stuffing was in baking dishes around 10:30am. One thing we did different this year was use Maplewood Meats Sausage Breakfast links, cut up small. That was Kent’s idea. Turned out really delish. I end up covering and putting in the fridge. I take out about 1 hour before I have to bake the stuffing.

Turkey / I ended up salting the outside of the turkey and putting in fridge to dry up the skin. Next year I will do this the night before. I stuff the cavity lightly with stuffing. (Kent likes stuffing in bird) Rosemary, thyme and sage in back part of turkey. Rubbed top with herb butter. Put the turkey in at 1pm, baked at 325, 11# turkey done by 4.

Baked Rustic Rolls. Started at 12:30, ready to go in oven at 4:30. These rolls take time. Be sure to preheat oven 500degrees next year!!

Baked Red Lobster Rolls. These are so delish. Almost forgot the garlic powder. Don’t do that Dawn!!

Roasted Broccoli / Prepped night before. 3 floret heads is enough. Gotta have something green!

Eric’s delicious mashed potatoes. He makes enough so we have leftovers. They go fast next day.

Paiges Sweet Potato Casserole is delicious. She also had some Blackberry Jam her mom made for the Rustic Rolls. YUM!

Rachel brought Uncle Mikes Dutch Apple Pie and Dutch Caramel topped apple pie. We had Haggen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream to top the pie. Very yummy!

We started dinner around 5:30. Sat around having great conversations and laughs. Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is the only day we sit around the table and chat. Other times we are just hanging out in the kitchen eating pizza and yakking. Only thing is we never take pics. We need to do that next year. 

It was nice having a traditional dinner. There were plenty of side leftovers. 11# turkey is plenty. I had enough turkey left over for a pot pie the next day. I must confess, I am not a fan of turkey. Next year I am bringing back my ziti!!

Skillet Chicken Tortellini Alfredo

Courtesy of Food Network. This is a quick recipe to whip up during the week. Simple and Delicious!

Skillet Chicken Tortellini Alfredo

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 Tablespoons, melted butter
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan (or any hard Italian cheese: Parmagiano Reggiano, Romano)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
18 ounces frozen cheese tortellini
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 1/4 pound)
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley (I don’t like parsley, so I don’t use.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Heat the heavy cream, butter, nutmeg and 1 cup of the Parmesan, ground pepper and 1 teaspoon salt (if using table salt do 3/4 teaspoon) in a large ovenproof skillet over medium high heat, whisking occasionally, until the cheese and butter are melted, 3-5 minutes. Add the tortellini and simmer until cooked through, 4-5 minutes. Add the chicken and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan.
3. Bake until the chicken is just cooked through, the sauce has thickened and the top starts to turn golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with parsley.

That’s it. Enjoy!!

Pitka – Village Style

1/9/24 I haven’t baked Pitka for a long time! Marto came home for his birthday this year instead of Christmas.  He requested Pitka and a Yogurt Cake.  (I will be adding the cake later. Just took the cake out of the oven!) 

When he was younger his Grandma baked this bread for Christmas Eve.  When making Pitka for Christmas Eve the Bulgarian tradition is to put a coin and positive notes (“good health”, “happiness”, etc.) in the Pitka. We have done this in the past but not this time. I would wrap the coin in foil and wrote the notes on parchment paper, folded and placed in the Pitka. I am so happy that back in 2015 Marto had a lengthy conversation with his grandma where she explained the recipe. She has since passed and he misses her very much. He really was happy to have his first bite after a long hiatus from baking this simple and delicious bread. Welcome HOME and Happy Birthday!!

Pitka One

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk (set aside the egg white to brush top of Pitka before baking)
1 1/2 cups yogurt
2 Tablespoons sunflower oil or vegetable oil

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I place the dough in my cast iron skillet. You could spray a round baking pan if you like.  
2. In a large bowl add dry ingredients.  Whisk together and make a well by pushing the flour mixture to sides of bowl.
3. Add egg, egg yolk, oil and yogurt in center of bowl.  Mix with hands.  You can add more yogurt until combined.  (I had to put this in my stand up mixer to combine.)
4. After mixed together form a round, flat bread.  (approx 9″ round, 2-3″ height)  Place in prepared baking pan.  Brush top with egg whites.
5. Bake for 45-60 minutes (that would be longer than I did!!)
6. Take out of oven.  While warm, wrap in a towel.  When cooled place in plastic bag to store.

Simple and Delicious!

I

Asian Burgers

We like burgers once a week. They’re a quick meal after a long day of work. However, plain burgers are boring. I am always looking for a new recipe to try. Here is what we had this evening. Simple and Delicious!

Asian Burgers

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound ground beef or pork (I used 1 # ground beef, 1/2 # ground pork)
1/4 cup plain Panko bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons Japanese Barbecue Sauce (you could use oyster sauce, hoisen sauce, garlic chili sauce, so many options!)
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons Sesame Oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (you could use fresh too. I’d throw in 1 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg

Sriracha Mayo

1/2 cup whole mayo (none of that nonfat stuff!)
1 Tablespoon Sriracha Sauce
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard

For Serving

4 Ciabatta Rolls or whatever rolls of your choice
Bag of Cabbage Coleslaw, no dressing OR lettuce would be just as delicious
Freshly chopped cilantro (I love cilantro. No one else in my wonderful home does though. Too bad for them!)

Directions

Make Sriracha Mayo; Mix mayo, Sriracha sauce and Dijon mustard. You can add more Sriracha for more of a kick. I did!

Form the burgers; Mix all ingredients together. Makes 4-6 burgers depending on how large you want them. I did 5.

Serve on Ciabatta rolls (or your choice of roll), top with Sriaracha Mayo, cabbage or lettuce and a sprinkle of cilantro (or not). These burgers were #simpleanddelicious Give them a try!

Homemade Bagels #simpleanddelicious

Kent and I were chatting one night over a brewski. I told him I would like a challenge in the kitchen. While we were talking I was looking through the March/April edition of Food Network magazine. He pointed to the Homemade Bagel recipe and said “do the bagels, that’s my challenge!” Ugh, I thought. This will be so time consuming!! I took him on though. Had to see if I was successful. I have made these 4 times in 3 weeks. The only thing really time consuming is putting it in the fridge overnight. Not a big deal at all. Totally worth it. Way better than store bought bagels!

Homemade Bagels

Ingredients

1/2 cup plus 2/3 warm water (105-110 degrees)
1/4 cup barley malt syrup (I couldn’t find in town so I ordered Eden Barley Malt Syrup on Amazon)
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 cups of bread flour, plus more if needed (you will need more when kneading. FYI: I weigh my flour. 1 cup = 4 1/4 ounces or 120 grams. I weigh in grams.)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Cooking spray
Cornmeal for dusting
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Sesame seeds, coarse salt, poppy seed and/or everything seasoning for topping (Kent likes plain bagels so no topping for us. However, I see cinnamon raisin bagels in my future!)

Directions

1. Stir together 1/2 cup warm water and 1 Tablespoon malt syrup in a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast on top. Let soften a minute, then stir. Let bloom for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl, make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture and 2/3 cup warm water in center and stir with a wooden spoon to make a shaggy dough. Not all the dough will mix in.
3. Knead the dough in the bowl to mix in more of the flour, and work the dough into a rough ball in the bowl.
4. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and begin kneading. As you knead the dough will become tacky and stick to your fingers, then it should lose its stickiness and form a smooth ball (this take 3-4 minutes). If the dough get super sticky I throw small amounts of bread flour on the counter and continue to knead the dough.
5. Once the dough starts to smooth out continue kneading until satiny and pillowy. It takes about 8-10 more minutes of kneading. Rip off a small piece of the dough and gently stretch the 4 corners. If it can stretch very thin without tearing, it’s ready. If it tears, knead 2 minutes and check again. (I knead by hand 10 minutes, that’s all this dough is getting out of me! That seems to be just the right amount of time.)
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly sprayed bowl. Cover in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. You don’t want the dough to bubble. (1 hour is all l let it set.)
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and mist with cooking spray. Turn out the dough onto the baking sheet, press to flatten the dough, making sure to press out any bubbles. (I shape it into 9×6 rectangle.) Divide into 6 pieces, 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 ounces each. (I use a pizza cutter and do 3×3 squares). FYI: I also did a batch where I divided into 4 pieces so we could have larger bagels. You may want a larger bagel.
8. Pull the corners of each piece together and form a ball. Set the ball, with the seam on the bottom, back on the parchment lined baking sheet.
9. Form the bagels one at a time; First stick your thumb through the middle of a dough ball, then insert your index finger and gently start to stretch the hole.
10. Roll the bagel in a circle around your index fingers to stretch the hold until 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide.
11. Transfer the bagel to the parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. The bagels will puff slightly.
12. About 30 minutes before boiling, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and remove the bagels from the fridge. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a wide pot. Stir in the remaining 3 Tablespoons of the malt syrup. Gently add 2-3 bagels, rounded side down and boil for 2 minutes, flipping halfway through.
13. Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and put back on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining bagels. It’s okay if they deflate a bit as they cool but the should mostly keep their shape.
14. Line a separate baking sheet with with parchment paper and dust with cornmeal. Brush tops and sides of bagels with egg white and sprinkle with your toppings. (I do brush with the egg white but I do not top with anything).
15. Bake on the middle oven rack until the bagels are golden brown and crisp, rotating the pan halfway through, 18-20 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes (yeah, right). Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!!

Taco Lasagna – Simple and Delicious

Today is Twosday, 2/22/22. It is also Taco Tuesday. A friend of mine told me she found a recipe for Taco Lasagna and it was easy and tasty. I had her send it to me. Her recipe had 2 cups of cream in it. I am not a fan of milk. I checked around and found another recipe on the www.theslowroasteditalian.com blog. She has some nice recipes! I ended up making some changes because that’s what we do, right?? This does not take long at all. If you really want to make you life easy you could use an envelope of taco seasoning. Just sayin’! Here goes:

Taco Lasagna

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef (or chicken, turkey, pork)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 teaspoons smoked paprika (I am not a fan of Smoked so I did 1 teaspoon smoked and 1 teaspoon sweet paprika)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt (I added a little bit more, just a 1/2 teaspoon 🙂 I like salt. Also, if you use table salt use a little less)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes (I had them on hand but if I didn’t I would have used plain)
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed (I had dark red kidney beans so that’s what I used)
1 1/2 cups frozen corn (canned corn would work)
1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce
12 8″ large flour tortillas (I used the 12 smaller tortillas as I used an 8×8 baking dish)
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese
6 oz can sliced black olives
2 scallions, finely chopped (I didn’t have those today)
2 Tablespoons cilantro (I put on mine but no one else likes it. They say it tastes like soap. Seriously??)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. (This can be done earlier in the day. I work from home so I did it during my lunch hour) Drizzle olive oil into a large skillet, over medium high heat. Add beef, onion, spices, salt and pepper to skillet. Brown beef for about 5-8 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans and corn. Stir to combine. Allow to cook while prepping baking dish or if you made earlier, warm up before putting into baking dish.
3. Spread out 1/3 of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. (I used an 8×8 baking dish and still did 1/3) Then I cut the small size flour tortillas in half and lined the bottom of the dish with them. If you use the larger dish and tortillas you still may want to cut the tortillas in half. They line the baking dish much better.
4. Spoon half the beef mixture over top of the tortillas, spread evenly. (If you use a smaller dish, use 1/3 of the meat mixture.) Layer tortillas on top of beef mixture. Spread about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle 1/2 of cheese on top and scatter the green chiles over the cheese. Add remaining beef mixture. Spread evenly. Layer tortillas on top of beef mixture. Spread remaining enchilada sauce over tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of tortillas. Garnish with olives and scallions.
5. Bake 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and lasagna is warmed through.
6. Let is set for 5 minutes. Cut and serve. ENJOY!!
   

Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies – DELISH!

Rachel and I did our annual Christmas cookie day. It was nice to be able to get together this year. 2020 was COVID year so that was a lost year. Her picks this year were Pinwheel Cookies and Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies. They were both delicious but these were a big hit.

Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies
(Courtesy of delish.com)

Ingredients

For the Filling

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

(We ended up making another batch of this. We froze what was leftover and dipped in melted chocolate!)

For the cookies

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar (plus more for rolling)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Make filling: in a medium bowl, combine peanut butter and powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Scoop into small balls (about 1 1/2″). Freeze until ready to use. (I sift the powdered sugar)
3. Make cookies: In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, butter and sugars and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined. (I used my stand up mixer)
4. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Scoop a heaping Tablespoon of cookie dough and flatten into a round disc. Place frozen peanut butter ball on top. Bring the edges of the dough around the peanut butter ball and pinch the edges together to seal. You can add more dough to cover the frozen peanut butter if needed.
6. Roll stuffed cookie dough ball in sugar and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat until all dough is used, spacing the cookies 2″ apart. (Oops, we forgot to roll in sugar and they were still “the bomb” per Martin and everyone else! Martin was able to come home for Christmas this year!!)
7. Bake until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom, 12-15 minutes.
8. Serve warm or at room temperature! ENJOY!!
   

Italian Lemon Cookies

If you are Italian (or maybe not) I am sure you remember those yummy, round, lemony cookies with lemony icing and often with sprinkles on the cookie tray.  That cookie tray was always mounded with all kinds of cookies.  I would always grab those lemon cookies!  It was only at Christmas time.  I used to LOVE those cookies and still do.  Here is the recipe I use.

Italian Lemon Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together shortening and sugar, cream in eggs and lemon extract.
3. Dissolve baking soda in milk
4. Add dry ingredients . Alternate 1/3 dry ingredients with milk/baking soda until all ingredients are mixed together.
5. You can chill this dough.  (If I’m not doing cutouts and just rolling in balls I don’t chill.)
6. I use a Tablespoon and roll the cookie dough into a 1″ diameter ball.  I place on parchment lined cookie sheet.  You could just place on a non stick cookie sheet. Do not grease the sheet.
7. I place the racks in middle of oven.  Bake for 9-11 minutes, until bottom is a light golden brown.
8. When cooled frost with lemon frosting or glaze.  I do a glaze. You just dip the tops of cookies in the glaze and set aside to set.   You can add food coloring to make festive for the holidays.

Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup powdered sugar
Juice 1/2 lemon (or 1Tablespoon of water)
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

In a medium bowl I stir together the above ingredients. Depending on consistency you desire will depend on how much lemon juice (or water) you add.  Sometimes I like a frosting, sometimes more of a glaze.   Either way, these cookies are Simple and Delicous.  HO HO HO!!

 

Banana Cookies

Got some ripe bananas?  You could do some banana bread AND banana cookies!! This is a recipe I have had for many years.  I cut it out of the Syracuse Herald Journal newspaper a very long time ago.  Give them a try!!

Banana Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1/2  cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup mashed banana (I use 1 large ripe banana)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional (we don’t add nuts)

1.  I mix by hand.  No need to drag out the mixer!!  Mix the sugar, brown sugar, mashed bananas, oil,  and vanilla together.
2.  Mix in dry ingredients
3.  Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet or ungreased baking sheet.
4.  Bake 10-12 minutes.

These always a hit.  And I wasn’t kidding when I said “Simple and Delicious!”

Thanksgiving 2021

Last year was Covid2020.  The first year ever that we did not celebrate Thanksgiving all together as a family.  This year we were able to get together as years before.  Martin lives in NYC now so he wasn’t at the dinner table but he popped in with Facetime.  He will be home for Christmas this year.

I enjoy typing my annual Thanksgiving synopsis. I do this each year to remember my favorite day. No one other than my kids will even appreciate this post. (You may want to stop here.) Who knows! Maybe they won’t see this entry. However, it is here for them for many years to come. Someday, to one or all of them, this may have some meaning. I remember when my mom used to send me random news article, recipes and quotes. She would write little notes. I sure miss her. Anyways, here is my diary of Thanksgiving 2021.

We had a wonderful dinner together. We all enjoyed the spread. Eric brought his famous mashed potatoes, Paige made her delicious sweet potato crisp. As always, we enjoyed each others company with great conversation and the abundance of food. We are very fortunate to have each other. Even more this year than any other.

Here is what I did this year in my kitchen from 7:30am to 8:30pm and I loved every single minute!!  It was smooth sailing but I need reminders of, what else, my stuffing issues.  I have diaries of Thanksgiving back to 2009 and stuffing is always my nemesis!!

Sunday before: made turkey stock.  I used 4# of turkey wings which I get from Woodmans.  I had plenty of stock leftover this year.  I only use 3 cups for the stuffing and 2 cups for the gravy. I also made a quick stock on Thanksgiving with the neck and giblets.  That cooks down to enough for gravy.  If you run out use chicken boullion!  Also, put the frozen 12# turkey in fridge. It will be ready for that special day!

Wednesday morning I did my Cranberry Orange relish in the oven, slow cooking, 225 degrees.  It takes about 3 hours.  I used cardamom instead of cinnamon.  It was delish but next year use ¼ teaspoon versus ½ teaspoon.  Rachel and Paige did like it but the cardamom was too much.  In the evening, I cubed 16 ounces of Pepperidge Farm Hearty White bread and set aside to toast on Thanksgiving day.  Oh and I made my sauce for the baked ziti.

Thanksgiving Day I was busy.  First thing I do is take the turkey out of fridge.  Then I toasted the bread cubes.  I used 3 different vessels.  I thought I would try an experiment. I used a flat cookie sheet, a cookie cooling rack and a large baking sheet with 1″ sides. I wanted to see if there would be a huge difference when toasting the bread cubes.  I used my lower&upper oven and the toaster oven.  The toaster oven was best because it was faster but other than that no big discovery. I baked at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  I always struggle with my stuffing. Here is what I paid attention to this year and hopefully I will believe it in 2022. FYI: you can make it early.  It will set on counter just fine. 16 ounces of cubed bread is ENOUGH.  There are leftovers for us and whoever wants to bring some home.  I used Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage for the first time ever.  It was just fine. Ok, let’s move on Dawn!

After the bread crumbs were toasted and set aside in a nice big bowl I cleaned the turkey.  I then prepared my herb butter.  I spread the herb butter under the skin and all over the top of turkey.  Kent likes some stuffing in the turkey so I do that every year.  Haven’t died yet!  I put the turkey in the oven 325 degrees at 1:45 and it was done by 4:00.  I thought it was super quick and checked all over with my meat thermometer.  It was definitely done.  We let set for over an hour before carving.  I don’t have dinner until 5:30ish.  It was fine.

While the turkey was baking I put together my baked ziti (baked at 375 for 30 mins).  Prepped my broccoli for roasting (roast at 425 for 10 mins). Baked my halfmoon cookies and frosted them.  Baked my Italian Rolls (start rolls earlier next year! They take 3 hours with prep and baking!!)  Phew.  I’m tired typing this.  Oh, and take a family photo next year!! You totally forgot this year!!

Happy Thanksgiving and to all a good night!!