Thanksgiving Delights: Part One

I've been in charge of Thanksgiving breakfast since I've been married.  It is one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving other than the turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the after dinner dessert, the family time...okay, let me rephrase, it's my favorite part of Thanksgiving morning.

Other than the parade.

Usually I send out a family email blast to let everyone know breakfast is still on and that they don't need to bring anything because I'm crazy enough to attempt to make 12 completely different desserts within the two days before Thanksgiving.

In case you're wondering about the dessert part, this post should explain everything: Thanksgiving breakfast

This year I found inspiration in summer party invitations I saw on clearance at Target.  The invitation was a two-tone ice pop (with stick and all) and on the back was where the details of the party were to be written.  I loved this, but couldn't see using ice pops for a Thanksgiving dessert breakfast.

After a little thought, the pumpkin pie invitation was born:

I always try to switch up the menu a little bit.  Last year was the year of the mini desserts.  Mini desserts are great because guests are always afraid to be the person who takes the first slice of pie or cake.

The tough item to make mini was pumpkin pies.  Pumpkin pie should take only about 30 minutes (at most) of prep time.  Shorter even if you are using canned pumpkin and a pre-made crust.  But me, I'm married to my better than pumpkin pie recipe which uses fresh butternut squash instead of canned pumpkin.  Making this into mini pumpkin pies took collectively about 3 hours of my time.

It was so worth it.

What helped the process move along smoothly was this pancake pen I bought ahead of time:

I am absolutely in love with this item.  The pumpkin pie mixture for this recipe is extremely liquefied.  Knowing this before hand, I figured a pancake pen would make life so much easier.

Boy am I happy when I'm right.

Some of the other items on my menu were:

Just like, in fact better than, Starbucks petite vanilla bean scones.  While scones are typically a little more on the dry side, the icing on these trap the moisture in and each bite is moist with vanilla bean deliciousness.

My sister-in-law, Kristina, helped me pick this one out:

Baked French Toast.  Oh-my-goodness.  While I know this isn't really a dessert, I wanted to have a somewhat breakfast item to offer.

That's what I said to my sister-in-law as we discussed and decided on Baked French Toast to fulfill that desire of mine.  The truth was I wanted to make cranberry butter, and I figured this would be the perfect thing to put it on.

It was.  It most certainly was.

Look for the recipe for cranberry butter in one of the upcoming posts.

I love cheesecake brownies, it is my go to treat at Starbucks these days.  I thought I would concoct my own cheesecake pumpkin bar.  As Thanksgiving day got closer, and my body got run down with an unwelcome seasonal cold, I hadn't yet settled on what I would be doing to make my cheesecake pumpkin bar come to life.  That's when a coworker told me about these:

Please don't judge me when I say this, Paula Deen should be sainted.

There.  I said it, and I meant it.

I love her almost as much as I love the butter she uses in all of her recipes.

These Pumpkin Gooey Bars were just as good as the pumpkin cheesecake bars I was dreaming up.  The cake crust on the bottom gave a great balance to the sweet creamy pumpkin mixture on top.  They were yummy cold or even warmed up for about 15 seconds in the microwave.  Either way, top it with a little cool whip and you've got pumpkin heaven in bar form.

About a week before Thanksgiving, I realized I had no chocolate on my breakfast menu.

No chocolate.  No a lick, drib drab, ounce, drip drop, or even an iota of chocolate on the menu.

For shame, I know.

I looked through my clipped recipes that I have yet to make and found these glorious masterpieces:

Smores brownies.  Oh yes.

I've made another version of smores brownies before and was highly disappointed.  While they were decent brownies, they were hardly worthy of being considered smores brownies.

These most certainly were.  They were the one item on my breakfast table that I didn't have any left overs of.  Now that has to say something about them!

Go here for the recipe: Inside Out Smores Brownies

It seems this was the year of last minute additions.  I am typically not into fruit desserts.  Cherries, however, I have a soft spot for.  When I saw these mini cherry pecan pies in an ad for Lucky Leaf Cherry Pie Filling, I knew I had to make them....if I could find the time.

They were mini, which made them even more necessary to add to my breakfast table.  They took a little longer to bake than the recipe said, otherwise they were perfect.

For the recipe go here: Cherry Pecan Pies

I've saved three recipes to give you a blow by blow, step by step, look at.  Up first will be Cranberry Butter.  

You won't want to miss it.  

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins...the way they should be

Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Source: The Minimalist Baker
http://minimalistbaker.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins/
Time: 40 minutes
Ease: 2
Taste: 5
Leftover Value: 5
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Down the Drain*

*With my adjustments, it becomes Keep it in the Strainer!

During fall, I jump on the pumpkin bandwagon just like the rest of the world.*  In fact, you might remember how I became a little obsessive with pumpkins last year.  This year, time hasn't lent itself for me to make my own pumpkin puree.

*Note: Except for Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte (currently being trendily called "PSL").  For some reason, I not only dislike the PSL, I strongly dislike it.  I drink pumpkin coffee and lattes other places, but my beloved Starbucks has not met with my satisfaction on this one.*

*Note to the note: I'm really sorry about this.  Please don't judge me.


The season is still young, yet this unfortunate lack of time means that I've been using this stuff:

I've been bookmarking and dog earring tons of pumpkin recipes from magazines and the bazillion blogs that I follow.  I've also been concocting a few of my own--hello, pumpkin scones!

My first pumpkin choice came out of necessity.  There was nothing to eat for breakfast in my house and I decided chocolate chip pumpkin muffins would be the perfect choice.

The blog I got the recipe from is one I started following recently.  While it was obvious before she even stated it that these are "vegan" muffins, I knew I would be making adjustments so that these muffins would work in my normal world kitchen.

For example, she uses a "flax egg" which is made from flax seed meal and water.  Well, flax seed meal is expensive, and I happen to always, always have eggs on hand.

Therefore, adjustment to the recipe #1: "flax egg" replaced with chicken egg.

I have had these dainty measuring cups hanging around in my kitchen for years now.  I bought them a little before I started the Orange Strainer but never had the nerve to dirty them.  Then the dust in my kitchen found them and I decided they would be better used measuring food than measuring the dust.

The second adjustment to this recipe came right after the first.  It called for almond milk with 1 T of lemon juice which is basically just homemade buttermilk, except for the fact that they are using almond milk.

Are you confused?   Because I certainly am.

I used 1% milk to make buttermilk.

Oh boy.

Next, making sure that each of my four dainty cups was able to be used for this recipe, some brown sugar needed to be thrown in.  So far, the only normal part of the recipe.

If you're feeling particularly pretentious, grab your grape seed oil (seriously?) and pour in 2 T.

Since I can't imagine grape seed oil truly making a world of a difference in pumpkin muffins, I went with the good old fashioned canola oil that was hiding under my sink.

Add a splash of vanilla.  Whisk together everything you've put in so far.  Then sprinkle in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Whisk again until the mixture looks like this:

Now for the adjustment to this recipe that not only saves money, it actually makes it taste better.  The recipe calls for what I call a 50/50 flour mixture.  Meaning, you're trying a little bit to be healthy by using whole wheat flour, but you're also being a little naughty by using, gasp, white flour.

I've tried it this way, and it gives the muffins a deliciously cardboard type flavor.

Yum?

No.  

Exactly.

Swap out the 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour for more white flour.  Save the whole wheat nonsense for another recipe on another day.  Your taste buds will thank me.  

Regardless what kind of flour you choose to use, sift the flour directly into the pumpkin mixture.  This is awesome because it leaves you only using one mixing bowl.  (Not counting the sifter, the measuring cups, and measuring spoons).

Toss in 1/3 cups of chocolate chips.  I only had mini chocolate chips, so that's what I used.  Personally, I would prefer the regular sized ones.  

Also, I personally wanted more than 1/3 cup of chocolate chip as you can see by my cup which I filled to overflowing.

I used an ice cream scoop to fill my muffin cups.  The first time I did only one scoop and managed to fill 18 cups.  I wasn't too happy with their size.

Nothing says muffin like a muffin top, which sadly, this is lacking.

My second time around I filled the cups with a scoop and a half, filling only 12 muffin cups.  Then I did this:

You really can't have chocolate chip muffins, even if pumpkin is the main attraction, without a healthy sprinkling of chocolate chips on top.

Much better.  I think using the mini chocolate chips here makes for a much more inviting muffin.

With my adjustments, these muffins were worthwhile.  They were still not drop everything you're doing and do the happy dance delicious, but definitely worth making again.

Caffe Bene, New York, NY

I promise, I have been cooking.

If you read my other blog you know I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  I have just simply started a new job.  But I must say, I've had so many food related thoughts for posts come into my mind that I've been a little sad to not be able to share them with you.

And it just doesn't feel right cooking a meal without taking a million pictures.

Since I haven't been taking a million pictures of the things I have cooked over the last two months (Poor planning on my part!  Sorry, not perfect just yet....), I'll be starting simple by sharing with you my favorite coffee place in NYC.

Hubby and I were in NYC a few months ago.  He had a meeting to attend for work and I demanded to come along.  So while he sat in a meeting, I shopped in Times Square.

It was a little warm out, so naturally, my thirst grew.  The one piece of advice I'd like to give here is this: when your thirst grows in NYC, do not give in and run into a Starbucks!  You can do better!

Don't get me wrong, I love Starbucks, really I do!  But there is one located five minutes from my house.  So, why buy Starbucks, that I can get at home, when I'm in a city that offers a well rounded variety of possibilities in the coffee department alone?

This little place caught my eye:

and I decided I was going in.

*Confession time.  I did feel a slight pang of guilt that I would be enjoying a delicious coffee whilst hubby was sitting in his boring meeting.  However, I made up for it later.  Wait and see.

Since it was warm out, I went for a Mocha Frappe.  I felt even more guilty because this is hubby's drink of choice, not mine.  I'm typically an iced latte type of person.

But I was so glad I chose it.  It was smooth and creamy with the perfect amount of espresso throughout.  The best part?  I didn't crunch on a single speck of ice like I typically do when drinking a mocha frappe of other coffee establishments.

And, I'm not too proud to admit, it was halfway gone before I had even walked a block away.

I was in such a state of euphoria as I drank my frappe that the time flew by and before I knew it I was waiting for hubby to come out of the Nasdaq building.  Quickly, I confessed my sin of drinking without him and finished my statement by demanding that we go back after dinner.

Hubby got the Mocha Frappe and was, of course, quite impressed.  I ordered a cappuccino and was then talked into one of Caffe Bene's specialties by the girl who rang us up.

Are you ready for this?

Waffle.  Ricotta.  Fig jam (with bacon in it).  Almond slivers.  

Don't think, why?  Just think, wow.  Because it was wow.  So, so, wow!

Never would I have ordered such a thing on my own.  But I was so glad I did.

The one and only downside that I must tell you of Caffe Bene is that there is only one in NYC and only two in all of America.

That makes me a little sad inside.  

But, on the upside, it gives me reason to visit NYC more often.  And, I think I can handle that...

Petite Vanilla Bean Scones

Recipe: Petite Vanilla Bean Scones

Source: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/04/petite-vanilla-bean-scones/

Time: 2 hours

Ease: 6

Taste: 10

Leftover Value: 10

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

Scones.  Doesn't the word itself just make you feel more sophisticated?

I have two favorite scones so far in my life.  Panera Bread's orange scone and Starbuck's vanilla bean scone.

Lucky for me, Pioneer Woman posted a recipe that produced better than Starbuck's vanilla bean scone.

I guess I'll have to work on the orange one myself.

This recipe made me purchase two things.  

1. A Pastry Cutter

I made pecan scones this past Thanksgiving.  A pastry cutter was needed for that recipe also.  It's used to cut up cold butter while simultaneously mixing it in with a flour mixture.  I didn't have one then, so I used two knives.  The pastry cutter works so much better.  It is still the hardest part of making scones, but much easier to do with a pastry cutter than two knives.

2. Vanilla Beans

One day, I'm going to make my own vanilla extract.  This is where I'll go to get my vanilla beans.  

Using vanilla beans was such a new experience for me in baking.  It seems scary and intimidating because it involves slicing down the middle of the bean.  But really is was easy and exciting because you get to dig out the delightful vanilla bean specks inside.

My only error was making my scones a little too big to be defined as "petite".  They look okay from this view, but most of them are really double the size that they should be.

The scones left a crazy mess of flour, dough, vanilla beans, and cookware.

But they were so worth it.  They aren't overly dry as some scones tend to be.  The icing is divine and I have a feeling I'll be using it for more than just scones.