Bacon Wrapped Turkey

by penji1

Bob wanted to try Bacon Wrapped Turkey this year so he was in charge of the bird and did a great job.  We bought an 18 pound Butterball turkey; first he brushed it with melted butter, salted it and then covered it with about 2 packages of bacon.

He put it in a 450 degree oven for about 25 minutes then dropped the temperature down to 260 degrees for about an hour and a half and then finally ramped it back up to 325 for the last 3 hours.  We think the turkey was actually done before that last 3 hours because when we got home from seeing “The Muppets” (so funny, maybe the funniest movie I’ve ever seen!), the turkey was at 180 degrees at the thigh and it should be about 165 to be done.  Here it is right out of the oven:

It was delicious but to be honest I couldn’t really tell that it had been wrapped in bacon.  It tasted great but not like bacon so I don’t know if it was worth the extra effort.  Gobble, gobble!

Turkey Cupcakes

by penji1

My friend Patty asked if I could make some favors for her family’s Thanksgiving Day dinner so this is the one she picked.  These little guys come from the cookbook, “Hello, Cupcake!” by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.  I made enough for Patty and her family and then made enough for our family and the company we have coming for dinner tomorrow, my niece Amber and her husband Taylor and their 2 kids Noah and Hannah and my niece Heidi and her husband Mark.  No time right now to list the entire how to because I still need to get another dessert made for tomorrow as well as a coffee cake for breakfast tomorrow before we all go to see the new Muppet movie (I love the Muppets!).  Happy Thanksgiving everyone and gobble gobble!

Almost – Famous Cranberry Walnut Relish

by penji1

Here is the first of several Thanksgiving related posts for the next couple days.  This recipe comes from the November 2011 issue of “Food Network Magazine” and it is from their series where they take a popular dish from a restaurant and try and recreate it.  This is based on Boston Market’s Cranberry Walnut Relish.  Haven’t ever tried it at Boston Market as we don’t have them around here anymore but it looked good and smelled great while cooking.

1 orange

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (about 8 ounces)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup chopped walnut pieces (I doubled this, 1/4 wasn’t enough)

Finely grate zest of half the orange (I zested the whole thing) into a medium saucepan, then squeeze in all the juice.  Add cranberries, sugar and walnuts and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and cranberries start to pop, about 10 minutes.  Let cool.

Mini Peanut Butter Cupcakes

by penji1

This recipe comes from the January/February 2010 edition of “The Food Network Magazine”.  It was part of an article titled “I Want Candy!” which had 6 cupcake recipes, all made to taste like a specific candy bar; this one tastes like Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (and yes, I do plan on making the rest of them!).  These are for my friend Reynolds who got sick at the end of the school year and so didn’t graduate but he recently finished all his work and graduated so his mom, Mary, is throwing him a party tonight to celebrate.  Congrats to Reynolds!  We’re all so proud of you!  🙂

cupcakes:

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder (I just used my Hershey’s cocoa)

1 1/3 cups packed dark brown sugar

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

topping:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 (10 ounce) bag peanut butter chips

glaze:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

6 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped (I used milk chocolate chips)

1  Make the cupcakes:  Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 24 cup mini muffin pan with paper liners (I actually go 48 cupcakes with this recipe).  Combine butter, cocoa and 1/4 cup water in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave until butter melts, about 2 minutes.  Whisk to combine then whisk in brown sugar.

2  Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.  Whisk in warm cocoa mixture.  In another bowl, whisk buttermilk, egg and vanilla; stir into batter until just combined but don’t overmix.

3  Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each 3/4 of the way.  Bake until cupcakes spring back when touched, about 20 minutes.  Let cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely.

4  Make topping:  Bring cream to simmer in small saucepan, then pour over peanut butter chips in bowl and let stand until chips melt, about 5 minutes.  Whisk until smooth.  Refrigerate until topping is set, about 10 minutes, then beat with mixer until fluffy.  Transfer to pastry bag with 1″ round tip and pipe peaks onto each cupcake.  (I didn’t have a 1″ round tip so just used the biggest I had.)  Place in freezer while you make glaze.

5  Make glaze:  Put butter, chocolate and 3 tablespoons hot water in small, deep microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on 50% power until chocolate melts, about 2 minutes.  Whisk until smooth.  Dip frozen peaks of each cupcake into glaze, letting excess drip off.  Refrigerate until set, about 5 minutes.

Bountiful Basket #12

by penji1

And this week’s Bountiful Basket contained:

a bag of pears (12)

8 oranges

2 oroblanco (which the guy there said was like a grapefruit, only not!)

7 bananas

1 pineapple

1 pint grape tomatoes

2 yellow onions

2 (1 pound each) bags of carrots

1 bunch spinach

2 bunches of celery

1 (5 pound) bag red potatoes

3 yellow squash

All this just in time for Thanksgiving!  Need more info?   http://www.bountifulbaskets.org

And the winners of the Pampered Chef Stoneware giveaway are . . .

by penji1

kbeck010 (Kristy Pace, is that you?)

and

sonias _cake_creations!

CONGRATULATIONS!  And thanks for subscribing!

(If you 2 will email me your contact info to penji@comcast.net, I will get your stoneware in the mail ASAP!)

PS  I decided to give away 2 smaller stones instead of 1 bigger one so that there would be more winners so each of my winners will be receiving the Mini Baker valued at $26 as well as a bunch of recipes to go with it!

Mini Triple – Treat Cupcakes

by penji1

I went to the dr with Courtney the other day and while we were waiting, I picked up an “Everyday Food” magazine (which is a Martha Stewart magazine) and I saw this recipe and wanted it and couldn’t figure out how to copy it until my genius daughter said to me, like I was a total idiot which, let’s be honest, sometimes I am, “Mom!  Just take a picture of it with your phone!”  What a great idea!  So I took a picture of it with my phone and printed it off when I got home (so much better than ripping the page out of the magazine in the dr’s office!).  It’s meant to be a Halloween treat so I put 1 candy corn on 1 of the treats so you could see how they are meant to be and then the rest I left plain.

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

48 mini chocolate peanut butter cups, such as Reese’s

48 pieces of candy corn, for decorating

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Line two 24 cup mini muffin pans with paper liners.  Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat peanut butter, butter and brown sugar on high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in egg and egg yolk.  On low, beat in flour mixture, buttermilk and vanilla until combined.

2  With mini scoop, place 2 teaspoons of batter into each muffin cup, then press peanut butter cups into each center until batter aligns with top edge of candy.  Bake until puffed and set, about 10 minutes, rotating halfway through.  Immediately place 1 candy corn on top of each cupcake;  let cool completely in pans on wire racks.  (Store in single layers, in airtight containers, up to 3 days.)

Penny’s Vegetable Soup

by penji1

We had all these great veggies from the Bountiful Basket so I got my crock pot out and just started throwing stuff into it.  I’ll try to remember what I did so you can recreate it if you’d like!

1 head broccoli, chopped

1/2 head cauliflower, chopped

1 bulb fennel, sliced, whites only

1 onion, diced

2 red peppers, diced

2 Mexican grey squash, sliced

4 celery stalks, sliced

4 carrots, sliced

3 cloves garlic, pressed

3 cans chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegan)

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place all ingredients in large crock pot and cook on high 5 – 6 hours or until veggies are tender.

(I thought about adding some rice or pasta, maybe next time.)

Pampered Chef Stoneware Giveaway!

by penji1

I’ve been meaning to do another giveaway since I finished work and I just keep forgetting!  I have a pile of Pampered Chef products sitting in my office (all the new Fall/Winter products) and there are a bunch of new stoneware pieces so I’m going to give one away to one lucky subscriber to my blog!  That’s right, all you have to be is a subscriber to my blog and you will be entered into the drawing to win a free piece of Pampered Chef stoneware.  The giveaway will end in 1 week so you have until Tuesday, November 15 at midnight to subscribe to my blog and have a chance to win the stoneware.  I will announce the winner on my blog on Wednesday, November 16.  Good luck and thanks for subscribing and indulging me in my obsession with all things food!  🙂

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

by penji1

Thought I’d make the Whites some biscuits to go along with the casserole and these couldn’t be any easier.  It’s a Bisquick recipe.

2 cups Bisquick

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Heat oven to 450.  Mix Bisquick, milk and cheese until soft dough forms; beat vigorously for 30 seconds.  Drop dough by 10 – 12 spoonfuls about 2″ apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Mix butter and garlic; brush on warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.