Apple-Sage Stuffing Cups

Happy Thanksgiving eve!!












































Making Thanksgiving dinner can be quite intimidating! I made my first Thanksgiving turkey a couple of years ago and used Pioneer Woman's brine. The skin got a little burnt but it was so juicy and flavorful, unlike any turkey I've ever had! 



























This weekend we made a turkey breast but wanted to go simple, meaning no brine. We made a small 6-lb turkey breast rubbed in butter and herbs. Really easy to make, tasted good, but I could tell it wasn't brined. Next year, it's all about the brine, baby. Plus, turkey breasts are good and all but don't have that dark meat and this turkey breast didn't yield much drippings to make homemade gravy. I don't feel confident enough in the actual turkey recipes to post them just yet, but I hope to keep practicing so that I can eventually post a turkey recipe where I'm confident in the cooking time, temp, method etc. 

Anyways, enough about turkey since I'm not sharing a turkey recipe. Today I've brought you Stuffing Muffins. Not just any stuffing muffins, but ones with apple and sage!

Stuffing Muffins are kind of a brilliant idea. They are the perfect little individual portions (let's be honest though, you can't eat just one). Plus they're adorable.

I'm more of a dry stuffing kinda girl myself, while PJ likes his wet and moist. I loved that these had crispy and moist parts. I loved the apple and onion in these too.  

Apple-Sage Stuffing Cups
adapted from Cooking Light 

• 10.5 oz French baguette, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 and 1/2 cups diced Granny Smith apples
• 1 and 1/4 cups yellow or white onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 and 3/4 cups unsalted chicken stock
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until toasted, stirring after 8 minutes. Place bread in a large bowl.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add diced apples, onion, celery, sage, pepper and salt. Saute for 5 minutes or until tender. Add apple mixture to large bowl of bread cubes. Toss to combine. 

Combine stock and beaten eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add stock mixture to the bread mixture, stirring gently to combine. 

Divide bread mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray, about 1/2 cup each. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Printable Recipe

 

















What are you all having for Thanksgiving? What are you thankful for? 

I can't even begin to count them all  :)


Linking up here.


Peace, and bacon grease!  

Crockpot Cranberry Sauce with Apple, Orange & Crystallized Ginger

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know you all are probably with your families and friends eating delicious turkey and watching parades, but I've got a recipe I wanted to share with you.
 
Today I'm sharing a trusty, easy, leave-it-to-the-slow-cooker cranberry sauce recipe.

You're already busy enough on Thanksgiving day, right? Why add to the stress when you can let your crockpot do the work on this delicious Thanksgiving side item?!

And it's fancy because it has apples in it, along with a hint of orange and ginger. Sounds good, eh? Well, it is!






Crockpot Cranberry Sauce with Apple, Orange & Crystallized Ginger
from Cookin Canuck

• 4 medium Gala apples, peeled, cored, quartered & sliced
• 1 (12 oz) package fresh cranberries
• 5 tablespoon brown sugar (or more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Place all of the apple pieces and cranberries in a large bowl and stir in brown sugar and orange zest.

Pour orange juice into the bottom of a large crockpot and add the apple mixture.

Cover, turn the crockpot setting to low, and cook for about 8 hours, stirring occasionally and breaking up the apple slices and cranberries with a wooden spoon as they soften.

Stir in crystallized ginger. Taste and add an additional tablespoon or two of brown sugar if too tart.

Serve warm or room temperature.


Printable Recipe

 

Perfect alongside some succulent turkey, gravy, and stuffing. Also perfect for leftover casseroles and sandwiches. Let's just say it's perfect.

Have a happy happy Thanksgiving! 

Are you guys braving the Black Friday shopping?? I'm contemplating it... 


Peace, and bacon grease!

 

Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Caramelized Onions

Thanksgiving is in the air!

 

































With only a couple of days until Thanksgiving, of course I had to post some last-minute Thanksgiving recipes! You know me. Queen of procrastination. 


Well, at least I'm bringing you potatoes. BACON and potatoes. CARMELIZED ONIONS and BACON and potatoes. Sorry I'm not screaming at you. I'm just really excited about bacon and caramelized onions.

The world is complete.

Potatoes, bacon, and caramelized onions are just a few of the things I'm thankful for in my life.

Along with my sweet fiance who I love spending everyday with, my amazing, strong mother, my doting father, my goofy brother, my beautiful niece, my cute chubby cat Romeo, all of my friends, my cozy home, my education, my job. And of course food in general.  

I mean, food is one of the few things I look forward to everyday. You too? I wake up thinking about what's for breakfast, after I eat breakfast I'm thinking about lunch, and after lunch I'm already daydreaming about dinner.

Food DEFINITELY goes on that list of things I'm thankful for. As do these Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Caramelized Onions.

 

Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Caramelized Onions
from Cookin Canuck

*Serves 4-6

• 3 strips of bacon
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
• 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

Place the bacon in a large skillet set over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it is golden brown and crispy. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. Crumble and set aside. Discard all but 1 teaspoon of the bacon fat. Add the olive to the bacon fat and set the skillet over medium heat.

Add the onions and cook and cook until the onions are golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add the fresh sage and cook for 1 more minute.

Place cubed potatoes in a large saucepan and cover potatoes with cold water. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt and set saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes, return to saucepan and set over medium heat, stir the potatoes until dry, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover to keep potatoes warm.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, butter, remaining salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir occasionally until butter is melted. Reduce heat to low. Using a heat-proof rubber spatula, stir the potatoes into the milk mixture, mashing until completely combined. Stir the caramelized onions and bacon into the mashed potatoes. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.


Printable Recipe


































 

It's easy to forget that we really are blessed. AMERICA, we are blessed! With the people in our lives, the things, the food. So many blessings.

Let's cherish them and be thankful. Today. And everyday.


Peace, and bacon grease!

Pumpkin {Shaped} Cheese Ball

Oh, hi there. I am indeed alive and have not suddenly vanished off the face of the earth.

I have no good excuse except that I've been busy, like all of you I'm sure.

I've neglected my poor blog for over a week now, and I don't feel good about it. I haven't even gotten to catch up on your Thanksgivings (I've missed you!)... or post any new recipes (sorry, no Thanksgiving recipes)... or even cook recently really (and no menu plan this week)! I feel like a terrible blogger. I truly hope you all did enjoy your Thanksgivings and had plenty to be thankful for. I know I do. I'm thankful for all of you, too! Like, so much. Especially when I don't call or write for over a week. Yall are definitely some keepers.  Don't break up with me, k?

Enough with the sappy talk though, let's get on to the food that I've deprived you of lately.

You know what else makes me a bad blogger? I have been wanting to post about this recipe for the past month and a half! Time just gets away from me. You too? Ok good, it's not just me. I made this to bring to our company potluck lunch at Halloween. I never did post about it though, but figured I could still post about it before Thanksgiving and that you, my readers, could still make it for Thanksgiving if you wanted. Again, I didn't. So here it is. Finally. After Halloween and after Thanksgiving. But before Christmas, at least... pat on the back for that.

This is a pumpkin-shaped cheese ball. Not a pumpkin-flavored cheese ball. I don't want any nasty comments saying someone was expecting a pumpkin-flavored cheese ball recipe. Though that does sound quite enticing. Just coverin' my butt.

Pumpkin {Shaped} Cheese Ball

adapted from Taste of Home

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8 oz) container chive and onion cream cheese, softened
• 2 oz sour cream
• 2 cups (8 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 celery rib 
• Sliced apples, crackers, tortilla chips, veggies, pretzels for dipping

In a small bowl, beat cream cheeses and sour cream until smooth. Stir in the cheddar cheese, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Shape into a ball, to resemble a pumpkin. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.

With a knife, add vertical lines to the cheese ball to resemble a pumpkin furthermore. Insert a celery rib (you will have to cut it) for the stem. Serve with dippers of choice.

Printable Recipe

 

Make this next Halloween. Or Thanksgiving. Or anytime during the 2012 fall season and those to come. Just be sure to make it before Christmas, like I did, and you'll be a-ok in my book.

*Another reason I am a horrible blogger: I'm behind on my 12 Weeks of Christmas posts! Yikes, tomorrow we are supposed to be on Week 10 I believe... and I haven't linked up since Week 7. So you may be seeing some Christmas goodie recipes coming from me soon that I'll be linking up to past weeks.... going back in time. I'm allowed to do that, right? Hey, if the linky is still open I say it's fair game, even if it is several weeks later! So stay tuned for that.

I'm gonna stop listing reasons I'm a bad blogger now. 

Off to bed to get 5 hours of sleep!!! Gotta love late-night blogging.


Peace, and bacon grease!

M.I.A.

Holy Sweet Jesus I haven't blogged in so long! It's been busy around my neck of the woods, as I'm sure everyone has been! Work has been busy, and of course the holidays. I feel so bad that I wasn't able to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving, nor did I post any Thanksgiving recipes or leftover ideas. What kind of food blogger doesn't blog about some yummy turkey and stuffing recipes?! This one, that's who! I really wanted to get into it, but life doesn't allow for that sometimes. Hopefully I can do more baking and holiday-related posts for Christmas... but that's not a promise....

So Happy BELATED Thanksgiving to everyone, I hope you all spent it with family and friends and good food :) I sure did! On Thanksgiving day, PJ and I went to my mama's house for dinner and enjoyed some turkey, ham, collard greens (always a must at my mama's house for any occasion), rolls, mac and cheese, and lemon pie. It was a pretty small gathering - just my mama, daddy, brother, PJ and I. Can you believe that was the first time PJ had gone to my parents' house for a holiday dinner? After 10 years! I hardly can believe it myself. But my family is strange like that... but that's another story....

Don't ask me why I have NO pictures from my mom's Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't take any pics of her food, or any of PJ with us for the first time this Thanksgiving. I am such a slacker! But I for sure wasn't going to make that same mistake the next day, on Friday when we went to PJ's mom's for dinner. More turkey, yay! Amy always outdoes herself... .she decorated the table beautifully and all of her food was sooooo good and looked like it took forever to make! She also made homemade gravy and stuffing, which was a real treat. I am definitely gonna be getting some recipes from her for when we host our own Thanksgiving one day. Dinner at her house was fancier than my mama's, with a beautifully decorated table setting, and fancy foods. Don't tell my mom, but the turkey and stuffing were also better!

Wanna know another reason why I'm a crappy food blogger? Though I wasn't hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house, I did want to make some desserts or something to bring to each house to help out. But what do you know... I ran out of time and didn't. Or maybe it was laziness?

Enough of the yapping, let's get to the pictures! And like I said, no pics from my mom's house... so these are all from the future in-laws' house.

Mashed potatoes are a must at Thanksgiving. Pour some gravy on them and that's pure deliciousness. There was beer too, and beer is always good :) I had me a bud light lime. That red casserole dish at the top left is her scrumptious stuffing... I dunno what all she put in it but man was it the best stuffing I have ever had! It had apples in it I think, and I thought I would never like a stuffing with fruit in it. I was always against it, until now. Oh, I will be getting my hands on this recipe some day. Best. Stuffing. Ever.

At the other end, we had the moist, succulent turkey... and my favorite Thanksgiving recipe - broccoli cheese casserole. Amy's is the best! I tried to make it once at home, but it just wasn't the same :(  I need to perfect this skill. The turkey was the juiciest I have ever eaten! It had a nice golden brown skin and was seasoned nicely. I want some more right now! And that little cup of homemade gravy was to die for! I passed on the cranberry sauce, as usual....

And a whole look at the table setting and food. The blue bowl towards the back of the table was some tasty grapefruit concoction that Amy whipped up - I was surprised I liked it! Oh, and how could I forget her signature palette cleansing starter - orange sherbert with cranberry juice. So easy, and so tasty! We had a little debate over the difference between sherbert, sherbet, and sorbet. No one really knows the difference....

This is Peej and I at his mom's house for Thanksgiving. His eyes are always squinted :)

I wish I had gotten pics of us at both houses... of both families, but I didn't. And now I am sad about it. My mom doesn't like taking pictures anyways. Whenever I whip out the camera, she sighs and says "Here we go again." I never understand those people who don't like pictures... who doesn't like making and keeping memories?!?!

Oh well, maybe next Thanksgiving??? And there's always this Christmas :)

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And finally, the last reason why I am a crappy blogger - I think like over a month ago I mentioned an upcoming review of a CSN product.... Well I received the product about a month ago, and used it, and still haven't reviewed it. Oopsies. Look for that super late post.... coming soon!