Do you stuff your bird?

TO stuff or NOT to stuff, that is the question. My mother in law makes the most wonderful stuffing, and it always comes out of the bird. I have had zero success with stuffing as I always compared the end product to Ann's. This time I tried a slow cooker recipe. This seemed like a great plan since it would take up no room in the oven, and I could cook it anywhere I had a plug in! I will admit it got a little brown on the bottom, so if you want to avoid that be careful when dishing it to a bowl. I wonder if I should have stirred it during the cooking process to avoid that? I did like the flavor, it was pretty close to the best ever stuffing. (I also did my corn casserole in a slow cooker, worked great and had the most wonderful texture.)

Thanksgiving Stuffing in a Slow Cooker

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery (include some tops)
1/4 cup butter
1 package seasoned stuffing cubes or crumbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can 14 1/2 oz chicken broth
2 eggs
giblets from turkey chopped and browned in skillet if desired

In a small skillet cook onion & celery in butter until tender. In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes/crumbs, and seasonings. Stir in onion mixture and giblets if using. Combine broth and eggs and add to bread mixture tossing to coat.

Transfer to a 3 qt slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through. Makes 12 servings.

They came, they saw, they ate.

Thanksgiving was great! There was a chance of inclement weather, but that turned out to be nothing. Everyone arrived Wednesday night, and by Friday night, after a satisfying Husker win, they were all on their way back home. Seemed to fly by very quickly, but on the other hand it was nice that everyone still had a whole weekend waiting for them after all the celebrating!

We stick to a tradition menu for this holiday, but I did try some new things this year. One of the variables on the menu is the sweet potatoes. Not a loved veggie by the general population, but my dad likes them so I am always looking for a magic way to prepare them that will dazzle the crowd. My son who does not like sweet taters said this was good, so there you go.

Pretzel Topped Sweet Potatoes 10-12 Servings
2 cups chopped pretzels
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 -2 1/2# can sweet potatoes, drained
1 -5oz can evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the pretzels, pecans, cranberries, brown sugar and butter; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the sweet potatoes until smooth. Add the milk, sugar, & vanilla; beat until well blended.

Spoon into a greased shallow 2 qt baking dish; sprinkle with pretzel mixture and bake uncovered @ 350* for 25-30 min or until edges are bubbly.

These were best the first time served, the pretzels got mushy when reheated and didn't look very appetizing. I also thought that half of the amount of pretzel topping would be sufficient, but James said that was his favorite part.

We eat cranberries because.....

My room has been full of Pilgrim information the last two weeks. We learned that 102 people sailed on the Mayflower. Over half of them died the first winter. Wild turkeys were introduced to us by the Wampanoag people. Cranberries were very plentiful and the pilgrims used them in just about everything!

My mother in law gave me this recipe not long after we were married, it's traditional each and every Thanksgiving that we have this. It may be my favorite thing on the table!

Cranberry Salad
1/2 pkg fresh cranberries ground
1 orange ground with 1/2 of the orange rind still on it
2 apples chopped coarsely
1 -8 oz can crushed pineapple
Mix all above with 1 cup sugar

Dissolve 2 packages of red jello any flavor with 3 cups of boiling water. Add fruit mixture and 1/2 cup of walnuts coarsely chopped. Chill until thick.

(I like to use raspberry jello, but you can certainly decide for yourself what to use!)

Weekends are for chocolate

I have a few friends who don't like chocolate. I don't quite understand. I love the smell, the look, the TASTE, the satisfaction derived from it. It's perfect.

I took a new chocolate experiment along to some friends house last night. We were going to watch the Nebraska football team kick Kansas around. We were not disappointed, despite some clumsy ball handling at times. While this experiment was baking it looked as though it would spew over the sides of the slow cooker as it bubbled up over the edge of the lip. It did look like a volcano, but in a good way. Be sure to use a slow cooker that is BIG enough. Mine was rectangular shaped. The kids at the party LOVED it, me too!

SLOW COOKER CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE

1 pkg 3.9 oz JELL-O chocolate instant pudding
3 cups cold milk
1- 2 layer size chocolate fudge chocolate cake mix
2 squares Bakers semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used semisweet choc. chips)
2 cups thawed cool whip topping (or a can of FUN whipped cream)

Beat pudding mix and milk in 4 or 4 1/2 qt slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray with whisk 2 min.

Prepare cake batter as directed on package and slowly pour over pudding in slow cooker. Do not stir, cover.

Cook on low 2 1/2 to 3 hrs or on high 1 1/2-2 hrs. Test with toothpick inserted in cake to see if it is done. Sprinkle with chopped chocolate, turn off heat and let slow cooker stand covered 30 min or until pudding is thickened. Serve with cool whip.

November is here! Dip something....

Well, maybe I should introduce myself. hahahaha

We had the best weekend. Friday night a surprise costume party for a good friend, Huskers kicked some tiger butt Saturday afternoon, Sat night Trunk or Treat at our church where we handed out about 650 treats to kids, Sunday morning Reformation festival, & Sun night 100+more trick or treat'rs at our house! Wow, reading that made me tired.

I stopped at Papa Murphy's pizza place yesterday to get a $6.99 pumpkin shaped pizza and then dug out some veggies to serve as a side dish. I made a dip recipe that was given to me at a Bridal shower l-o-n-g ago, and I've just recently become enamored with it again. It's so easy and very good with every veggie you can find.

VEGETABLE DIP
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp dill
1 1/2 tsp Beau Monde seasoning
2 Tbsp diced onion

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate. The Beau Monde seasoning is expensive, but you will have it a long time once you have made the initial investment.

I made a half batch yesterday, wish I would have made a whole one.