Apple Cranberry Sauce

I figured with the holidays coming up it'd be the perfect time to share this recipe, you can add a cinnamon stick to this while it's cooking and take out before you use the immersion blender. I didn't since Kyle isn't a fan of cinnamon. This comes together pretty quick and would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving meal.

• 2 cups cranberry juice
• orange zest
• 3 apples - peeled and diced
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 bag cranberries
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• optional cinnamon stick

1. Combine cranberry juice, cranberries, sugar and cook over medium heat until boiling. Let cook 5 minutes.
2. Add apples and orange zest, let cook about 5 minutes till apples are tender.
3. Remove 8oz liquid and combine with cornstarch. Whisk till combined. Slowly add to cranberry sauce, stirring the entire time. Cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, remove cinnamon stick if used and let cool slightly.
5. Use immersion blender and puree the sauce, leave a few chunks in it. Puree to your favorite consistency.

Chicken Marsala

This was a little different than the usual chicken marsala I make since this recipe used bread crumbs. This recipe was so tasty and I made it with whole wheat spaghetti. Just made a little extra sauce to put on pasta and was delicious. Here is the link to the recipe:

http://what2cook.net/2013/03/24/easy-chicken-marsala/

Biscoff No Bake Cheesecake

This was a great and easy no bake dessert, if I was making it for a dinner party I'd pipe it pretty in the cups like the recipe showed. But since it was just for us I used a spoon. These were so tasty and featured one of my new favorites - biscoff. Here's the link to the recipe:


http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/biscoff-no-bake-cheesecake/

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

 

 

This recipe is from the November 2013 Food Network magazine and was perfect in this cold weather.

 

• 2 tsp unsalted butter
• 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 2 bunches scallions, chopped
• 3 cups frozen diced potatoes (I used regular potatoes from a local farm)
• 3 cups frozen corn (I got fire roasted at Trader Joe's)
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• kosher alt and pepper
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 qt low fat milk
• 1lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• paprika for sprinkling

 

1. Melt the butter in a dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the celery, scallions, potatoes and corn. Add the thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper and cook, stirring for 3 minutes.
2. Stir in the four until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the milk, then cover and bring to a boil.
4. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium low and gently simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
6. Transfer 1/3 of the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth, then return to the pot.
7. Return to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in the shrimp and cook until opaque, about 4 minutes.
8. Season with salt. If the soup is too thick stir up to 1 cup water.
9. Divide among bowls and sprinkle with paprika.

Braised Turkey

Got this recipe from the latest Food Network magazine and since my mind is on Thanksgiving right now this was the perfect recipe. Once you get it started it's nice that you leave it cooking for a few hours and can get other things done. I was able to get some scrapping done while this was cooking. I made this with mashed potatoes.

• 2 skin on turkey drumsticks
• 2 skin on bone in turkey thighs
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 lg leeks, whites and pale greens, chopped
• 6 celery stalks, thinly chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 4 sprigs flat leaf parsley
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 2 sprigs sage
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 8 carrots, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1. Season turkey with salt and pepper, heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Working in batches, cook, turning occasionally until browned on all sides, 15-20 minutes per batch. Transfer to a large plate.
2. Add onion, leeks, celery and garlic to pot and cook. Stirring occasionally, until softened, 5-8 minutes. Add wine, parsley, thyme and sage sprigs. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half, 8-10 minutes.
3. Return turkey to pot and add broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover pot and simmer until meat is tender and cooked through and liquid is reduced by half, 2 1/2-3 hours.
4. Add carrots and cook, uncovered, until carrots are soft and meat is falling off the bone, 35-45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer turkey and carrots to a platter. Strain sauce, serve alongside. Top with chives and 1/2 cup chopped parsley.

Scrapbook Layouts

 

 

Was able to do some scrapping today and did two summer layouts from this past summer and three layouts from last Christmas. Felt good to have a little time to work on some pages and hope to work on some more this week.

Advent Calendar

I have an advent calendar I made years ago, but when I saw this one from Kaisercraft I had to make a new one and update the old one. I ordered it off ebay and after figuring out how to put it together I glued it together so it stayed. I then painted the entire calendar red with two coats of paint. I put the drawers together, added paper and used modge podge to seal the paper. I customized them with white numbers in a mix of fonts I had and added a few decorations to embellish it. Can't wait to fill it and use it for Christmas