Thanksgiving is in 3 weeks. WOWZAS!

My first time hosting Thanksgiving and I couldn't be more excited. A small, quaint and traditional holiday with some twists in the menu. I'm working on making menus for clients and decided to work on my own for a bit. I have narrowed it down to 13 dishes for the big day. Now whether or not I actually make all these will depend on how much I can get ahead of time. Preparation is the key to entertaining. Being stuck in the kitchen while your guests are sippin on their favorite beverage is no fun for anyone! Your guests want to watch football(eeek!), look through your hideous photo albums, catch up with you or secretly judge your ammatuer holiday decorating skills. They don't want to see you sweating over which dish will be done first and rushing people to the table to get it while it's hot.

Being calm is the key to a successful and relaxing holiday. How? Start prepping way ahead of time. Like start today! That's what I'm doing. Sounds crazy, but it's actually super smart. If you make 1-2 dishes a week from now until Turkey day you will be golden. All you should have to make is the turkey and mashed potatoes. Pies, cobblers, stuffing, cranberry sauce and other sides can be made and frozen 2-3 weeks ahead of time without compromising taste.

My Schedule:

3 weeks before T-day> making 3 dishes
2 weeks before T-day>making desserts
1 weeks before T-day>finish making any side dishes
4 days before T-day-defrost turkey and buy the last of supplies!
2-3 days before T-day-defrost sides, desserts, etc.
DAY OF GOBBLE DAY-MAKE TURKEY, GRAVY AND MASHED POTATOES! THEN, CHILLAX!

I hope sharing my schedule helps some of you. Schedules in general help. Buying pre-made anything will not cut it. It simply won't happen in my house. From scratch or bust!!!
THE DAY OFF

My Menu:
(Attempt to duplicate at your own risk!)

Rotisserie turkey with lemon-sage relish
Honey-citrus baked ham
Balsamic-glazed oranges and cranberry sauce
Lemon-thyme rolls with parsley butter
Chestnut & raisin stuffing
Cream cheese & chive mashed potatoes
Fennel salad with cinnamon vinaigrette
Maple-ginger carrots with toasted almonds
Broccoli and Jasmine rice casserole with bacon croutons
Green bean casserole with fried shallots
Caramel candied yams
Pumpkin pie creme brule
Toasted pecan pie bars

Creepy Cookie!!!

This is my favorite cookie I've seen all Halloween!!! Thought I would share the fun pic.

Which cookie would you rather???

VS.

Tiropita...ki!!! AKA: Cheese pies from heaven.

Some people don’t want to attempt to cook Greek food because a few of the dishes are pretty complex. Well, this isn’t one of those dishes. However, making these tasty pastries require time. Don't the best things in life?

Tiropita (pronounced tee-RO-pee-ta) which means “cheese pie”. This recipe could be affectionately called Tiropitaki. You see, adding “aki” on the end of a Greek word means “little” so these are actually small cheese pies.

Tiropitas are sold on almost every street corner in Greece. They are typically eaten for breakfast, but can be served at dinner too.

Ready to make them?

Ingredients


1 pound of crumbled Feta cheese
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of parsley
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1 package of Puff Pastry & it's going to rest in the fridge at least 12-24 hours in order to come up to working temperature.



Dust your work space with flour so the puff pastry doesn't stick.

Open your puff pastry, spread it all out flat. Cut it into 9 even squares.


For the filling: In a mixing bowl put in three well beaten eggs then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, Greek yogurt and 1 tablespoon of parsley. Crumble in the pound of feta.

Assembly
Place one small spoonful of filling vertically in the center and fold into a triangle. Pinch the side with a fork. As the pastry cooks it the layers will fluff up by themselves, so don’t leave a lot of slack in there.

As you complete each one, place them on a baking sheet which has been lightly brushed with olive oil.

Baking
Bake the tiropitas in a pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees. You’ll have to keep an eye on them pretty closely as cook times vary. You are looking for the pastries to turn a light golden brown. They are excellent when served warm.

These can be made to the point before baking and then frozen for up to one month without compromising flavor. I'm making them tonight for a special birthday. I'm looking forward to seeing the reaction...

Cinnamon Rolls...from scratch!

I haven't made these in forever and thought I would share the recipe. I think it's safe to say that most people buy cinnamon rolls, but they are so much better made from scratch. What isn't better homemade right? As the weather gets colder(off and on in Texas), I can't help but bake my buns off!


2 cups of warm water
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons dry yeast (or two packages of dry yeast)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Canola oil
6 to 7 cups of flour
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit for a minute or two. Add the sugar and salt. Mix. Add the cooking oil (or shortening), 2 eggs, 2 cups of flour and beat until smooth.

Stir in 3 more cups of flour. Begin kneading the dough, adding the final cup of flour. If the dough seems too sticky, knead in more flour, a quarter to a half cup at a time.

Let the dough "rest" for 15 to 20 minutes.

Roll the dough into a rectangle that's 24 to 30 inches long by about 16 inches wide. Spread with soft butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Starting at the wide end, roll into a log.

Cut the cinnamon rolls into equal sized slices (approximately one inch wide each or slightly more) and place into two greased 9x13 pans. Put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (or until the cinnamon rolls are golden brown).

Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out of the pans.

This recipes makes two dozen cinnamon rolls. If you want huge cinnamon rolls, cut into 12 equal pieces 2 inches wide.

Total amount of time needed from start to finish is about 2 hours.

ICING:

1 stick butter-softened
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp whole milk

Add butter, vanilla and half of powdered sugar. Add milk and rest of sugar until icing is done to your desired consistency.

Fall Cupcakes!

These cupcakes are light and moist. They aren't like these dense brownie-cake recipes ofetn used as cupcake bases. You know what else? Sans frosting, they’d make great breakfast muffins. You can substitute plums and apricots for peaches, but I promise this will be delicious!

Makes 24 to 28 cupcakes

3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark or light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) buttermilk, sour cream or full-fat yogurt
3 large peaches, peeled, cored, and chopped smallish (I went for a 1/3-inch dice)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 28 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars together, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition, and then the vanilla. Gently mix in the buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the peach chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes for five minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cornstarch? Let me explain: Quick buttercreams and cream cheese frostings are generally made by whipping fatty ingredients (ex: butter, cream cheese) with powdered sugar. Powdered sugar works in a way that granulated sugar does not because it is mixed with cornstarch, which both keeps the sugar from clumping in its packaging and thickens the frosting. Brown sugar is not only more damp than granulated and powdered sugar, it’s missing that cornstarch thickener, so I added some to help the frosting set up. It’s still a bit thinner than traditional cream cheese frosting but the flavor leaves the stuff you’re used to in the dust.

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 drop yellow food coloring
1/2 drop red food coloring
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and powdered sugar. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture, food colorings and vanilla, beat until frosting is smooth and light. Chill the bowl in the refrigerator until it thickens back up a bit, about 15 minutes, then spread or dollop on cooled cupcakes.

Chicken & Dumpling Soup and Grape Popsicles

I'm happy to report that today I'm starting to feel a little better. I still have a mean cough and feel congested, but far better than I was a few days ago. I actually felt like trying a full day with solid food. No more soup! After all, there is only so much soup a grown woman can have! And add grape popsicles to that list while you're at it!

When I first became sick, my next door neighbor, Phyllis made me the most delicious chicken and dumpling soup. It was warm, delicious, made from scratch and I could taste the kindness in every bite. Since then I've eaten hot & sour soup, miso soup, chicken noodle soup, beef and barley soup and vegetable soup. Let me tell you, I am all souped out people!!! I'm craving fresh baked bread and other warm carbs that I feel are contingent to becoming healthy again. Also, grape popsicles aren't exactly "doing it" for me anymore either. I love em, but it's time to leave em.

What am I ready for? I'll tell you! I'm definitely ready to revisit Yogurt Planet. The one in Bee Caves(a small town near Austin) is my absolute favorite. It's fabulosity times ten in a cup. I mix strawberry, mango, acai berry and pomegranate all together for a sin-free, party in my mouth. Ahhh. I can't wait until my throat stops hurting so I can properly freeze myself into yogurt bliss heaven.

Tomorrow I plan to ditch my tired old pj's for my comfy jeans and cute tops! Being sick is not my style and I miss the outside world way too much. Oh & the only habits I plan on keeping from this sick routine are taking vitamins and drinking pomegranate lemonade on the regular. I'm at the age where I need to be taking vitamins anyway(sigh) and I love all things pomegranate. Plus, doesn't it just sound like the healthy thing to do?