Thanksgiving Eve

Although I've already cooked a mini-Thanksgiving dinner and have my outfit all picked out for tomorrow (yep, true story), I still can't believe that Thanksgiving is upon us! Where has this year gone? Perhaps in my case, it's gone to lots and lots of food.

Anyhow, today I'm feeling nostalgic about Thanksgiving's passed, so I'm going to share some fun stuff from prior years in preparation for all of the festivities for tomorrow. That is, before I head home to bake some spiced applesauce cake for our multiple Thanksgiving gatherings tomorrow. And since I am in fact that dork who wakes up to watch the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving morning (surprised?), I think it's fitting to start with a few Thanksgivings ago when Lindsey and I went to the balloon blow-up near Central Park on Turkey Day Eve. Though we were sure a tradition was born, we've somehow never made it back! Luckily we have some cute photos from the day...

L and me thinking we'd make the ultimate parade hosts

Unnecessarily happy to be at the balloon blow-up!

Being touristy in our favorite townI should also mention a few things that I always look forward to on Thanksgiving. Like the butter turkey that my cousin Matt inevitably decapitates...

playing with all of my aunt's and cousin's dogs...

or at least watching and snapping photos while my sister Christine does...

Stine Bean with Jake, Jesse and Dixieeating until I need to be rolled out to the Prius...

Yup, that is my full plate o'foodand of course, spending time with the family!

My sisters Kimberly & Christine, my cousin Alyson and me

My dad telling a funny story at the Turkey Day table

So there it is. All the things making me happy today as we get ready for a fun holiday tomorrow! So my question for you is: What are you most looking forward to on Thanksgiving? Or for the holiday weekend in general?

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Cranberry Brie + Turkey Stock

...not in the same dish. After my pre-Thanksgiving dinner, I was left with a serious problem. What the heck do I do with all of those leftovers? Though we ate turkey dinner for 3 days, there were a couple of items that I just couldn't get rid of (and by get rid of, I mean devour fast enough). So I made a cranberry brie and some turkey stock. Want to see how?

Imagine the look on my husband's face when I asked him, after he had unwillingly carved the turkey breast, if we could save the carcass. Yup, the bony, tendony, messy shell of turkey that he had just taken a knife to.

I'm pretty sure he thought I was nuts. Do I look nuts?

Don't answer that.

S (looking puzzled and trying not to be annoyed): Umm...sweetie... what exactly are you going to do with the..um...carcass?

R (not understanding the confusion): Uh make delicious, homemade turkey stock? (obviously!)

Since he always goes along with all things blog, he wrapped up that carcass and the next morning I made a turkey stock that made the entire apartment smell once again of Thanksgiving. Heavenly. Oh and did I mention that it couldn't be easier?

In a big stock pot, I combined the turkey remains, all of my leftover fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley), 2 tbsp kosher salt, 2 roughly chopped onions, 2 handfuls of baby carrots, 2 bay leaves, and 1 tsp black peppercorns. Then, I covered the entire thing with cold water, brought it to a boil, and let simmer for 4 hours.

After a good strain, I ended up with the following; a flavorful, fragrant turkey stock, just waiting to be used in another life!

And what does one do with turkey stock, you ask? It can be used for anything that you'd normally use chicken stock for! Though traditionally people tend to go the turkey soup route, we had already exhausted all the turkey by the time I got around to using the stock. Instead, I used it to cook my brown rice...

and make a yummy gravy for my chicken, rice and asparagus dish!

Beyond using up every last bit of that turkey (that we worked so hard to brine, after all), we also had an abundance of cranberry sauce. Yum.

I also realized that I had some leftover brie from my Fall Dinner Party. And a delicious, sweet 'n savory idea was born! Put your wedge of brie in a little ramekin. Cover with cranberry sauce and chopped pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes...

...until the cheese is melted and the cranberries are soft and juicy!

Serve with crackers...

and try not to eat it all before your husband gets home from work. Not that I did that. Just sayin'.

 

The sweet and tart cranberry sauce, mixed with the creamy brie and salty cracker is out of this world! It was really such a delicious snack that I've been dreaming about this ever since I made it last week.

So there you have it. Two quick and easy leftover recipes that can change up your original goods! So today's question is: What are your favorite way to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers? Create a new dish? Or straight up Thanksgiving dinner repeats?

Psst...for more Thanksgiving fun, check out how we brined a turkey at 3AM, made hearty turkey sausage stuffing, mashed up the perfect potato and devoured a pumpkin cheesecake! And for even more Thanksgiving food ideas, check out our Recipes page, under Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

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It’s Friday and it makes me oh-so-happy for a number of reasons. First, because it’s almost the weekend, which always deserves and automatic hooray! Second, because next week will be a very short week since it’s Thanksgiving. After today, it feels like it’s officially the holiday season, and I love every minute of it!

So today I’m wrapping up our fun Thanksgiving roundup with another very important piece of the puzzle - dessert! Since there was only 4 of us, we decided to skip the table full of desserts thing, and only serve one dish. I have to admit, while I am a sampler at heart, having one dessert to share and enjoy by all was a really nice change. Especially since it was light, airy and pumpkiny to boot.

Hold the phone. You’re probably thinking, Light? Airy? I thought we were talking about cheesecake here. Yup, you heard me right.

Since Lindsey isn’t huge on the traditional pumpkin pie, and I’m always looking to change it up, we decided on pumpkin cheesecake. And after gathering all my ingredients on the morning of the dinner party, I realized that the recipe we planned to use called for a 3 hour baking time (Now I felt like Ross from Friends when someone steals his sandwich, as I ranted 3 hours? 3 HOURS?!). Anyhow, we needed a back up plan and fast. After a quick search, I came across Paula Deen’s version.

And though you can judge all you want for her obsession with butter and generally all things terrible for your body, the lady knows what she’s doing. Her cheesecake seemed simple and quick to boot - 1 hour cook time, no pre-baking the crust, mixing everything together in one giant bowl. So we went with it. And the result? An airy whipped cheesecake set in a graham cracker crust that had just a hint of pumpkin flavor. Can we say perfect dessert for post-huge dinner? Though there were a few flaws (like a giant crack down the middle of mine!), I’d make this recipe again for its ease of use, quick baking time, and delectable outcome, despite its final aesthetics. Plus, what do you think they invented whipped cream for?

Pumpkin Cheesecake
*Adapted from Paula Deen
For the crust:
1 3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter
For the filling:
3 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Special equipment:
9-inch spring form pan (I got one as a Christmas gift 2 years ago!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and cinnamon. Press into the pan. (Note: I found pre-crumbed graham crackers in the grocery store, which eliminated the extra step of processing them myself! Though I normally would not have a problem with this, the point is that even if you don’t have a food processor, you can snap these up. Oh and did I mention that they were cheaper than a box of whole graham crackers? Well they were.)

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth (it’s best if you leave it out of the fridge the night before...I didn’t do this and it took longer for mine to come together, not to mention that it still had tiny lumps in it!).  Add in the pumpkin, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and spices and mix until combined. Add the flour and vanilla, beating until it’s all combined and smooth. Pour the filling into the crust - mine filled almost up to the top of the pan. Doesn't that look delightful?

Bake for one hour. Remove and let sit for 15 minutes. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. (Note: I made this first, before anything else, so that it would have plenty of time to cool!) Serve with lots of whipped cream if ya like! And I do like. 

So there you have it. A light, easy pumpkin cheesecake of which, admittedly, I'm still polishing off the remnants. So what do you think? What is your favorite Thanksgiving dessert?

In case you missed it, check out how we brined a turkey at 3AM, made hearty turkey sausage stuffing and mashed up the perfect potato! And for even more Thanksgiving food ideas, check out our Recipes page, under Thanksgiving!