Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving Eve and cooking

It is 9pm on Thanksgiving eve and I'm in the kitchen cooking for tomorrow. I'm in between what is cooking & what needs to be put together so with a few minutes to spare I'm currently sipping a glass of wine (plus I have Christmas music playing) – life is good. My oldest brother, Doug is hosting Thanksgiving at his house and my job is to bring the strawberry pretzel salad. Hosting Thanksgiving has become his special tradition and it started when he moved into his home just outside of Moscow. Doug's girlfriend, Edie, is really the mastermind of the event, organizing and making sure all is perfect. Later on in the day, we will also have a dinner with Joe's side of the family and it is hosted at Jay & Lisa's. They always put on a great dinner and are wonderful hosts. Joe's sister and her family are visiting from Seattle, so it will be a houseful as well. Lisa has me bringing pumpkin pies and a fruit salad. This holiday is bittersweet, as both my step dad and Joe's dad have serious health issues and realistically this could be our last holiday together with our dads. So we'll eat lots and enjoy the day with both of our families.

Recipe updates!

On my last blog I had posted the pumpkin dip (from memory) but when I checked the recipe I found I had the spices wrong, so here is the correct recipe:

Pumpkin Dip

15 oz canned pumpkin

8 oz softened cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teas cinnamon

½ teas ginger

Beat cream cheese till creamy, blend in pumpkin, sugar and spices. Serve with apples & enjoy!


Turkey with a citrus flavor

Because Joe and I like to have family over, many of the holiday or family events are hosted at our house. I'm almost a complete vegan vegetarian (with the exception of having a fondness for cheese and yogurt) and do not eat meat/poultry/fish, but I am willing to cook it. So when hosting family events so I like to experiment and try new recipes and I have had rave reviews about the following way to prepare a turkey. This recipe has been requested now for a few years so I know my family really likes it and wanted to share it. They tell me is has a nice mild citrus taste and is very moist.

1 turkey

1 orange, lemon, lime –cut into wedges

1 small onion, cut into wedges

½ cup softened butter (no substitutions)

1-2 teas rosemary

½ tsp poultry seasoning

Salt & pepper

Pastry bag


Citrus Turkey

  1. Thaw the turkey, rinse, pat dry, salt and pepper the cavity
  2. In the cavity, insert 1 sliced orange, 1 sliced lemon, 1 sliced lime (no stuffing goes into the cavity) along with the onion
  3. Mix the butter, rosemary, poultry seasoning, put into a pastry bag – no tip is needed
  4. Next cut the top of the turkey skin with kitchen scissors and in-between the skin and meat, pipe in the butter mixture- this will melt into the meat, add flavor and help keep the turkey moist
  5. Oil the outside of the skin w/olive oil
  6. Bake as you usually like. I usually use a turkey bag and don't baste. Very easy and no mess.
  7. Once the turkey is done, remove the fruit and serve as usual

Also, to my friends at LaBella Hair Salon, here is the recipe you have patiently been waiting for! (This was created by my friend, Lezah)

Peanut butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cup peanut butter

2 cup softened butter

2 cup brown sugar

1 ½ cup white sugar

4 eggs

Mix well. Then add

4 cup flour

2 cup oatmeal

4 teas baking soda

1 teas salt

3 ¾ cup choc chips

Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake approx 10-12 min @ 350 or until lightly brown. Do not over bake.


Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.