Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a great holiday! A perfect excuse to get together with family and friends and eat delicious food. The past two years we've been away from familiy and have been together with friends. I've had the opportunity to help plan and make the menu, which has been kind of fun. Of course I always seem to get most excited about the desserts :) This year I made an Apple Pie courtesy of a Betty Crocker recipe with a few modifications and some tips from my mother. Luckily it turned out better than last year...I learned to put a pan under it so it didn't boil all over my oven and the apples weren't overdone and mushy...yeah!


Apple Pie

Pastry for two-crust pie

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

dash of salt

8 c. thinly sliced peeled tart (Granny Smith) apples (8 medium)

2 T. butter

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Stir in apples. Put apples in large saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until sauce begins to thicken and apples have cooked down slightly (about 5-7 minutes) Don't cook until they are soft or they will be overdone after the pie is cooked! Turn into pastry lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over apples. Cover with top pastry, seal and flute. Cut slits in top pastry so steam can escape. Cover edge with 2-3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 min of baking. Bake 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Cool on wire rack at least 2 hours.

*I used a pillsbury pre-made pastry crust...one of these days I will brave homemade crust, but for now these work pretty well. This year, I brushed the top with a little milk and then sprinkled a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on top which was a nice addition. I also like to add a little more cinnamon than the recipe calls for to mix with the apples.

The second dessert I made came from the Nestle Classic Recipes Book...Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts. My favorite part of this recipe turned out to be the crust, which was made from ginger snaps. I bought Triple Ginger Snaps from Trader Joe's made from fresh, ground, and crystallized ginger. I have to say that ginger is not always my favorite thing, but these cookies are addicting with their tiny chewy ginger morsels. Adam and I are hooked! The tarts peeled easily from their wrappers and looked pretty. They weren't super sweet, which can be a good thing, especially if they are paired with some other rich desserts.


Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts

2/3 cup (about 15) crushed ginger snaps
2 T. butter
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 T. sour cream (optional)
2 T. semi-sweet morsels (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Paper line 12 muffin cups. Combine cookie crumbs and butter in a
small bowl. Press scant tablespoon onto bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Bake for 5 minutes. Beat cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until blended. Add eggs; beat well. Pour into muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove tarts from pan; refrigerate. Garnish with sour cream. Place morsels in heavy-duty resealable bag. Microwave on high power for 20 seconds; knead. Microwave at additional 10 second intervals, kneading until smooth. Cut tiny corner from bag; squeeze to drizzle over tarts. Makes 12 tarts.