Thanksgiving, 2007

This year was definately a year to give Thanks for! :) The first year in our house, our wedding, and spending lots of time with family. We're lucky!


We had a very low-key Thanksgiving - just the 4 of us... Me, G, Ronald and Csilla.


We definitely didn't go low key on the food, though. :)

Menu:
-Herb roasted turkey & gravy
-Mashed potatoes
-Spicy sausage, sage & onion dressing
-Mais Soufflee (Haitian Corn Soufflee)
-Diri Collet (Haitian rice and Beans)
-Spicy Cranberries in Pinot Noir
-Cranberry relish
-Green Salad
-Lemon Ginger Cheesecake

Spicy Beef Picadillo Bake

Quick-n-Easy Apple Spice Cake - Just like Aunt Sandy would like it!

I felt like a little apple spice cake, so I whipped this up since it was quick and easy.



Quick Apple Spice Cake
Source: Me!

1 cake mix of your choice (white, butter, or spice - I used classic butter or something like that...)
3/4 c applesauce
3 eggs
2t cinnamon
1t nutmug
1t cloves
1t cardamom
4 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly

Prepare pans and heat oven to 350. Bake at 350 until done. (I baked in my LeCruset apple shaped baker, and a small round cake layer pan... and, it took approx the same amount of time as the box indicated for a 2 layer cake.

Top with whipped cream, whipped topping, or ice cream.

Yum! :)

A Nestie Day in VA Wine Country....

Back in Mid-October, we had a DC Nestie Wine Tasting Get Together... it was lots of fun! We hit 5 wineries - so, by the end of the day I was pretty tipsy.

My faves:
Best Oyster Crackers - Hillsborough
Best Bottles I bought - Classic White from Loudoun Valley. I also enjoyed "Opal" from Hillsbourough Winery, and one of the whites from Breaux.

I wasn't too crazy about Doukenie Vineyard, or, any of the reds I tried. I think I needed some chocolate to go with the reds. :)

Pic - from L to right: EastSideFLuffy, CrazyDCBride (me!), MrsOmer, AnnapolisChick, eeclem, Oct15Bride (front), QueSrah (back)

Spicy Pineapple Pico-de-gallo

My coworker Hillary was kind enough to give me several yummy ripe tomatoes from the garden in her backyard - I was supposed to reciprocate with some apples, but by the time I remembered, they were not tasting very good.

Anyway, I was able to use the tomatoes she gave me in a nice spicy-but-alittle-sweet salsa - here's the recipe I concocted - Enjoy!


Spicy Tomato and Pinapple Pico-de-gallo
(measurements are approximate - spice to taste...)

4 tomatoes
1/2 chopped cilantro
1/2 of a white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalepeno peppers (deseeded and deveined) diced finely
1/2 of a 20 oz can petite pineapple chunks
1.5 t kosher salt (if using table salt, reduce the measurement)
juice of 1 lime
1/2 t sugar
1/4 t ground red pepper

Combine all in a bowl and refrigerate. Best if made at least a couple of hours in advance, so flavors can meld together. Serve with tortilla chips! (Duh!)

Csilla making Chicken Paprikash!

My sister-in-law, Csilla, rocks! :) For my birthday party, she made one of my all time favorite Hungarian dishes - Chicken Paprikash and Nokeddli dumplings. One of these days, I'll post the recipe - if I can remember how to make it!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today's my 30th Birthday... in honor of becoming an "old woman" I thought I would take a step back to the elementary school days... you know, when you used to bring birthday treats to school. Well, today, I come to *work* bearing treats.

Yes, I know I just baked an apple pie and brought it to my coworkers on Monday.

I guess it's turning into birthday treat week! :)
Better than "having-a-$h!tty-day-at-work" week... :)

What did I choose? CUPCAKES!

Chocolate on Chocolate Cupcakes - that was just a box mix with some Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Frosting.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, garnished with crystallized ginger.



YUMMY!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Source: marthastewart.com, with a couple of tweaks by me
Makes: about 15 regular cupcakes


2 cups flour, all-purpose
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (Optional - this was added by me)
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
15 ounces pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling - plain pumpkin)


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and crystallized ginger; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin purée.
4. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.

Frosted with Cream Cheese Frosting.
I used approx. -
2tbsp softened butter
4oz fat free cream cheese (or any kind of cream cheese)
1/2t vanilla
1 to 2 cups powdered sugar (until you get the texture you like)