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Sweet Potato Casserole
Makes 1 large dish
Everyone from kids to grandparents go back for seconds (and sometimes thirds) of this simple and sweet comfort food. When our babies were little it was their first Thanksgiving food, and now it's an unbreakable tradition. Get together with a friend or two and make a big batch to freeze ahead of time.
10 cups sweet potatoes (approximately 5 pounds) peeled and chopped
4 eggs
5 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup golden brown sugar
½ cup pecans, chopped
½ stick unsalted butter
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and butter a large casserole or baking dish.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Put in sweet potatoes and boil until soft, about 20 minutes depending on size of potatoes (poke with a fork to test for doneness). Drain and let cool.
In a separate large bowl, mix eggs, syrup, vanilla extract, lemon and salt.
Peel sweet potatoes, chop roughly, and puree in a food processor or with an immersion blender until smooth. Pour puree in the bowl with the egg mixture and mix thoroughly. Transfer to baking dish.
Cut butter into small pieces. In a separate small bowl, combine sugar, pecans and butter. Evenly distribute this topping over the sweet potato mixture. Bake for about one hour, or until bubbly and hot in the middle. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
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Holiday Cranberry Sauce
Makes 2 1/2 Cups
Our Thanksgiving table wouldn't be complete without homemade cranberry sauce. It is a breeze to make and sure beats the kind that comes in a can. Use this tart and tasty version as a base and add extras in to make it your own. Try some crystallized ginger, orange sections, dried fruit, pineapples, apples, cloves or cinnamon. If you like it on the sweeter side, up the sugar. Make it ahead of time with a friend, store it in the freezer and you'll have one less thing to make.
1 12-ounce bag whole fresh cranberries
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup orange juice (some pulp)
½ cup water
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
Combine the water, orange juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the cranberries and return to a boil. Add the ginger and orange zest. Stirring occasionally, cook the cranberries on a slow boil for 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to another dish to cool at room temperature. Chill or freeze until ready-to-serve.
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Apple Pumpkin Bread |
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Makes 4 mini loaves
½ cup canola oil
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup applesauce
1 cup pumpkin puree (see simple roasting instructions below)
2 eggs
2 ¼ cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup milk
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, measure the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, cloves, nutmeg and ginger) and mix together. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the canola oil and sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Pour in the apple sauce and pumpkin puree and blend well. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour in the milk and mix for another minute. Grease four mini loaf pans and distribute the batter evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool. If freezing, wrap well in aluminum foil and then in plastic wrap.
Simple Pumpkin Puree
-1 large pie pumpkin or two smaller sugar pumpkins
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the pumpkin in half or quarters using a very sharp knife. Scrape out the seeds and place face up on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast in the oven until fork tender for about an hour. Remove from the oven and cool until ready to handle. Remove flesh from the skin of the pumpkin using a spoon and puree in a food processor, blender or by hand with an immersion blender. You can use a touch of water to make it smoother. |
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Dear Friends,
As each holiday season rolls around, we think of the culinary traditions of our own forefathers (and foremothers), the foods we grew up with on our holiday tables and those that we have come to love on our dinner tables today. We also enjoy starting new food traditions that we hope our children will carry on with their families. As we prepare these favorites for Thanksgiving this year, we want to say thanks to you, our wonderful readers. May you enjoy your holiday surrounded by your family and friends.
Alison and Shannon
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Share Your Culinary Heritage
Whether you're Jewish, Irish or Italian, heritage plays a big part in how we cook, especially at the holidays. While some choose to have their potatoes crispy and golden in the form of latkes, others will simmer theirs in lots of milk and butter, mashing them up for a creamy and rich side dish. Both uses for the same food will preserve a bit of their past in their dinners, while triggering memories shared with family.
There's a lot to be learned by spending time in our friends' kitchens, whether you're introduced to a new product, find a new use for an ingredient or discover a new way to interpret a dish. Invite a friend to cook with you ahead of time and freeze some side dishes for the holiday. Each of you can choose something that is from your own culinary heritage. |
Geographic and Seasonal Influence
As we continue to try to eat as seasonally and as locally as we can, our traditions are changing, too. Our Autumn Soup (made with pumpkin and butternut squash) will never taste fresher than right now.
And, we make an assortment of sweet breads for our holiday tables using fresh pumpkin, apples and cranberries (see recipe left for Apple Pumpkin Bread). Take advantage of your city or town's best foods when you see them, buy a big batch and set up a cooking date with a friend or two. |
New Traditions
Just like the adage about friends, it's important to make new traditions while keeping the old. Here are a few of our communal cooking suggestions:
--Have your guests send a favorite recipe ahead of time (something they'd like to see on your holiday table), shop for the ingredients, and then cook it together.
--Let each child choose a holiday dish, and then make cooking it a family project.
--Get together with a friend to beat the holiday rush. Create turkey brine, soups, and side dishes to freeze, easing your stress on the big day.
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CWFC News -- 25% off Store Items
From now until November 16, our readers will get 25% off one order from our Cooking With Friends shop. Just click on the shop tab at www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com and type THANKS09 as the promo code when asked. You'll find great supplies for the holidays, from rolling pins to our favorite apple peeler. Happy shopping!
Pampered Chef Baking Set Giveaway
Pampered Chef has given us a great holiday baking set, including a cookie press, snowman dessert plates and measuring spoons, to give away to one of our readers. Send us your best story about making holiday cookies with friends or family to info@cookingwithfriendsclub.com. We'll select the most compelling story and send the winner this amazing gift and feature her story on our site. |
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Time-Saving Tool--Immersion Blender |
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The Kitchen Aid Immersion blender is our go-to tool for soups. Whether you're making an artichoke soup, pumpkin soup or a velvety tomato soup, this small appliance will blend it to the perfect smoothness, right in the cooking pot. And, we sell it right on our site for 25% off through November 16th: www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com. |
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This Newsletter Brought to You by Sam's Cooking Club |
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We are proud to announce that we are teaming up with Sam's Club. A fantastic resource for buying in bulk, Sam's is an ideal venue to shop when Cooking With Friends. So, we'll be helping share our own tips for buying in bulk as well as ideas from Sam's Club Cooking Club program. We are thrilled that Sam's recognizes our rewarding lifestyle and couldn't be more excited to have this relationship with them. We hope you, our readers, will see the value in this connection. Coming soon is a new Sam's Cooking Club series section on our site. You will find it on the right hand side of our website just above the fold. |
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Alison Bermack and Shannon Henry
Visit our web site at www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com.
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