Thanksgiving Week
Pies and casseroles
Well, yesterday I didn’t need to make the mashed potatoes. My Daughter-in-law #1 offered to bring them, as well as fresh, homemade rolls! Yesterday was my errand day, and I was able to easily add a couple of errands without adding pressure or stress.
Some years, I like to cook & puree a pumpkin for the pie, but I didn’t really have time for that this year, so I just bought a can of pumpkin. Hubby ran some of the errands with me and suggested just buying a premade pie. Yes, if I really had to I would. But we’re working on cleaning up our diets, and Son & Daughter-in-law #1 are working hard on that as well. So avoiding seed oils, extra sugars and any other preservatives, etc makes it worth it for making from scratch. So I declined the offer to buy premade.
I worked on cleaning around the house & doing a little more Christmas set-up. We don’t normally set up before Thanksgiving, but we were in the mood this year, and the early snow last week, as well as many of our neighbors putting lights outside definitely influenced it. I also mixed up a cheese ball requested by hubby for the weekend.
In the afternoon, while hubby & Son #3 we’re running their own errands, I worked in the chicken run stretching plastic over one side by their coop door. That side can get a lot of rain blowing in, which is why I had left the external plastic on from last winter. But the winds ripped it all up & I had to re-staple it several times trying to keep it covered.
It took me a while to get that plastic up. The wiggle wire is spring loaded and not very easy to load into the channel. It may have been easier to have a helper, but sometimes I enjoy just working by myself on things. I’d partially fasten a side to hold it in place so I could stretch it across to fasten the other side. I’d undo different sides several times when it started getting cockeyed. It was hard to keep it taught and with no wrinkles. There was also the tubing & waterer bar to cut a slit for and work around.
In the end I got it done & looking pretty well. I’m hoping the wind is less able to rip it apart than what I’d stapled up last January. I want the plastic on this end to stay up year round to protect the ramp & their dust bath bin from rain & snow.
Dinner was egg sauce & biscuits. This was a favorite of mine & my siblings that Mom made when we were kids. It’s also well liked by my own family. I’d already boiled the eggs & peeled them a couple of days ago. You make a medium white sauce, and then when it’s boiling, you add chopped boiled eggs to it and stir till heated through. Serve on fresh biscuits with some chilled,canned or fresh fruit as a side. I like to make my biscuits using 50% whole wheat flour so we get the fiber & nutrients lacking in all purpose flour.
I’ve grown sweet potatoes a few different years. I like them baked with sour cream & butter. And sweet potatoes store VERY well! I found out just by experimental experience that in an open bucket, in my basement, sweet potatoes can last as long as 2 years and still be good!
Even as a child, I never had much of a sweet tooth, so I actually dislike sweet potato casserole with all the sugar & marshmallows. But I ran across this recipe last year and tried it out. It’s very good!
SAVORY ROASTED SWEET POTATOES
6 medium sized sweet potatoes or yams
4 Tb olive oil, separated
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Peel 6 sweet potatoes. Chop them into 1 inch cubes.
Line 2 large cookie sheets with tin foil and lay the sweet potatoes out evenly on them.
Drizzle 2 Tb of olive oil over each of the pans and toss with your fingers making sure the oil is distributed evenly.
Into a small bowl combine 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp seasoned salt and 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper.
Sprinkle half of the seasoning mixture over each pan of yams and then toss them around a bit with your fingers, making sure the seasoning is evenly distributed.
Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the top.
Toss the pans into the oven and allow the sweet potatoes to roast for 30-40 minutes, or until they are soft on the inside and the outside gets a little bit charred. Don't let them burn, mind you. They just need to get a little bit dark on the outside (for maximum heavenly flavor, of course). Give them a taste and add more salt and pepper to your liking. Enjoy!
Today I’ll be getting the sweet potatoes cleaned & chopped up, so that tomorrow is easy to toss them with oil & seasonings. You can get green bean casserole recipes anywhere, but I think it was a McCormick recipe for tuna casserole I saw years ago that included mixing the French fried onions INTO the casserole, as well as on top, that changed everything! So I now do that with the green bean casserole- delicious! I put as many onions in it as on top (maybe more, sometimes).
Here’s the make ahead pie crust recipe I saw someone use on YouTube. I made half a batch & one tub of coconut oil was about right, I also used half whole wheat flour. I got 3 doughs out of the freezer yesterday for making pies today.
BULK HOMEMADE PIE CRUSTS
5 lb bag of all purpose flour (hold back about 2 cups for flouring hands and counter)
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. salt
3 lb coconut oil or lard
4 Tbsp. vinegar
4 eggs
2 cups water
In a LARGE bowl, combine the flour (don't forget to hold back 2 cups), sugar and salt.
With a fork or pastry cutter, combine the shortening with the flour mixture.
In a separate bowl (I use the empty shortening container to minimize dirty dishes), beat vinegar, eggs and water.
Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and blend with a fork until all ingredients are moistened.
Continue to blend using hands and fold dough into a ball.
Cover and chill at least 15 minutes.
Use reserved flour (you may not need it all) to flour hands & surface.
Divide dough into 16 balls. Each ball should be enough to make a crust.
Flatten to about 6” discs.
To freeze, wrap each dough ball/disc in plastic wrap, then store in a freezer bag indefinitely.
To use frozen doughs: allow to thaw on counter or refrigerator. Or microwave for a few seconds.
For “fry pies”, assemble the filled pies; then wrap & freeze. Fry straight out of the freezer- unthawed.
I first made these apple pie cookies for a fall tea party and they were such a hit! Hubby enjoyed the leftovers! He and Daughter-in-law #2 said it’s the perfect proportion of filling to crust! They are kinda time consuming though. I may work on those when the pumpkin pie is in the oven. You can use store bought crusts & pie filling, but I like to use homemade when I can. I’ve also made them both with, and without the caramel. Overall, I can’t tell much difference. And I have also just made the whole sheet and then cut into squares to avoid waste, but it did turn out more soggy and harder to eat.
APPLE PIE COOKIES
2 pie crust doughs
Approx. 1 Can of Apple Pie Filling - most of quart (just enough for a thin layer)
Approx. 1 Cup of Caramel Sauce (just enough for a light coating)
1 Egg..for egg-wash
2 tbsp. Cinnamon/Sugar
1 tbsp. Nutmeg
Flour just for sprinkling
A round cookie cutter..any size you like
Oven 350
Lay out a sheet of Pie Crust, sprinkle it with some flour and slightly roll it out, just to increase its surface area.
Pour some of the Caramel Sauce (Just enough to coat the crust) onto the crust and evenly spread it around, creating a thin layer of caramel…
Coarsely chop the Apple Pie Filling into small pieces…
Top the caramel layer with a layer of the chopped up Apple Pie Filling, making sure not to add too much pie filling…
Roll out the second sheet of Pie Crust the same size as the first sheet, and slice it into strip lengthwise.
Create a lattice crust (just like on a pie) for the top of the pie filling…DON’T do what I did and create the lattice on the counter, it’s not fun getting it on top of the bottom crust..ugh! Create your lattice on top of the actual filling, as if it were a pie!
Brush dough strips with beaten egg. Then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar & nutmeg. (It was too messy doing it after cutting cookies. )
Dip your cookie cutter into some egg wash and cut out your Pie Cookies…
(Brush the tops of them with some egg wash and sprinkle them with the Cinnamon Sugar and Nutmeg.. Do this BEFORE cutting out or they’ll just fall apart!)
Place them onto a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for approx. 20-25 minutes, until they’re golden and firm. Let them cool just a little..
Pour a glass of cold Milk and grab a warm one, or 5…
Well, I have plenty planned for today, including clearing off the dining room table 😆, but that’ll make less to do tomorrow morning. And- to decide whether to smoke the turkey -or roast it in the oven?
Let me know in the comments if you’ll be hosting and what you’re making. If you’re going somewhere, what are you taking?
To comment, you should be able to click on a picture in this email and it’ll take you to the Substack page, where you can comment at the bottom of this blog post.
I’m unlikely to post tomorrow, but hopefully I’ll write something over the weekend-
So may your Thanksgiving with family and/or friends be wonderfully blessed!
OH! Almost forgot- I’ll be starting my Christmas Bundle of elderberry syrups & some new gift baskets on my website this weekend!
www.elderBEARiesbyjen.com