Thanksgiving, When You Don't Like Turkey

We don’t really care for turkey, so during the holidays we have been known to have ham, prime rib, homemade pizza or multi-dish homemade Chinese food meal. It is not so much what you eat, as much as the people you share the day with.

With Thanksgiving, a week away and I still do not know what I am cooking on this day. I am leaning toward, cranberry apple stuffed pork chops, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans,  rosemary yeast bread and pumpkin dream pie. It will be a lot of cooking for the four of us, but side dishes usually freeze well.

Stuffed Pork Chops are a favorite with my family. I get the thickest center cuts I can find. I am not picky if it has a the bone removed or not. For every day stuffing, I will  use Stove Top brand stuffing and pop the chops in the oven easy, quick and tasty. Thanksgiving will require a bit more effort...

Cranberry Apple Stuffed Pork Chops

Ingredients:

6 thick center cut pork chops

1 ½ cups cubed dry bread

2 apples cored and chopped

1 cup cranberries

2 Tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 Tablespoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup cold chicken stock or apple juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

Cut a large pocket into the side of each chop. Be careful not to cut all the way through.

In a bowl combine all dry ingredients and slowly add liquid in small amounts until mixture is just moist.

Stuff as much mixture into the chop as possible, approximately ¼ cup.

Place chops on a foil lined baking sheet

If there is extra stuffing arrange around the chops.

Bake for 45 minutes, flip chops over at half way.

Pumpkin Dream Pie

Not sure how many of you remember the chocolate dream pie. Mixing dream whip with pudding, creating a mouse like pie, you can still find the dream whip mix in the baking isle of your grocery store. I am all for quick easy recipes, especially around the holidays!

So you will need 2, 3.4 ounce boxes of Jell-o Pumpkin Spice Pudding mix, 2 envelopes of dream whip, 2 ¾ cups of milk and a pie crust. I am going to use Graham Cracker crumbs to make a crust, only because I have these and have to use them.

Follow the directions on the back of the box of the dream whip.

Beat whipped topping mixes; 1 cup of milk in a large bowl with electric mixer on high for six minutes, or until topping thickens and forms peaks.

Add remaining milk and pudding mixes, beat on low, then on high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

Spoon into pie shell and refrigerate for four hours. Slice into 8 servings and top with dream whip or whipped cream. I like to sprinkle pumpkin pie spice on top of the whipped cream to dress up the dessert.

Wrap It In Bacon!

When I was in high school, my mother would take hard bread sticks, wrap them in bacon then pop them into the microwave. These would be quick, and supper easy appetizers.  I do not think even my daughter or my niece, Kylie could screw these up… well wait, they might. Both seem to have, a bad track record with that appliance. So let me amend my last statement… These would make quick appetizers, which the majority of new cooks would find supper easy to make.

Have you tried, bacon wrapped potatoes?

You will need:

3 pounds of small 1” baby potatoes, scrubbed clean

25 to 30 slices of thin bacon

Bamboo skewers, soaked for twenty minutes in water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F

Wrap each potato with 1 or 2 slices of bacon.

Slide bacon wrapped potatoes on bamboo skewers leaving one inch between each potato.

Bake for 40 minutes on a roasting pan or grill pan.

For a dipping sauce:

Combine 1 cup sour cream, 2 minced or finely grated garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of chives and ¼ teaspoon of bacon drippings.

Place skewered potatoes and dipping sauce on a platter and serve.

Have you tried bacon wrapped water chestnuts? These take a little pre-planning since the water chestnuts have to soak for several hours.

You will need two 8 ounce cans of water chestnuts, whole, drained. 1 pound bacon, slice each piece in half, toothpicks and 8 ounces of light soy sauce.

Soak water chestnuts for six to eight hours in soy sauce.

Preheat oven to 350°F

Line a baking dish with foil for easy cleanup

Using half a slice of bacon wrap the water chestnut and secure with a toothpick.

Place in baking dish and cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

The next is wrapped asparagus, except we are not going to use bacon you will need: 1/3 pound of prosciutto, 14 spears of asparagus and olive oil.

Wrap each spear in one slice of prosciutto, brush with olive oil and place on a grill. Cook until the prosciutto turns golden brown. The asparagus should be tender but crunchy. Remove to platter and sprinkle with black pepper.