hola. i made a pumpkin cheesecake to bring for thanksgiving, but now i have leftover sour cream and all i could think of to use it for was soups that didn't seem that pleasing to me, garnishes for things like pierogies, or more baked goods which i didn't really want to bake just for myself. does anyone have any cooking ideas for a tub of sour cream? thanks!

-edit-
veg ideas only please!

I mixed up a batch of cranberry sorbet Monday night (cranberries, cranberry juice, sugar, pinch of salt, light corn syrup) and it would not freeze in the ice cream maker, now it is Wednesday night, it is in a baking pan in the freezer (has been since Monday night) and it still isn't frozen.
Anyone have any idea why? My freezer freezes ice cubes just fine but won't completely freeze the ice cream maker core or this sorbet. Turned the dial as cold as it goes... No alcohol in the recipe... maybe too much corn syrup? I had hoped to take it to a Thanksgiving dinner but I'd rather not take this unfrozen goop... Meanwhile I'm moving it to a shallower pan to see if it helps at all.

My sister is having her first child at the beginning of January and I wanted to fill a recipe card box with easy new mom recipes that were healthy and creative. Any moms have recipe suggestions? She doesn't really eat much red meat and she's allergic to shellfish but other than that she will eat anything!

This is my first Thanksgiving that I am both hosting and cooking everything on my own. I'm pretty confident on my menu but am veryyyy nervous about the turkey! My husband is the pickiest person on earth so I want to do somethings super super basic with the stuffing outside of the turkey. I called the butterball hotline and they told me to coat it in veggie oil and the last 20 mins cover it with foil on just the breasts. But this really doesn't sound right to me...is it just me?

ALSO, I'd really like any suggestions on how you make your Holidays special! My SIL just came out as a lesbian and is not welcome at her parents house any more so her and her Fiance were just going to have Turkey sandwiches from Wawa. Now there was no way in hell I'd let this happen so of course they are both more than welcome at my house. This is their first Thanksgiving together so I just want to make sure it's wonderful :)

Im baking an apple pie for Thanksgiving. I was wondering if I can bake it today and re warm it tomorrow? Would that dry it out or wreck the pie?

( Recipe here... )

(x-posted in bakebakebake)

I'm making flatbread appetizers for tomorrow. I'd like to make a variety of toppings for our varying tastes and it's a large get together.

I know I am making:

Sweet potato/sage/pancetta

I also have these jarred Des De Saveurs I'd like to use but need some ideas as to what sort of fresh add-ins might be good with them.

Artichoke spinach with parmasan and garlic
Caramelized garlic and sage white bean

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I got this recipe off an egg nog container several years ago and it has become a holiday staple.

1 cooked pie shell.
1 pkg cook and serve vanilla pudding mix.
Substitute egg nog for the milk.
1/2 t nutmeg
Prepare according to package directions.
Refrigerate until cool but not totally set up(1)
As much heavy cream as milk.
Whip the heavy cream.
When pudding is cool enough, mix the pudding and whipped cream together.
Pour into pie shell.
Refrigerate until set
Nom


(1) I never can figure out how long that is, some years it sets and some years I have to make it a frozen pie. This year I am trying 1 hour.

I've had four pretty big (American chickens must be HUUUUUUGE) chicken breasts cooking away in my crock pot for about 2 hours now on high. (If it matters, it's a 6quart Hamilton Beach one...)

I want to toss in some veggies later in, and HAD intended to put it on low for 8 hours, tossing in the veggies at the last two hours, but things (kids!) happen, so I wound up doing it on higher heat. Should I just go by the halving rules, and since the chicken cooks for four hours instead of eight, put the veggies in at the last hour mark?

I really am new to cooking, sorry if this all sounds dumb. :(

Should I toss the veggies on top? Move the chicken and put the veggies at the bottom then put the chicken back in? :/

ETA: Lol I did this hours ago... I fell asleep and the veggies disintegrated anyway. Oh well. :)

I had this book and lost it after I moved. I've been so depressed without it!
My memory might be a little wrong here, but I'm pretty sure it:

• had a mainly white cover, white with the text and some photos or drawings or something on it
• Was probably not more than 250-300 pages. Probably less, maybe around 150.
• Featured whole grains
• probably came out in the 90s. I bought it used, so I'm not sure exactly how old it was, but that is a guess
• was paperback

I remember a very specific recipe for millet, spinach and walnut croquettes served with tomato sauce included in the book.

Any leads would be great! Or places to search besides Amazon, LibraryThing and Goodreads. Thanks!

When I was in Spain this summer I ate a lot of tortillas. They were our go-to when we were sick of fish in Cabo de Palos (didn't happen to me, but to other members of my family), when we didn't feel like eating heavy meat in Madrid, or when we wanted something to nosh on between lunch and dinner while drinking a lovely Alhambra beer. And now that winter is rapidly approaching, I think about sunny Spain a lot. Like, a REAL WHOLE LOT.

( Recipe under here! )

See more at The Cast-Iron Darling!

Hi! I'm a new member and very happy to find another cooking community with whom I can badger with questions. Lol.

This is for all you bakers out there:

For Thanksgiving, I am planning on making fresh dinner rolls which I hoped to make ahead of time the day before. The recipe I am using says to allow the dough to rise twice-- once for about an hour, after which the dough is deflated, divided, and put into pans, and allowed to rise again for about forty minutes and then baked.

My question is, is it possible to put off the baking step until the next day? I know when some people make bread, they will make extra dough and freeze it-- would this be the appropriate time to do that? Or can I just let it sit in the refrigerator overnight?

This is my first time ever baking bread, and I really don't want to screw it up as it's for a large and important meal. I'll be cooking everything else during Thanksgiving day and I'm somewhat limited on counter space. However, if need be, I can probably squeeze in making these rolls from step one on Thursday... I'd just prefer to get as much of the prep work done a day ahead of time.

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can lend me. This is the first Thanksgiving meal I will be cooking, and I'd love for it to be spectacular!

(Cross posted to kitchenfaq .)

I've got some very lovely boneless pork chops defrosting in the kitchen for tomorrow's dinner and would like to do them up right.

I'm thinking something pan-seared then baked, maybe. I've also got some nice apples and bacon that could go along with that. Maybe a little garlic too. But I've never made something like this before and could use some advice.

Any ideas or recommendations of things up this alley that you've made before that turned out nice?

When I was hunting for an alternative recipe to French Onion Soup, I ran across an old thread here on the community and taking suggestions from the comments & links (especially Alton Brown's recipe) formed my own recipe which I will never, ever, deviate from! Thanks everyone!



What I Used:
Onions: 5 yellow onions, 3 tablespoons of butter (I use smart balance), 1/2c. sherry
Broth: 32 oz. certified organic beef broth, 14 oz. low-sodium chicken broth, 14 oz. canned beef broth, 1 c. spiced apple cider, 1 c. white wine (chardonnay)
Spice: Allspice, cloves, black pepper, thyme, sea salt & cumin – lots of cumin!
French bread & shredded Gruyere cheese (I used Trader Joe’s brand and I’ll never switch it up unless they do it first)


Step by step instructions:

- Chop the two largest onions into fine, half-moon shapes

- Finely mince the remaining three, smaller onions (I used a food processor) then set them aside

- Heat up a skillet and melt the butter on high. Once the butter is melted, layer the chopped, half-moon shaped onions and let them sweat down and brown on medium heat until they reduced to a rich caramel color. This takes awhile, 30-45 minutes. Add the 1/2c. sherry, reduced heat and stir

- In a large pot, add the liquids (beef broth, chicken brother, cider, wine), the minced onions we set aside earlier and the spices (I repeat, be generous with the cumin)

- Bring to a boil, then add the caramelized onions from the skillet, reduce heat & simmer for about 20-30 minutes, fiddling with your spices until you have the taste you like
While that’s going, this is the perfect time to grate the Gruyere cheese. Our food processor has a grater blade *grin*

- When the soup is done and the cheese is grated, it’s time to cut the French bread in small rounds and toast them

- Ladle the soup in a bowl (or mini crock bowl, whatever), add the toast in the soup, (don’t burn yourself) and sprinkle the cheese on top. Place the bowl(s) on a cookie sheet and into a pre-heated oven set for “broil” ~ around 400-500 degrees F

- Anywhere from 3-5 minutes, the cheese will have melted and bubbled and it’s time to turn off the oven and carefully remove the soup ~ grab your spoon, dig in and enjoy!

How many servings does this make? I guesstimate 6-8. I also use regular bowls, not special mini soup crocks.

You can find a lot more pictures for this recipe on my blog

I told my Mother in law that I"d do the pumpkin pie for this year. Her pumpkin pies routinely turn out weird-- kind of watery or they separate or the texture is just...bad.

I planned on doing the basic Libby's recipe off the can. BUT. MIL cans her own pumpkin. So she gave me some. And she also milks her own cows and gave me cream "because you just substitute it for the condensed milk".

But.... Her pies don't turn out well so I'm skeptical.

Anyone have any experience with home-canned pumpkin, and cream in a pumpkin pie? I'm used to the Libby's recipe (and love it) but am open to an actual RECIPE that someone has tried and works out...

i feel stupid asking this question, but i'm really having trouble figuring it out. how can i get my icing to look smooth and professional? examples:





i can NEVER get mine to look like that and it's starting to drive me nuts. am i just not using the right ingredients? :(

The other day I made some Maple Pecan Sticky Buns, click on the link for the full saga and the recipe I used. In some ways it was a great success, in others, not so much! I love the dough, it was exactly what I was after but the filling left a lot to be desired. For one pecans are ridiculously expensive and for another the filling was so sickly sweet and sticky that if I eat one more I'll die!

I'd love to be able to make something like these again but I don't know what to put in them. Chocolate would be good but I don't know how to make it sticky and I guess chelsea buns are another way to go but what else could I use as a filling that will neither break the bank nor send me racing into a sugar coma?

I bought a jar of pesto yesterday and I want to make pesto chicken pasta, and also do some sandwiches in my panini press with chicken and pesto. Thing is, I'm not quite sure what to do with the chicken. Should I cook it plain because the pesto will give enough flavour, or can I spice up the chicken with any complimentary flavours?

Thanks for any ideas!

This is my dad's recipe for Rouladen. All the recipes I find on the internet say that Rouladen is stuffed with pickles and mustard. So I don't know where he got this version with pork and bread crumbs. Most of dad's recipes come from his Pennsylvania Dutch mother or from his years of living in Stuttgart.

Have any of you had Rouladen made this way before?

Ingredients
1 lb round or flank steak, cut thin
1 lb ground pork
1 c fresh bread crumbs
1 onion, diced
parsley
salt & pepper
flour
oil
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup chicken stock

Instructions
Pounded the beef flat into 3"x4" pieces (or have your butcher cut them as thin as possible)
Season with salt & pepper
Mix the ground pork, bread crumbs onion, parsley, salt & pepper.
Place 2 Tbsp of the pork mixture on each strip of beef.
Roll the beef over the pork mixture and tie with string
Dredge the rolls in flour and brown in hot oil
Place the rolls in a casserole.
Cover with chicken stock and dry red wine
Cover and cook in 300°F oven or simmer on direct heat about 75 minutes.

I have a 13.5 lb bird that's been in the fridge since Sunday and is still pretty much frozen solid. My recipe has me rubbing the bird with salt tomorrow, so it was supposed to be defrosted by then, but I don't think that's going to happen. I know I can defrost in cold water, but everything I read says you have to cook the bird right away, so I don't think that's the best bet. I hope that by tomorrow morning, enough of the bird will be thawed so that the salt can do what it needs to do and everything will be good to go by Thursday morning, but am concerned this might not be the case.

Anyone out there in cooking land have a suggestion? I'm surprised it's taking this long because based on what I've seen so far, it might take this bird 5 days to defrost which is far longer than any estimate I have seen.

I just learned that my friend's father has passed away. Of course, the usual thing to do is to bring food, though I've never been in a (geographic) position to do so before. What kind of food is appropriate? And, this is two days before Thanksgiving ... should I stay away from Thanksgiving foods*, or bring them something traditionally Thanksgiving, to help ease the stress of that? I was thinking of making a pie or ... any other ideas for what would keep easily**?


*If so, would chicken enchiladas be appropriate? They keep & freeze & reheat really well.

**I'd like to stay away from bread, as I'm making bread for my holiday baking this year.

Okay, so, I'm hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year. I have my menu planned, but I'm trying to figure out what would be best to do tonight, what I should do tomorrow, and what needs to be made fresh day-of. I (thankfully!) have tomorrow off from work, so I can do a lot of cooking then, but I also need to clean the house, set up the table, and unpack a whole bunch of boxes (we just moved in a few weeks ago). So, if I can do a couple of things tonight, a couple of things tomorrow, and very minimal work on Thursday other than simply warming things and cooking whatever NEEDS to be made fresh, that would be great.

So, thoughts on when would be best to do the following?
- cornbread
- butternut squash soup
- cheesy garlic mashed potatoes
- sausage and herb stuffing
- cupcakes (2 kinds - red velvet and pb&j)
- pumpkin/squash pie
- apple pie
- cranberry sauce

My mom is doing the Turkey and a broccoli casserole, my grandmother is doing sweet potatoes, my grandmother-in-law is doing a salad, and my in-laws are doing a cheesecake and green beans, so all of that is out of my hands. The above are the things I am planning.

Also, the following are items I got from my CSA box this week (last delivery of the season!). Any suggestions for what I could do with them, either for Thanksgiving or otherwise?
-carrots
-kale
-kohlrabi
-rutabaga
-red cabbage
-watermelon radish
-celeriac

Thanks! I've got 18 people coming to a house that's only half unpacked, so suffice it to say that I'll take all the help/suggestions I can get...

Ok, my 14 yo step-daughter has gone vegetarian. (Not vegan, just vegetarian.) Now for Thanksgiving, my family does a "everybody bring a dish or two" to help. Certain parts of the main meal are assigned and the rest of us bring other dishes. So there will be a potato dish, mac n cheese, etc. I'm trying to come up with a vegetarian dish that I know the step-daughter will eat and other can also.

Requirements:
- Able to be made ahead of time and heated up in the oven. (Able to eat when "warm" but not piping hot is also a major plus.)
- Portable
- Vegetarian
- Limited tomato usage. (Step daughter has IBS and the acid from the tomato tends to aggravate it.)

We have access to stores and the farmer's market so I'm not all that limited for ingredients so I'm going to leave that open. I am thinking something with some squashes/pumpkin.... My husband came up with a stuffed pumpkin but well, all recipes he can come up with has meat in it. A quiche is also an option if you have a GOOD vegetarian recipe. (Are quiches good reheated and not piping hot?)

(I have a crock-pot, and oven, microwave, and stove top will be available to reheat the day of, but having to be there in the kitchen stirring and watching constantly would probably be a bad thing.)

Any help you can provide would be WONDERFUL.

EDITED TO ADD: As we have 3 meals I need to think about, it looks like we'll be doing the butternut squash, sage, and pine nuts with pasta for one, vegetarian lasagna for another, and a stuffed pumpkin for the third. Thanks so much for all your suggestions!! I'll keep them on hand for other times.

Forgive me if this is question isn't appropriate for this community, but would you be appalled to receive a box of chocolate with a jack-o-lantern and a witch on it at Christmas? My mom sent me 6 small boxes of See's chocolate and the boxes are Halloween themed and have truffles and little balls of chocolate wrapped in jack-o-lantern foil. She wants me to give them out to my fiance's friends and family when I meet them for the first time in England but I just think it's a little weird. I wouldn't want to put people in an awkward situation where, to my face, they are like "Oh... thanks... for the Halloween chocolate..." and then promptly throw it away after I've left. Does chocolate go bad? I've cracked open one box and it tastes fine to me but I don't know how other people would feel to receive a souvenir like this. Should I just eat the other 5 boxes or what?


EDIT: Thanks for all your input, everyone. See's candy is delicious, quality stuff and so I will eat all the boxes myself. The thing is my mom is ~*~Asian~*~ and has no concept of what these Western holidays mean and what's appropriate for them. She did mean well but wellllll.. If I try to tell her I didn't give away her chocolates she'll get upset and tell me I'm just being silly. So I probably will not bring it up and if she asks I'll say something nice. Thanks again!

Okay so recently I've been contemplating the concept of vegetarianism...however this could prove extremely difficult; at the age of 20, I've grown up having meat with an average of two meals a day. Not a good start to vegetarianism! lol

Anyway, I do love fruit in any form, and there are a lot of vegetable dishes that could easily live off. However, if there's one thing I've never really gotten into, is beans/pulses. Seriously...cheese beanos are about as good as I get. So do any of you have any good dishes to start me off eating beans/pulses. The main dislike I have for them is the texture, so anything to help me work around this would be awesome!

Thanks very much!

Hello there.
Am wanting to have a crack at making garlic prawns however I don't seem to be finding recipes that are quite what I am after.
In the past when I have gone to restaurants and had garlic prawns the sauce has been thick, creamy and exceptionally garlicy. Alot of the recipes I am finding online are olive oil based sauces with no creamy texture whatsoever.
Can any post me a link to a good recipe? Or does anyone have their own recipe for this?

Cheers!

I bought this packet of goat cheese and made some pasta with it but I still have quite a lot left. Now I'm looking for recipes for goat cheese, basically anything goes. Any suggestions? :)

I've taken on the making of the stuffing for this trip/dinner thing I'm going to at some dear friends' son and DIL's house in TX this Thanksgiving.

I love dressing and loathe the pre-bought kind. I never had cornbread dressing until I lived here in OK (Yankee-gal, here!) so I'm "building" my own recipe here. And it has to be no-preservatives as DIL is horribly allergic.

It will contain:

turkey stock from the giblets/chicken necks/see what turkey bits I can find at store (no bullion or gravy mix!)
large iron skillet of from-scratch cornbread cooled and crumbled.
bunch of sourdough bread cubed.
more cornbread than light bread.
one large onion diced.
some chopped celery.
couple of beaten eggs to make it stick together.
salt and pepper to taste.
fresh rubbed sage.
Penzey's Toasted onion powder.
Penzey's Pork chop seasoning.
Dollop of vermouth.

Directions:
Take everything and assemble there.
Mix all ingredients together by eye add broth as need.

Anything anybody can see that I'm missing from there?

No apples or sausage in my stuffing, thanks.

When deep frying a turkey, how long should I cook it per pound?

I need to clear out my fridge and freezer I can hear you say This Won't End Well by having a dinner party or two in the very near future, and this is the menu:


Appetisers:
First platter:
Toasted baguette slices with baked brie and roasted softened garlic
Toasted baguette with tomato bruschetta
Toasted baguette with smoked salmon and cream cheese
Second platter:
Prosciutto slices
Vegetables cut up - carrots, celery, grape tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms
Dip for vegetables
Third platter:
Chilled shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce

( More )

Everytime we have friends over, we state BYOB and inevitably always end up with tons of beer left behind.

Besides beer bread ,what can I do with all this beer?

I've heard of people using beer to marinate their meats, but don't have any specific recipes. Besides drinking, what do you like to do with beer? :)

Thanks in advance.

I've volunteered to help build a gingerbread house entirely from scratch for a contest. Does anyone have any tried-and-true recipes for good gingerbread drywall, or any other helpful suggestions or relevant links? I've never done this before!

I've been charged with bringing the mac n cheese to T-day. My husband is ridiculously picky and will only accept Stouffer's frozen mac. He did however say that I could dress it up.
I'm thinking of adding some Parmesan and Gruyere and topping it with a combo of crushed cheez its (I know, I know...but he doesn't like a topping normally, and cheez its are the only thing he'll agree to) and a little Parmesan. Does that sound ok to you? How would you dress it up?
*Note; we're vegetarian and hubby is allergic to eggs and hates onions with a passion.

Hello everybody! My first post... Sorry for bothering you with boring questions.

I am looking for a new food processor or blender and feel a bit confused as there are lots of models around. I would appreciate if people who recently (within last few years) bought one would share their thoughts on which one they liked.

Other questions: can any food processor make minced meat? Are any safe to use with hot soup?
Obviously I dream to find something which is not too expensive but reliable.

Thanks!

PS. I had a very cheap Cookworks blender which worked fine for many years then started to leak.

Hello hello! :)

My boyfriend's 21st is coming up, which of course necessitates some pretty damn fabulous baked goods to add to his swag of planned goodies. Or in this case, to take to his party!

He's a little obsessed with Blue Heaven milkshakes (apparently an aussie thing) so I want to convert the flavouring/outrageous blue shade into a baked thing, preferably cupcakes. Unfortunately no one seems to be able to agree what it tastes like (other than BLUE *sighs*) so I think I'm going to have to take it as it comes - in either milkshake or cordial flavouring. Has anyone had any success with using either milkshake or cordial syrup to spike baked goods or frosting? How did it go? What recipe did you use?

Help muchly appreciated, thanks :)

tonight i felt like having a nice roast dinner. first i took a pre-marinated beef strip loin roast and seared in browned butter



( rest of recipe and pictures this way )

I've tasted it.. I remember it was GOOD!!! But I dont know how to make it... Its pumpkin spice pie and had cranberries in it.. Anybody know what I'm talking about??? And if ya do can ya tell me how to make it?? Recipes anyone??

I just made spice cookies. They look gorgeous but when I tasted the first one I realized I put in twice as much salt as I should have... and boy howdy can I taste it. In fact ten minutes later I can still taste it.

Might some kind of icing help at least make these edible? Cream cheese frosting comes to mind. Any ideas? Melt caramel over the top and tell people I did it on purpose? :P

Just to get a head start on Turkey Day,
What are you favorite recipes for leftover turkey?

Edit to add list:
Cold turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce
Hot turkey sandwiches (turkey, gravy, and bread)
Turkey with gravy and biscuits (or toast)
Turkey stock, soup, noodle soup, cream of turkey soup
Turkey a la king
Turkey Tetrazzini
Turkey pot pie
Turkey tacos, burritos, enchiladas, or chili
Turkey with satay sauce
Turkey salad with pecans, dried cranberries, celery, mayo, and dried dill.
Turkey Hash

I've been sick lately, and had to cancel a Thanksgiving potluck tonight to stay home sniffling. I'm not that disappointed, though, because I stumbled upon a Mexican FEAST of comfort food: Creamy Chicken and Green Chile Enchiladas with Mexican Sausage Rice.

The rice was pretty good, but the enchiladas were AMAZING -- and so easy, since they can be made with a store-bought rotisserie chicken. They were creamy, tangy, saucy, and warm. You must try them! Of course my boyfriend and I ate as daintily as the pictured plate suggests (or else we scarfed down four enchiladas each as quickly as possible while watching Star Trek: DS9).



( recipe and more photos! )


To read more about these two dishes, enjoy some more whining about my illness, or just to experience the joy of link-clicking, please head over to my baking blog, Willow Bird Baking!

x posted to cooking, food_porn, and bakebakebake

These are very light, soft and very fluffy. Some may find them a little too soft and want a springier pancake - in which case use less apple sauce or a little more flour. I personally like them to melt in the mouth all soft, fluffy, warm, buttery and syrupy!

For a healthier pancake omit the sugar and butter from the batter (you may need to add a tbs or two of milk to replace the butter) & use 1/2 plain wholemeal flour and 1/2 white plain flour. You could use all wholemeal but I don't like the texture it creates.

I use a 250ml cup and a 15ml/0.5oz tablespoon. I gently tap down the flour in the cup and level it off with a knife or finger. The apple sauce was made with a couple of bramleys and eating apples cooked down in a couple of tbs of water, sugar to taste, a knob of butter and a mix of ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg (1/4tsp of each) - this is left to cool before use.

( Apple Pancakes recipe below )