Tag: Thanksgiving recipes

Saltine Toffee

It seems strange to do a post the night of Thanksgiving for a dessert that’s not a Thanksgiving dessert, but I’m still recovering from my food coma and don’t think I can handle posting the Thanksgiving recipes tonight. I’m also pretty obsessed with this saltine toffee.

One of the many wonderful things about the holidays is that you are always cooking for a crowd. That’s when you want desserts like this. It is SO easy and SO good. I made it last Saturday night, and we had finished all of it by Sunday night. I’m slightly ashamed to admit that the crowd I made it for wasn’t all that big, but after a few glasses of wine we weren’t counting how many pieces we were eating.

It’s an incredibly simple recipe with ingredients you might already have at home. I was skeptical about the Saltines, but the airy crunch mixed with the solid chocolate layer is perfect. I made another batch last night just to have as an option if we got tired of eating pumpkin desserts. There was really no need for another dessert around here, but 1) I’ve been missing it in
my life for the past four days, 2) I enjoy baking significantly more when I’m
back home because I don’t have to pay for ingredients and 3) who doesn’t like
options?

Decorate it with anything you’d like – candy, sprinkles, toasted
nuts of some sort. I chose M&Ms and sprinkles. I’ll probably change up the
sprinkles to red and green once December hits (when yes, I will inevitably be
making this again). If you use candy I’d
recommend crushing it up a bit like you can see I’ve done with the M&Ms. I
stored the finished product in the fridge because I thought it was delicious
cold, but storage is up to you!

Enjoy! And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Saltine Toffee

Recipe from Cooking Classy

Ingredients

40 saltine crackers (I recommend using Nabisco Saltines with Sea Salt)
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips (whichever you prefer, milk, semi or bittersweet. I used half milk chocolate half semi-sweet)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla
3/4 cup chopped, toasted nuts of choice – pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts (optional)*
Sprinkles (optional)

Directions

Preheat
oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Align crackers side by side in a single layer along baking sheet, set
aside.
In
a medium saucepan combined butter and brown sugar. Bring mixture to a
boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once it reaches a boil stop
stirring and allow to boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla
bean paste then immediately and carefully pour mixture over crackers in
an even layer (spread out as needed). Transfer to oven and bake 5 to 6
minutes until bubbly.
Remove
from oven and sprinkle top evenly with chocolate chips. Let rest 5
minutes then spread chocolate into a smooth even layer. Sprinkle with
nuts or sprinkles. Transfer to freezer and allow to chill 20 minutes or
until chocolate has set. Remove from freezer and break or cut into
pieces. Store in an airtight container.
*I
just toasted the nuts in a skillet over medium heat several minutes
until fragrant and toasted (while the crackers were baking). Toasting
them is optional though.

Bulgur with Chickpeas, Cranberries, and Cucumber

Thanksgiving is only one week away! Have you finalized your menu yet? This year I am spending Thanksgiving with my family, and I am really looking forward to my Mom and Grandma’s cooking!! I have been seeing so many fun Thanksgiving recipes all over the internet the past few weeks. This healthy bulgur salad recipe is a must-have side for your Thanksgiving table. It is really easy to make, which is a huge plus on Thanksgiving day when you have so much to prepare. I found this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, and was really pleased with the results. I love dried cranberries, and they go so well tossed together with warm bulgur, cucumbers, chickpeas, parsley and drizzled with a lemony-herb olive oil dressing – yum!

Remember the other day when I said I might have some exciting news? Well, it’s official – I am going to be a pharmacist! I got a job offer! Now I just need to get through my last rotations. Oh yeah, and pass my licensure exams. I have been starting to get senioritis for the third time in my life (high school, undergrad, and now grad school!). I really can’t wait to start my career…I am so close

OK, so tell me what you are planning on eating for Thanksgiving this year!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Bulgur with Chickpeas, Cranberries, and Cucumber

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total

20 mins

Type: Side

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 cup coarse-ground bulgur
2 cups water
2 cups cubed organic English cucumber
1 cup chickpeas
¾ cup organic dried cranberries
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp dried parsley

Instructions

Bring a pot of 2 cups water to a boil, then add bulgur. Cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Add cucumber, chickpeas, and cranberries to bulgur and stir.
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon rind and juice, salt, pepper and parsley.
Drizzle dressing over the bulgur salad and serve warm or cold.

Makes ~6 cups

3.2.2124

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light magazine, Nov 2009 – see original here

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Share and Enjoy

Thanksgiving with a Twist (16 unconventional recipes)

Every year I dutifully cook up a pot of my German great-grandmother’s braised red cabbage, even though, with each passing year, fewer and fewer people actually help themselves to so much as a shred of it. I do it because its very presence gives the meal its gravitas, its meaning. And because the deep wine-y purple cabbage, stewed with apples and vinegar, fills the kitchen with the ghosts of holidays past. As the family has grown and spread out the ties to that red cabbage dish are fading. My sister and I make it basically for each other. For us it’s redolent with memories, but for the rest, it’s just. well, kind of yucky.

Part of the fun of food blogging is the challenge of creating recipes that play with tradition and innovation. Tradition has time and experience on its side, so tinkering with it can be risky business, but it’s so rewarding to come up with a new recipe that becomes an instant family (or blog!) classic.

Since Thanksgiving is a harvest festival, I like to honor it by embracing the incredible variety out there — so much more than my great grandmother ever dreamed of. If you normally make cauliflower gratin, why not use purple, green, or orange cauliflower this year. If you usually serve roasted carrots, go for the rainbow variety. There aren’t too many among us who want to sit down to a casserole of candied yams and marshmallow anymore. But coriander and jalapeno roasted sweet potatoes with a lemongrass sauce, that might be just the thing to reinvigorate the menu.

I especially love it when an experimental recipe morphs into its own tradition. That’s the way it was with my Pumpkin Cornbread. It’s now requested…no, demanded…at every Thanksgiving going forward. It’s even made its way into the stuffing.

Traditions will always be important during the holidays, but I think the way to keep it alive, to keep everyone from falling asleep in their mashed potatoes, is to spice things up a bit, whether you inject a little whimsy into the menu, or just experiment with new foods and flavor combinations.

Check out my lineup of Thanksgiving recipes that tweak tradition just a little bit, in the slideshow below ~ You’ll notice I don’t include any variations on the turkey. An oven roasted turkey is an awesome thing and I wouldn’t dream of messing with it…
*This post was part of a sponsored opportunity with foodie.com.