Sweet Potato Casserole

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes that I've made for years. I've never been big on sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and this is a yummy, easy alternative. We don't usually put the pecans on (at my husband's request), but we love the sweet topping. Most of the time I do about 3 large sweet potatoes, which I know is over two pounds, but it still tastes fabulous without changing the other ingredients. We make it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Printable Recipe

Sweet Potato Casserole

(from Better Homes and Gardens)

3 medium to large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup  sugar
1/4 cup  butter, melted
1/4 cup  milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon  vanilla

Topping:

1/2 cup  packed brown sugar
1/4 cup  all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon  butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Wash and peel sweet potatoes. Cut off woody portions and ends. Cut into quarters.

In a large saucepan, cook potatoes, covered, in enough boiling salted water to cover for 25 to 30 minutes or until tender; drain.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Transfer potatoes to a large mixing bowl. Mash lightly. 

Stir in sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, milk, egg, and vanilla. Transfer sweet potato mixture to a 2-quart casserole dish.

In a small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans, flour, and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.

Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly. 

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Crockpot Apple Butter

One of my favorite memories of growing up is taking a fall drive through Southern Indiana to Brown County. I don't know if there is anywhere else in the world that can rival the gorgeous colors of the trees when the leaves are changing.

And of course when you're there, you have to stop in Nashville and pick up some apple butter. Yum! If you don't know what apple butter is, it's an apple spread with lots of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc). It's a super thick apple sauce consistency, and my favorite thing to put it on is homemade biscuits (this recipe pairs VERY well with these biscuits).

I adapted my recipe from this one (I prefer some of the ingredients, and I wanted to do it in the crock pot since slow cooking is important in making apple butter) and from the Utah State University Extension--the latter is my go-to when I'm canning because I know I can trust them to give me a safe recipe that has all of the correct directions. ***Sidenote, whenever you find a canning recipe online, it would be wise to check it with a trusted source. I've seen so many that don't mention the amount of headspace needed or leave out key ingredients (spaghetti sauce and green beans, for example, have to be done a certain way or with certain ingredients, or you're putting yourself and anyone who eats it in serious danger of some major food poisoning.) Just because your grandma did it that way, or you've never gotten sick, it doesn't mean it's safe. One of the most important things to check is processing times. If the recipe gives you an exact time for processing (i.e. 15 mins in a water bath canner), check with another source. Processing depends on the size of your jar (pint vs. qt), whether you're doing hot pack or cold pack, and the altitude of your location. Fifteen minutes might be correct for the blogger, but it doesn't mean it's right for you.***

If you'd rather not can it, just put it in jars and place in the fridge (or freeze it). I'm not sure of the shelf life. Usually jam is a couple weeks, but many people say it keeps longer, so use your best judgement. That is another reason I use pint jars, so I don't have an open jar for too long.

Printable Recipe

Crockpot Apple Butter

Use Jonathan, Winesap, Stayman, Golden Delicious, MacIntosh, or other tasty apple varieties for good results.

8 lbs apples

2 cups apple cider

2-1/4 cups white sugar

2-1/4 cups packed brown sugar

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp nutmeg

Yield: About 8 to 9 pints (I ended up with 6 pints)

Procedure:   

Wash, remove stems, quarter, and core fruit. (I used an apple corer, peeler, slicer and that made the process a lot faster.)

Place all ingredients in crock pot and stir so all apples are coated. Cook on HIGH for 1 hour. Reduce to LOW for 8 to 10 hours; stir occasionally.

Once the apples are a rich brown color and mash easily, drain off excess liquid. 

Use either a blender, hand-blender or food processor, and blend just for a few seconds to get a good, thick consistency (it should look like a thick, slightly chunky applesauce).

Fill hot into sterile half-pint or pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Quart jars need not be presterilized but should be clean and kept hot until filling. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process.

Recommended process time for Apple Butter in a boiling-water canner

(from the USU Extension)

Process Time at Altitudes of

Style                      Jar                         0–                           1,001–                           Above

of Pack                 Size                        1,000 ft                 6,000 ft                        6,000 ft

Hot                         Half-pints                5 min                        10                                      15

or Pints

Quarts                      10                              15                                     20

S'Mores Pie

If you know me well enough, you know my deep and abiding love for S'mores. They are the only reason I tolerate camping, and it always makes me a little sad at the end of summer. No longer--I can make this pie any time and have S'mores all throughout the year. I don't know if that's such a good thing, which is probably why I let this recipe sit for awhile before I made it. But it was so amazing when I did. Very easy and satisfying.

Printable Recipe

S'mores Pie

from Life as a Lofthouse

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 (7 ounce) jar Marshmallow Creme (do NOT use regular marshmallows)

4 Regular sized Hersheys Bars, broken into pieces

wax or parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch glass pie pan with baking spray.

Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy and combined.

Add egg and vanilla until incorporated.

On low speed add in flour, graham cracker crumbs and baking powder. Divide the dough in half.

Press half of the dough in the bottom and sides of the prepared pie pan.

Evenly spread the Marshmallow Creme over the bottom of crust.

Spread the broken chocolate pieces on top of the Marshmallow Creme.

Form the remaining dough into a ball and place it on a piece of wax or parchment paper.

Top with another piece of wax or parchment paper and flatten into a 9 inch circle with a rolling pin.

Carefully peel off the top piece of wax paper.

Flip the crust onto the top of pie and peel off the other piece of paper.

Pinch the dough together to form the crust.

Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool until just slightly warm and then slice and serve.

Pecan Pie

This is a recipe from my grandmother. We've been making this version as long as I can remember. The few times I've tried something else, it's been a disaster, and we always run back to this one. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

 Pecan Pie

3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup dark corn syrup (or light, for a slightly less sweet pie)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecan halves
1 9-inch pie crust


Beat eggs well.

Add sugar, salt, melted butter, corn syrup and vanilla. Mix until combined.

Add pecans. Pour into pie crust.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between outside and center of filling comes out clean.

Cool before serving.

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving is almost here, and I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet. By far my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. It always turns out well and is very light and creamy. This is Paula Deen's recipe, but I can't believe there's only half a stick of butter! :)

Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Pie

from Food Network

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 cup half-and-half

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional

1 piece pre-made pie dough

Whipped cream, for topping


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern.

Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up.

Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. (I don't have pie weights, so usually I just prick holes in the crust, put the foil on, and don't worry about weighing it down.)

Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights, and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer.

Add the pumpkin and beat until combined.

Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined.

Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined.

Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set.

Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

KFC Biscuits

We had these biscuits when we were visiting friends, and even though they were a day old, I had to have the recipe. So, so good! They're supposed to be a copycat of KFC biscuits, but I like them even more than those. Yum!

Printable Recipe

Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, softened


Preheat oven to 425

Sift together flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.

Make a well in the flour mix and add the milk.

Add butter and begin kneading until thoroughly mixed.

Pat into 1/2 inch thickness, then cut into biscuits.

Bake for 10-13 minutes.

Makes about 12 biscuits.

Best No-Knead Pizza Dough Ever

I wanted to get this out there early in the week, just in case you're like me and plan for Pizza Night on Fridays. I have tried a lot of pizza dough recipes. A LOT!!! And so many of them claim to be the best. But after all is said and done, I'm left thinking, "That's the best you've got?" So I've had this one tucked away on Pinterest for quite awhile, but by the time I saw it, I'd grown tired of making my own, barely decent, dough, and we'd gone to frozen pizza. Plus the "18 hours" of resting time scared me (PLEASE DON'T STOP READING!). When I looked at it again, I realized that while, yes, you do have to be thinking ahead for this one, the dough takes about 5 minutes to measure out and mix up, and then it just sits there. So all I have to do is remember sometime Thursday evening to whip it up, and then we're good for dinner Friday. And actually, the original blogger who posted it said it's very forgiving, and one time she only let it rise for 5 hours and it still turned out great, so even better! Just don't forget the extra hour at the end that you're supposed to let it sit (although I think I only did half an hour last time; again, forgiving).

I did the "heat a pizza stone first" trick, and the result was absolutely amazing! Not super thick and doughy, just thin enough without being overly so, and enough crunch to keep me from thinking I'd made fancy breadsticks instead. Much closer to restaurant style than I've ever accomplished before. I only had one stone, so I used an upside down cookie sheet for the other, and it was still great. (I have no idea why I turned it upside down, so don't ask.) And we freeze the third ball of dough, so by the third week, I don't even have to remember to make it because I have enough for two pizzas that just need to be thawed!

Printable Recipe

 No-Knead Pizza Dough

Handle the Heat

Yield: about 3 balls of dough (you can easily double this recipe)

3 3/4 cups (500 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour (I used bleached, just because that's what I had on hand)
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (be sure not to use really hot water as that will kill the yeast)

In a medium bowl combine the flour, yeast, and salt.

Gradually add the water, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the water is incorporated and a shaggy dough forms. You may need to use your hands to fully incorporate the water. Just remember, you don't need to knead!

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to a clean large bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature in a draft-free place until the dough is doubled in size. This may take up to 18 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Don't worry too much about the time as this dough is very forgiving.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface.

Divide into 3 equal portions.

Take one portion of dough and gather 4 corners to the center to create 4 folds.

Turn seam side down and roll into an even ball.

Repeat with remaining portions.

Let dough rest, covered, until soft and pliable, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven and pizza stone to 425.

Roll dough to desired shape.

Take pizza stone out and carefully slide the dough onto the stone.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.

Top with favorite toppings.

Bake for another 10-12 minutes or until done.


The dough can be made ahead of time: Refrigerate the dough, individually wrapped in plastic, for up to 3 days. Unwrap and let rest at room temperature, covered in plastic wrap, for 2 to 3 hours before shaping.

Freeze the dough, individually wrapped in plastic and placed in Ziploc bags, for up to 1 month. Defrost the dough overnight in the fridge then allow to sit at room temperature as directed above before shaping.

The dough is now ready to be shaped into pizza or whatever else you desire.