Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

 

Another Turkey Cookie for Thanksgiving

 

So what do you think?  Have we been doing it up, Thanksgiving style?  (Maybe not if you're a grown up.  But we don't really have one of those in our house.)  =o)  But my kids have loved all the fun treats we've made so far.  We tried our first Turkey Cookie.  Then we sugar-ed it up a little and made another Turkey Cookie.  Here's version three.  

 

 

We found two great turkey cookie recipes that were similar.  Pinterest had one version.  It wasn't linked to a page, unfortunately, so I can't give someone credit.  Then Betty Crocker did their version with chocolate frosting all over the cookie.  I liked both, but for me, covered in chocolate frosting was the clincher.  I mean seriously!  Chocolate frosting!

The kids had so much fun making these.  We had some friends over and went to my school for a day of crafts and fun.  This was the perfect "craft" for them.

 

 

We lined up all of our supplies:

 

* sugar cookies

* chocolate frosting

* candy corn

* orange cookie frosting

* M&Ms

* candy eyes

 

And then they all went to work.  There was some serious concentrating going on here.

 

 

 

And lots of snacking.

 

 

They were pretty proud of their creations.

 

 

And super excited to eat them.  They kept asking "are you done taking pictures yet?"

 

 

They turned out pretty cool we thought.

 

 

Of course my favorite to eat was the one covered in chocolate frosting =o)

 

 

My daughter (who doesn't like chocolate) was so proud of her turkeys.  What do you think?

 

 

She said they were alien turkeys =o)

 

I can harldy believe Thanksgiving is almost here!  Yikes!

 

 

 

 

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Turkey Cookies

Yep, another Thanksgiving-ish recipe.  I told you we were going to rock the Holidays!  (If you missed that post, you can check it out here.)  And after our delicious Pumpkin Spice Fudge, we needed a kid friendly crafty kind of dessert to make.  Can you get any more kid friendly or crafty with these Turkey Cookies?

Look at the table of ingredients.  My daughter said it was like heaven =o)

Turkey Cookies

Source: 7th House on the Left

* Nutter Butter Cookies

* Oreo Cookies

* M&Ms

* Candy corn

* Jelly Beans (we used Mike &Ike's)

* White chocolate

They are super easy to make and your kids will have a great time making the faces on these little guys.

Feel free to substitute some of the ingredients for like size and shape things.  My kids don't like Peanut Butter Cups so we used Oreos instead.  (I know, gasp!  Right?)

Assemble and have fun!

My daughter loved this one!

Can you tell?

How are you going to rock the holidays?

 

 

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Pumpkin Spice Fudge

You know when something is over with and you think to yourself "man, I totally screwed that one up!"  That was Halloween for me.  I had all these great ideas for Halloween projects and then my Grandmother passed away and I kind of felt sorry for myself and I wallowed in self pity for a couple of weeks.  What the heck!  I'm a Mom.  I can't wallow.  I don't have time to wallow.  My kids don't understand wallowing.  So no more wallowing for me!

I told them that we were going to rock Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.  They got pretty excited about that.  After all, I'm the Mom.  I am supposed to set the tone, the pace, the atmosphere, if you will.  I failed at Halloween.  Crap.  But we're moving on now.  So are you ready to start rockin' the holidays??!!

Our first Thanksgiving-ish dessert is Pumpkin Fudge.  At first I wasn't quite sure about this.  I'm a mediocre lover of pumpkin and a HUGE lover of fudge.  What if I screw up a good batch of fudge?  Well, fear not.  It was awesome.  Yes, awesome!  It tasted like a creamy, delicious pumpkin pie.  

Wanna try?

Pumpkin Spice Fudge

Source: Aunt Peg's Recipe Box

* 2 cups sugar

* 1 cup packed light brown sugar

* 3/4 cup butter (do not use margarine)

* 2/3 cup evaporated milk

* 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

* 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

* 1 bag (12 ounces) white chocolate chips

* 1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme

* 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Put the first 6 ingredients in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Continue cooking over medium high heat until mixture comes to a rolling boil.  Stirring constantly, bring to the soft ball stage (between 234 and 243 degrees.) 

Remove from heat and add marshmallow creme, chocolate chips and vanilla.  Stir like the dickens to combine everything.

I still managed to have little chunks of white chocolate chips, even though I stirred it until I thought my arm was going to fall off.  Any suggestions?

Pour into a 13 x 9 inch pan lined with parchment paper.  This makes removing it easier.

Let cool to room temperature and then dig in.

If you like pumpkin pie, give this recipe a try.  You won't be disappointed!

I'll take 4 pieces please =o)

 

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Sausage Stuffing and Some Thanksgiving Tips from Mrs. Cubbison's

What's your favorite holiday?  Did you know that in a recent "Thanksgiving Across America" survey, researchers at Mrs. Cubbison's Kitchen found that most people say Christmas is their favorite holiday, followed by Thanksgiving?  I wouldn't have guessed Thanksgiving was number two, but what do I know?  Participants also said that this year they will be giving thanks for "family, followed by "health", "God" and "friends".  There are all kinds of fun survey results to look at on their site!

Mrs. Cubbison's also has an amazing Thanksgiving Tips page.  It has everything from recipes and ideas to tips on how to cook the ultimate turkey.  There are also printable coupons (which are always fantastic!) and you can enter the Mrs. Cubbison $1500 Thanksgiving Shopping Spree Giveaway.  That's $1500!!!  Yes, please!

In the US, Thanksgiving is a huge holiday for some families. I'm not a huge Thanksgiving person. I'm not totally sure why. Maybe because growing up I didn't really like "Thanksgiving food".  I liked turkey and mashed potatoes (if I could cover them in ranch dressing) but that was about it.

When I was in Graduate School a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to try her famous Pork Sausage Dressing.  I said no thanks, that I didn't like stuffing and she looked at me like I sprouted a second head.  "How could you not like stuffing?" she asked me.  I didn't even know the answer to that one.  I just never liked it.  But somehow she convinced me to try hers and I was completely shocked at how good it was.  

I'm going to digress for a minute.  Is it stuffing or dressing?  I mean, really?  Are they the same?  Like pop and soda?

Ever since Graduate School and my friend's totally tasty stuffing, I'm a little more adventurous in my Thanksgiving food trying.  I even like gravy now =o)  But her stuffing has always been the best I've had.  

I used Mrs' Cubbison's Classic Dressing.

It is wonderful!  From the sponsor "Do more than cook, Create with Mrs. Cubbison's Stuffing, Croutons and Toppings. Made from fresh breads, seasoned just right, Mrs. Cubbison’s stuffings and dressings have been trusted by home cooks for over 60 years as the perfect choice for the most important meals of the year."

You can find Mrs. Cubbison's on Facebook and on YouTube.

Pork Sausage Stuffing

* 1 box Mrs. Cubbison's Classic Dressing (seasoned)

* 1 1/2 lbs. pork sausage

* 1 cup diced onion (I used a sweet onion)

* 1 cup chopped celery

* 2 cups chicken broth

Cook the sausage while you are dicing the onion and celery.  

When the sausage is almost done, add the celery and onion and cook until they are soft.

Mix Mrs. Cubbison's Classic Dressing with the sausage and veggie mixture.  Don't judge on this one, but make sure you add the grease as well.  You can go ahead and drain the grease if this freaks you out.

Add the chicken broth and gently stir to mix everything together.  Scoop into a casserole dish.

Doesn't it look delicious!

Cover and cook in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Uncover and cook another 15 minutes until top is browned and delicious looking.

What will you be cooking for Thanksgiving?  Will it include stuffing? 

Cover this in gravy and I'm eating this for breakfast too!

This sponsorship is brought to you by Mrs. Cubbison's who we have partnered with for this promotion.

 

Thanksgiving Pilgrim Candy Bar Wrapper {Free Printable}

I fell in love with this printable when I saw it over on Pittypat Paperie. She got them from Laurie Furnell's site.  (Thanks, Laurie!!!)  It's a printable!!!  

I knew my kids and I had to make them for their teachers.  (I'm a big believer in appreciating my kids teachers!!!)  And who wouldn't fall in love with these very easy to make candy bar wrappers.  All the work is already done for us!

I just printed them off from here.  The directions are even printed on them.  How easy is that??!!  And how cute are these???

Print them out.  Cut them out.  Wrap a regular sized Hershey Bar and add a bow.  Easy as that!

The middle one is for my daughter's teacher.  She wanted it to have a pink bow.  =o)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

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A Little Corny Thanksgiving Cookie

This is my attempt at making a Thanksgiving cookie. I was planning on making all kinds of cute little turkey cookies but instead I decided to throw myself down the stairs and mess up my ankle. I know. Turkey cookies or the emergency room? Is it a tough choice? Apparently it was for me. I subconsciously chose the emergency room. So we're not doing much baking at my house right now =o(

I'm sad about the baking part but, to be honest, Thanksgiving isn't my holiday. Don't get me wrong. I love a holiday totally geared towards eating. But I've never been a big fan of Thanksgiving. Halloween yes. Christmas, holy smokes! But Thanksgiving, not so much. But when I saw these cookies over on Family Fun (have I mentioned how much I love that site?) I figured we'd better give them a try.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
vanilla frosting
green fruit leather
colorful candies (M&Ms, Reese's candies or Skittles)

Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl combine dry ingredients. Mix in the flour mixture a little at a time until the ingredients are well combined. Chill the dough for several hours or overnight.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Divide dough into 3 parts. Working on a floured surface, roll dough out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Using a knife, cut out a corncob shape. (I used a round cookie cutter and then folded it in half and reshaped it.
Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9 minutes or just until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Frost the cooled cookies. Cover with candy pieces. Use kitchen shears to cut husks out of the fruit leather. Press the husks in place with the frosting.

It looks pretty good doesn't it? Not as fancy as on FamilyFun.com but I'm not a professional so I'm happy with it.

Here are my notes =o) I used white chocolate instead of the frosting. I liked it much better because it hardened and the candy pieces couldn't slip off.

Now enjoy. My daughter ate the candy pieces off and licked off all the white chocolate. I told her next time to let me know and I'll just make her a white chocolate blob with candy in it. =o)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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