I wish I could take a picture of smell, captured it in all of its’ scrumptiousness, and post it right here for you to enjoy. Since technology hasn’t quite gotten there yet, this will have to do:
Let’s play with our imaginations…take a deep inhale through your nose just like pilates breathing, and put yourself in my kitchen!!
If your mouth is now watering, continue scrolling…
There is just nothing like the smell of cinnamon baking away in the oven. These beauties pretty much smell like a lazy Saturday morning with coffee in hand.
*The recipe for the rugelach pinwheels is adapted from MS, and made with crescent roll dough. Note: I’ve made the homemade dough too, an it dances in your mouth!
Our lives these days consist of engagement parties, bridal showers, weddings, and more engagement parties. It’s crazy…but a weekend without one of these events is extremely rare. Last night’s occasion, an engagement party. The host are all bringing something different, from us…a vegetable appetizer. The dilemma: nobody every really eats anything from the plain vegetable tray. Why? I dunno. Personally I LOVE fresh vegetables. Yhey usually involve a lot of prep work, and at the end of the night only 1/8th of the veggie tray has even been touched. End result, depressing. All that work and money, and no one even touches it. Haven’t you all ever heard of being healthy?? So what to do, what to do? We’re going to give this made-up adapted recipe a try…
Start with LOTS of asparagus. Snap the end off, leaving just the tips. Bend the end, and where it naturally snaps=the perfect amount of “stalky” end gone! In small batches, blanch the asparagus in a large fry pan filled with about 1/4″ of water – about 6-7 minutes. Remove from pan and season with salt and pepper, set aside.
Spoon four containers of chive and onion flavored cream cheese into a small bowl – let it soften at room temperature.
Add four small (or one large) red pepper, thinly diced.
about 10 slices of crumbled bacon, and a pinch of red pepper to season.
Mix all of those ingredients into the cream cheese until well blended. This mixture in and of itself is tasting worthy…for real!
Next step buy LOTS of crescent rolls. They make seamless sheets now, but the grocery store was out.
Unroll the crescent dough onto a non-stick surface, and spread with the cream cheese mixture. Add A LOT, do not be stingy…this is the good unhealthy stuff that makes people eat the vegetables. Kind of contradicting the idea of making a healthy appetizer, right?
Next, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cut the dough into thin slices.
roll on asparagus tip per slice of crescent dough.
As you go place the individual appetizers on an un-greased cookies sheet.
and after you’ve rolled all of them up 200 of these babies in my case, bake at 325 degrees for about 8 minutes. Watch them carefully, you want the crescents to just be slightly brown on top.
and TA DA…all toasty and golden brown with a SPARK of deliciousness!
Bon Appetit!
the tables are set.
even for the kids.
and embellished with a little crafty decor, which I informed my aunt that I MADE. She responded, “When?”. I reply, “two weeks ago”. She says, “Oh, I thought you were going to say grade school.” I would…make a rather “elementary” craft, and find it rather FUN! Yeap, all 30 of these darn little things I meticulously punched out and stuck together! Those googlie eyes had me sold at first sight!
Now back on track…the utensils are tied together with bows (the only plastic part of our Thanksgiving).
the grocery shopping is done.
and ready to be baked, chopped, sautéed, mixed, etc.
recipe #1: missisippi mud (my cousin John’s favorite…made just for him!)
layer 1: butter.
chopped pecans
mixed together with flour in a big bowl.
then spread with care in a 9×13 casserole
baked, and transformed into a lovely crust like this:
Layer 2: the goodness! cool whip + powder sugar + vanilla extract + cream cheese
Layer 3: a big size box of instant chocolate pudding, made according to package directions
NOW assemble Layer 1 + 2 + 3 and top with the rest of the CoolWhip
and made pretty with Hershey chocolate shavings on TOP!
recipe # 2 & #3: pumpkin pie & buttermilk pie
recipe #4: pumpkin cookies
with brown butter frosting, appropriately colored for the season! The frosting consists of evaporated milk, powder sugar, and MORE butter!! Imagine that!!
recipe #5: not really made for taste, but for FUN :::::: PILGRIM HATS!! I cannot claim this idea as a product of my own creativity, so I will appropriately direct all creative credit HERE.
Oh AND just FYI, we are NOT just having a Thanksgiving of sweets. Some healthy things too; like these potatoes made like this. And this just might be one of my all time favorite recipes.
and of course: turkey, dressing, squash casserole, green beans, sweet potatoes (ewww..not a fan!), and LOTS of homemade yeast courtesy of SAMs Club rolls!
