I don't think I've ever thought about Thanksgiving as much as I've thought about it this year. Usually, I just have to show up and eat. Very little preparation involved other than making sure not to eat a large breakfast. Well, this year we're hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner. It should be small and fairly low key, Veronica's parents, brother, godfather and us. Just 6 at the table. I'm sure it will be plenty of fuel for blog posts.
I didn't think I was going ot post about this recipe when I started it. It was really just preparation for Italian sausage and bread stuffing for the big day. Atypically for me when it comes to a recipe from epicurious.com, I went full steam ahead without reading the reviews. Well, I got part way through and started to freak out. I had mixed up the dough, gone out for some quick errands and shopping and found the dough not quite as risen as I hoped or expected. It went ahead with the recipe and read the comments after setting it back in the slightly warmed oven for the second rise. Some of the reviewers said that theirs turned out "dry" and "crumby" and many of the suggestions recommended cutting back on the flour... too late.
I went the full duration on the first rise and extended the second rise a bit. After dimpling the dough and brushing on the oil and salting it, I could see that maybe it might not be light and fluffy if baked immediately. I had essentially just punched down the dough, so it made sense to give it a few more moments to rise. I left it go for about another 30 minutes to rise before heating the oven. I think it worked. It tastes great and is pretty light. I also took the recommendation to start it in a 500 degree oven for the first 5 minutes and then cut it back, so maybe that helped.
Tonight, I chopped it up and toasted it in the oven, cooled it and put it in a plastic bag until Thursday. I ended up only needing about half of it for the stuffing recipe, so I cut up the remainder and threw it into the freezer. I'll pull it back out on Wednesday and have a second option to my homemade bread rolls. Focaccia, check.
Tomorrow is pie crust, chocolate cake and sweet potato pie filling. Wednesday night I'll bake the pies (the second is pecan) and frost the cake (with penuche icing). (Veronica takes a quick trip to Chicago tomorrow, returning on Wednesday just before midnight). Everything else will happen on Thursday. We're shooting for a 4pm dinner, which should give us enought time to not feel too pressured.
Hmmm... Veronica is just finishing up the cranberry sauce. Our next post?
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Snickers for Dad
OH MY!!! Jason and I made this as a possible Christmas present for my Dad. My Dad loves Snickers, but because of a story that happened years ago (I can't tell the story just in case this story might get me sued) he has not had a Snicker for decades. I looked on the internet to find a recipe to make them at home. This was pretty easy and well worth the little extra time to make them rather then buying them. This is soooooooo good! Yes I know it is not a Bitman recipe, but boy this is going to stay in the recipe box to be used FOREVER!!!
Things You'll Need:
1/4 c. light corn syrup
2 T. Butter
1 T. vanilla extract
1/8 c. peanut butter
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. powdered sugar
35 indv. Kraft carmels
1 c. dry- roasted unsalted peanuts
1-12oz. bag milk chocolate chips
1) In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup corn syrup, 2T. Butter, 1T. vanilla, 1/8 cup peanut butter and 1/2 tsp. salt. Mix on high until creamy.
2) Add 3 cups powdered sugar slowly with mixer still on high until it looks like dough.
3) Remove dough from the bowl and with your hands, press into a greased 9x9 inch pan. Refrigerate.
4) Melt the caramels in a small pan over low heat.
5) When the caramel is soft, mix in the peanuts.
6) Pour the mixture over the refrigerated dough in the pan. Let cool in the refrigerator.
7) When the refrigerated mixture is firm, melt the chocolate over low heat in a double broiler or in a microwave oven set on high for 2 minutes. Stir halfway through cooking time.
8) When mixture in the pan has hardened, cut it into 2x1 in. sections.
9) Set each chunk onto a fork and dip into the melted chocolate. Tap the fork against the side of the bowl or pan to knock off any excess chocolate.
10) Place the chunks on waxed paper to cool at room temperature, or refrigerate for quicker cooling.
Things You'll Need:
1/4 c. light corn syrup
2 T. Butter
1 T. vanilla extract
1/8 c. peanut butter
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. powdered sugar
35 indv. Kraft carmels
1 c. dry- roasted unsalted peanuts
1-12oz. bag milk chocolate chips
1) In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup corn syrup, 2T. Butter, 1T. vanilla, 1/8 cup peanut butter and 1/2 tsp. salt. Mix on high until creamy.
2) Add 3 cups powdered sugar slowly with mixer still on high until it looks like dough.
3) Remove dough from the bowl and with your hands, press into a greased 9x9 inch pan. Refrigerate.
4) Melt the caramels in a small pan over low heat.
5) When the caramel is soft, mix in the peanuts.
6) Pour the mixture over the refrigerated dough in the pan. Let cool in the refrigerator.
7) When the refrigerated mixture is firm, melt the chocolate over low heat in a double broiler or in a microwave oven set on high for 2 minutes. Stir halfway through cooking time.
8) When mixture in the pan has hardened, cut it into 2x1 in. sections.
9) Set each chunk onto a fork and dip into the melted chocolate. Tap the fork against the side of the bowl or pan to knock off any excess chocolate.
10) Place the chunks on waxed paper to cool at room temperature, or refrigerate for quicker cooling.
WAFFLES!
OK. Shaming myself into posting didn't work. But, Veronica said that she hadn't posted because it was my turn. That was enough (sort of. it still took another week for me to post). Don't worry (I know, you weren't), we've been cooking, baking and eating... we just haven't been posting about it. Hopefully I'll get caught up on a few recipes soon, but for right now... breakfast.
I love Joy the Baker. I love my wife a whole lot more... and I've never actually met Joy the Baker... but she's great. While not posting anything on our blog, I've been checking hers (and a few others) pretty much every day. Well, on Wednesday, she posted this! As if I weren't craving a weekend enough at that point! Well... even though I forgot to get bacon at the market yesterday, today was waffle day.
These waffles are delicious. wonderful. perfect. They're a yeast based waffle, which is absolutely amazing. They kind of remind me of my grandma's sour dough. On top of everything, they're SUPER easy and don't require more than a stir in the morning. I mean, seriously, no measuring or anything in the morning. REALLY, just a stir. You mix it up the night before, let it bubble and do it's thing for 1-1 1/2 hours and then toss it in the fridge. You pull it out of the fridge 1 hour before you want to make your waffles and give it a stir and that's it! (I took mine out of the fridge, gave it a stir, and crawled back into bed for another hour. PERFECT!)
Note, this recipe uses instant yeast. Why do I point this out? Because I didn't notice the word "instant" until I got to the point where I should add it to the recipe. I have active dry yeast, which needs to be bloomed in warm water first. Oops. Well, I threw about 2 teaspoons in about 1/3 c. water with a tablespoon of King syrup (picked up on our trip to VA last weekend), gave it about 5 minutes to do it's thing, and then threw it in. I added a little more of each of the flours to compensate for the extra liquid. Next time I'll probably hold out 1/2 cup of the warm milk and a tablespoon of brown sugar to get it started.
My apologies for posting this on Sunday, the longest point from another weekend, but at least we're heading into Thanksgiving and you could give these a try on Friday. Mmmmm.... Turkey and gravy over warm waffles. Are you making these on Friday? I might be, too.
I love Joy the Baker. I love my wife a whole lot more... and I've never actually met Joy the Baker... but she's great. While not posting anything on our blog, I've been checking hers (and a few others) pretty much every day. Well, on Wednesday, she posted this! As if I weren't craving a weekend enough at that point! Well... even though I forgot to get bacon at the market yesterday, today was waffle day.
These waffles are delicious. wonderful. perfect. They're a yeast based waffle, which is absolutely amazing. They kind of remind me of my grandma's sour dough. On top of everything, they're SUPER easy and don't require more than a stir in the morning. I mean, seriously, no measuring or anything in the morning. REALLY, just a stir. You mix it up the night before, let it bubble and do it's thing for 1-1 1/2 hours and then toss it in the fridge. You pull it out of the fridge 1 hour before you want to make your waffles and give it a stir and that's it! (I took mine out of the fridge, gave it a stir, and crawled back into bed for another hour. PERFECT!)
Note, this recipe uses instant yeast. Why do I point this out? Because I didn't notice the word "instant" until I got to the point where I should add it to the recipe. I have active dry yeast, which needs to be bloomed in warm water first. Oops. Well, I threw about 2 teaspoons in about 1/3 c. water with a tablespoon of King syrup (picked up on our trip to VA last weekend), gave it about 5 minutes to do it's thing, and then threw it in. I added a little more of each of the flours to compensate for the extra liquid. Next time I'll probably hold out 1/2 cup of the warm milk and a tablespoon of brown sugar to get it started.
My apologies for posting this on Sunday, the longest point from another weekend, but at least we're heading into Thanksgiving and you could give these a try on Friday. Mmmmm.... Turkey and gravy over warm waffles. Are you making these on Friday? I might be, too.
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