Apple Raspberry Pie, or: melt-in-your mouth pie goodness

So I just loaded ALL my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. I had to share. But mostly, so when next year rolls around I will already have all the recipes together.

I'm not a huge pie person. But you guys. Seriously? This was amazing. I loved the tangy, sweet flavor. And paired with vanilla ice cream? Just deathrow dinner good. Don't wait until next Thanksgiving to break this baby out.

The insides, before covered. So lovely.

APPLE-RASPBERRY PIE
{from the crafty of all crafties, Martha Stewart herself}

• 2 3/4 pounds assorted baking apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 6 ounces fresh or partially thawed frozen raspberries
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• Pate Brisee
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir apples, raspberries, granulated sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into a 12-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Fill with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining disk of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into a 12-inch round. Drape over filling. Trim overhang to 1 inch. Press edges to seal. Fold overhang under, and crimp as desired. Make five 3-inch slits in top crust. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
4. Whisk egg yolk and cream in a bowl; brush over top crust. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake until crust is golden and juices are bubbling, 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. Place foil on rack below to catch juices. Tent pie with foil if browning too quickly. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool 4 hours (up to overnight).

Punkin' Pie

My husband is a huge fan of pumpkin pie. Obsessed, you may say. So every Thanksgiving without fail I make pumpkin pie. I've been searching and searching for "that" recipe and have combined a few to make..."THE ONE." And it is good.

PUMPKIN PIE

{mostly from Martha Stewart.com}

Makes one 9-inch pie

• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups fresh Pumpkin Puree, or canned
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten, plus 1 egg for glaze
• 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
• Pate Brisee (Pie Dough)
• crumbled gingersnap cookies
• chopped pecans
  
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin puree, and 3 eggs. Beat well. Add evaporated milk, and combine. Set aside.
2. Between two pieces of plastic wrap, roll pate brisee into a 12-inch circle. Fit pastry into a 9-inch glass pie plate; trim dough evenly along edge, leaving about a 1/2-inch overhang. Pinch to form a decorative edge. Push gingersnap cookie and pecan pieces into the crust in the bottom and along sides of the crust. So it looks like this:
   

1. Make the glaze: Beat the remaining egg, and combine with heavy cream. Brush glaze very lightly on edges of pie shell. Fill pie shell with pumpkin mixture. Transfer to prepared baking sheet.
2. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30 minutes more (or until it is set - I cooked mine for more like 45 minutes). Cool on a wire rack.

Pie Crust

I like this Pate Brisee Dough recipe from Martha Stewart.com

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

Thanksgiving Turkey

Wow does cooking a turkey intimidate me. But guess what? I've done it successfully for 2 years. Yahoo!

I loved this recipe. The meat was really moist and delish.

Now we just need to work on learning how to carve that darn bird.



Aunt Marilyn's Incredible 2-Hour Turkey

{From My Kitchen Cafe}

1 18-22 pound turkey (I used a 14-pound turkey with great results)
carrots, celery (cut into large chunks), onion (peeled and cut into large chunks), garlic cloves (peeled and smashed)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
butter
brown paper bag

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees and let it heat for one hour. Meanwhile, remove giblets and neck and wash the turkey. Fill the cavity of the turkey with carrots, celery, garlic and onion. Combine the lemon juice, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning in a small bowl. With your hands, rub the entire turkey with the lemon juice mixture.

Place the turkey breast down (this is opposite of how a turkey is normally cooked - so just flip the turkey upside down) in a large roasting pan. Place the roasting pan in the hot oven for as many minutes as the turkey weighs (ie. 19 lb. turkey = 19 minutes). Bake for the allotted time.

Meanwhile, grease a large brown paper bag with butter on both sides. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully (because the turkey and roasting pan are HOT) make a tent out of th paper bag and drape it over the turkey, taking care to tuck the sides of the bag into the roasting pan (you can see pictures at My Kitchen Cafe if you need a visual). Turn the oven down to 400 degrees and cook the turkey for two hours.

Remove the roasting pan and turkey from the oven and let turkey sit for 20 minutes. Remove turkey from the roasting pan and pour the drippings into a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil. Make a slurry from flour and water (to the consistency of thick, heavy cream) and add to the drippings until desired consistency is reached.

The BEST stuffing

So last year was my first year doing Thanksgiving dinner by myself. I didn't attempt homemade stuffing. This year, I decided to go for it. And it was way easier than I thought. And 100% worth it. It was great because you can do almost everything before hand, then just put it in the oven. Heavenly.




Celery Herb Stuffing
{from My Kitchen Cafe}

*Makes a 9X13-inch dish*

7 tablespoons butter, plus more for dish and baking
1 loaf rustic/artisan/crusty white bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 9 1/2 cups bread cubes)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 medium onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced in half-moons
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (rubbed between fingers to crumble lightly)
3 to 4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350°. Melt 5 tablespoons butter. Toss with bread cubes in a large bowl. Spread in a single layer on 1 or 2 rimmed baking sheets. Toast in the oven, tossing once, until golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely (overnight).

Heat the oil and remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until butter has melted. Add celery, onions, garlic, and a pinch of salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and soft, about 10 minutes. (You can store this in the fridge overnight)

Put vegetable mixture and toasted bread into large bowl. Stir in poultry seasoning, herbs, and 2 cups broth into stuffing. Stir in 4 eggs until bread mixture is well coated. Spoon into a buttered 13-by-9-inch baking dish, and dot generously with butter. Cover with foil, and bake in a 375° oven for 25 minutes. Uncover, and bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Cheesy Chicken Noodle Skillet

Totally easy recipe and so yummy! It only makes 4 servings so it's good for a small family or just a couple. I'm lazy, so here's the link to the recipe from kraftfoods.com. Enjoy!
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/cheesy-chicken-noodle-skillet-95128.aspx

Triple Berry Muffins

I have a really great extended family full of amazing cooks. My uncles are no exception. This is a recipe that my Uncle Bruce gave me and they are oh-so good. The ultimate test was when he fed them to his own children, who are some of the pickiest eaters I know, and they all gobbled them up.

I love that this uses the Costco Triple Berry mix, which I love. I used whole wheat flour and they turned out scrumptious; very crumbly, but yummy.

Triple Berry Muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
OR 2 cups Costco triple berries, thawed and lightly chopped

Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients together. Lightly beat eggs, butter and milk, then add to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Chop fruit - pieces shouldn't be too large and fold into batter. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

{From Uncle B.}

Easy Alfredo Sauce

Another great, easy, yummy recipe from allrecipes.com. We've made this a couple times and I love it because I usually have all the ingredients on hand and it is fast to whip it up for a delicious dinner.

• 1/2 cup butter


• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese


• 2 teaspoons garlic powder


• 2 cups milk (or to the consistency you like - I usually add about 1 1/2 cups)


• 6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese


• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve.