Thanksgiving surprise: Cathy's Pumpkin Pie recipe

1 pie crust (homemade with this recipe or ready made)

1 can of pumpkin (15 oz)

1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 oz - but I don't use all of it - I use probably 12oz)

2 eggs

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pie crust (or unroll the ready made crust) and put it in a pie plate. 
• In a large mixing bowl beat the 2 eggs. Add the whole can of the pumpkin to the eggs and mix well. 
• In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix until well combined. 
• Add the brown sugar and spices mixture to the pumpkin and egg mixture. Mix well. (It should look darker once the sugar is added) 

NOTE:
When I add the condensed milk, I open the can about 3/4s of the way (so the lid keeps the milk from running out super fast )and pour the milk into the pumpkin mixture (mixing all the while as the milk is being added). When the condensed milk starts to slow down on the pour, meaning that it's coming out at a trickle, I stop. Usually there is a good coating of condensed milk left in the can. When it settles back down it looks like quite a bit so I'm guessing it's about 2 oz from the 14 oz can, but it may only be an ounce. The one thing you need to know about pumpkin pie is that it's pretty forgiving. If you add a little too much milk or a little too little milk, it's really not going to matter. When I measure in the sugar, cinnamon, cloves - I'm not super careful. If there's a little more - I don't sweat it. It always turns out yummy.

• Once you have all your pumpkin and condensed milk mixed, use a scraper (so you get every last drop) and pour it into the pie crust. 
• Cook for 13 minutes at 425 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and cook for anywhere from 30-50 minutes longer. You'll know the pie is done when the pie filling kind of puffs up and a little crack forms in the pie (like a crack in the dirt in the summer when it's dry out). 

NOTE:
If you don't get a crack after 50 additional minutes I would still take the pie out - you don't want your crust to burn and the pie is just being stubborn! Sometimes, even when it's cooked, the middle will still look shiny and wet. Touch it gently in the center if you're worried it's not cooked - if it's mushy, then you're right - it's not cooked - leave it in longer but check it every 5 minutes or so. If it is not mushy and a little stiff, then it's probably done and you'll be safe.

Let the pie cool, top with whipped cream, and enjoy! YUM!! : )

momma's homemade fig, coconut, and honey granola recipe

This year, my mother made this simple and delicious granola recipe as a gift for family and friends for Christmas. It can be eaten plain by the handful as a snack, with milk for cereal, or on top of yogurt or ice cream! The honey and coconut gives it perfectly balanced sweetness, but it is nicely crunchy and very nutritious. The recipe my mom uses calls for figs, cherries, apricots, and cranberries, but you can use whatever dried fruit (or nuts!) you prefer.

Ingredients:

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (you can substitute gluten-free oats as well for gluten-free granola)
2 cups sweetened (or unsweetened, if you prefer) shredded coconut
3 cups slivered almonds
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil (you can use 3/4 cup vegetable oil total instead of 1/2 cup coconut oil and 1/4 cup vegetable oil if you prefer, or don't have coconut oil available)
1/2 cup honey
1.5 cups small diced dried figs
1 cup diced dried cherries
1 cup small diced dried apricots
1 cup dried cranberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 425. Toss the oats, shredded coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl. Whisk together the vegetable and coconut oil and honey in a small bowl, and pour over the oat/coconut/almond mixture. Stir until all the oats, coconut, and almonds are coated, then pour onto a 1-inch sheet pan (regular old cookie tray will do). Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring or flipping the granola occasionally. It should be a nice golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool, then add figs, apricots, cherries, and cranberries. The granola doesn't need to be refrigerated but should be stored in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Note: my mother's recipe is a variation on the homemade granola from Sarah Chase's Open House Cookbook, the link to which can be found here.

thanksgiving day surprise: secret pie crust recipe

Happy Thanksgiving from ZABELIETH!  I've got a little surprise in store for you:

Apparently pie crust is something that has garnered a reputation as being a challenge that only the more experiences and confident chefs take on.  The reality is that this is an incredibly simple thing to make, and since it's Thanksgiving, I'm going to share with you my mother's original recipe for an easy pie crust.

All you need:

Two cups of flour, two sticks of butter, three tablespoons of water, and a food processor.

Start my measuring the flour, but be sure not to pack it tightly into the measuring cup.  Instead, take a spoon and really loosen the flour in the bag by giving it a few fluffs before scooping it into a measuring cup, a spoonful at a time.  You can tap the measuring cup on the side to level the flour a bit for the sake of measuring, but let it remain as light and airy as possible, don't press it down or pack it in at all.

Dump the flour into a food processor.  Then grab the butter out of the fridge (it should be chilled, don't leave it out on the counter to soften or anything beforehand).  Like you're slicing a banana for a smoothie, just cut it up so that the pieces going into the food processor are about 1/2-inch thick slices.

Pulse it in the food processor.  Don't let it run long at all, just turn it on in quick bursts before letting the mixture re-settle.  As it starts to stick and build up around the walls of the food processor, you can give the machine a shake to loosen the batter up.  After a minute or two, once the mixture sticking to the food processor walls is getting pretty high, stop and add three tablespoons of VERY COLD (like, water that was sitting in ice) water.  Then go back to pulsing, and in seconds you'll see the mixture starting to roll together into a big dough ball.

Take out the dough, trying not to handle it too much, and put it on a lightly-floured surface.  Roll it in the flour, then use a rolling pin to flatten it out until you've got a sheet of dough that's wide enough to cover your pie dish.  Carefully lay this inside the pie dish (you might want to fold it in half first in order to transfer it to the pie dish without it tearing), easing it into the space so that it's lining the dish.  You can trim around the edge if you have a lot of overhang, and then just fold over (outward) and tuck in the edges of the dough sheet to make a fun, pretty rim along the edge of the pie dish.

Hey, look, you're done!  Was that easy or what?  Now just fill it with whatever... pumpkin pie filling?  Blueberry?  Apple??  Mmmmmm.... happy Thanksgiving!