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Saturday, December 8, 2012

Pintertest Kitchen: Thanksgiving-a-palooza!

So Turkey Day has come and gone.
But pictures are forever!!!

My normal Thanksgiving adventures usually include making the pumpkin and pecan pies.
Last year, I ventured out a bit, and made one pumpkin pie entirely from scratch - including roasting the pumpkin.

But honestly, I prefer the canned puree - and the recipe on the back.
Libby's.
Always and forever.


So this year, I went back to my standard Libby's pumpkin pie recipe, Karo's pecan pie recipe, and decided to supplement with a few other new recipes.

Including Kimberlee's Pumpkin Cheesecake.



OH.
MAH.
WORD.
(I don't even use that phrase)

Do yourself a favor. Make this.
Like, yesterday.

My family was salivating over it as soon as they walked in the door.
I mean, a whiff of that maple whipped cream, and everyone was ready to skip turkey and go straight to dessert.

I said MAPLE WHIPPED CREAM, you guys.

It was so good that I made it again two days later.
But here is my advice: stick with the name brands. Philadelphia & Libby's.
I used Trader Joe's cream cheese and pumpkin for the second cheesecake and it was a lumpy mess.
It still tasted good - but had some serious clumpy texture issues.
Also, I completely forgot the brown sugar in the first batch, and it didn't seem to be a problem.
So there is also that!



Another amazing dish that will entice all your senses is this Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce.
Or as I was calling it, Boozy Berries.


I'm a canned sauce girl. Through and through.
Cylindrical. Lines from the can.
No lumpy berries.
Like cranberry jello.
My mom has been making homemade cranberry sauce my whole life.
I have boycotted for 30 years.
But this recipe had me at Grand Marnier.
The hint of sweet orange paired with tart berries.
And I was converted. I think my taste buds decided to grow up this year.
Next time, I will save a bit of the orange peel for a garnish. They deserved to be prettied up a bit.




And my last new adventure was this Sweet Potato Souffle.
Normally, my family just bakes sweet potatoes plain.
I think they are one of the most wonderful Thanksgiving sides.
I eat them plain all the time.
But for years, I have been wanting to make a SP dish, with some mallows on top.
A coworker suggested this recipe to me.

I think the name is a bit of false advertising - because there wasn't much soufflé-y about it.
It doesn't raise. Or set. And it actually turned out kind of soupy.
But the TASTE.
OH THE TASTE.
Butter.
Sugar.
Sweet Potatoes.
Marshmallows.



It was heaven in a dish.
Sweet, buttery, heaven.
The leftovers nearly put me in a diabetic coma.
But it was so delightful.
(Except for the whole second degree burn on my thumb from taking this dish out of the oven part. Grrr).


My dad made his heavenly stuffing (I need to find a way to get this recipe and post it before next Thanksgiving - I do know it includes BUTTER, and a LOT of it), and it was more delicious than ever. I made a pecan pie, which was eaten before dessert time (um...violation!), and my sister's mother-in-law made her incredible potato rolls (by our begging request).






Linking up all of this deliciousness with Jessica over here:

9 comments:

  1. I don't need turkey.
    I'll just take a helping of each of those.

    Thank you.

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  2. agreed with keri on this one.
    also, invite me to next thanksgiving, please.
    or just send me those boozy berries.

    i miss you.

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  3. Loved this.

    Were you in the midwest for Thanksgiving, by any chance? I live in Ohio (which is like part midwest and part great lakes, but anyway...) and this entire post looked straight out of my family. Complete with the 2 liters on the table right behind the pies :) Awesome.

    Also, I love Trader Joe's, but their cream cheese is ICK. I've never been so disappointed in cream cheese in my life. And that's really saying something.

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  4. I think I gained 6lbs just reading this post. Mmmm!

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  5. i'm regretting not going to your house that day.

    your cheesecake was so yummy and your dog, as always, is so flippin cute.

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  6. Wasn't that pumpkin cheesecake RIDICULOUS?!?! I crave it daily now.
    I made extra maple whip cream and dolloped it on everything for dayssss following thanksgiving.
    I had irish coffee one night & added that maple whip cream on top. YUMMMMM.

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  7. Oh MAH WORD is right. And I don't say that either. But I feel it has to be reserved for that pumpkin cheesecake. And I will never say it again. Promise. Thanks for being the most faithful Pintertester ever.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am so glad you liked the cheesecake!!!

    ReplyDelete