SRC: Butternut Squash Gratin with Goat Cheese and Bacon

It's time for this month's Secret Recipe Club! The Secret Recipe Club is a group of food bloggers who secretly make one of someone else's dishes and post them all on the same day at the same time.  It's really fun, choosing a recipe to make, making the recipe, then reading about everyone else's recipes.  It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and check out some great blogs that you never knew about before.    

This month I was assigned a blog I know and love, Cupcake Muffin, written by Sara.  I've had Sara's blog on my blog reader for a while now. I love her stuff.  I have even made two of her recipes before.  My Dark Chocolate Chip Blueberry Muffins with Chocolate Streusel were adapted from Sara's Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins.  And I made her Indian-Spiced Spinach to go with my SRC pick for September, Potato Chops.  

Did anyone else feel like November just flew by?  I did!  I was working on my Thanksgiving menu when I finally got the chance to sit down and peruse Sara's blog for my assignment this month.  I knew that we would be posting after Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't help including one of her lovely dishes on my Thanksgiving table this year.  Not to worry, though, because this dish would be equally amazing for a Christmas dinner.  Her Butternut Squash Gratin with Goat Cheese and Bacon looked irresistible to me.  Every Thanksgiving I make my family's favorite Sweet Potato Casserole, but I decided to give it a break this year in favor of this awesome butternut squash gratin.  I broke the news gently to my husband, who made me promise to make the sweet potatoes some other time this coming month.  But I think he forgot all about them once he tried this squash gratin.

Butternut Squash Gratin with Goat Cheese and Bacon

Ingredients:

8 cups cubed butternut squash (½” cubes)

2 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil

Kosher salt

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 shallots, minced

4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

4 oz. goat cheese

½ cup heavy cream

½ cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Place the squash on a rimmed baking sheet (or divide between 2 baking sheets) and toss with 2 tbsp of oil, Kosher salt, and smoked paprika.  Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until squash is slightly tender.  Remove from oven and place squash in a medium mixing bowl.  Reduce oven temperature to 375°.

Heat remaining 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat and sauté the shallot until it becomes translucent and tender.  Add shallot and chopped bacon to the butternut squash.  Crumble the goat cheese into the squash mixture and mix well.  If the squash is still warm, the goat cheese will melt, which is fine.  

Pour squash mixture into a 1.5 – 2 quart baking dish.  Drizzle with the heavy cream and top with the chopped pecans.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Serve warm.

Makes 6 servings.

This dish made a beautiful addition to my Thanksgiving table this year.

 It fit in perfectly next to the Brussels sprouts and the rolls.

I know this is not a great picture, but it's the only one I managed to snap of the gratin plated up before it totally disappeared!  The goat cheese melted as I stirred it into the warm butternut squash cubes.  I wasn't really expecting that, but I think it worked out really well that way.  

This gratin was so amazing.  It really has a little bit of everything going on: sweet, smoky, tangy, salty, creamy, and crunchy.  It is truly a delight for the senses!  I really loved how it was decidedly savory, despite the sweetness of the squash.  People have a tendency to make butternut squash (and sweet potatoes) even sweeter with brown sugar and cinnamon, etc, but I love finding recipes that make them savory.  I made a few tweaks to Sara's recipe.  First, I changed the flavor profile slightly by using smoked paprika instead of sage.  My family are not huge sage fans and I am more than a little obsessed with smoked paprika.  It just goes so well with butternut squash!  The only other thing I changed was to use shallots instead of leeks.  My husband really doesn't like leeks, and I wanted him to love this dish, so I used shallots instead.  It was a good call because he definitely did love this dish.

I think he's in trouble, though, because I would love to make this every. single. Thanksgiving. from now on!

Please don't wait until next Thanksgiving to make this dish!  It would be a great addition to your Christmas dinner.  Thank you so much for sharing such a great recipe, Sara!

Be sure to check out all the other great SRC recipes below.  Group A is taking a break in January, so our next posting will be the first Monday in February.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Can you believe the first week of November is already gone?  Wow!  Time is moving so fast this fall.  Thanksgiving is now less than three weeks away.  Do you have plans yet?  I just found out yesterday that my mom is coming up to spend the holiday with us. :)  Last year it was just the four of us.  It was the first time since we were married (10 years) that we didn't spend Thanksgiving with any extended family.  Since it was just us, I felt like experimenting a little bit.  Instead of cooking the big bird, I cooked a turkey breast in the slow cooker.  It was so super easy.  My husband and kids love the white meat, but I am a dark meat fan, so I also roasted some drumsticks for me.  It was awesome!  We were all happy and it was so much less work for me (much less prep work) and for my husband (who gets clean-up duty after big meals like that).  I have decided that it will be our "new tradition".

You will not believe how easy cooking a turkey breast in the slow cooker is.  Cutting off the skin is the worst part, but even that isn't too bad.  Then you just season it, stuff it with onion and fresh herbs, and throw it in the slow cooker.  I have made it three or four times now and it comes out perfectly every single time.

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Ingredients:
7 lb. bone-in turkey breast, thawed if frozen
1 onion, cut into large chunks
3 cloves garlic, quartered
Fresh oregano, thyme, and sage
2 tsp Bicentennial Rub
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
Salt

Directions:
Cut all the skin off the turkey breast and discard it.  Stuff the cavity with onion, garlic, and herbs.  Combine the spices and the salt and coat the breast with it.  Place the breast on its side in a 6 qt. oval slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.  If you want to, you can flip it to its other side halfway through, but this is not necessary.  Remove from slow cooker, carve, and serve.

Makes 6 servings.

Isn't it beautiful?  I don't even care for white meat that much, but this is really good!  It is very moist, and the fresh herbs permeate the meat so well you can taste them in every bite.  Amazing.  

You really need to take the skin off if you are cooking in the slow cooker.  It will become rubbery and gross and it will make it kind of greasy and fatty.  You really don't need it; the slow cooker locks in the moisture so the breast doesn't dry out.

You will notice that I didn't list how much salt to use.  That's because I use Bicentennial Rub from Penzey's as the main seasoning, and it contains salt.  So I don't add very much more.  But if you aren't using Bicentennial, you might want to use more.  Use your best judgement on that one.  The Bicentennial is awesome because it contains turmeric, which gives the turkey its beautiful golden color.  Golden color is hard to achieve in the slow cooker, so this turkey really benefits from that.  The smoked paprika helps with that too.  So if you don't have Bicentennial Rub and are putting together your own blend of spices, I suggest throwing a little bit of turmeric and smoked paprika in there.

About the gravy: I am not good at the gravy-making.  The frozen turkey breasts that I buy come with a gravy packet.  I have used that and find it's a little salty.  Even better is making a simple roux with flour and butter and then whisking in the liquid that accumulates in the slow cooker when the turkey is done.  Bring to a boil until it thickens.  Season with additional freshly ground black pepper.

This is such an easy meal that I always stock up on frozen turkey breasts when they go on sale.  Not only is this awesome for Thanksgiving, it works really well for busy weeknights too!

I can't wait for Thanksgiving!

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

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No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

It's Day Five of Thanksgiving Week!  It only seemed natural to end the week on a sweet note.  This is a recipe I found at Skinnytaste and tweaked a little.  It's great for Thanksgiving as an alternative to traditional pumpkin pie.  Perfect for those who don't want a heavy dessert after such a filling meal.  This is pumpkin pie's lighter, airier, and fluffier cousin!

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla

1½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

¼ cup brown sugar

8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed

9” graham cracker crust

Directions:

In a large bowl, whip cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, pie spice, and brown sugar until fluffy using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or stick blender.  Gently fold in Cool Whip.  Pour into the graham cracker crust and refrigerate at least two hours before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Changes I made: I increased the cream cheese from 7 oz. to 8 oz, because it seemed really pointless to leave 1 oz. of cream cheese leftover.  Just easier to use the whole brick.  The biggest change I made was to use more pumpkin.  It originally called for half a cup, but I gave it a taste and could hardly taste the pumpkin at all.  So I added more and threw in some more pie spice for good measure.

I am lazy and always buy the store-bought graham cracker crusts.  Which means the pie is always served in the ugly foil pan it comes in, but oh well!  You can certainly make your own graham cracker crust and put it in your prettiest pie plate instead.

Creamy, pumpkin-y goodness!

Thanksgiving Week

Monday: Roasted Apple and Bleu Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Tuesday: Savory Butternut Squash Puree

Wednesday: Brussels Sprouts and Bacon in Sherry Cream Sauce

Thursday: Cardamom-Crusted Pork with Orange Sauce

I hope you have enjoyed the Thanksgiving recipes I have shared with you this week and that I have inspired you to try something new this year.  Next week I will share two great recipes using turkey leftovers.

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Brussels Sprouts and Bacon in Sherry Cream Sauce

It's Day Three of Thanksgiving Week.  Today I have one more side dish for you.  On Monday I shared my Roasted Apple and Bleu Cheese Mashed Potatoes and yesterday my Savory Butternut Squash Puree.  How about a green veggie?  I have never served (or eaten, for that matter) Brussels sprouts on Thanksgiving, but as soon as I was introduced to this awesome dish, I knew it would be Thanksgiving-worthy.  I can't take the credit for finding this little gem; that honor goes to my awesome husband.  Last year on National Men Make Dinner Day, he planned a great menu for us and it included these awesome Brussels sprouts that he found at Allrecipes.  I was a little skeptical at first, because I had never cooked with sherry before, and honestly didn't know what it tasted like.  I also wasn't a big fan of adding bacon to vegetables and covering them up with decadent sauces.  I usually like to let the veggies stand on their own.  But after just one bite, I was hooked!  They are amazing and I have made them a few times myself since then.  

Brussels Sprouts in Sherry Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise

2 tbsp olive oil

Kosher salt

4 slices bacon, chopped

1 shallot, thinly sliced

4 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup sherry

½ cup heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°.  Place Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Toss to coat evenly.  Roast in hot oven about 15 minutes, or until Brussels sprouts are golden brown.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, place the bacon in a large skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown at the edges, 5 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; stir in the shallot and mushrooms, then cook until the shallots turn translucent, about 5 more minutes. Stir in the sherry and cream until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil, and stir until reduced by half. The thickened sauce should coat the back of a spoon.

Transfer the browned Brussels sprouts to the sauce and toss to coat.  Serve warm.

Makes 4 servings.

I have decided that these Brussels sprouts will be a part of my Thanksgiving menu from now on.  They are amazing.  Roasting Brussels sprouts is the absolute best (if not only) way to make them, but then tossing them with bacon and sauteed mushrooms and shallots?  Yum.  And then the kicker is that it's all coated in a fantastic sherry cream sauce.  The sherry is just perfect in here.  It's just enough to cut the heaviness of the cream.

Please, please, please, if you think you don't like Brussels sprouts, try them this way!  Or if you cook for someone who doesn't like them.  This recipe will make a convert out of anybody!

These are definitely "special occasion" Brussels sprouts and they are just perfect for Thanksgiving.  Please try them and let me know what you think.

Here's my other favorite Thanksgiving veggie dish. Similar to the old familiar green been casserole, but with bacon, fresh mushrooms, and a cheddar cheese sauce instead of the canned soup.

Bacon Cheddar Green Bean Casserole

Tomorrow's post will be doing double duty.  It is a main dish that would be a perfect alternative if you aren't a big fan of turkey, or if you are one of those families who makes a turkey and then another meat main dish.  It's also my recipe for this month's Improv Challenge.  So your hint is that it contains orange and cardamom.  Check it out tomorrow!

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Savory Butternut Squash Puree

It's Day Two of my annual Thanksgiving Week.  I have another great side dish for you today.  A savory butternut squash puree.  This is a recipe I created one day last month.  I had some cooked butternut squash leftover from making a curried butternut squash risotto, and it was such a beautiful color that I was inspired to make something amazing with it.  I dug around in the fridge and found some Laughing Cow cheese and basically just pureed the two together, throwing in a little smoked paprika for good measure.  The result was fabulous and I couldn't help thinking it would be just perfect for Thanksgiving.  After I made it, I did some googling to check out some other savory butternut squash puree recipes and found next to nothing.  I'm surprised because it was so delicious.

Savory Butternut Squash Puree

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked butternut squash

4 wedges Laughing Cow cheese (I used Light Garlic & Herb)

½ tsp smoked paprika

¼ - ½ tsp salt

Directions:

Combine squash, cheese, and paprika and puree using a stick blender or a regular blender.  Taste for seasoning, adding salt if necessary.  Pour into serving bowl and garnish with additional smoked paprika if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

So simple, yet very sophisticated.  The cheese makes it slightly creamy and brings down the sweetness enough to make it a savory dish.  And the smoked paprika gives it a little depth of flavor and enhances the natural beautiful color.

Isn't this just the prettiest dish?  It just screams "fall" and "harvest".  It's the perfect way to enhance your Thanksgiving table.  It would be a nice alternative for those who don't care for sweet potatoes.

My husband absolutely loved this puree.  He told me he thought it would be good in a taco. ?? Haven't tried that yet!

Come back tomorrow when I will be sharing my most favorite green veggie dish ever.  Teaser: it includes bacon. ;)

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Roasted Apple and Bleu Cheese Mashed Potatoes

It's Day One of my annual Thanksgiving Week!  A whole week of awesome Thanksgiving recipes.  Do you have your menu all planned out?  If not, I've got some great ideas for you.  

Today I am sharing a twist on the standard mashed potatoes.  Mashed potatoes are probably my favorite Thanksgiving side dish.  It's hard to go wrong with mashed potatoes, and I love the traditional version, but sometimes it's fun to make things a little more interesting.  I found this recipe on Baked Bree and couldn't wait to try it.  Basically, you roast some apples until they are completely soft, mix some crumbled bleu cheese into cream cheese, and then mix it all together with some mashed yellow potatoes.  It sounds a little strange; mashed potatoes with roasted apples?  And bleu cheese?  I agree that it does sound strange, but these are the most fantastic mashed potatoes I've ever put in my mouth.  

Roasted Apple and Bleu Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 small Golden Delicious apples, peeled and diced

2 tsp olive oil

Kosher salt 

4 lbs. yellow potatoes, peeled and diced

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese

1 cup crumbled bleu cheese

Fresh chives, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place the apples in a large piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.  Wrap up the apples in the foil. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until completely soft.

Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large pot of salted cold water.  Cover and bring to a boil.  When the water boils, remove the lid and continue to boil until the potatoes are fall-apart tender.  Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot.  When the apples are done, dump the contents of the foil packet (liquid and all) in with the potatoes.  Mash with a potato masher, ricer, mixer, or however you prefer. 

Place the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl and cook at 50% power for 1-2 minutes or until it is completely soft.  Stir in the bleu cheese.  (You can do this while the potatoes are boiling.)  Add this mixture to the potato/apple mixture and stir to fully incorporate.  Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if desired.  Transfer to a serving bowl.

Stir in chopped chives, or if you prefer, just garnish the top with them.

Makes about 12 servings.

Oh. My. Goodness.  These are the best mashed potatoes ever.  The sweetness of the apples and the tangy-ness of the bleu cheese kind of cancel each other out a little bit, so it's not like you get a bite of sweet, then a bite of tangy cheese.  It all melds together perfectly.  The cream cheese does a perfect job of tying it all together and making it extra creamy and decadent.

I first tried these in August when we had friends over for dinner and love them so much that I have made them about three times now.  They are just so good!  You know what else I love about them?  They don't require gravy.  Please don't put gravy on these!  That's great for me because gravy is the one component of the Thanksgiving meal I have yet to master.  I always end up cheating and using a mix.  So I love that I don't even have to worry about it with these potatoes (although you might still need gravy for the turkey).

If bleu cheese has you a little skeptical, let me tell you that I served these to friends who are not big fans of bleu cheese and they loved them.  Raved about them.  They honestly didn't even know what was in these potatoes; they just knew that they loved them.  I don't get too picky about my mashing; these are great with some little chunks left in there.  In fact, you can see some in the pictures above.  But no one even knew that those chunks were apples.

These mashed potatoes will be a staple on my Thanksgiving table from now on.  Please give them a try if you are looking to take your potatoes to the next level.  Your guests will be so impressed!

Come back tomorrow and I will share another great Thanksgiving side dish.  It involves that great fall vegetable: the butternut squash.  Mmm!

Here are some other great mashed potato dishes that you might be interested in:

Garlic Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes

Loaded Baked Potato Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes with Spinach and Cheese

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

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Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken

I just love Thanksgiving food.  Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce. Mmm.  I love it so much that I don't save it for only one day a year; I make Thanksgiving-type food all year round.  I call these meals "mock Thanksgiving" meals.  They contain the best flavors of Thanksgiving without the hassle of cooking a whole turkey and making all the sides.  

This is a Better Homes and Gardens recipe I discovered on Recipe.com and tried last month.  It's a winner!  Throw some chicken drumsticks in the slow cooker with cranberry sauce and when it's done, serve it with some StoveTop stuffing.  

Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients:

8 chicken drumsticks, skinned

1 (16 oz.) can whole berry cranberry sauce

2 tbsp dry onion soup mix

2 tbsp quick-cooking (instant) tapioca

Directions:

Place chicken in slow cooker.  In a small bowl, stir together the cranberry sauce, onion soup mix, and tapioca.  Pour over the chicken and turn the chicken pieces so they are evenly coated.

Cook on low for 6 hours.  Rearrange pieces halfway through cooking if you are able.

Serve chicken drumsticks with sauce.  Stuffing goes really well with this chicken.

Makes 4 servings.

Here's something shocking: I didn't change anything about this recipe!  That is pretty rare.  It's just perfect the way it is.  The onion soup mix gives the cranberry sauce just the perfect amount of savory-ness and cuts down on the sweetness.  The instant tapioca thickens the sauce beautifully so you can coat the tender chicken with it.  Have you ever used it before?  It's pretty great for slow cooker dishes.  Cornstarch doesn't work in the slow cooker because it has to come to a boil and slow cookers don't usually get that hot.  But the tapioca softens and thickens at a lower temperature so it's perfect.

Of course, you could serve this chicken with rice, but I think it's so great with the stuffing.  And using the boxed stuffing (I always get the reduced-sodium chicken variety), makes this meal perfect for busy weeknights.  My favorite veggie to go with this is green beans.

While I like to make this meal whenever I am craving Thanksgiving food outside of Thanksgiving season, it would also be great for those who aren't doing the whole big Thanksgiving celebration but still want something to make the day feel like Thanksgiving.  It would be perfect for a couple or a small family who is staying home that day and doesn't feel like going all out with the turkey and everything.

Here are some other "mock Thanksgiving" meals I have shared with you in the past:

Turkey Stuffing Meatloaf with Cranberry Glaze

Turkey and Sweet Potato Burritos

Spicy Cranberry Glazed Chicken

Speaking of Thanksgiving, next week will be this year's installment of my annual Thanksgiving Week here on my blog.  I have five great recipes that will liven up your Thanksgiving table.  Are you tired of the same old, same old?  I have three awesome side dishes, one turkey-alternative main dish (good if you are hosting guests who don't like turkey that much), and a super easy pumpkin dessert.  So be sure to check all of that out next week.

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Fill The Cookie Jar: Fresh Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

It's time for another installment of my newest monthly challenge, Fill the Cookie Jar.

This month's theme was Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving cookies, hmm.  Nothing jumped out at me.  I did some searching online and found the perfect recipe.  I procrastinated, and made that recipe yesterday afternoon.  They were kind of a pain in the butt to make, but I was sure they were worth the effort.  Then I opened the oven.  Total flop!  They did not turn out right at all.  I'm not sure why; I only did one little thing differently.  It didn't seem like it would make that big of a difference, but then again, I am not a baker so who knows.  It was about 3:00 and I didn't think I had time to make something different.  What other Thanksgiving themed cookie could I make without going to the store?  Then I remembered that I had a bag of fresh cranberries stashed in the freezer from last winter.  Cranberries are very Thanksgiving-y!  Most cranberry cookie recipes call for dried cranberries, but I did some digging and found one at Food.com that uses fresh cranberries.  It was a mad dash to get them made and photographed before it got dark, but I made it just in time!  Here's the recipe.

Fresh Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh (or frozen and thawed) cranberries

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp orange extract

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon

1½ cups oats

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a food processor or blender pulse cranberries until chopped. Set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar together.  Add egg and orange extract and mix well.  Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and oats and mix well.  Gently stir in cranberries.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.

Bake at 375° for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheet onto parchment paper to cool.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

So these cookies turned out great.  It only took me like 10 minutes from the time I found the recipe until I threw them in the oven.  Not bad!  I did have to use white sugar instead of brown because I was out, but they were still fine.  I would definitely use brown next time though.  And next time will probably be tomorrow since I have the rest of the bag of cranberries to use up.

I love the oats in these cookies.  They give them great body and chewiness.  My favorite kind of cookie.  And the fresh cranberries are so hugely different than the dried.  Not chewy at all, and they have this bright, fresh taste that is just unbelievable.  They're not sour, but they have a great tang to them.  And don't you just love the beautiful red color?

Here are some fun Thanksgiving cookies I have posted in years past:

Groovy Gobblers

Pilgrim Hat Cookies

These cranberry cookies would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving buffet.  Check out all the other great Thanksgiving cookies below and come back next month to see what kind of Christmas cookie I come up with.

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Pilgrim Hat Cookies

I have a lot to do today, so I'm going to make this short and sweet. Definitely sweet! These are the little treats I took to my daughter's preschool class Thanksgiving party on Monday.  I saw them on Pinterest, originally from Woman's Day, and thought they were so cute.  They are really easy to put together.


Pilgrim Hat Cookies

Ingredients:
24 Oreo Fudge Cremes Cookies
1 tube white frosting with piping tips
24 Reese’s mini peanut butter cups

Directions:
Place cookies on work surface; squeeze a dime-size dot of frosting in center of each.  Unwrap and invert peanut butter cups on frosting, pressing down gently.  Using a small round piping tip, pipe a "hat-band" with frosting around peanut butter cup and a square "buckle." Let frosting set before storing.

Makes 24 cookies.

Aren't they cute?  I love how they are just three ingredients.  They were really easy to do except that I got the wrong kind of frosting for the piping.  I used the Betty Crocker Decorator Icing.  It comes in a tube.  It did not work well.  The first one was great, but then it started getting really hard to work with.  Instead of coming out smoothly, it clumped up really badly.  I wonder if maybe the heat of my hand changed the consistency of it.  Really gave me problems.  So some of my hats looked pretty rough, but oh well!  So don't get that kind.  If you try this and you find a kind that does work well, please let me know what you used in the comments.

The only other problem I had was that some of the Reese's cups had bald spots where you could see the peanut butter through the chocolate.  So make sure you pick up more of those than you actually need so that you can pick out the "good" ones.  My husband happily "took care" of the bald spot ones for me. :)

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.  I'll be back next week with some very un-Thanksgiving recipes for you!

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Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

I must, once more, apologize for the pictures in this post.  This was the other recipe that I took to the Reformation Day feast at our church and I wasn't able to photograph it properly at home before I left.  But it was too good not to share with you.  So mentally block out that ugly Fed Ex box and picture this sitting on your beautiful Thanksgiving table instead!

I had been wanting to make a pumpkin trifle for a while and couldn't find the link to the recipe that first gave me the inspiration to use gingerbread in it.  So I just winged it.  This trifle has three layers, gingerbread, a pumpkin cheesecake-type filling, and whipped cream.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree (2 cups)

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1 box gingerbread cake mix, baked according to package directions

2 containers Cool Whip

Gingersnap cookies, crushed

Directions:

In a large bowl, whip together the pumpkin, cream cheese, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice until completely smooth.

Cut gingerbread cake into 1” cubes.  Place half of the gingerbread cubes in the bottom of a trifle bowl.  Spread half of the pumpkin mixture over the top of the gingerbread.  Top with a thick layer of Cool Whip.  Repeat layers with remaining gingerbread cake, pumpkin mixture, and Cool Whip.

To make the leaf design on top, place a leaf-shaped cookie cutter on a piece of waxed paper.  Draw around the cookie cutter with a pen.  Poke a hole in the middle of the leaf and use scissors to cut the leaf shape out of the middle of the waxed paper.  Lay the waxed paper on top of your trifle bowl and carefully sprinkle the gingersnap crumbs inside the leaf shape.  Remove the waxed paper carefully so that the extra around the edges doesn't fall back onto your design. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes a lot of servings.

Layers of yumminess.  The gingerbread goes so well with the pumpkin flavor.  

 I was just going to sprinkle the gingersnap crumbs on top, but my husband suggested the leaf design.  Honestly, I didn't think I would be able to pull it off, but it turned out well.

I wanted to use the vanilla flavor of Cool Whip, but the store I went to didn't have it.  So I got "Extra Creamy".  That was a mistake.  "Extra Creamy" must be code for "Extra Thick and Gloppy".  That kind isn't smooth and doesn't spread easily like the regular kind.  So be sure to get the regular kind.

I hope that you have enjoyed the great Thanksgiving recipes I have shared with you this week.  I have one more Thanksgiving-themed treat up my sleeve that I will share with you on either Monday or Tuesday.  Something fun for the kiddos!

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Improv Challenge: Slow Cooker Honey Pecan Sweet Potatoes

 It's reveal day for the Improv Challenge.  The premise of this challenge is easy: each month there are two assigned ingredients.  The participants must make a recipe using both ingredients and blog about it.

This month's assigned ingredients are very timely: sweet potatoes and honey.  My favorite sweet potato recipe of all time falls into this category, Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes, but I couldn't use that for this challenge because it's already on my blog.  So I had to try a new recipe involving sweet potatoes and honey, darn! The timing is perfect because there are probably lots of cooks out there looking for a great sweet potato side dish for Thanksgiving.  

I've been a huge fan of using the slow cooker on Thanksgiving for years now.  Yes, before it was cool!  I have done mashed potatoes, two kinds of dressing (here and here), and even the green bean casserole, though I don't have that posted.  So the next logical step was to try out a sweet potato recipe for the slow cooker.  This will free up oven space on the big day.  I found a recipe at Betty Crocker that I amended a bit.  Here's my version.

Slow Cooker Honey Pecan Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 lbs. sweet potatoes (2½ large), peeled and cut into ½” cubes

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

⅓ cup honey

2 tbsp butter, melted

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp instant tapioca

¼ tsp salt

½ cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

Place sweet potatoes in a 3 qt. slow cooker.  Combine applesauce, honey, butter, pumpkin pie spice, tapioca, and salt in a small bowl and pour over the sweet potatoes.  Stir to combine.  Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 3 hours.  Stir in half the pecans.  Transfer to serving dish and top with remaining pecans.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Betty's recipe called for brown sugar, but I used honey instead.  It would be good either way, but personally I loved it with the honey.  Even though I reduced the applesauce from her recipe to 1 cup, it was still a little heavy on the apple taste for me, so next time I'll do ½ cup.  I used pumpkin pie spice instead of just cinnamon.  The other thing I changed was adding the instant tapioca.  The only problem I ever have with slow cooker recipes is that the sauce is always thin.  I often will remove the sauce to a saucepan and add cornstarch to thicken it up after cooking.  You can't use cornstarch in the slow cooker because the liquid has to boil in order for it to work.  But I read somewhere that you can put instant tapioca in with all the ingredients at the beginning, and it thickens as it cooks.  This was my first time trying it and I was very pleased with the results.  I had to guess on how much to use.  I did 1 tsp and I think it was maybe a little bit too much, so next time I will use ½ tsp.  I can't wait to try this will all of my other slow cooker recipes.   You can find instant tapioca in the baking aisle, usually up on the top shelf.

I only cooked my sweet potatoes long enough for them to just cook through.  I like them with some definition left on the cubes.  If you think your guests would prefer it, you could cook them a little longer, then mash them.  They would be good either way.

So if you are stressing about how to get everything cooked in the oven before the turkey gets cold sitting out, throw the sweet potatoes into the slow cooker.  It saves a lot of time and headaches!

Be sure to check out all the other great sweet potato and honey recipes below and come back tomorrow for another great non-pie Thanksgiving dessert.

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