Cranberry Sauce

 

Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving.

:: Cranberry Sauce ::

**Gobble Gobble**

We are just days away from enjoying our yummy and thankful Turkey dinners.

I enjoy this time baking desserts.  I have yet to host an actual Thanksgiving.

I am the eldest of 5 sisters and a brother. Yes I know a big family.

If I am not visiting my husband on Thanksgiving at the fire station {he is off this year hooray!}.

I am visiting either Shane’s family or mine for holidays.

I would love to host {{hint, hint}}.

Brandy and cranberries for Cranberry Sauce

Though I am not, I am required to bring a few things to dinner.

One of my favorites is my Cranberry Sauce.

Either you like the gelatine type sauce or you don’t.

Mine is not from the can and it is a little chunky.

Just how I like it.

Perfect for left overs {we don’t have any since we don’t host}

or for the Turkey sandwiches you can make for lunch via sliced meat

or even better with the real thing.

I think the sauce is a healthier side than a huge pile of gravy, and its home made!

Orange zest for easy Cranberry Sauce

Here is what is needed:

*2 packages of fresh cranberries

{I actually think Ocean Spray’s Cranberries are the best, but Trader Joe’s are good too.}

*1 cup of sugar {healthier, I know questionable but these little guys are tart}

*1 cup of Brandy {a must and the alcohol burns off so no need to worry}

*3 tablespoons of Orange Peel

You then fully rinse and throw out any berries that are punctured or bad.

Lay the berries in a 9×13 inch pan and heat the oven to 325 degrees.

You will then use a place the 3 tablespoons of orange peel over the cranberries,

along with the sugar and brandy.

Once you have placed all the ingredients into the pan mix everything together.

Fold the berries into the mixture and then place into the oven.

It usually takes about an hour for the liquid to evaporate.

While the sauce is cooking your home will smell heavenly.

The oranges and the cranberries cooking are the essence of holiday!

Once you have noticed most of the liquid has evaporated,

pull the pan out of the oven and let it rest for a half and hour.

Spoon your sauce into a storage bag or tupperware.

Make ahead and freeze for up coming events or place in the fridge for three days max.

Great for impressing guests and even better than the molded kind in a can.

Enjoy!!!

Whipped Cream Frosting Cupcakes

It has been a busy week of celebrations.

We just finished having a very Happy Halloween.  A week to the day is my son’s birthday.

Then it follows with my godson and sisters’ plus topping it off with Thanksgiving.

Whoa….. quite a bit, but as a mom you know it never ends just there.

So I have to be on my game with quick ideas and easy semi home made versions of great recipes.

Last week I spent an hour late at night melting chocolate over a double boiler plus making

homemade cupcakes from my favorite Magnolia Bakery recipe.

A bit of work, but well worth it for my son’s 6th birthday request and I feel great doing it.

The recipe I know very well and it is a go to one at that, but it is time consuming as baking

is a science and one must pay attention to all of the ingredients and steps.

Though I love baking this way, it is not practical when you have a busy activity week.

So when it is my turn to volunteer for cupcakes.  I prefer to make a semi home made version

of some of my favorite recipes, I use boxed mix for the cake portion.

Magnolia Bakery’s Vanilla Butter cream is a favorite. 

I love everything about it, not too sweet and not too much but I now have a runner up.

Last year at Sara’s daughter’s birthday I experienced her Whipped Cream Frosting.

It is amazing.  So much so I can eat a whole bowl of it.

I make it and think what can I dip this in add this to or frankly just smother this on!

Love love it! This is a keeper.  Thanks Sara for sharing!

{I don’t know if my thighs are thinking the same thing}

*Whipped Cream Frosting*

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

 Directions

In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

Here is a glimpse of my yummy creation for The Green Ninja’s {Mason’s Soccer Team}

photo

Kid-Friendly Thanksgiving Food & Treats

With the Thanksgiving holiday right around the corner,

we thought we would try to inspire you to make

some festive kid-friendly treats!

Here are a few that we thought looked extra delish {gobble, gobble}…

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{Both photos above via: Meet the Dubiens: thanksgiving}

{Via: These are a few of my favorite things: Thanksgiving Teepee Cupcakes, revisited}

{Via: Pilgrim Cupcakes – Create-Celebrate-Explore}

{Via: Pinterest / Search results for Thanksgiving}

{Via: Cooking Classy: Sweet Potato Cupcakes}

{Via: Simple Girl: Candy Cornucopia}

{Via: Chocolate Acorns — very culinary}

{Via: 3 Thanksgiving-Inspired Popcorns – Savory Simple}

Making Bread

Saturday seemed like a perfect day to stay inside and be warm and cozy.

Drizzle is making a wet blanket on the street outside.  The perfect excuse to use my baking imagination…..

Hmmm, what is this I have underneath the bottom shelf of my pantry, hidden behind mixer attachments….

a bread maker.  Okay, so I knew it was there.  It has traveled from three homes plus a storage unit in the 9 years

I have been married.  It was one of the few things I allowed Shane to register for.  The other was a set and forget it

chicken rotisserie and that, well it did not make the move into this house.

Don’t get me wrong I love bread, but it was not

a top registry priority as I believed I could myself.  I did not need a fancy machine.

My kitchen aid mixer has a dough hook so I thought it would be enough.

So I pulled out the bread maker from below.

I skim the instructions and I think at best the honey wheat sounds amazing and fairly simple.

I take a look for what the recipe entails and chance may have it, I have all the ingredients needed.

The process is fairly simple but precise.  I put together the ingredients and set it to bake

for three and half hours.  Boy did it smell like a French Bakery.

After the small yet satisfying ding of the bread baker…..here is the finished product:

Fantastic Bread.  The smell amazing….but a little bit dense in comparison to bread from the store.

Well, that part could have slightly been prevented.  Maybe my son opening

and closing the machine top played a part in the dough rising.

Minus that the bread machine experience was:

1. Easy to put together (if you have the most of the ingredients)

2. Really set it and forget it.  It does it on its own.

3. Makes the house smell fantastic.

4. Is very healthy like any other baked good you make from home.

5. Probably most important it made the hubby happy.

Thanks to whom ever gave The Lindstrom’s a bread maker as wedding gift!

Hope you pull yours out soon!

Banana Chocolate Muffins {Vegan}

Today is one of our favorite kinds of days….

a Fall Sunday, that is both crisp & cool.

Husby went off to work for the next two days.

The kids and I decided to stay in & have a pajama day!

A perfect, cozy day….

A wonderful time to bake up something delicious & wholesome!

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Don’t let the “vegan” part scare you!

They are honestly delicious!

They just don’t have the usual eggs, which I am certain you won’t miss!

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Miss Sophia Blue  {a.k.a. “Little Ina,” as I like to call her}

and I made some adjustments to the recipe.

All you need is:

* 1 cup of whole wheat flour

* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

* 1/2 cup brown sugar

*1/2 cup granulated sugar

*1/3 cup canola oil

* 4 ripe bananas

* 1/4 cup water

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

{I use the Trader Joe’s brand which is naturally vegan}

* 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped pecans {optional, but highly recommended!}

*************************

Perhaps, the best part!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease your muffin tins.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, &  salt together.

In a large mixer, beat the sugar & oil together.

Add the mashed bananas.

Stir in the water & vanilla.

Mix thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture, along with the chocolate chips & optional nuts.

Stir to mix!

Fill each muffin tin halfway with batter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes {depending on your oven}.

* Note: I usually have extra batter. I use the excess to fill a mini loaf pan

& cook slightly longer.

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{Drum Roll, please}

Here is a little piece of heaven!

Moist, chocolatey, & decadent….

The perfect Fall snack!

We hope you thoroughly enjoy every delicious bite!

{xo, sara}

{Original Recipe Via: The Joy of Vegan Baking}

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake | Cookmee

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake | Cookmee.

We love the Fall.

Here in Southern California we are thankful and praying for this weekend cool down.

  Our favorite thing to do is bake.

We love baking and we love baking items that are Pumpkin related.

For now this post will show you what we have in store to create this weekend.

Sara and I are very hopeful that one of us will be able to create this recipe to perfection.

I myself have baked the Pioneer Woman’s Tres Leches cake over the summer,

but I hope this one can step up to the plate.

It should because it has the added edition of pumpkin!