Cinnamon Pie

'Tis the season for making lots of food! And, with a developing love for all things cinnamon, I am going to try out making a cinnamon pie today!

_____________________________________________

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 (10 inch) unbaked pie crust

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the beaten egg, butter, and vanilla. Mix well and add the milk.
3. Pour mixture into an unbaked 10 inch pie crust (glass pie plate is best).
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Let cool and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.

_____________________________________________

The batter for this pie is extremely thin...I mean, we are talking straight liquid. Don't be alarmed, it will turn out fine. I even upped the flour and reduced the milk from the original recipe, and it was still very watery. The pie may even be jiggly when you take it out of the oven, but it will set. There will be three distinct layers of flavor and it will have a smooth, custardy texture.

It's an ugly pie, so think about serving it with ice cream or putting some Cool Whip on top! Yum!

Wedding Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for coating
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands
1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at low speed until it is smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula. With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a crescent. Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire racks.

____________________________________

Christmas Sugar Cookies

I make these every year. They are a mess and probably are way more trouble than they are worth, but it is a tradition!

You must let the dough sit in the refrigerator for a long time. It's annoying, but it will make your life so much easier.

____________________________

Prep:

2 sticks butter
2 small eggs or 1 large egg
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 or 3 cups flour
scant teaspoon salt
scant teaspoon baking soda
teaspoon pure vanilla

After cooked:

1 cup confectioner's sugar
milk or orange juice

Mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg(s) and mix again. Add vanilla, salt, and baking soda and mix again. Finally, carefully mix in flour until well blended and sticky dough results. Let dough sit in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Take dough out of fridge and use flour very generously to spread it 1/4 of an inch and cut it into desired cookie shapes. Place cookies on greased bake sheet about 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 heat.

Take cookies out and let cool on wax paper. Mix a little no pulp orange juice or milk with confectioners sugar until a thick, smooth, white mixture results. Spread over cookies and place festive sprinkles on wet icing. Let icing harden for an hour, then place cookies in tins, separated in layers by wax paper. Keep refrigerated or frozen.

______________________________________

Sausage Cornbread Stuffing

My mom made this stuffing for Thanksgiving this year, and it is utterly the most amazing, flavorful stuffing I have ever had. I copied it exactly from this recipe because there is literally nothing I would do to change it...but I definitely plan on it being a staple for Thanksgivings from now on.

_______________________-

2 (8 ounce) packages corn bread mix
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound spicy pork sausage
2 onions, chopped
2 apples, cored and chopped
4 stalks celery, diced
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Bake cornbread according to package directions. Cool and crumble into a large bowl.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook sausage until brown and crumbly, remove from the skillet but keep the oil in the pan. Add onions, apples and celery; cook stirring occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes.

Toss the cooked mixture and the sausage into the bowl with the crumbled cornbread. Stir in the chicken broth and melted butter. Season with parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary salt and pepper. Blend well and press into a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bake at 350 heat for 35 to 45 minutes.

_____________________________

Honey-Lemon Thanksgiving Turkey

Since it's about time for Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share the turkey recipe that I plan to make for my family. I have made this recipe before, and it turns out to be just delicious!

The measurements listed here are arbitrary. I usually do not measure anything...just make sure you have enough juice/oil to cover the turkey each time you baste and enough honey to rub all over the turkey 3-4 times.

____________________________________
The Turkey

Prep:
1 Butterball fresh whole turkey (pick size depending upon how many people you want to feed)
1 container honey
salt
sugar
ground black pepper
3/4 stick butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil or virgin olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 lemon (juice and zest)

Remove packaging and plastic bags containing neck and giblets. Wash turkey in sink, drain the turkey, and dry the cavity with paper towels. Stuff turkey if desired. Place turkey in large roasting pan. Tie back legs together and place tin foil over tip of wings.

Mix oil, melted butter, chicken stock, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1 teaspoon sugar in small bowl by stirring. Brush mixture onto the skin of the entire turkey and pour rest of mixture into bottom of pan. Drizzle 1/3 cup of honey over the turkey, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sugar, and place in oven at 375 heat. Here is a useful calculator for how long you should cook the turkey depending upon its size.

Along the course of the cooking time, remove the turkey 3-4 times to baste. Take in juice at bottom of pan and drizzle it over turkey until skin is re-soaked. Each time, drizzle 1/3 cup of honey over top and dust lightly with salt, sugar, and pepper. The sugar and honey will caramelize on the skin of the turkey and turn a dark brown.

If turkey browns too much, cover lightly with tin foil. If contents at bottom of pan begin to burn, add chicken stock or water accordingly.

Remove turkey from oven when done and baste with juices from bottom of pan one last time. Remove stuffing if you decided to stuff the turkey. Place turkey on platter and zest a lemon over top.
______________________________________


Our 12 pound turkey that fed 6 people with plenty of leftovers. Meat was juicy and flavor was very good!