Thanksgiving Treats

I've been getting things together for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow at my parents house. My aunt & uncle will be there and I'm looking forward to seeing them.

I made another batch of applesauce to have with dinner tomorrow. This is Cranberry Applesauce:



My photo is a little blurry but it's enough to see that the cranberries make the applesauce look pretty!

Here's my recipe:

CRANBERRY APPLESAUCE

3 pounds Red Delicious Apples
Juice of 2 medium Oranges
1 Tablespoon grated Orange Rind
3 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 cup (no sugar added) Cranberry Juice
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh Cranberries

Peel & dice the apples. Add the orange juice and orange peel. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the cranberries. Bake in a casserole dish in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour.

There should be some excess juice in the apples now. Pour the juice into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Depending on how much juice you have, you may have to add a bit more cranberry juice. I had to add about 3/4 of a cup more. Bring to a simmer, then add the cranberries. Keep your eye on them or they will pop all over your stove. Don't ask me how I know!

When you can see that the cranberries are soft, remove from heat and let cool. Mash the apples with a potato masher. Drain the cranberries and gently fold into the applesauce. I tried to keep my cranberries whole, so I folded them into the apples instead of stirring them in. And that's it! It's very good!!!

I just put my cookie plate and candy plate together:



Cream cheese sugar cookie dough made into turkey's and leaves, Shortbread with vanilla icing and crushed malted milk balls on top, Chocolate Chip cookies with butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and pecans (like my grandma used to make them) and Orange Chocolate Spritz cookies.



Old Fashioned Cream Cheese Mints (which aren't mint because I used maple flavoring in the orange ones and almond flavoring in the green ones), Apple Pecan Candy (these are to die for) and the easiest Chocolate Fudge on the planet!

Here's the recipe for that:

1 12 ounce bag of Chocolate Chips
1 14 ounce can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk)
1 Tablespoon Butter

In a double boiler, on low heat, melt the Chocolate Chips and Butter. When it's completely melted, add the can of Sweetened Condensed Milk. Mix and mix and mix well!

Line a 7 inch X 5 inch pan (I use a Pyrex dish) with plastic wrap. Spray the plastic wrap lightly with No Stick Cooking Spray. Pour fudge into pan and spread evenly. Add colored sprinkles, cover another piece of plastic and refridgerate over night.

It doesn't get any easier than that! I confess, this fudge is way too sweet for me. My father absolutely loves it! I don't eat a lot of sweets but when I do want a little something, I prefer a cookie.

On the "Stash Enhancement" front, I thought you would enjoy seeing a little Ebay find of mine:



This is satin trim from the 1940's. I have nothing like this in my collection (devastating! :) so when I saw it on Ebay, I asked Scott to get it for me. He's a better Ebayer than I am. I don't have the patience for it. I'm the flea marketer, he's the Ebayer!

Isn't it pretty? Now if I could just sit still and stitch!

Well, I'm heading offline for now. I have mom's recipe for the Molasses Muffins that I talked about yesterday. I'll get a photo of them today and I'll have the recipe here tomorrow.