Requested Thanksgiving Recipes****

Jodie's* Pie Crust

1 c. shortening/butter (I use butter)
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. flour
1 t. vinegar (I used lemon juice)
1 egg
1/2 c. cold water

cut shortening/butter into flour and salt. Stir in other ingredients. Refrigerate if necessary to roll out (usually only needed if the butter is very soft)

makes 2 crusts (actually, this is a half recipe, Jodie's was doubled and made 4).

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Hm. This isn't really a recipe, I'll admit that up front. This is vaguely what I remember doing. I wing these things and don't write them down. I read the pumpkin pie recipe and the easy cheesecake recipe and then shot for something in-between.

2 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese
2 c. white sugar
1 large can (um ... 28 oz?) solid pack pumpkin***
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 heaping T. cinnamon**
1 tsp. ground cloves**
1 tsp. ground nutmeg**

blend cream cheese and sugar until creamy. mix in solid pumpkin. blend in eggs. Add vanilla and spices and mix until well incorporated. Pour into 2 unbaked pastry crusts. Bake at ... um ... 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Loosely cover edges with foil and continue to bake 20 more minutes. When pie is done the center should be loosely set but still slightly jiggly, it will continue to set up.

Allow to cool completely. Serve with Cool Whip to please your hubby :)

If you have excess pie crust, roll a little out and cut into cutesy shapes to decorate the top.

*** This filling was a bit much for 2 pie crusts. I could've either added 1 more cream cheese and done 3 pies, or maybe used a smaller 16 oz. can of pumpkin, instead. I think that's what I'd do if I did it again.

**** Hey, it's my 200th post! My BiCenPostial!

Inspired by Janne

Mmmmmmm Thanksgiving! Janne posted her menu complete with all recipes! I'm not a recipe gal, but I can post my plan ... (I'm really not a plannin' gal, either, but sometimes I gotta do what I gotta do). Not much fancy or clever here, really. It's all the "recipe off the can" type stuff, LOL.

My parents are coming over here, and our 4 student friends from Sri Lanka. I've got a 19+ pound turkey, so that should be plenty. I'm getting sleeping just thinking about it ...

Something along the lines of Alton Brown's Brined Turkey ~ never brined a turkey before, I'm excited to try.

Stuffing ~ Stove Top. It's what says Stuffing to The Grand Lunar. And the kids.

Mashed Potatoes and gravy

Green Bean Casserole ~ yeah, the French Onion kind. But with cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom.

Fruit Salad ~ a lot of canned fruit, a little canned smooth cranberry jello stuff, and a little marshmallow creme. I'm winging it.

Cranberry "sauce" ~ technically canned cranberry sauce, the kind that's jelled all can-shaped. LOL!

Fresh Veggie Salad ~ compliments of Mom

White & Wheat Rolls ~ also compliments of Mom

Pumpkin Cheesecake ~ my own invention, although since inventing it I've seen it elsewhere, LOL. I made up my first one all by myself.

Chocolate Peanutbutter Marbled Fudge ~ ok, I've never actually made this before. We'll see what it actually turns out to be. I might have to change it's name if it doesn't work the way I plan, LOL.

Burrito Bake ~ Easy and tasty

Here's some simple, homey food. I made this tonight and it was a hit AND pretty. I should've taken a picture, but didn't think of it until now. You probably don't want a picture of the empty, dirty dishes proving it was a hit. LOL!!

Burrito Bake

1 can refrigerated breadsticks*
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained**
1/2 cup dried onions
1 cup salsa
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese

Optional Garnishes
sour cream
sliced green onions
chopped fresh tomato

Lightly grease 9x13 pan***.
Brown ground beef and onions ~ **I used the extra lean ground sirloin, the kind that's only 4 g of fat per serving; spread in prepared pan.
Scoop refried beans over the top, relatively evenly. I used fat free canned refried beans.
Pour salsa over top. I think i used more than 1 cup of salsa, but I didn't measure. Surprised?
Sprinkle cheese over top.
Unroll breadsticks and either cut into little chunks and scatter evenly or go to the trouble to make a cute lattice. It'll impress the kids.
Bake for ~15 minutes at 375°.
Serve with sour cream and chopped green onions and tomatoes, if desired.

* The original recipe called for a Bisquick mixture. I was thinking I could make my own, homemade whole wheat bread recipe and make it into "worms" for a lattice. Think that would work?
*** The original recipe also called for all this to be in a pie plate! That would be one filling serving. I spread this across a 9x13 and I think it was a reasonable amount. But you could double it if you were concerned. We won't have any leftovers, and maybe could've eaten more (okay, I for sure could've) but I didn't NEED more, I'm quite full. I served the adults' servings over a bed of shredded lettuce with extra salsa (HOT!) on the side, and sour cream on the side. I would've added red onions but apparently I'm out. And it's really not the season to buy fresh tomatoes in Michigan. Bummer.

Oh, and Leslie, this is the kind of thing I'm cooking these days, we're really not doing the low fat vegan at all ... It's NICE to be a good cook again, LOL!!! But I'm still trying to lean towards "healthy" versions ~ with the very lean ground beef, fat free refried beans, and thought about making a healthy topping. LOL!