Cute Cake and Cupcakes

I saw these adorable cakes at our party supply store and had to take a picture with my phone so I could share them with you. The little animals are cupcakes made in the rubber (silicone?) cupcake papers and they used frosting (fondant?) for the feet. If anybody can figure out how to do this, please share your ideas. I would love to know how to decorate/frost/fondant them like this picture.

Layered Turkey Cranberry Enchiladas

This is a great way to use leftovers! Don't get rid of your extra cranberry sauce.

I made this recipe last week, even though I didn't have any Thanksgiving leftovers yet. It was pretty great! The mix of the sweet, earthy cranberry sauce with the enchilada sauce was quite new and I liked it. Give is a shot.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. turkey breast tenderloin, cut in bite-size strips
• 1 16-oz. pkg. frozen sweet peppers and onions stir-fry vegetables
• 1 10-oz. can enchilada sauce
• 1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• 9 6-inch corn tortillas, halved (*I used whole wheat flour just b/c it's what I had on hand)
  
• 1 8 oz. pkg. Mexican blend shredded cheese (2 cups)
• Lime wedges (optional)
• Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Directions

1. Position oven rack toward top of oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In extra-large skillet cook turkey in 1 tablespoon hot cooking oil over medium heat 4 minutes or until no longer pink. Add frozen vegetables, enchilada sauce, and cranberry sauces. Bring to boiling. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

2. In 2-quart baking dish layer one-third of the tortillas, then one-third of the cheese. Use a slotted spoon to layer half the turkey-vegetable mixture. Layer one-third tortillas, one-third cheese, remaining turkey-vegetables (with slotted spoon), and remaining tortillas. Spoon on remaining sauce from skillet; sprinkle remaining cheese. Bake 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut in squares. Serve with lime and cilantro. Serves 4.

Are you still looking for a great stuffing recipe?

Introducing:

Awesome Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. cubed whole wheat bread
3 3/4 c. cubed sourdough bread
1 pound ground turkey sausage
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 tsp. dried sage
1 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
3/4 cup turkey stock
4 Tbl melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Spread the cubed break in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated over, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubest o a large bowl.

2. In a large skillet, cook the suasage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned. Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook stirring for 2 minutes to blend flavors.

3. Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley. Drizzle with turkey stock and melted butter and mix lightly. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes stirring once or twice.

Notes:

*This stuffing is meant to be much more dry than your typical stuffing. The bread should almost have the consistency of a cruton.

*All the reviews on this recipe recommend using fresh herbs over dried. And several people recommended using Jimmy Dean sausage that is flavored with sage.

*If you want to read more reviews and tips, follow THIS LINK to where the original recipe is posted.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon common granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
frozen blueberries (however much you want)

additional oil for frying

Oil a frying pan or griddle. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in one bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg, then add the milk and the 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, well enough to eliminate dry spots but no more. Add frozen blueberries to the batter and gently mix.

Heat the frying pan to medium temperature. Pour a pancake. The pancake will bubble. When the bubbling settles down and the edges are slightly dry, flip the pancake. When the pancake looks done, remove it and start another one.

Serve with syrup and butter, although it does taste pretty good by itself.

Harvest Soup Bowl and Stuffed Pumpkin Dinner

My neighbor served these at her son's baptism luncheon on Saturday. They were delicious and looked great too.

Harvest Soup

2 c water

6 c chopped potatoes

1 c chopped celery

1 1/2 c chopped carrots

1/2 c chopped onion

2 tsp parsley

1 tsp salt

dash pepper

2 tsp chicken bouillon

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3 c milk

4 T flour

1 lb Velveeta cheese

Add vegetables and seasonings to water and gently simmer on LOW heat until tender. Do not drain. Heat milk/flour in saucepan to boiling point, but do not let boil. Add cheese and stir constantly until cheese is entirely melted. Add vegetables and heat through. Fill bread bowls.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Remove seeds from a 10" round pumpkin.
Rub the inside with 2 Tbsp. butter and 1/2 tsp. ginger.
Rub the outside of the pumpkin with vegetable oil.
Bake it alone with the top on for 30 minutes at 350.
Brown 1 lb. hamburger and 2 lbs. sausage.
Sauté 1/2 cup chopped celery and 1 chopped onion.

Stir 1 cup of brown sugar into 2 Tbsp. orange juice and mix with 4 cups of Pepperidge Farm seasoned stuffing or croutons of your choice.
Fold the stuffing, meat, and vegetables together and salt and pepper to taste.
Fill pumpkin. Bake 30 minutes at 350 uncovered.
To serve, scoop pumpkin squash out with meat mixture.

Shredded Pork Chili

Friday was our ward chili party and I signed up for chili not realizing it was a cook-off until the reminder email came in. Panic! I remembered that Laura made a successful batch of pumpkin chili last year, so I called for instructions. Knowing I was in a time crunch, she suggested I try what once won her a chili cook-off prize--Bear Creek's 'Darn Good' Chili mix, with added corn. Laura thinks they have altered the mix since she won with it, and not for the better. So, I decided to improvise.
I stuck a smallish 1.5 lb. pork roast (comes in a 3 pack at Costco) into our crockpot on high with one large onion, diced. About 4 hours later the pork was ready to shred with a fork. In a large pot I mixed the Bear Creek chili according to the package directions also adding 2 cans of diced tomatoes undrained, and about 2 cups frozen sweet corn. After simmering for 30 minutes, I added it to the crockpot with the pork, a little garlic, some salt & pepper, and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.
It was excellent with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. Carter really liked it and he is my pickiest culinary critic.

Apple Maple Turkey Burgers

This is a great recipe. I was so impressed. I hope you like it!!

APPLE MAPLE TURKEY BURGERS WITH MAPLE-DIJON SAUCE

For Maple-Dijon Sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons real maple syrup

For Burgers:
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast
1/4 cup real bacon bits
1/2 cup chunky applesauce
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Hamburger Buns
Hamburger condiments

Set up grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Oil grate when ready to start cooking.

For Maple-Dijon Sauce: In a small bowl, stir to combine mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup; set aside.

For Turkey Burgers: In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients for burgers. Wet hands to prevent sticking and shape into 4 patties. **The meat mixture ends up a little wet and sticky so refrigerate the meat for a while so they don't fall apart on the grill.**

Place burgers on hot oiled grill for 5 to 6 minutes per side or until done.

Serve on buns with traditional burger condiments and a dollop of maple-Dijon sauce.

Note - Indoor: Prepare burgers as directed. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot add burgers and cook 5 to 7 minutes per side or until done.

**I cooked these inside on the stovetop grill pan. Be careful to keep the heat medium-low because the sugars in the turkey meat mixture carmelize and can burn pretty easily.

(The picture is from a different recipe that has some cranberry sauce on it.)