Thanksgiving

“An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.” – Irv Kupcinet

Here in Canada we are celebrating Thanksgiving this upcoming Monday. 

Food is one of the first things that come to mind when I think about Thanksgiving. Sitting around the table eating yummy food with family and good friends is what it is it all about. There are so many delicious smells that come from my kitchen around this time. I am a huge cinnamon fan so it’s safe to say that I love pumpkin pie. I have never attempted to make pumpkin pie from scratch...yet. This year I am going to give it a go; I’ve found a recipe that I will try out and I will let you know how it goes. 

In my house both my parents participate in creating a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. We usually have a feast that consists of Chinese rice stuffing, turkey, ham, yams, my famous Brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and of course a dessert created by me. 

Brussel sprouts are not on the top of everybody’s list of favourite foods to eat, but I love them. I make caramelized Brussel sprouts for all occasions and they are always a hit even with my younger brother who really dislikes them. So for this Thanksgiving edition of our blog, I am going to share with you my Brussel spouts recipe. 

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Samantha 

Samantha’s Brussel Sprouts

I usually make quite a lot of sprouts. It doesn’t matter how much you make, you can adjust the recipe easily. I make roughly a produce bag full of sprouts which is probably close to eight cups of uncooked and not cleaned Brussel sprouts. 

In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the Brussel sprout for 2-3 minutes; don’t clean them beforehand. After the 2-3 minutes put them directly into ice water; then remove the outer leaves and cut them in half. I usually let the sprouts dry afterwards so all of the excess moisture disappears.

In a large frying pan, add 2 tbsp. of butter and caramelize the sprouts. They will still have a bit of moisture, so cook them until they look dry. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter along with salt and pepper to taste and cook until they look “golden green;” yes I made that phrase up, haha, but it’s the best way to describe the finished product.

-------------------

Thanksgiving is a time that makes us remember all the wonderful things in our life that we so often take for granted, and realize how much we have to be thankful for. That includes family, friends and good food! I love turkey dinner and at our house we usually have turkey, harvest stuffing, potatoes, beans, carrots, gravy and chiffon pumpkin pie for dessert.
I have to admit that the pumpkin pie is probably my favourite part of the meal...so I've decided to share the recipe!

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

1 cup cold milk

1 package (6 serving size) Jell-O Instant Butterscotch Pudding

1 ½ cups canned pumpkin (or fresh pumpkin cooked and puréed)

 A generous ¼ tsp. each cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger (or 1 ¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice)

1 ½ cups Cool Whip topping

1 baked 8" pie shell

Have all ingredients ready as pudding may set quickly.

Pour cold milk into bowl. Add pudding mix. With electric mixer at low speed, beat just until blended, about 30 seconds. Blend in pumpkin, spices and Cool Whip. Spoon into pie shell. Chill about 2 hours. Serve topped with whip cream or Cool Whip.

*For a 9" pie use 1 1/3 cups milk, 2 pkgs. - 4 serving size pudding, 1 16-oz. can pumpkin, ½ tsp. of each of the spices and 2 cups Cool Whip. 

Happy cooking!
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Nicole