Bourbon Sugar Pie

 OK, so, at the risk of sounding pretty obvious, I'm just gonna say this: Whenever I make a recipe with a specific star ingredient, I want to be able to taste that ingredient! Crazy, I know, but just go with me on this. If it's a Vanilla Brownie, I want it to have a STRONG hit of vanilla. If it's a Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcake, then I want to be able to taste the Bailey's Irish Cream! Know what I mean? It seems obvious to say this, but you'd be amazed at how many recipes I try that have a specific ingredient in the title, but there's no flavor of that ingredient to be found. Or maybe it's only just a little hint of that flavor.
 Enter, THIS recipe. When I tell you that it's a bourbon pie, I mean it's a BOURBON pie. One bite, and you definitely get the flavor. It's strong, yes, but in a really good way. My friend Jason said "WOW, bourbon." And it's so smooth that my friend Judy said "oooooooh that's really good" in a "boy that's smooth going down" kind of a way. hahaha
 I guess the best way to describe the texture is that it's similar to a Chess Pie or a Pecan Pie without the pecans. Sweet and syrupy and gooey and delicious. And it's perfect with a swirl of freshly whipped cream on top.
 I was originally gonna post this Betty Crocker recipe for Thanksgiving, (because who doesn't love pie at Thanksgiving?), but it was a busy week and I never got around to it. But then I figured "why not post it anyway? Pie is just as good for Chritmas as it is for Thanksgiving!" So here we are.
 It's REALLY easy to make, and I've literally already made it four times this month. It's just that good! And, side note, when you tell people it's a bourbon pie, everyone's reaction is always the same: "oooooooohhhhhh." Not even kidding. haha.
Give it as a holiday gift. Make it for your family.  Or friends. Or even just for yourself. It's definitely this year's favorite new dessert discovery!

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup bourbon

3 eggs, slightly beaten 

1 tsp salt

1 unbaked 9" pie shell, either homemade or store bought

Sweetened freshly whipped cream

Heat oven to 350ºF.
In a medium bowl, mix all filling ingredients until well blended. Set aside.
I used a Pillsbury ready-made pie crust, (which is my go-to brand). Just roll it flat, place it into your regular (not deep dish) pie plate, fold the edges under and flute to make a decorative edge. Pour the filling into pie shell. Bake 60-70 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the center is set. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 2 hours. Garnish with whipped cream. 

Tips:

Ok, here's the thing.. the original recipe directs you to blind bake the crust. In other words, partially bake the crust before you pour the filling into it, and then bake it with the filling for another 70 minutes. I did exactly that, just as instructed, only my crust turned out to be FAR too done. So then I made it again, and I figured it has to bake for over an hour. The crust will be cooked enough! So I just poured the filling right into an unbaked crust, baked it for 70 minutes, and it turned out perfectly. The bottom wasn't soggy, the outer edge was perfect. So that's how I'll be doing it anytime I make from now on. Also, the original recipe from Betty Crocker didn't have any salt in it. But it is INFINITELY better with the added tsp of salt. Be sure to include it! Btw, this recipe fits a regular pie plate, not the pyrex deep dish. I thought about increasing the amounts so that it would fill up a deep dish pie, but the pie is very sweet and very rich. I think it's fine just as it is!

Cheesy Corn Casserole

  This is a recipe that I made quite a long time ago, and I've been waiting for just the right moment to post it. And guess what, the time has come! Yes, yes, I know I have several corn side dish recipes, but really, can one have too many? I think not! More is more!
 My usual go-to corn casserole is more of a corn pudding. It's much sweeter, with corn bread mix and creamed corn. This recipe goes in a more Southwest direction, with lots of Cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and peppers. And the jalapenos give it a nice little kick. YUM! It's from Cooktop Cove and it was an instant hit when I made it for my friends. It's perfect for the cooking novice who would like to contribute to the holiday meal or potluck because it's SUPER easy! You just stir all the ingredients together, and bake! It doesn't get much easier than that, right? I seriously need to make this again. You should too! Hope you like it!




3 cups frozen corn
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and finely diced
1 1/2 cups milk
5 tablespoons butter, melted
5 eggs, whisked
6 tablespoons flour
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In an 8-by-12 casserole baking dish, add all the ingredients. Stir with a spoon to mix everything up. Bake for 50 minutes. Let sit on counter for 5 minutes to set.




Tips:
I know the recipe says to add all the ingredients to the baking dish and then stir, but I prefer to use a large mixing bowl to stir everything, and then pour it into the baking dish. I'd much rather have more room to stir than worry about washing another dish, know what I mean?
Also, I used a 9x13 baking dish instead of an 8x12 dish. Use what you have!

Sausage and Potato Stuffing

 Back in the day, there used to be a TV commercial that begged the question: Do you want stuffing or potatoes? And to that I say "why do we have to choose one or the other? why can't we have both?! And that brings me to this stuffing recipe. It's your classic stuffing with sausage and sage, but it has potatoes too! It's the best of both worlds, all in one dish. I found it on Allrecipes.com, which is one of my go-to websites for recipes. One of the things I love about that website is that it shows you lots of comments by regular home cooks who have made it, and very often what minor tweaks they did to make it their own. Many said that "this is now their new holiday stuffing." I guess you can't get much better than that! So give this one a try. Maybe it'll be YOUR new go-to holiday stuffing!



1 pound lean pork sausage
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
3/4 cup diced sweet onion
3/4 cup butter
 9 cups soft bread cubes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Place sausage, potatoes, celery, onion and butter in a large, deep skillet. Saute over medium high heat until sausage is crumbled and evenly cooked. Combine the bread cubes, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Toss together with the sausage and potato mixture. Add chicken or vegetable broth if needed. Bake stuffing in a covered casserole dish for 40 to 50 minutes.



Tips:
Instead of peeling and dicing potatoes, I just used halved baby red potatoes. No need to peel!
Many of the reviews on this recipe said that it can easily be cooked in a slow cooker. 3-4 hours on low should do the trick! Also the slow cooker will retain moisture (plus it creates steam), so just keep an eye on that. If your stuffing looks too wet, just remove the lid and let some of the moisture evaporate. If it becomes VERY wet, put it in a pan, uncovered, and pop it into the oven. That should dry it out a bit. On the flip side, if it looks too dry, just add a little chicken broth. Easy!

Slow Cooker Creamed Corn

 Ok, so, once again, I'm turning to my trusty slow cooker for an easy Thanksgiving side dish. I knew I wanted to find a slow cooker creamed corn recipe, but wasn't sure which direction to go. Something cheesy and gooey? maybe. Something Southwest-ish with jalapenos? Hmm.. not sure. I needed to find the RIGHT recipe. So I started googling, and immediately noticed that I kept finding this one over and over... it's on MANY websites and frankly, I don't even know whose it is. (The FIRST found it on a blog called Damn Delicious, so I'll give them the credit.) I thought, well, if so many bloggers love this recipe enough to post it, then it much be good enough to try. And it looked easy enough so I went with it! 
 Well, Holy Thanksgiving, Batman, it's amazing! It's creamy and rich and just sweet enough. It's also stupid easy to make and it frees up your oven and stove top. It's verything you need in a Thanksgiving recipe, right? So basically, if you can open a can of corn, you can make this recipe. This is definitely the RIGHT recipe!!



3  15oz cans whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup milk
1 tbs sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into slices


 Place corn into a slow cooker. Stir in milk, sugar, and pepper until well combined. Without stirring, top with butter and cream cheese. Cover and cook on high heat for 2-3 hours. Uncover and stir until butter and cream cheese are well combined. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 15 minutes. Serve immediately or keep warm until you're ready to serve.



Tips:
You can also use fresh or frozen corn instead of canned, yellow or white, all good.
I added a few chopped scallions on top, just for a little pop of color, but that's completely optional.
I thought about adding a can of cream style corn, because why not? I figured how can that not be good? Maybe next time!

Slow Cooker Ranch Carrots

  One of the biggest questions that everyone asks me around the holidays is "With such a large family, who does all the cooking?" And the short answer is EVERYONE! I mean, yes, I'm lucky to have several siblings with the means to host different holidays.. Thanksgiving at Tommy's, Easter Brunch at Cathy's, New Year's Day at Michael's, Christmas Eve at Jeanie's, Christmas Pollyanna at Patty's... But the whole family always contributes to the menu, and the first thing everyone asks is "what can I bring?"
 Usually, for Thanksgiving, the menu planning committee decides what foods we want to have, and then an email goes out to the entire family, and the cooking tasks get divvied up between everyone. (yes, there really is a menu planning committee. not even kidding). Some of the more experienced cooks in the family will take on some of the bigger jobs such as roasting the turkeys, (yes, plural) and then the family members with a little less experience will take on the easier cooking tasks.
 So this recipe falls squarely into the latter category. It's really one of the easiest recipes you'll ever make so it's a cinch for the culinary novice. Not only that, it's perfect for Thanksgiving because it uses a slow cooker (your best friend in the kitchen) so it doesn't take up any oven or stove top space. You can also prep it in advance and then just turn it on when the time comes. So simple! And most importantly, it's delicious!!! Full disclosure, I'm not even sure where I found the recipe. Somewhere on the interwebs. But I made it for my Friendsgiving Dinner, and everyone loved it. I was an immediate fan, and I'm sure your gang will love it too! You should give it a try!


2 lbs carrots
1 sweet onion
1 stick butter
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel and slice carrots. Chop the onion. Place them in a slow cooker. Top with pats of butter. Sprinkle with half the packet of dressing mix. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining dressing mix, and toss all to combine. Turn slow cooker to warm until you're ready to serve.


Tips:
To make things easier, you can just use baby carrots. No peeling or slicing! I must say, I prefer to cut  large carrots into chunky wedges, but any kind of carrots will work!
When I chopped the onions, I left them in large chunks as well, but then decided I would prefer a smaller dice next time.  
And one other thing.. I usually don't mention specific brands, but in this case, for me there's no ranch dressing other than Hidden Valley Ranch. And that's all there is to it.

Joey's Asparagus and Mushroom Casserole

  Ok here goes my flight of ideas..  Are you ready? Here we go:
I was thinking of coming up with a variation on the favorite classic green bean casserole, which my Mom always called Green Bean Bake. I liked the idea of doing a creamy mushroom sauce just like the classic, but instead of doing green beans, I decided to go with asparagus. So far so good. I sauteed mushrooms and onions, added the asparagus, made a basic white sauce and then baked the whole thing. It was pretty good, (in fact, my friend Nate said it was his favorite part of this year's Friendsgiving), but for me, it was kind of missing something. It needed another element. Cheese? Maybe, but what kind? Bacon? YES! How could that be a bad thing? Hmm.. So then I regrouped to see where things landed: Asparagus, mushrooms, onions, bacon... all good. Now what about the sauce....definitely staying with the basic white sauce instead of the classic canned soup ... and now the cheese... but what kind? Well, I don't want it to be like a mac and cheese sauce, so maybe not Cheddar.. I decided to go with mozzarella because it would give me that gooey cheese factor and it would brown nicely on top. Would all of that work?? Absolutely! Am I happy with the result? Definitely! It really hits all the points from the Green Bean Bake, and it's still something new and delicious. Maybe next time, I'll even top it with French fried onion rings, just for a little added texture! Who knows? Maybe THIS one will wind up being a classic too!



1 lb fresh asparagus
10 oz Cremini mushrooms
1/2 lb bacon
1 large sweet onion
1 large clove garlic
1-2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbs butter, if needed
2 tbs flour
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese


First, do all of your prep:
Trim off the tough woody ends of the asparagus and cut the spears into one inch pieces. Slice mushrooms. Chop onions. Slice bacon into small lardons. Mince garlic. Strip the thyme sprigs of their leaves.
Since different ingredients have different cooking times,  all you do is saute each thing separately, then add it to a big mixing bowl.
Here we go:
In a large pan, over medium heat, saute bacon until crisp, allowing the fat to render. Remove bacon to a big mixing bowl. Remove and reserve all but a couple tbs of fat from the pan. Add the onions. Saute until they begin to soften. Add asparagus. Toss and saute for a few minutes until the asparagus are bright green and crisp tender. Add garlic. Continue to cook for a minute or two. Add to the bowl with the bacon. Add mushrooms to the pan. Resist the urge to add more bacon fat to the pan! I know it seems like the pan is dry, but soon there will be a ton of moisture coming from the mushrooms. Saute until most of the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms have become brown and slightly sticky. Add fresh thyme leaves to the mushrooms and let it cook for another minute. Add mushrooms to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients. Add about 2-3 tbs of bacon fat (or butter) to the pan. Add the same amount of flour. Use a whisk to combine and let it cook for about a minute, then add milk. Whisk to get out any lumps. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until it begins to thicken. Pour thickened cream sauce into mixing bowl over other ingredients. Add half cup of cheese to the bowl. Stir until well combined and coated with sauce. Adjust seasoning if needed. Pour into 2 qt casserole dish. Top with the rest of the mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350ºF for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.


Tips:
The first time I made this, I added quite a lot of bacon. Sounds good, right? But here's the thing.. the smokiness from the bacon wound up taking over the whole thing, so maybe in just this ONE instance, we can allow ourselves to cut the bacon down to about 1/2 pound.
Speaking of bacon, yes the bacon is salty, but you'll still need to add some salt. Make sure you taste it to season it properly! And don't forget the black pepper!
One of the key ingredients is the fresh thyme. I suppose you can use dried thyme, but for me there's just nothing like fresh. It makes all the difference, so much so that I would make a special trip to the store to get it. Just sayin!

Bacon Apple Sweet Potato Casserole

  If you're looking for a recipe that SCREAMS Thanksgiving, this is it! For a while now, I've been doing a savory take on sweet potatoes, and this recipe ticks all the boxes. Don't get me wrong, I love love LOVE the favorite Candied Sweet Potatoes and the favorite Sweet Potato Casserole with all the brown sugar and such, but lately I've been embracing the sweet potato in a savory light.
 I found this recipe on a blog called Mel's Kitchen Cafe, and although I tweaked the amounts and method here and there, the recipe and inspiration clearly belong to Mel. I'm not sure I would have ever added shredded CHEESE to a sweet potato dish, but it's fabulous! How brilliant is that?? And tbh, I wanted MORE cheese the entire time I was INHALING it. More is more! At the same time, it has all the Thanksgiving flavors that you want in a casserole... rosemary, sage, I bet you could even add some thyme, because why not? They go beautifully with the cheese, and the apples enhance the sweetness of the potatoes. And the bacon, well, we all know it makes everything better.
 So if you're looking for a new take on sweet potatoes, seriously TRUST ME on this one. It's absolutely Thanksgiving worthy, and it tastes like Autumn in a casserole. It's literally one of my favorite new things that I've made in quite a long time. Like, not even kidding. You must try it!



5 lbs sweet potatoes
1 lb thick-cut bacon
2 medium leeks, washed well, trimmed of tough edges and sliced thinly
2 large honey crisp apples, cored, peeled and finely diced
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs finely chopped fresh sage
1 tbs finely chopped fresh rosemary
S&P to taste
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese


In a large pot, boil sweet potatoes until fork tender. Remove from pot and let cool until you can handle them. Remove peels, place in a large bowl, and mash them until smooth.
 In a skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon pieces to a paper-towel lined plate, leaving a tablespoon or so of drippings in the skillet and removing any excess grease. Chop the bacon to small bits. set aside.
Over medium heat, add the leeks, apples, brown sugar, sage, and rosemary to the skillet. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the leeks and apples have softened and caramelized slightly
Add about 3/4 of both cheeses, bacon, and leek/apple mixture to the sweet potatoes, reserving a bit of everything to sprinkle on top. Stir to combine. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Lightly grease a large baking dish and spread the sweet potato mixture evenly in the pan. Sprinkle the rest of the bacon, leek mixture, and cheese over the top. Bake for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve immediately.


Tips:
The original recipe baked the potatoes instead of boiling them. Do whichever method you prefer!
I think I'll add fresh thyme next time I make it. Why? Because I LOVE fresh thyme!
I bet you could use another mildly flavored onion instead of the leeks. I'd do a Vidalia, I think.
Definitely go for a SHARP Cheddar. You want that  flavor to come through. The original recipe used Fontina instead of Jack. Again, you do you!