With the holidays around the corner, I thought it would be fun to share two of
my favorite recipes. The first, Pineapple Casserole, has been a staple for
Thanksgiving dinner for years. It’s easy to prepare, can be made ahead of time
and reheated, and most important, the flavor is absolutely to die for. (Can you tell
I write murder mysteries?) We serve it with dinner, but it can easily be a dessert.
The Streusel-Topped Sweet Potatoes is adapted from my sister-in-law, Lorie’s
recipe. It’s sweet, and oh, so yummy! Like Pineapple Casserole, it’s quick and
easy to prepare, can be made ahead of time, and reheats well. If you want
leftovers of either of these, you’d better make double batches!
Pineapple Casserole
½ lb. butter
1 C sugar
4 large eggs
1-20 oz. can crushed pineapple in natural juice well drained
8 slices white bread cubed
Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Add eggs (mixture will look curdled). Add pineapple. Fold bread into egg/butter mixture using a large spoon or rubber spatula. Pour into a greased dish. Bake for 45 min. or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
Streusel-Topped Sweet Potatoes
3 lbs. sweet potatoes (may substitute canned sweet potatoes or yams)
¼ C granulated sugar
¼ C brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
½ C milk
½ C butter, melted
½ – 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Cook and peel sweet potatoes. Mash and add the above
ingredients. Mix well. Pour into a greased 13X9 pan or 2 qt. casserole dish.
Topping
1 C brown sugar
1 C pecans, chopped (optional)
½ C flour
¼ – ½ C melted butter (approx.)
1 tsp. or more (to taste) cinnamon (optional)
Combine topping ingredients and scatter on top of mashed sweet potatoes.
Bake for 30-40 min. or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Using ½ C melted butter seems to make the topping too wet, so I start
with ¼ C of melted butter and add more as needed until it is the
desired consistency to scatter on the casserole.
Turkey Cupcakes
Just in time for Thanksgiving: turkey cupcakes! WARNING! They are time consuming, but adorable and will receive many oohs and ahhs.
My daughter, Jennifer, and I made these a couple of years ago. I’d like to try making a layer cake with just one cupcake-size turkey on the top and Happy Thanksgiving written beneath it, or maybe just one big turkey that would cover the top!
You will need frosted cupcakes
Caramels, such as Kraft
Wheat Sticks such as Pringles or pretzel sticks such as Snyder’s Dipping Sticks
Cornflakes
Stiff buttercream icing (just add extra powdered sugar to your favorite recipe)
Green candy melts
To make the turkeys, mound stiff buttercream icing in an oval shape on top of the frosted cupcakes. Soften four caramels at a time in the microwave, roll, then using a cookie cutter, glass, or knife with a paper template, cut out a three-inch circle. Place the circle over the mound of frosting and tuck in. This forms the turkey’s body. (You may have to play with the shape a bit.)
Finely crush some cornflakes and mix with a bit of buttercream. This is the “stuffing.” Place a small amount of the stuffing at one end. Cut the wheat sticks to a good length to fit as drumsticks on the body. Soften a caramel and wrap a piece around the wheat stick. Using a drop of water, attach the legs to the body. Pipe some frosting at the end of the wheat stick to resemble the end of the legs. Next, melt green candy melts and toss with more cornflakes. Place the cornflakes around the turkey so it looks like lettuce, and voila!
