Tag: thanksgiving

Our New Thanksgiving Family Tradition

Have you ever intentionally created a family tradition? I haven’t, until now!

My family and I grew up watching the Charlie Brown/Peanuts holiday specials around this time every year with our parents; they all have a special place in my heart, but none more than It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas!

Continuing on with these good feelings and memories, embellishing it to make it our own, here is our new Thanksgiving tradition:

The Friday before Thanksgiving we will gather and/or create buttered toast, popcorn, pretzels and jelly beans, all the food the kid’s feast on in Thanksgiving Charlie Brown. We will snack on these treats while we watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!

It’s simple, yet fun and heartfelt like any family tradition should be! Create happy feelings and the happy memories will follow! Feel free to use this idea for your own family tradition, or take it and change it to make it your own!

Pastry Wrapped Baked Apples with Nutella & Granola Recipe

Have you ever had a pastry wrapped, baked apple? It’s like having our own personal apple pie and if you stuff it with something you love? Pure delight!

These pastry wrapped, baked apples are stuffed with something I love, Nutella! I also added some granola for texture, but you can go full Nutella if that’s what you’re into! This does take some work in preparation time, but it will be well worth it to eat! Enjoy it my friends!

PASTRY WRAPPED BAKED APPLES WITH NUTELLA & GRANOLA
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar 
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon of water
  • 4 Granny Smith apples
  • 1 package of frozen puff pastry
  • Nutella
  • Granola
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Set out the pastry dough to thaw enough to work with while you prepare the other ingredients.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and ground cinnamon, then set it aside.
  3. In a separate small bowl, beat the egg and the water together until combined, then set it aside.
  4. Peel the apples and then use a melon baller to scoop out the cores, leaving the bottoms intact.
  5. Coat the outside of each apple with the cinnamon sugar mixture and set them aside.
  6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a pastry sheet to about a 9 by 10 inch rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 9, 1 inch strips.
  7. Repeat step 6 with the second pastry sheet.
  8. Starting at the bottom of the apple, begin winding a pastry strip around and up, slightly overlapping the edges of the pastry. Once a strip ends, align another strip and continue winding until you reach the top of the apple. Strips can be attached to one another by wetting your finger with water and smoothing dough together.
  9. Repeat step 8 with each apple until they are all wrapped in pastry and place them all on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat.
  10. Use the extra dough to create leaf shapes and attach them to the top of each apple by wetting your finger with water and smoothing the dough together.
  11. Lightly scoop some Nutella into the hole in the apple, then press some granola in and add more Nutella on top of the granola.
  12. Repeat step 11 with each apple.
  13. Lightly brush the pastry dough with the egg wash.
  14. Chill the apples in the refrigerator for 20 to 25 minutes.
  15. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  16. Remove the apples from the refrigerator and bake them for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
  17. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Ichabod’s Turkey Recipe (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad)

Ichabod's Turkey Recipe from Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, or Sleepy Hollow.INTRODUCTION

Welcome back friends! This week we’ll be baking what must be one of the many turkey’s Ichabod Crane is fed by the ladies of Sleepy Hollow in Disney’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

Ratty and Mole's Crumpet, Ichabod's Red Velvet Cake and Ichabod's Turkey Recipe from Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad or the Wind in the Willows.This turkey is featured when Ichabod visits one of his student’s households for supper and is fed a turkey by the lady of the house.

Ichabod's Turkey Recipe from Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, or Sleepy Hollow.I highly doubt the residents of Sleepy Hollow had access to the Godzilla size turkeys we have available today, so I chose to work with a smaller size turkey. Smaller stature, paired with classic and simple seasoning and cooking methods resulted in the best tasting turkey I think I’ve ever created!

Ichabod's Turkey Recipe from Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, or Sleepy Hollow.TURKEY
  • 12 to 14 pound turkey (thaw if frozen)
  • freshly ground pepper
  • kosher salt
  • 1 carrot, cut into chunks
  • 1 rib of celery, cut into chunks
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 3 sprigs of sage, plus 1 tablespoon of chopped leaves
  • 3 sprigs of thyme, plus 1 tablespoon of chopped leaves
  • 12 tablespoons of unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons of paprika
INSTRUCTIONS (TURKEY)
  1. Let the turkey sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  2. Position an oven rack in the lowest position and remove the other racks, then preheat to 350 degrees F.
  3. Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey and reserve for gravy if desired.
  4. Pat the turkey very dry with paper towels and rub inside and out with pepper and salt.
  5. Stuff the cavity with the carrot, celery, onion, sage and thyme sprigs; then tie the legs together with kitchen twine.
  6. Put the turkey on a rack set it in a large roasting pan and tuck the wings under the body.
  7. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and whisk in the paprika, chopped sage and thyme leaves.
  8. Let the paprika butter cool slightly, then brush it all over the turkey.
  9. Transfer the turkey to the oven and roast for 1 hour.
  10. After the turkey has roasted for 1 hour, baste with the drippings.
  11. Continue roasting and basting every 30 minutes until the skin is golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 degrees F.
  12. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving; reserve the drippings for gravy if desired.