Mashed potato casserole

With some leftover ham from Thanksgiving and leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to get rid of them all by making a casserole.  The great thing about this idea is that anything that complements potatoes would work well in the casserole.  I started out by layering the mashed potatoes, mozzarella cheese, chopped ham and topping it with more cheese.  I decided to amp up the flavor a bit by mixing garlic powder, onion powder and dried parsley with the potatoes (also stir in some milk if they need moistened.)  After that I decided to mix it all together instead of doing a layer-thing.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then broil on low for 4-5 minutes to brown the top.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

After I saw these featured on Today, I immediately wanted to make them for a Thanksgiving dessert.  They weren't as hard to make as I thought and they're worth the effort.  They taste like pumpkin pie but instead of crust, it has chocolate goodness!

Brownie crust:
5 ounces chocolate, unsweetened {I melted 4 oz in the beginning and 1 oz later on for drizzling}
2 ounces chocolate, bittersweet
4 ounces butter {1 stick}
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1-1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour

Pumpkin topping:
8 ounces cream cheese
15 ounces pumpkin puree
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
6 eggs
1 ounce melted chocolate, for drizzling

 Grease (shortening and flour) a 9x13 pan

 Line pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, so there is enough over hang to help remove the bars when they're baked.

 In a double boiler, melt 2 oz. dark chocolate, milk chocolate and butter

Off the heat, stir in cocoa and sugar

Whisk in eggs. Add salt; stir, then add flour.  Combine well.

 Pour evenly into lined-pan

For pumpkin mixture, combine cream cheese and pumpkin

  Add sugar, salt and spices.  Stir well. Add eggs one at a time.  Continue to stir until smooth.

 Pour over the chocolate crust

Drizzle melted chocolate on top with a spoon or piping bag.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes {it took about 1 hour to bake for me} or until puffy in the middle.  Allow to cool.

Remove and cut into bars when chilled.

Source: Jansen Chan. "Chocolate Pumpkin Bars." Today.  2011.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

This salad has become a staple at holiday dinners in the last few years.  It is also the most asked for recipe among extended family and friends.  Although it's not my favorite, it seems to be the little salad that could.  I made it this year for Thanksgiving, and I found that I liked it best two days after it was made.  This salad has three layers.

Crust
2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup melted butter {I would like to try less butter}
3 T. sugar

Stir and press into a 9x13 baking dish

Middle filling
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
1 tub whipped topping (Cool Whip)
1 cup sugar

Combine and lay on top of cooled crust

Topping
2 cups hot water
2 pkg (6 oz) strawberry Jell-o {would like to make "natural" strawberry gelatin with strawberry juice}
1 qrt frozen strawberries (do not thaw)

Mix in a saucepan, let thicken slightly.  Pour over the cream cheese layer. Best if chilled 1 to 24 hours before eating.

Enjoy!  Recipe from Grandma Bonnie
Also check out the recipe and directions from Life As Mom

Pumpkin Cookies

Although there is already a pumpkin cookie recipe on this blog, I wanted to try another recipe.  The result was a rich, delicious cookie.  They're also easy to make.  Julia even helped me.

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour {as my thing, I used 1 cup pastry wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose}

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/4 cups (260 grams) light brown sugar

1/2 cup (120 ml) canola oil or corn oil (or other flavorless oil)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract)
1 cup (215 grams) pumpkin puree

Optional goodness:
1 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts
frosting:

4 oz cream cheese, regular or low-fat, room temperature
2 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Stir together dry ingredients.  In another bowl, mix eggs and sugar until thoroughly mixed (about 2 minutes).  Add oil, pumpkin and vanilla extract.  Slowly beat in the flour mixture.  Fold in chocolate chips or nuts.  (I used 1/2 cup dark chocolate and 1/2 milk chocolate chips.)  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Use 1/4 measuring cup to scoop out huge cookies.  Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.  It made 15 giant size cookies.  The original recipe says it yields 18. 

Source: Jaworski, Stephanie. "Pumpkin Cookies." Recipe  Joy of Baking.com.  http://www.joyofbaking.com/PumpkinCookies.html#ixzz1e7h8Enhi