Cider Car Cocktail
As the snow fell and piled up during the now infamous blizzard of December ‘09, I stayed in the kitchen baking cookies and getting ready for Christmas with a mug of hot cider in hand. We like it spiked with spiced rum or cinnamon schnapps with a stick of cinnamon in the mug, but this hot cider cocktail is a variation on the classic sidecar cocktail and has apple brandy and triple sec. The orange flavor from the triple sec works well with the cider and we agreed the cinnamon sugar rimmer is perfect, though we used an orange wedge rather than lime to rim the mug. For a nonalcoholic variation, just add an ounce of orange juice to the hot cider. Read more
Eggnog Gelato
One of our holiday traditions was dashed this year when we couldn’t find Turkey Hill Eggnog Ice Cream. We always buy eggnog ice cream in December and Michael was quite dejected when I came home without the prize, so I set out to help him recover from his eggnog ice cream funk. I promised him an eggnog gelato and set off to create a recipe. Read more
Bourbon Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake
Pumpkin cheesecake is one of my favorite holiday desserts and marbling the pumpkin filling with a bourbon vanilla filling takes it over the top for me. The recipe is my riff on the classic pumpkin marble cheesecake from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecakes book published in 1989. I found a wire bound copy years ago at a yard sale for 50 cents and picked it right up. The recipes aren’t fussy, just simple and good, with a mix of baked and no-bake cheesecakes. I’ve made a number of cheesecakes from the book over the years and we enjoyed them all. Read more
Thanksgiving Ideas: Breakfast
Is breakfast on Thanksgiving Day a bit of an afterthought or do you plan something special? Our theory is that Thanksgiving Day breakfast should be easy, something that we can make ahead because the day will be filled with cooking for the big meal. We used to forget about breakfast then have to dash out on Thanksgiving morning to pick up donuts just to keep things easy, but we have learned to plan ahead and it has made our holiday breakfast much more relaxing.
Here are some of our favorites.
Thanksgiving Ideas: Rolls and Desserts
Choosing the turkey and sides is pretty easy for us, it’s the bread and desserts that leave us feeling like we can’t decide. As a child bread was always my favorite side dish at Thanksgiving, and putting some fresh hot rolls into a basket brings back fond memories of our family gathered around several tables on Thanksgiving Day.
Then of course, there’s the desserts…
Rolls
Thanksgiving Ideas: Turkey and Sides
Still sorting out your Thanksgiving menu? This week we are sharing some of our favorites for Thanksgiving dinner and we’re kicking it off with the turkey and side dishes. Stay tuned for more of our favorites: desserts and breads on Tuesday and breakfast on Wednesday.
Turkey
