Good Old Country Stuffing!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! This has to be one of my favorite holidays! Nothing is better then the gathering of family to give thanks for all of the great things that have happened in the past year! But even better then that is the fact that it is the one time of the year that you can stuff your face full of delectable treats and not feel guilty about doing it. This year I have been elected to bring the stuffing to the table. So I did a little looking and found this great Good Old Country Stuffing Recipe from The Food Network. Paula Dean hit the nail on the head with this one! Who can resist a great stuffing smothered in gravy?? This was a really simple recipe to make and took about 30 mins to prepare. If your not a big fan of adding rice to a stuffing (I am not) you can take it out and it still is great! Also make sure that you have an industrial sized bowl to do all the mixing in becuase you will need it! I wish all of you out there a happy thanksgiving and hope that your hearts and your stomachs are full!

Ingredients:

2 loaves oven-dried white bread (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)
2 cups cooked white rice
1 sleeve crushed saltines
1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
2 cups chopped celery
1 large onion, chopped
7 cups chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 stick butter, melted Mushroom

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Crumble oven-dried bread into a large bowl. Add rice and saltines.

Cook sausage in a large skillet until it starts to brown. Add celery and onion and saute until transparent, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour over bread and rice mixture. Add stock and mix well. Add salt, pepper, sage, and poultry seasoning. Mix well. Add the beaten eggs and melted butter. Mix well.

Pour stuffing into a greased pan and bake until cooked through and golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Ice Cream Sundae Cake

So I know that I am a little late in getting this posted but there was definately a good reason for it. This week was my wife's birthday! So I thought I would do it right by making a great tasting cake for her after dinner treat! I know that she is a huge fan of the black raspberry ice cream and found that this recipe from Stonewall Kitchen. It is very easy to make (especially if you cheat like I did and buy the crumb crust). Everyone loved it and it tasted fantastic if I do say so myself. Definately make sure that you find a black raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream, it definately gives it the WOW factor! It is a little hard to find but I got mine at Tom Thumb. Also putting the raspberries on top really allows you to make it seem as though you spend all day making it even if you didn't! I also appologize for not having my own photos but I was running short on time as I was trying to surprise her before she got home from work. So without further ado here is the reicpe.

Ingredients For the Crust:

2 1/4 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs*
9 Tbsp. butter, melted
6 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

For the Cake:

1.75 or 2 quarts ice cream, such as black raspberry chocolate chunk or your favorite to complement the Raspberry Liqueur Hot Fudge Sauce
1 jar Stonewall Kitchen Raspberry Liqueur Hot Fudge Sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9” spring form pan with wax paper.
For the crust combine the chocolate graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and confectioners’ sugar. Mix until uniform. Reserve ¾ cups of the crumb mixture for the sides of the cake. Press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared spring form pan. Bake in preheated oven 8-10 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

Allow the ice cream to soften about 15 minutes. Spread ice cream over crust making sure that the top of the ice cream layer is smooth. Place pan in the freezer for at least 3 hours making sure the ice cream is frozen solid again before putting on the next layer.

Stir the jar of Stonewall Kitchen Raspberry Liqueur Hot Fudge Sauce. If it is not pourable, heat it in the microwave or on the stovetop in a small saucepan. Before pouring the sauce over the top of the ice cream, make sure it is room temperature and will not melt the ice cream. Smooth the sauce over the entire top of the ice cream layer and return the pan to the freezer. This dessert can be kept in the freezer covered 3-4 days before serving.

Decorate the top of the ice cream cake with raspberries just before serving. Remove from spring form pan (making sure you remove the wax paper) and place on a serving dish. Press the reserved crumb mixture onto the sides of the cake and serve immediately.

Recipe Tips *Crumbs can be made by using a rolling pin or food processor fitted with a metal blade to crush the graham crackers

Poached Pears

Since the air here in Dallas has finally hinted that fall has arrived I wanted to make something that was fitting to the season. I know that we will soon be busy shopping and cooking away as we prepare for the gathering of family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday. I wanted to try out a new Poached Pear recipe I had found whilst cruising the net the other day. I found the recipe for Poached Pears Here. I feel it is a great recipe because it has a fairly simple ingredient base, is not overly difficult to make, and has endless presentation abilities. Which makes this great for the holidays! I did find it a little time intensive with having to baste every 10 minutes but I think it will time nicely with the turkey if you have double ovens such as I do. The taste is extravagant and a perfect compliment to a well prepared meal. You may also want to pair it with some ice cream as an added treat, but I went with the simplistic approach and drizzled on some chocolate syrup!















Serves: 6

Ingredients

6 small Anjou pears, peeled and cored (make sure stem stays on)

1/2 cup Stonewall Kitchen Black Cherry Cognac Sauce

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp. sugar Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the Stonewall Kitchen Black Cherry Cognac Sauce, water and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Place pears in a baking dish upright. Pour the Black Cherry Cognac Sauce over the pears and cover pan with foil. Bake the pears 45 minute, or until they are tender, basting every 10 minutes or so with the sauce. Serve warm with sauce drizzled over each pear.