Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles

Yield: 4-6 servings Prep Time: 15 minutes INGREDIENTS: 12 Biscoff Cookies, crushed into crumbs 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 cup pure pumpkin puree 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup sugar 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1 large tub (12 oz.) whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed, divided

DIRECTIONS: 1. In a medium bowl, combine Biscoff Cookie crumbs and butter. Divide the crumbs into the bottoms of your trifle glasses. Gently press crumbs to form an even layer of crust. 2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin, vanilla, sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Beat until well combined and creamy. 3. Use a spatula to fold in half of the whipped topping. Gently combine ingredients until no streaks remain. 4. To Assemble the Trifles: Pipe or spoon a layer of pumpkin cheesecake onto the Biscoff crust followed by a layer of whipped topping. Repeat layers until your trifle reaches the top of your glass or jar. 5. Store trifles in the refrigerator until ready to serve. If desired, garnish with Biscoff cookie crumbs. NOTES: - The glasses and spoons seen in the photos are from Ikea. - The layering proportions will vary depending on what size container you use. My Baking Addiction

Sausage and Sage Stuffing

Serves 8 Hands-On Time: 35m Total Time: 1hr 45m Ingredients • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1 pound Italian or breakfast sausage, casings removed • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish and foil • 1 large loaf Italian bread (about 1 pound), cut into 3⁄4-inch pieces (about 16 cups) • 2 medium onions, chopped • 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced • kosher salt and black pepper • 1/2 cup dry white wine • 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth • 2 large eggs, beaten • 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

Directions 1. Heat oven to 375° F. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and reserve skillet. 2. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Divide the bread between 2 rimmed baking sheets and bake until dry and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. 3. Meanwhile, wipe out the skillet and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender and beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, 2 to 4 minutes; transfer to a large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes. 4. Add the bread, broth, eggs, sausage, parsley, sage, and ½ teaspoon salt to the vegetables and toss to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Cover with buttered foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until browned, 20 to 30 minutes more. Tip Don’t be tempted to upgrade your bread for this recipe. Sourdoughs and crusty country breads will yield dense, heavy cubes that can weigh your dish down. Soft, thin-crusted loaves from the supermarket make the best stuffing

Mushroom and Walnut Stuffing

• Prep Time30 minutes • Total Time1 hour • YieldServes 8 Ingredients • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for baking dish • 2 large yellow onions, diced small • 3 celery stalks, diced medium (about 2 cups) • Coarse salt and ground pepper • 10 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, diced small • 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, finely chopped • 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc • 1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped • 1 loaf crusty white bread, cut into 3/4-inch pieces (8 cups) and left uncovered overnight or toasted • 1 to 1 1/2 cups low-sodium or homemade chicken or turkey broth • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions 1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add onions and celery; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil, mushrooms, and sage to skillet; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are browned, 5 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, until wine is almost evaporated. Transfer to bowl with vegetables; add walnuts, bread, and enough broth to moisten (stuffing should feel moist but not soggy). Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. 2. Add eggs to bread mixture and toss well to combine. Reserve 4 cups stuffing for turkey. Spoon remaining stuffing into a lightly oiled 2-quart baking dish. (To store, cover and refrigerate, up to 1 day.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in upper third. Bake, uncovered, until golden brown on top, 30 minute

Apple, Cranberry, and Pecan Stuffing

Serves 8 Hands-On Time: 50m Total Time: 1hr 45m Ingredients • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish and foil • 1 large loaf Italian bread (about 1 pound), cut into 3⁄4-inch pieces (about 16 cups) • 2 medium onions, chopped • 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced • 2 Gala apples, cored and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces • kosher salt and black pepper • 1/2 cup dry white wine • 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth • 2 large eggs, beaten • 1 cup dried cranberries • 1 1/2 cups pecan halves • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions 1. Heat oven to 375° F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Divide the bread between 2 rimmed baking sheets and bake until dry and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Spread the pecans on a third rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven, tossing occasionally, until fragrant, 5 to 6 minutes; chop. 2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, apples, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender and beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, 2 to 4 minutes; transfer to a large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes. 3. Add the bread, broth, eggs, cranberries, pecans, thyme, and ½ teaspoon salt to the mixture and toss to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Cover with buttered foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until browned, 20 to 30 minutes more. Tip Don’t be tempted to upgrade your bread for this recipe. Sourdoughs and crusty country breads will yield dense, heavy cubes that can weigh your dish down. Soft, thin-crusted loaves from the supermarket make the best stuffing.

Crock Pot Green Bean Casserole

INGREDIENTS • 2 12-oz bags frozen green beans • 2 cans cream of mushroom soup • 1/3 cup milk or soy milk • 1/4 tsp salt • 1/4 tsp black pepper • 1/2 tsp soy sauce • 1 can French-fried onions

DIRECTIONS • Mix together the green beans, soup, soy sauce and milk in the crock pot or slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and half of the French-fried onions. • Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. • Top with remaining onions just before serving.If you want crunchy onions put them on a pan in the oven or broiler for a few minutes before serving

Sparkling Cranberry Punch

Sparkling Cranberry Punch

Ingredients

- 64 oz cranberry juice, divided - 6 oz can frozen orange pineapple juice - 1 l bottle 7 up or ginger ale - 1 qt raspberry sherbert, divided - floating ring:

- 2 c cranberry juice - 1/3 c fresh cranberries - 1/3 c fresh fruit your choice, strawberries, blueberries, etc - 1 1/2 c frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

1. Make your floating ring ahead of time, use a bundt pan because it has a pretty deep design on it.

2. Thaw the frozen topping so you can combine it with other ingredients.

3. Combine all floating ring ingredients.

4. Place in a freezer, and when it starts to set, give a stir to distribute the fresh fruit through out the mold.

5. When you are ready for your guests put punch together.

Slow Cooker Stuffing

Slow Cooker Stuffing

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter or margarine 2 cups chopped onion 2 cups chopped celery 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 12 ounces sliced mushrooms 12 cups dry bread cubes 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 1/2 cups chicken broth, or as needed 2 eggs, beaten

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, mushroom, and parsley in butter, stirring frequently.
2.	Spoon cooked vegetables over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten, and mix in eggs. Transfer mixture to slow cooker, and cover.
3.	Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 8 hours.

Whipped Sweet Potatoes

Oreo Cookie Turkeys

Oreo Cookie Turkeys

Ingredients

• 24 Oreo Double Stuff cookies
• 12 miniature peanut butter cups
• 12 malted milk balls
• 1 cup candy corn
• 4 ounces chocolate frosting
• 4 ounces white frosting
• red food coloring

Directions

1. Place one Oreo cookie as the base. Put one teaspoon of chocolate frosting on top.
2. Place one small peanut butter cup on it's side so that the top and bottom are perpendicular to the base -- and stuck in the frosting. Place a teaspoon of chocolate frosting on the top(widest part) of the p-butter cup.
3. For the second cookie. Stick some candy corn into the Oreo 'stuff' along one edge for the feathers -- pointy side down. They should fan out around the edge. If you have trouble doing this, you can help them stick with some white frosting.
4. Place this second Oreo cookie (the tail) on it's edge and sticking to a dab of brown frosting on the back of the peanut butter cup.

Cranberry Walnut Relish

Cranberry Walnut Relish

Ingredients

· 1 orange

· 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (about 8 ounces)

· 3/4 cup sugar

· 1/4 cup chopped walnut pieces

Directions

Finely grate the zest of half of the orange into a medium saucepan, and then squeeze in all of the juice. Add the cranberries, sugar and walnuts and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and the cranberries start to pop, about 10 minutes. Let cool.

Bacon-Nut Stuffing

Servings: Makes 7 cups (enough for a 12-pound bird)

Ingredients

· 1 pound slab or sliced bacon

· 4 cups coarsely chopped onion

· 1 cup dry white wine (chicken or vegetable stock, or water, may be substituted)

· 2 tsp. chopped garlic

· 4 cups fresh bread crumbs

· 1 cup pine nuts

· 2 tsp. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried)

· 2 bay leaves

· Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

If using slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch cubes; if using sliced bacon, coarsely chop. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring or turning until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain (but leave fat in pan), dry, and crumble.

Remove all but 3 tablespoons fat from pan and, still over medium heat, cook onion, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add wine and bring to a simmer; cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic, bread crumbs, pine nuts, thyme, bay leaves, and bacon and remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

I Am Thankful

Times are rough right now, but I'm especially thankful for Mia & Dominic. They have both offered to help and I will need their assistance to get through these tough times. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Mike & Vanessa joining us at Mom & Dad's.