Eggnog seems to be an acquired taste. You either like it or you don’t. I happen to like eggnog in many forms. You can have it as the regular drink or milkshake, use in cookie recipes or even make a holiday punch with eggnog. Eggnog Peppermint Punch will be a nice addition to your holiday get togethers.

Eggnog Peppermint Punch
1 quart eggnog
1 1-liter club soda, chilled
1/2 gallon of peppermint ice cream, softened
2 packs of peppermint candy canes

In a punch bowl stir together the eggnog, club soda and peppermint ice cream. Crush half a pack of the candy canes by putting them in a ziploc baggie and use a rolling pin to crush them. Hang remaining candy canes around the edge of the punch bowl. Sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of the punch right before serving.

Happy Holidays!

All I can say is WOW about this week’s recipe. If you like cornbread or spoonbread you will really love this Corn Torte. It is a little more work but trust me it’s wort it!

Corn Torte

1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
8 eggs, separated, room temperature
3/4 c. rice flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 c. heavy cream
4 c. fresh corn kernels, (I used can corn)
1 c. milk
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 baking dish.
Beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. On low add egg yolks one at a time beating until well blended.
Combine rice flour and baking powder. Alternately add flour mixture and heavy cream to butter mixture, a little at a time, beating until well blended.
Put corn and milk into a food processor and pulse until roughly pureed. Add to butter mixture and beat until well combined. Make sure you scraped down sides of bowl when needed.
Put egg whites and salt in a large bowl. Beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold a small amount of the egg whites into the butter mixture until well blended. Fold in remaining egg whites and be careful not to deflate them. Batter may look streaky.
Pour batter into greased dish. Bake 40 – 45 minutes, until the torte is springy and lightly browned. Let cool slightly.
Cut into squares and serve warm, room temperature or cold.

**A couple of tips: 1) If you are using canned corn drain it first. 2) If you are looking to cut fat I used fat free heavy cream and 2% milk. They both worked great!

Corn Torte is great for a side dish, dessert or even breakfast! Yes I did have this with my coffee in the morning. Enjoy!!

If you were lucky enough to have been able to freeze some left over turkey then you will want to thaw it out and make this recipe as soon as possible. With each bite of my Thanksgiving “cupcakes” it’s like you can taste an entire Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving “Cupcakes”

1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. chopped celery
1 1/2 c. water
1 pkg. Stove Top Stuffing Mix, Turkey flavor
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 c. chopped turkey
1/3 c. dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add celery, saute for 5 minutes then stir in water. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and stir in stuffing mix, cranberries and turkey. Mix in 1 cup of the shredded cheese and the beaten egg. Lightly mix then spoon into 8 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until muffin cups are heated through and the cheese is melted.

**These “cupcakes” are wonderful with some gravy, leftover mashed potatoes and a nice salad.

During the holidays it’s always nostalgic to bring out our traditional tried and true recipes. I usually try to take at least one traditional dish and try a different variation. This year it will be my sweet potato dish.

Sweet Potato Spoon Bread

2 c. boiled sweet potatoes
1 1/4 c. light brown sugar
3 lg. eggs, beaten
1/3 c. milk
1/3 c. orange juice
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
3/4 heavy cream
1 c. toasted pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the first 9 ingredients until smooth. Grease six 4 oz. ramekins. Divide sweet potato mixture among ramekins, place on a baking sheet and bake until light golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, cook 1/4 water and sugar until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Do not stir. Increase to medium-high heat and boil. Do not stir. Boil another 5 minutes until it becomes a deep amber color. Remove from heat and whisk in cream. Stir in butter, add pecans and stir to coat. Cool for 10 minutes.
To serve top each ramekin with 1/4 cup of the caramel pecans.

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Leftovers, leftovers and more leftovers, what do I do with all of these leftovers? That’s what many of us are saying the day after a big holiday meal. I like to find ways to use leftovers in recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Today’s recipe is to use leftover turkey in an earthy breakfast casserole.

Turkey Breakfast Casserole

1 c. kale or spinach, chopped small
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
9 large eggs
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. cooked turkey, chopped
1/2 c. plus 1/4 c. shredded cheese (use you’re favorite)
1/4 c. onion, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish and set aside. Cook kale/spinach, garlic and onion in a nonstick skillet with a splash of olive oil. Saute for 4-5 minutes, until veggies are tender.

Whisk together eggs and spices then mix in the veggies, turkey and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.

Pour into the greased baking dish and sprinkle with the rest of the shredded cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

When done you can enjoy with some leftover sweet potato casserole. Just kidding!
**Psst, no I’m not. Enjoy!

During the holidays I find myself making traditional dishes but love to add new ones to our dinner. This year I have a feeling everyone is going to enjoy my new cranberry cake.

Cranberry Cake

1 c. Flour
1 c. Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
3/4 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Almond extract
1 1/2 c. Fresh cranberries
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. Butter, melted
1/2 c. Nuts like almonds, walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8 x 8 square baking dish.
Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in cranberries and nuts, toss to coat.
Add butter, beaten eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, mix thoroughly.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm or cooled and enjoy!

I am an avid deer hunter along with all the males in my house so between five of us that adds up to alot of deer meat every season. We depend on all of us hunting and eat deer meat several times a week. Since we do eat it so often it’s important for me to prepare the meat many different ways. This weeks recipe requires very few ingredients and minimal preparation time.

Easy Peasy Crock Pot Deer Stew

3-4 lb. deer roast
3 cans cream of mushroom soup
4 medium potatoes, quartered
6 carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
4 celery stalks chopped
1 onion, chopped
2-3 tbsp. butter for browning
1 tsp. pepper
salt, to taste

Season the roast with salt and pepper. Brown the roast on both sides in a hot skillet with the butter. In the crock pot put one can of soup then add potatoes, carrots and celery. Pour in another can of soup then place the roast on top of the vegetables. Top with the last can of soup and the onion. Cover and let cook on low heat for 8 hours.

When done pull the roast apart with two forks and serve!

While I usually don’t like to use prepackaged foods to prepare dinner, sometimes it’s a must when you find such delicious recipes to make with children. Crescent Mummy Dogs are a quick and easy recipe to make for a fast Halloween dinner before you go out trick or treating.

Crescent Mummy Dogs
1 8 oz. can refrigerated crescent rolls
10-12 hot dogs
cooking spray
mustard and/or ketchup, for mummy face and dipping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll dough, separate into four rectangles. Press perforations to seal. With a knife, cut each rectangle lengthwise into at least 12 pieces. You should end up with, at the minimum, 48 pieces of dough. Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog to look like “bandages.” About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate “bandages” for the “face” of the mummy. Place wrapped hot dogs on an ungreased cookie sheet. Spray dough lightly with cooking spray. Bake 13-17 minutes or until dough is a light golden brown. Draw features on the mummy face with mustard or ketchup.