Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes)

Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes)

Submitted by Andrea Stunz, recipe from Anita Stunz

This is definitely the easiest thing I make for our Thanksgiving dinner. It’s one of those dishes where you either like it or you dislike it but I happen to like it. A lot! Only you can’t eat a lot and you’ll see why when you read the ingredients, so I don’t make too much of it.

Ingredients:

About 8 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 sticks (1 cup) or 250grams of butter/margarine, cut up in chunks

A ton of brown sugar J – about 2-3 cups

3 or so cups of miniature marshmallows

*Place peeled/cubed sweet potatoes in a saucepan, large enough to leave a little room for the butter and sugar.

*Cube up the butter and put on top of the sweet potatoes.

*Pile in the brown sugar and stir as best you can just to get a little bit of it down to the bottom.

*Put the lid on the pan and simmer on low to medium, stirring occasionally, for about 30-45 minutes or until potatoes are cooked soft.

*Mash with either a fork or a potato masher.

*At this point you can either leave in the saucepan or put into a baking dish.

*Place miniature marshmallows on top to generously cover.

If you put into a baking dish put it in the oven until the marshmallows brown. If you’re leaving it in the saucepan, the marshmallows will just melt.

This is a typical part of our meal but it’s sweet enough to be a dessert.

Now eat and enjoy!

I think it’s funny that the categories for this are both vegetable and dessert. 🙂

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Spice Cookies and Pumpkin Dip

These are definitely one our of family’s holiday favorites! One batch of the dough makes like a billion bite-sized cookies so you will have plenty in your holiday cookie jar and plenty to share.

Note: This recipe can be made gluten-free by simply substituting the flour with all-purpose gluten free flour.

Spice Cookies and Pumpkin Dip
submitted by Andrea Stunz (recipe from a friend, Teresa W.)

1 1/2 cups butter or margarine (softened) – conversion chart if you need it for grams

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup molasses

4 cups all-purpose flour (or substitute all-purpose gluten-free flour)

4 teaspoons baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp each ground ginger and cloves

1 tsp salt

additional sugar

PUMPKIN DIP (I don’t advise doubling. Even though it’s delicious, the cookies always disappear faster than the dip)

1 pkg 8 oz Cream Cheese (softened)

1 can pumpkin pie mix (18 oz)

2 cups conf. sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add molasses and other ingredients; mix well. Chill overnight. Shape into 1/4 inch balls; roll in sugar or cinnamon sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 Celsius) for about 6 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack.

For dip, beat softened cream cheese till smooth. Add pumpkin pie mix; beat well with electric mixer. Add sugar, cinnamon, and ginger; beat till smooth. Serve with cookies. Store leftover dip in the refrigerator.

Makes about 20 dozen cookies and 3 cups dip.

ENJOY!!!!!

 

Note: These amazing little dough balls can be made ahead and frozen or kept in the fridge for a while until you need them for a party or gathering.

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce
submitted by Andrea Stunz (from my cousin, Alicia)

Still using the canned jellied cranberry sauce? It’s good but this is soooo much better!  This fresh cranberry sauce perfectly pairs with a bite of turkey and dressing. All together. These three flavors in one are a satisfying holiday flavor to savor.

So pretty!

So yummy!!

I just made this for the first time after a “you HAVE to make this” recommendation from my cousin, Alicia. I’ve always preferred the jellied cranberry sauce from a can but those days are over. This is deeelicious!! And so easy!

12 oz bag of fresh cranberries, washed and dried
1 medium orange, washed, UNpeeled, cut into chunks
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 piece (1″) ginger root, fresh, peeled, chopped
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Put everything in your food processor or blender and pulse until finely chopped. You can make it a few days ahead and refrigerate until ready to use.

Fresh Cranberries

National Thaw Day

Apparently November 19th is National Thaw Day. I can’t really back that up but I read it somewhere. 🙂 I really don’t think it is a National Day but if enough people say it is, then maybe it will be.  You can’t have too many “Day’s”. 

So, thawing your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey is a pretty big deal. You can’t thaw it in room temperature due to bacterial growth and if it’s frozen it could take centuries depending how big your bird is.

I took mine out of the freezer and put them in the refrigerator three and a half days before I need to cook them for Thanksgiving and I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be enough time. I’m a day and a half into the thawing and they are still hard as a rock. I’ll have to use the cold water method to finish the job. I should have taken them out on November 19th. Had I only known then that it was National Thaw Day….

Anyway, here is a link with information on how to thaw your turkey from the pro’s at Butterball.

And all the turkeys said…

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Pumpkin Pie Cake
submitted by Andrea Stunz (passed down through a lot of church ladies in my home town)

Ooohhhh.. this one is SO yummy! It’s more like a bar cake than a cake cake if you know what I mean.

Crust:
1.5 pkgs Butter Recipe dry cake mix ( I found an Australian Buttercake mix at Tanglin Market Place that worked well but the packages are smaller so you’ll need to make the adjustment)
1/2 cup margarine
1 egg

Mix together with a pastry blender and press into the bottom of a 9×13 greased baking dish.

Filling:
30 oz can Pumpkin Pie Mix (most Cold Storage, Fair Price and Market Place stores have pumpkin. You can also use plain canned pumpkin but then add a little ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon to it.)
1/8 tsp cardamom
Dash of extra cinnamon if you like. I like.
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk

Blend together in a mixer or by hand with a whisk. Pour on top of the unbaked crust.

Topping:
.5 pkg of dry cake mix remaining from the crust
2/3 cups margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Blend the topping using a pastry blender and leave it dry and grainy like corn meal. Sprinkle over the filling.

Bake at 350*F for about an hour. Check the middle for doneness and bake a little longer if needed. Serve warm with whipped cream or Cool Whip.

Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Beat cream and powdered sugar together until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Use immediately.

pastry blender

Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole
submitted by Andrea Stunz

Here’s another anytime or holiday American favorite for you.

• 2  cans Campbells Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 cups cooked cut green beans (normally we use cans of french cut green beans but these are normally non-existent in Singapore. Cans of regular cut green beans will work.)
• 2 2/3 cups French’s® French Fried Onions (occasionally found at Cold Storage and Fair Price. They have a pretty long shelf life so if you see some, check the date and keep them in stock. They’re also very lightweight so we bring a couple of cans back to Singapore from our trips home. Oddly enough, I found a comparable fried onion at Ikea in their food shop for $1.80 SGD.)
• GLUTEN FREE:  Find gluten free cream of chicken soup (available at Cold Storage) and fried onions that aren’t breaded. These are commonly used in Singapore hawker food and readily available at most stores in Singapore and for sure at Mustafa.

Directions

1. Stir soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, beans and 1 1/3 cups onions in 3-qt. casserole.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 min. or until hot. Stir.
3. Top with remaining onions. Bake for 5 min. more.