<p>^I usually use a combo of Golden Delicous and Granny Smith for pies. But the real secret is plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg. And use the vodka pie crust!</p>
<p>I never make anyone else’s chocolate cake, because my family would kill me if I didn’t make the one my mother learned from a friend of her mother in law’s. The only thing that has changed over the year is that we now use ganache intead of a powdered sugar frosting. This cake never fails, but it’s a tad more trouble than some. One thing my mother was told when she was learning to make it, is to have all the ingredients at room temperature before start. (I’ve learned to zap milk and warm eggs in hot water.)</p>
<p>Mrs. Winegar’s Chocolate Cake</p>
<p>1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp vinegar
…Put these in a one cup measure and set aside.
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
…Cream in a large mixing bowl. (I use the one that comes with my kitchen aid.)
1/2 cup boiling water
2 oz bitter chocolate
… I use the microwave and a pyrex measureing cup. Let sit till the chocolate is melted. Use a small whisk to get it well mixed. Add it to the butter/sugar mixture and mix it in.
2 eggs
… add one at a time to the butter/sugar/chocolate mixture.
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
… Sift these into a separate bowl.</p>
<p>Now add the soured milk mixture and the sifted flour mixture alternately to the batter, mixing a bit between each addition.</p>
<p>Pour into buttered floured and wax paper lined cake pans (two eight inch round layers). Bake 30 to 45 minutes in the oven. The cake will just be loosening itself from the pan sides and will be springy on top when it’s ready.</p>
<p>If you like a finer crumb you can use cake flour, but we often don’t.</p>
<p>I sense that you are a True Cook. It’s a pleasure just to read that wonderful chocolate cake recipe, let alone make and consume it! I will definitely give this one a whirl, I sense it’s a keeper. Thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>Mathmom, usually I use vinegar in pie crust, but I will definitely check out the vodka recipe. I might have to divert the vineger to try that yummy sounding cake recipe.</p>
<p>Replace some of the apples in the apple pie filling with quinces - they provide texture, slight acidity, and a lot of flavor. Vodka pie crust is a must for any pie.</p>
<p>Planning to make pumpkin bread about now. Have always used Jane Brody’s recipe. Does anyone on this terrific thread have a particularly wonderful pumpkin bread recipe. Thinking of putting dried cranberries in the batter . . .</p>
<p>From Post 197-MomofThreeboys- made your “dump soup”-Crab Bisque Corn Chowder yesterday! Terrific. Can’t imagine the " upper amount" of cayenne, went with the lower amount and it was plenty hot.</p>
<p>Forgot who posted about the boxed Orange/Cranberry Mix- very good, too.
Thanks !!!</p>
<p>Made VandyGrad’s crockpot salsa chicken last night with the Costco organic chicken. It’s still a wonderful recipe. Very tasty dinner and so little work. I made it with Mexican rice:</p>
<p>olive oil
garlic (about 2 cloves)
onion (about 1/2 of a medium)
a little butter
long grain uncooked white race (about 1.5 cups)
a can (14.5 oz) mexican flavored chopped tomatoes
chicken broth (about 2 cups)
fresh cilantro
frozen peas (about 1/4 cup)</p>
<p>Chop the onion and smash the garlic.
Heat the oil and butter, saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes.
Add the dry uncooked rice and push it around in the oil, butter, onion and garlic for a bit.
Add 1.5 cups chicken broth and 1.5 cups water, cover and cook about 10 minutes.
Lift lid and add the can of diced tomatoes, cover again and let it cook about 10 more minutes.
Add chopped fresh cilantro and frozen peas, stir to mix in, maybe cover for just a second.</p>
<p>Serve. </p>
<p>Note – keep watching the rice as it cooks, sometimes it cooks quickly and you need to add more broth and turn down the heat.</p>
<p>Vodka crust got raves, as did combination of Granny Smith and HoneyCrisp. Best part was kids did the apple and pumpkin pies and cleaned up everything up…all by themselves!</p>
<p>Bourbon Balls were quite the hit. Vodka crust was pretty good. I may have fallen short because I had no crisco in the house and had to make with all butter. It was okay. Make ahead turkey gravy was fabulous.</p>
<p>“Planning to make pumpkin bread about now. Have always used Jane Brody’s recipe. Does anyone on this terrific thread have a particularly wonderful pumpkin bread recipe” </p>
<p>Often I double the recipe and bake it in mini loaf pans and give some away. If I don’t have nuts or have concerns about nut allergies at church, I use Grape Nuts instead.</p>
<p>My BIL saw this on TV the other day and told us about it at Thanksgiving. I want to try it!</p>
<p>You know how everyone always wants to the crispier top and edges of the stuffing, versus the “wetter” stuffing? He saw on TV the idea of making the stuffing in lightly greased muffin tins. Then you surround the turkey on the platter with the “stuffins” and everyone gets their own crispy, yummy portion!</p>
<p>I’m getting hungry all over again, just thinking about it!</p>
<p>I didn’t have very good luck with the make-ahead gravy; it was pretty blah. OTOH, I tried a semi-homemade pumpkin pie – Sara Lee frozen pie with a homemade struesel topping. HUGE hit.</p>
<p>“As much as my family loves Thanksgiving, they look forward to this cream soup using leftover turkey even more. It makes a big batch that we can enjoy for days. --Valorie Walker, Bradley, South Carolina”</p>
<p>Prep Time:
1 Hr 10 Min</p>
<p>Cook Time:
40 Min</p>
<p>Ready In:
1 Hr 50 Min</p>
<p>Original Recipe Yield16 servings</p>
<p>Ingredients
1 leftover turkey carcass
3 medium onions, chopped
2 large carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half cream
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
3/4 teaspoon pepper</p>
<p>Directions
Place turkey carcass in a soup kettle or Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove carcass; cool. Set aside 3 qt. broth. Remove turkey from bones and cut into bite-size pieces; set aside.
In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, saute the onions, carrots and celery in butter until tender. Reduce heat; stir in flour until blended. Gradually add 1 qt. of reserved broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Add cream, rice, salt, bouillon, pepper, remaining broth and reserved turkey. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until rice is tender.</p>
<p>I apologize in advance for hijacking this thread, but I have a general question I’m hoping someone knows the answer to…</p>
<p>Can you freeze unopened or opened bags of baby carrots? Will they taste the same after they are thawed out? Not sure how I ended up with so many carrots…but we’re going on a big trip and will be gone a couple of weeks so I wanted to freeze a bunch of bags of baby carrots! Thanks! :)</p>
<p>If you are not going to eat them raw, carrots are perfectly fine to freeze for use in soups, etc. Juts pre-cut them into desired size pieces prior to freezing.</p>