Monday, November 22, 2010

Turkey! Pie!

Two weekends ago, my roommates and I throw a "mock" Thanksgiving. It was tons of fun and was the first time I ever cooked a turkey by myself, which was an interesting experience. As my roommates had to go to church early, I was left with the task of getting the turkey in the oven. Mind you, this was a 20 pound turkey. So I prepared the turkey to be cooked by flouring the oven bag you cook the turkey in. After this, I diced celery and onions and spread them on the bag's bottom, which I placed in a roasting pan. Next, I gave the turkey its very own butter bath. Once I finished this, I then realized I had to get the turkey into the bag, all by myself. So I opened the bag as wide as I could and then just hefted the turkey into it. I am still amazed I got it in there, but I learned that next time I cook a turkey, a second pair of hands would be great. However, the turkey tasted so good. I was quite proud of myself. Again, I give all the credit to my mom, who is the best cook I know. It is just in the Litchfield/Hall genes. Along with the turkey, I made stuffing. My roommate made a chocolate pie she covered in meringue. That was delicious too! It was a fun night all around. And it tasted oh so good.

The following is pictures of my turkey:





The pie my roommate made:



So this past weekend, I decided to make a pecan pie. I love making pies for some reason. I promised Lewis I would make this one for him. It was quite easy to make as all you do is mix together corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, molasses, eggs, flour, and vanilla and dump it over the pecans you placed in a pie shell. The pie tastes really good, especially warmed up with ice cream. Here is the end result:





I am so excited for Thanksgiving. In my family, it is a total group effort these days. I am looking forward to going to California and spending time with my family, especially with all the snow that is rolling into Utah at the moment.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Cake, Stuffing and Gardner Village...

I was going to post this last Monday, but life got in the way. Last Sunday, I decided to make a Buttermilk pound cake. I borrowed a bundt cake pan from Renee and went to work. However, the most important lesson I learned when making a pound cake is to flour the pan because if you do not the cake comes out in pieces. And though it looks a little funny, it tasted oh so good!

The cake

After making the cake and attending church, I went over to Renee and Lewis' for dinner. Renee and I made my mom's stuffing. Her stuffing recipe is truly amazing and because it is so good, I basically will not eat anyone else's stuffing. This stuffing just is so delicious. I meant to take a picture before we dug in, but I forgot so I made Renee hold up the leftovers. I am planning on making this stuffing tomorrow for my apartment's mock Thanksgiving.

Renee and the stuffing

Today, my roommates and I along with a good friend of ours went to Gardner Village. I had never been here before, but it was so fun. The village is filled with shops that include quilting, knitting, sewing, candy, etc. I loved it. Their Christmas shop was amazing and I bought some ornaments for my family's upcoming ornament exchange. We also visited their candy shop!
Here are some photos:



Enjoy the rest of your weekend!