Amy's Fall Themed Baby Shower

This weekend I worked with a few friends to throw our friend Amy a baby shower. She is expecting her second little girl, Autumn anytime now! Amy is due with Autumn on Thanksgiving, so we thought a Fall themed shower would be perfect! We had the shower outside and the weather was beautiful! We served soups and salad for lunch and pies for dessert. As favors everyone took home a homemade pear butter. You can read and see more details below!

Turkey Craft

This is another activity that Hudson was sent home from preschool with, but it would be easy to create at home with your kids. He was given the turkey template (which you can draw your own or find one online) and told to disguise Tom Turkey so he is not caught on Thanksgiving Day. You can get creative and use things around your house to disguise him. You could disguise him as anything your child would like, such as another animal. Hudson of course wanted to make him a Superhero!

We used markers, felt, glitter, scissors, and glue to disguise Tom Turkey.

First Hudson colored him with the markers.

While Hudson colored I cut out a mask, cape, boots, and superhero emblems to disguise Tom with.

Once Tom was colored we cut him out and then Hudson glued the felt superhero costume onto Tom.

We went back and also added glitter and Hudson made him some wrist bands too. :)

Pumpkin Pie Pops

I decided to make some more pie pops, however, this time I tried using a pumpkin pie filling... and I put them on orange polka dot paper straws! I made them the same way I did before so you can visit my other post here to follow the step by step directions.

The only difference was that I used a pumpkin pie filling, and I made my filling a little bit thicker for the pie pops by not adding all of the evaporated milk that the recipe called for. I just used the recipe on the back of the canned pumpkin, however this is way too much filling for just pie pops! Unless you're planning on making hundreds of them. ;) I made about 12 pie pops and also used my filling to make mini pumpkin pies in a mini muffin tray and still had leftover filling. You could still fill a 9" pie crust really well after making 12 pie pops because you only use a very small amount of filling in each pie pop.

To make the mini pumpkin pies I cut circles from the pie crust just like I did for the pie pops, but placed them in the mini muffin trays using a pampered chef mini-tart shaper. Then filled each one with filling just below the top of the crusts. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Linking up HERE.

Thanksgiving Stuffing

This is the stuffing recipe that my family makes every year for Thanksgiving. My mom created it by combining several different recipes that we have used in previous years. Stuffing is my favorite dish on Thanksgiving, I love the apples and nuts in this recipe and it is never too dry. Usually my mom makes me my own pan of stuffing without the sausage, but the sausage adds a lot of great flavor to the recipe.

Ingredients:

•  2 eggs, beaten
•  1 stick of butter
•  1 onion, minced
•  5 stalks of celery, minced
•  2 cloves of garlic, chopped
•  1 32oz container of chicken broth
•  1/2 tsp of salt
•  1/2 tsp of pepper
•  1 tsp of sage
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
•  fresh parsley chopped
•  1 large bag of seasoned bread cubes
•  1 jiffy cornbread mix, prepared and crumbled
•  1 sleeve of saltine crackers crumbled
•  2-3 granny smith apples cubed
• 1 lb of Jimmy Dean Sausage
• 11/2 cups pecans chopped

  Directions:

Saute celery, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic in butter in a pan until tender. Then in a large bowl mix together the saltines, corn bread, and seasoned bread cubes. Next add the celery mixture to the bowl.
Saute sausage in separate pan and add to the large bowl. Add eggs, chicken broth. (Add the chicken broth gradually until the stuffing mixture is moist, but not soggy)  Season the mixture with the sage, parsley, poultry seasoning, and, salt and pepper as desired. Add the chopped pecans.
Place in a buttered 9x13 cassarole dish and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cook for 30 minutes covered with foil and 15 minutes uncovered. (Usually this recipe will make enough to also fill a buttered 8x8 pan as well as the 9x13)

Perfect Roast Turkey

My family has been making this turkey recipe for Thanksgiving for I think a few years now, and it has become our favorite! You use a cheesecloth that is soaked in butter and wine, and baste the turkey every 30 minutes. So you can imagine how moist and delicious the turkey is when it's done! One thing we do differently is that we make our stuffing separately in another pan instead of actually stuffing the turkey.

Serves 12 to 14

• 1 twenty- to-twenty-one-pound fresh whole turkey, giblets and neck removed from cavity and reserved
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 750-ml bottle dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• Classic Stuffing
• 1 cup dry red or white wine, for gravy (optional)
• Giblet Stock
  

Directions

1. Rinse turkey with cool water, and dry with paper towels. Let stand for 2 hours at room temperature.
2. Place rack on lowest level in oven. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine melted butter and white wine in a bowl. Fold a large piece of cheesecloth into quarters and cut it into a 17-inch, four-layer square. Immerse cheesecloth in the butter and wine; let soak.
3. Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack in a heavy metal roasting pan. If the turkey comes with a pop-up timer, remove it; an instant-read thermometer is a much more accurate indication of doneness. Fold wing tips under turkey. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper inside turkey. Fill large cavity and neck cavity loosely with as much stuffing as they hold comfortably; do not pack tightly. (Cook remaining stuffing in a buttered baking dish for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.) Tie legs together loosely with kitchen string (a bow will be easy to untie later). Fold neck flap under, and secure with toothpicks. Rub turkey with the softened butter, and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pepper.
4. Lift cheesecloth out of liquid, and squeeze it slightly, leaving it very damp. Spread it evenly over the breast and about halfway down the sides of the turkey; it can cover some of the leg area. Place turkey, legs first, in oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Using a pastry brush, baste cheesecloth and exposed parts of turkey with butter and wine. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. and continue to cook for 2 1/2 more hours, basting every 30 minutes and watching pan juices; if the pan gets too full, spoon out juices, reserving them for gravy.
5. After this third hour of cooking, carefully remove and discard cheesecloth. Turn roasting pan so that the breast is facing the back of the oven. Baste turkey with pan juices. If there are not enough juices, continue to use butter and wine. The skin gets fragile as it browns, so baste carefully. Cook 1 more hour, basting after 30 minutes.
6. After this fourth hour of cooking, insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. Do not poke into a bone. The temperature should reach 180 degrees.(stuffing should be between 140 degrees.and 160 degrees. and the turkey should be golden brown. The breast does not need to be checked for temperature. If legs are not yet fully cooked, baste turkey, return to oven, and cook another 20 to 30 minutes.
7. When fully cooked, transfer turkey to a serving platter, and let rest for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, make the gravy. Pour all the pan juices into a glass measuring cup. Let stand until grease rises to the surface, about 10 minutes, then skim it off. Meanwhile, place roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup dry red or white wine, or water, to the pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the pan until liquid boils and all the crisp bits are unstuck from pan. Add giblet stock to pan. Stir well, and bring back to a boil. Cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add the defatted pan juices, and cook over medium-high heat 10 minutes more. You will have about 2 1/2 cups of gravy. Season to taste, strain into a warm gravy boat, and serve with turkey.

Pecan Pie

You can't have Thanksgiving without some pecan pie, as least not in my family. We always make pumpkin pie too, but here's the recipe my family uses for pecan pie.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup karo syrup, 1/2 light and 1/2 dark
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degree. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into pie crust. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.