Thanksgiving 2008

Due to a last minute change in plans Karl and I were able to have Thanksgiving dinner but we didn't want to travel so I got to cook. We were both pleasantly surprised that everything turned out good, and somehow I had everything ready at the same time which doesn't even happen with a normal dinner so I'm not sure how I pulled that off. I'm really thinking I should have burnt a few things though because now Karl wants Thanksgiving dinner every month. I'm not sure our waistlines can handle that!

I cheated on a few things, but it still turned out pretty darn yummy!


And this is why we have no decent pictures of us since the wedding...


I let Costco handle the Pumpkin Pie but I made the Cranberry Orange!


And then the next day I put up our tree. Yes it's fake and yes it's only 3' tall but we're in an apartment so I'm scaling back. I do have about five boxes of Christmas decorations in our storage out back but I'm keeping it simple this year.


I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

Ba-nay-nay Cupcakes

So I get this great (free) magazine from Kraft Foods, you can sign up for it yourself here. In the latest issue they had a recipe for Banana Sour Cream Cake and I just happened to have some bananas lying around that I needed to use but I decided on cupcakes instead. Since it takes a box mix I just used their suggested baking time for cupcakes instead of the 9x13 and they turned out great. Oh, and I also added a cup of chopped nuts into the batter. What's the point of having nuts if they're just on top! But if you're allergic -- hi Carrie :o) -- then you can of course leave the nuts out and off. Karl says they're yummy and I took them to work and got rave reviews. I'm not trying to toot my own horn because really it's just a good recipe and no reflection of my baking skills, but I love when I make something that is good and gets to go in the "keep pile".



I like how the background got black in this picture, it looks like zombie cupcakes coming out of the night... yep I'm a dork, I know, but that was really my first thought, haha!



And here's the recipe but you can follow the link above and it will print out much nicer for you!

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 1 hr 45 min
Makes: 16 servings

What You Need
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1/4 cup oil
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar (about 4 cups)
1 cup PLANTERS Walnut Pieces, finely chopped

Make It
HEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cake mix, eggs, bananas, sour cream and oil with mixer on low until moistened, scraping bottom of bowl often. Beat on medium 2 min. Pour into greased and floured 13x9-inch pan.

BAKE 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake completely in pan on wire rack.

BEAT cream cheese and butter with mixer on medium until blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition.

REMOVE cake from pan. Carefully cut cake crosswise in half using serrated knife. Place 1 cake half, top-side down, on plate; spread top with frosting. Top with remaining cake half, top side up. Frost top and sides. Press nuts onto sides. Refrigerate leftovers.

Sarah's Notes: I used 1/3 cup measure to fill the cake cups and I got 24 cupcakes. I added 1 cup of chopped nuts to the batter and probably chopped another 2 cups and then I dipped the top of the cupcakes into the nut pile. I baked the cupcakes for 21-26 minutes at the same temp.

Cheese Me!

I finally made enchiladas with the left over chicken from the soup. Karl says you can never have too much sauce so I doubled the recipe for the filling. But it helps to remember to save some to put on top as well. I sort of forgot until I had about two spoonfuls left so I figured I'd just add another can of Cream of Chicken, but the only one I had left had spices in it... Italian spices. Karl says they're great. I didn't tell him they're Italian Enchiladas, maybe that will be my secret ingredient.


It seems like the grosser it looks, the better it usually tastes!


Trick-Or-Treaters failed us this year, again. We didn't have a single one! There are a lot of dogs in our apartment complex so I even got all natural dog treats in case they came out with the kids. So now we have all of this to deal with, and trust me, it's more than it looks like!


Which means... the treadmill has re-entered the building!


So, Karl surprised me and got home early from his business trip to CA but that meant I didn't get anything else done on my "vacation". I only got 85 pendants made although I still need to finish the backs and add the bails. That will be this weekend's project and hopefully I'll get another 80 started. Fingers crossed!