Wassel

WASSEL:

One gallon Apple Cider

One 6 oz can Orange Juice Concentrate

One 3 oz can Lemonade Concentrate

One cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp All Spice

1/4 tsp Clove

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Put in a big pot and heat on stove top.

Crock Pot works too.

Float cinnamon sticks for a fun festive touch.

Fall Dip

After School Dip

Ingredients

·        1 package (8 ounces) nonfat cream cheese

·        1 tablespoon nonfat milk

·        3 tablespoons packed dark-brown sugar

·        1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

·        1/3 cup raisins

·        Apples wedges, pear wedges, carrot and celery sticks, for dipping

Make It

1. Place cream cheese and milk in food processor or blender. Pulse until creamy; do not overbeat. Add brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Whirl until blended.

2. Remove mixture to small bowl; stir in raisins. Serve with dippers. Refrigerate unused portion of dip.

 I don't like raisins so I substituted Craisins for raisins

Cake/Cookie pops

 

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can frosting (16 oz.)

Wax paper

                                                        Dipping chocolate

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

1. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)
2. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)
3. Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)
4. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)
5. Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.
6. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don't tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.

Place in a Styrofoam block to dry.

Another variation is with 1 package of Oreos and an 8oz  block of softened cream cheese.  Crush cookies in blender or food processor until only small crumbs remain.  Mix together with softened cream cheese and roll into balls.  Cool in freezer for a few minutes to firm up.  Dip in chocolate bark and set on wax paper to dry.  (I like to use mint double stuff oreos and make them into truffle sized balls rather than a sucker pop.)  These can be shaped into any form of decorated for any holiday or occasion.  Visit this website for loads of fun ideas. 

Mulled Apple Cider

(Makes 10 servings)

2 quarts bottled apple cider or juice (not unfiltered)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 square (8 inches) double thickness cheesecloth. (If you don’t have cheesecloth you can also use medical gauze or panty hose)
8 allspice berries or 8 whole Jamaican Allspice berries
4 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves
1 large orange

Combine apple cider and brown sugar in slow cooker.
Rinse cheesecloth; squeeze out water. Wrap allspice berries and cinnamon sticks in cheesecloth. Tie securely with string or strip of cheesecloth.
Stick cloves randomly into orange; cut orange into quarters. Place spice bag and orange quarters in cider mixture. Cover; cook on High 2.5- 3 hours.
Once cooked, turn slow cooker to low to keep cider warm up to 3 additional hours. Remove and discard spice bag and orange before serving. Ladle cider into mugs. Garnish with additional cinnamon sticks, if desired.

Turkey Spice Butter

1 cup unsalted butter Softened
2 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp thyme (dried)
1 tsp cumin ground
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Divide in half

Clean Turkey. Instead of baking turkey in a turkey pan bake it on a broiler pan. Crisscross celery sticks and carrots (which will be completely burned by the end) and put turkey on top. This helps the turkey cook evenly. Stuff the turkey with oranges, lemons and onions. When the turkey is done the thigh will read 180 degrees.

Bake Turkey 30 min @425 degrees (This smokes up the house so make sure you open your windows for some ventilation.) Doing this crisps the outside of the turkey so that it moist inside.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook turkey 3-4 hours basting with spice butter every 30-40 min.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a greased 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.
For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. It’s very important that the cream cheese is at room temperature and that you beat it well before adding ingredients or it won’t mix in well with the other ingredients. Add pumpkin purée, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl and make sure the cream cheese is well incorporated, beat again. Add eggs and egg yolk last. Do not overbeat the batter once the eggs are in.

Pour filling into crust. Spread out evenly and place in oven for 50-55 minutes. The center of the cheesecake will jiggle, the cake will set up once it’s cooled and refrigerated. Turn oven off and let cheesecake stay in oven with oven door open for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes on the counter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Top with fresh whipped cream. Whip up 1 cup of heavy cream then add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar.

**TIPS**

The first time I made this cheesecake, it cracked right down the middle of the cheesecake. Overcooking a cheesecake can result in large deep cracks, it is very common to have little cracks in your cheesecake. There are lots of different tips that can prevent cracking in cheesecake.

#1 Add your eggs very last to your batter. Overbeating eggs are the ingredient that will hold the air. So beat everything else together well then add the eggs last and beat until combined, no more.

#2 Don't over-cook your cake more then 1 hour. Don’t be afraid to take it out of the oven when it jiggles.. The cheesecake will set when cooled.

#3 Cooling the cheesecake. Basically cheesecake is very susceptible to quick changes in temperature. If the cake contracts too quickly when cooking, it will crack. There are a couple of different ways to cool your cake, A good way to do this is to leave the oven door open and let it sit for a good 30 minutes or more once it is done, with the oven off. Other methods include removing it from the oven and covering the top with a plate to have it gently cool, with the benefit of some moisture trapped by the surface of the cake, or just cooling it on top of the oven where it is still warm. The bottom line is to cool the cheesecake slowly before you stick it in the fridge.

With all of this info, there is still the possibility that you will get a crack. It’s not the end of the world. Just start your first slice on the crack and add some topping. No one will ever know!

Sausage and Herb Stuffing

Sausage and Herb Stuffing

• 16 cups 1-inch bread cubes, white or sourdough (1 1/2 pound loaf)
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 cups medium-diced yellow onion (2 onions)
• 1 cup medium-diced celery (2 stalks)
• 2 Granny Smith apples, unpeeled, cored and large-diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 pound sweet or spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Place the bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake for 7 minutes. Raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Remove the bread cubes to a very large bowl.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, melt the butter and add the onions, celery, apples, parsley, salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add to the bread cubes.

In the same saute pan, cook the sausage over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through, breaking up the sausage with a fork while cooking. Add to the bread cubes and vegetables.

Add the chicken stock and cranberries to the mixture, mix well, and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, until browned on top and hot in the middle. Serve warm.