collection of some of the recipes for turkey day we used

here's the recipe I used for the cranberry walnut orange bread loaf:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/breads/cranberry-walnut-orange-bread/

chocolate bourbon pecan pie:

http://www.shewearsmanyhats.com/2010/11/chocolate-bourbon-pecan-pie/

My Nana's cranberry sauce recipe.

Here's the recipe. I see I got it Nov.17 1980 listening to NPR back when you were 14 months old!

Cranberry Relish
2 Cups fresh cranberries, grind
1 small onion, about 1 1/2", grind
3/4 Cup sour cream
1/2 Cup white sugar
2 or more Tablespoons prepared horseradish (I've always used 2 and it's been enough)
Mix and serve, or place in food container in freezer
So there it is. Let me know how it turns out and what else you cook to go with it.

Much love,

Nana

crisp salted oatmeal white chocolate chip cookies

These sounded to amazing to not try..I used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and made a slight adaptation by adding a 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and a 1/4 teaspoon of Vietnamese cinnamon. I love the warm depth of flavor these spices add to an oatmeal cookie, and had to add them in.

Also, note, although the recipe calls for chopped baking chocolate, my Ghirardelli white chocolate chips did the job exquisitely.

I also didn't have fleur de sel, so I grated some Himalayan pink rock salt on top, and sprinkled a few sea salt crystals in addition.

The result? SUPERB sweet and salty HEAVEN in each bite.

Original recipe can be found here:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/05/crispy-salted-oatmeal-white-chocolate-cookies/

blueberry drop scones!

My first scone making attempt was a great success-much thanks to the talented bakers at king arthur flour. all of their recipes I've used (along with their stellar flour) have proven to give fantastic results again and again.

here's the link to the recipe I used today. I subbed a cup of whole wheat flour for one of the all purpose, didn't have a lemon, so I subbed lime zest, and in the place of the almond extract, I subbed a tablespoon of bourbon (jim beam).

tres bon!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/blueberry-scones-recipe

brownie time OR parting is such sweet sorrow

John is leaving me tomorrow to go to Nashville. Seeing as I have the day off work today, I thought I'd whip up a batch of brownies, his favorite dessert. Recently I've been a convert of brownies made from cocoa powder, as opposed to the usual melted chocolate. I find if you use really high quality cocoa (for this recipe I use Valhrona), it really emphasizes the deep dark rich chocolatey flavor of the recipe. Link to recipe below. NOTE* The recipe calls for walnuts, but I used hazelnuts, as I prefer the depth of the hazelnut/chocolate flavor combo. I toasted the hazelnuts to bring out the nuttiness and then finely chopped them so they became almost akin to nut flour - very small grainy chunks. I also took the liberty of adding a 1/3 cup of 80% dark valhrona chocolate -cut into chunks. Enjoy! Feel free to also adjust and be as creative as possible in your choice of added/subbed extra ingredients.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/best-cocoa-brownies/

PPS-this recipe can be made vegan very easily by subbing apple sauce for the eggs.

here's the link to the king arthur flour muffin recipe, 100% whole wheat!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cranberry-whole-grain-muffins-recipe

please note I skipped the glaze for health reasons, and these came out amazingly well. I also used lime zest instead of orange, which gave a nice zing to the overall flavor.

king arthur whole wheat flour-perfect for sandwich bread AND muffins..

Hi friends- I've been hearing great things about King Arthur flour, and the further I delve into my baking experiments, the more insistent I've learned to be about choosing only the best, healthiest, purest ingredients to use in my recipes. King Arthur whole wheat flour was purchased in order to bake some healthy, organic, high fiber sandwich bread for the week. I've only ever made challah and potato bread before, so I really wanted to find a staple I could bake to use weekly so I could finally give those store purchased loaves the cold shoulder.

Enough rambling. you REALLY must try this amaizng recipe. My loaf came out perfectly, great crumb, perfect slices, all around amazing. Don't fret if you make a mistake 1/2 way though baking, or have a question perhaps about subbing ingredients, there's a help line on the king arthur flour site!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-100-whole-wheat-bread-recipe