Mr. Prof designer home

As soon as I saw my friend Jessy's post for Santa Hat Brownies I knew they needed to be part of our Christmas dinner. I emailed my mom to ask her to make the brownies and bring the rest of the ingredients to our house for dinner so Baby Girl could help her assemble them.


Watching the two of them assemble the brownies was priceless. Baby Girl loved helping and the resulting brownies were adorable. But man, are they rich! I don't eat dessert that often but I could barely finish one of these. I think the buttercream was very, very sugary and heavy so I, personally, would prefer whipped cream. I don't know how they whipped cream would hold up, but at least it would be lighter. Even so, these are a really cute addition to any Christmas table.

Santa Hat Brownies
Gourmet Day to Day

1 pan of brownies, baked and cooled
20-24 small strawberries
1 batch of buttercream frosting (or a frosting of your choice)

Buttercream Frosting
(you will have some extra buttercream left with this recipe)

3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup butter (softened but not melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low-speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

To Assemble Brownies:

Using a small round cookie cutter or a small drinking glass, cut out brownies. Clean and remove stems from strawberries, cut the stems off flat so it will sit flat on the brownie. Place strawberries point side up on the center of each brownie circle.

Using a piping bag (or zip-top bag with the corner snipped to create a piping bag in a pinch) Pipe the frosting around the strawberry for the white rim of Santa’s hat and top each strawberry point with a small drop of frosting.

Note for storage: If you plan on refrigerating these cuties, make sure you chill them uncovered first. This will allow the buttercream to harden so you don’t you lose your cute Santa hat topper to plastic wrap!

Every Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve I like to make a special meal, something we don't normally eat, to celebrate. I thought it would be nice to see what other people like for special occasions, hence the theme for this recipe swap.

Leanne had never heard of Mungo's but loved the at-home version of their famous Mungo's Salad:


Lishie is a big fan of over-easy eggs and she loved my recipe for Asparagus with Fried Egg and Pecorino:


Ashley brought her Hoisin Braised Short Ribs to her parent's house as a comfort food meal even her 3-year-old nephew enjoyed:


Mary Ellen loves making appetizers for Christmas Eve so her recipe for Sausage Balls was perfect (and delicious):


Jenna enjoyed her Horseradish Crusted Filets and would happily make it again for another special occasion:


Jaida's Spinach-Stuffed Mushrooms were a hit at one of her holiday parties:


The Cookaholic Wife loved the combination of caramelized onions, cream and bleu cheese in her Filet with Onion-Bleu Cheese Sauce:


Jey's Steak Marsala was a delicious way for her and her husband to have a date night:


My recipe for Endive Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Walnuts was a big hit as a Christmas Day appetizer:


Coleen has never tasted or made Potato Pancakes before, but really enjoyed them:


Jessy's attempt at Cranberry Ricotta Gnocchi was a comedy of errors, but even so she and her husband enjoyed this slightly different dish:

You probably know by now that I'm a sucker for anything in a cream sauce. So what's not to love about creamed onions? These Creamed Onions with Thyme and Sage are so simple to make but pack great flavor.


Since I use frozen pearl onions these require next to no effort. The most time-consuming part is chopping the herbs. And the recipe gets bonus points for being make-ahead friendly.

Creamed Onions with Thyme and Sage
Adapted from Food and Wine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bag frozen pearl onions
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped sage
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Salt

In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 30 minutes. Add the thyme, sage, nutmeg and white pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the cream and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, transfer to a bowl and serve.

Make Ahead - The onions can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Reheat gently.

I have to admit, stuffing is not my favorite Thanksgiving side dish. Why fill up on carbs when there's turkey and veggies to eat? Even so, I know most people love it and I needed a great recipe for my first year hosting. My friend Melissa recommended this Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe from the Pioneer Woman.


Unfortunately my supermarket was out of cornbread so I had to make this with just hearty white bread. I think the cornbread would have added a whole other dimension to this stuffing and next year I'll either make my own or go out of my way to buy some. This was good, but I can only imagine how much better it'll be with the cornbread.

Thanksgiving Stuffing
Adapted from Pioneer Woman

2 loaves hearty bread
1 stick butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups celery, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) fresh rosemary, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper

Chop bread into 1-inch cubes. Spread them out on two baking sheets and let them dry for approximately 24 hours.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add butter. When it’s melted add the onion and celery and cook for a few minutes until onions are almost translucent. While it’s cooking chop up any fresh herbs you will be using.

Add 4 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 teaspoon of basil, 1/2 teaspoon of thyme, a few teaspoons of fresh chopped rosemary and 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley. Stir until combined.

Place dried bread cubes into a large bowl. Gradually ladle the broth mixture into the bread, tossing lightly as you go. Keep gradually adding the broth mixture, tasting as you go and adding more seasoning and herbs if needed. Add salt carefully. You don’t want to over-salt your stuffing. If the mixture is not quite moist enough add a bit more chicken broth and stir.

Butter a large baking dish. Add stuffing and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Make Ahead - The bread should be air-dried at least 24 hours ahead so it has plenty of time to stale. Cook the veggies the night before and put the stuffing in a greased baking dish, covered with plastic wrap and stored in the fridge. Moisten with additional chicken stock before baking.

With Thanksgiving falling right in the middle of the two weeks participants have to make their recipe for the swap I thought a theme of Thanksgiving Desserts would be perfect. Pumpkin pie might be the traditional sweet treat, but judging from these recipes below it certainly isn't the end-all, be-all of Thanksgiving desserts. Check out the recipes below and see if one catches your eye for next year's feast.

Melissa was worried her recipe for Pumpkin Roulade with Buttercream would be difficult to make, but it was actually easy and delicious:


Patrizia, a newcomer to the swaps, really enjoyed her recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, despite her initial hesitancy about the "fall" flavors:


Chrissy loves anything with white chocolate in it, so her Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies were a big hit:


Ashley really stepped out of her comfort zone with Triple Chocolate Cheesecake, which was a big hit with her husband and family:


Nicole's Caramel Appledoodles were so good they solicited a marriage proposal:


My stepdad went back for seconds of these Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes, which is a testament to how good they were:


Jaida was happy to break away from the pumpkin craze she's been on with Nantucket Cranberry Pie:


Ellie's Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Squares were perfectly moist and utterly delicious:


Jenna modified my recipe for Butterscotch Pumpkin Cupcakes and they were a big hit:


Lishie had a lighter holiday dessert, Meringue Nests, that were melt-in-your-mouth delicious:


The Cookaholic Wife doesn't have good luck with layer cakes, but that didn't stop her from enjoying her Vermont Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, with two layers instead of four:


Coleen wasn't able to make her recipe for No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake for Thanksgiving as planned because her son decided to arrive two weeks early (congrats!!):


Nicole loves baking bar treats so she loved her recipe for Pumpkin S'mores Bars:


Christine's Cranberry White Chocolate Almond Cookies were devoured by her hungry relatives:


Jey's Chocolate Hazelnut Tart was a huge hit at Thanksgiving dinner:

Want to see what other Thanksgiving Dessert recipes were made during the swap? Here is the link to the Thanksgiving Dessert Recipe Swap Roundup

In honor of Thanksgiving I thought a Thanksgiving Dessert recipe swap would be a great way for people to bring something new to the holiday table. This was the first year that I hosted Thanksgiving dinner so I was happy to have one part of the meal decided for me, especially when I ended up receiving Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes from The Cookaholic Wife. I love cheesecake and I love pumpkin, so combining the two was perfect.


In my family dessert is usually secondary to the turkey with all the trimmings. In the past my mom would make a pumpkin pie, but by the time we got to dessert everyone was so stuffed we'd just have a small taste. Since these cupcakes are individual portions it worked out well.

We all know I'm not a baker, but these were very easy to assemble (I did it the night before because they had to chill for at least 4 hours). The recipe says it will make 24 cupcakes, but I ended up with batter leftover, enough for probably another 2-3 cupcakes. And I even thought I had overfilled the tins, so this is fair warning that you might get more than 24 cupcakes out of this recipe.

You know something is a hit when my stepdad goes back for seconds. He rarely eats dessert but he had two of these cupcakes and took more home with the rest of the leftovers. Everyone else thought they were delicious and really liked the pumpkin swirl in the center instead of the entire cheesecake being pumpkin-flavored. I thought the filling was a tad too sweet so I cut down the sugar in the recipe below. I will definitely make these again. Thanks, Cookaholic Wife!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes
Very Slightly Modified from The Cookaholic Wife

Pumpkin Mixture:
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
3 teaspoon sour cream
1/3 cup sugar

Filling:
2 8 oz. bricks cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Crust:
1 package graham crackers, plus 2 crackers
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 325. Line cupcake pans with liners. You might end up with more than enough batter for 24 cupcakes, so if you have an extra cupcake tin be prepared to use it.

Use a food processor to grind up the graham crackers. Melt the butter. Add the sugar and butter to the graham cracker crumbs. Stir to combine. Put 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture into each cupcake liner. Use a glass to press down. Bake for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Using the paddle attachment in a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy. Add the sugar and mix until smooth. Add the vanilla and the salt. Next, add the eggs one at a time making sure that they are fully combined before adding the next one. Scoop approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture into each of the cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar and sour cream. Stir until well combined. Scoop approximately 1 tsp. of the pumpkin mixture into the center of the cheesecake. Swirl with a toothpick.

Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the pans half way through. Let the cupcakes cool to room temperature on cooling racks, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 4 hours.

The weekend before Thanksgiving my supermarket was giving out a ton of free samples. As I was standing at the green bean bin picking through the beans, I listened to the woman handing out samples of a Yam Gratin with Gruyere. She touted it as being simple (only 4 ingredients, including salt) and a nice change from the traditional sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping. Of course I got a sample and after one bite I knew I had to change my plans and add it to our menu.



The store was selling pre-sliced yams, but since I'd already gotten my own yams to roast I just sliced them myself. Make sure to cut the slices to an even thinness so the gratin cooks through completely. I had a few rogue pieces that were a little crunchy. This was absolutely amazing and so simple. I will definitely make this again (although cut in half since this made a ton of food), whenever I roast a chicken this winter.

Yam Gratin with Gruyere
Wegmans

2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 lbs yams/sweet potatoes, peeled
3/4 cup shredded gruyere

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place baking dish on baking sheet.

Stir together heavy cream and salt in large bowl. Thinly slice sweet potatoes using either a mandoline or a sharp knife. Add to bowl with the heavy cream and salt.

Layer 1/3 of yams in baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat with another 1/3 of yams and the remainder of cheese. Top with remaining yams. Pour any remaining yam-cream mixture over top.

Bake uncovered on center rack of oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and press a spatula, carefully, against the top layer to allow liquid to flow over the "crust." Replace pan in oven and bake an additional 30 minutes. Remove pan, press top layer and replace pan in oven. Bake for another 40-45 minutes or until yams are tender. Remove from oven, let rest 15 minutes, then serve.

Make Ahead - The sweet potatoes can be sliced and stored in a plastic food storage bag up to 2 days in advance. The gratin can be assembled the night before baking, covered with plastic wrap and stored in the fridge.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Home Cook, SP and Baby Girl. We hope everyone has a happy, healthy and delicious Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving week is finally here! I'm so excited for this meal. I've got a good blend of new recipes and old favorites. I wouldn't have expected it, but I'm also incredibly excited for the meal plan I've got for the rest of the week. Lots of comfort food as the perfect lead up to the big event on Thursday.

Sunday - Beef Goulash over egg noodles - We have a very busy day so I wanted something for dinner that I could throw into the pot and forget about. This sounds like the perfect recipe for a Sunday afternoon.

Monday - Quick Barbecue Pork Chops, Buttermilk Mac and Cheese, green beans - I've been on the hunt for a great, easy weeknight pork chop recipe and I'm hoping this is it. Cassie raved about this mac and cheese, which sounded like it would be perfect with the chops.

Tuesday - FFY

Wednesday - Cheese Ravioli with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage - Since we've got a lot of cooking to do for the big day I thought an easy dinner was perfect. I decided to use some Italian sausage we have in the freezer instead of the pancetta.

Thursday - Thanksgiving Dinner!

Salted Herbed Roast Turkey Breasts - We bought two turkey breasts instead of a large turkey so we could focus on making the white meat super moist.

Stuffing - My supermarket was out of cornbread so I'm just doing two loaves of regular bread instead.

Mashed Potatoes - Yukon golds mashed with plenty of butter, milk, salt and pepper.

Yam Gratin with Gruyere - Our supermarket was giving away tons of free samples this weekend and one of them was this gratin. I had planned to just to roast the sweet potatoes but after one bite I changed my plans. I prefer savory sweet potatoes so this recipe is perfect.


Whiskey-Glazed Carrots - I've turned quite a few people on to this recipe, which is now a must-have on our Thanksgiving table.

Creamed Onions with Thyme and Sage - I made these last year and was shocked by how good they were. I use frozen pearl onions instead of chopping my own.

Green Beans with Sliced Almonds - This is usually how we cook green beans for Christmas, but we all wanted something a little simpler this year.

Cranberry Sauce, Gravy and Rolls will round out the meal, with these Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes for dessert, my draw for the Thanksgiving Desserts recipe swap. I seriously cannot wait to get into the kitchen.

Friday - Leftovers from Thanksgiving. I'm also hoping to have enough turkey left to make this Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

Saturday - Celebrating my stepdad's birthday, menu TBD by my mom.

Sunday - Sweet Pork Tacos with Cilantro Ranch Dressing - I'm going to give my crockpot another chance with this recipe from Cassie, who never steers me wrong.

I love big holiday dinners because I get to do these long posts with lots of photos of the delicious food we ate. This was our Easter spread and it didn't disappoint. The only thing missing is the ham; for some reason I didn't take a photo of it, which is a shame because it was really good.

In addition to the asparagus with tomato and feta, which I did as a separate post, I made deviled eggs:


My mom made her wonderful potato salad:


... and dyed eggs in various colors.


We had olives as a quick nosh while the asparagus was cooking:


Rye bread is a staple at our Easter celebration:


Spicy, smoky kielbasa paired nicely with the ham:


My stepgrandmother made a salad:


And for dessert - cheesecake:


... with raspberry sauce made from fresh raspberries.

This year SP and I hosted Christmas dinner. It's an easy meal, the same one we've had for years at my stepgrandmother's house, but when you're the one cooking it there's immense pressure to make it fantastic.

We started with delicious olives, artichokes, meat, cheese, stuffed peppers and asparagus that my aunt brought:


The main course was roast beef. I followed the Wegmans cooking directions but left out the red wine sauce. I hadn't anticipated how long the beef would need to cook, so I'm glad we had stuff to nosh on while we waited. Here it is resting before I carved into it:


... and a few slices for the table:


Green beans with almonds:


Mashed potatoes (I used my ricer to get them silky smooth):


Yorkshire pudding:


... which is much easier to make then I would have thought. My plate for the first round:


Everything was delicious, if I do say so myself. Next year I think it'll be even better because I know how long everything takes to cook!

Every Christmas we have my mother-in-law over for breakfast. I love cooking and eating a hearty breakfast before we open presents. This year I made breakfast burritos:


They were delicious with a little taco sauce. I just scrambled eggs with cooked onion and green pepper. I also made breakfast potatoes with onion and red potatoes with the skins on.

SP and I always have a special dinner on Christmas Eve just the two of us. I love to start the meal with this roasted asparagus dish:


What makes it so great is the gooey egg yolk that mixes with the cheese to create a sauce for the asparagus. Just look at that yolk: