Turkey Day Chocolate Pecan Pie

What would Thanksgiving be without lots of yummy desserts? I decided to make a special "top-secret" dessert this year for our Thanksgiving dinner #2. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, although I was a little bummed when it didn't come out completely cooked. (I guess it helps when no one knows how it's supposed to really turn out). I decided to make a Chocolate Pecan pie to accompany Sarah's delicious Cranberry Biscotti and Liz's awesome Banana Bread! The recipe is actually really easy and doesn't take much time, but it seems so fancy that you can pretend you spent all day baking! Here's the recipe:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
First, take a frozen pie crust (don't pre-bake it). Chop up 1 cup of Pecans (or Walnuts), and spread them in the bottom of the uncooked pie crust. Then sprinkle 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips over the nuts.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 2 eggs. To that, add 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour. Then whisk in 1 stick of melted butter and 1 tsp. of vanilla.
After it's all mixed, pour the sugar and butter mixture over the nuts and chocolate chips. Then, just pop it in the oven for 35-40 minutes. That's it! Let it cool for a bit so it's easier to slice. Finish it off with a dollop of whipped cream or some of your favorite ice cream. It's really good the next day cold too! (If there is any leftover).

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Happy Thanksgiving! This morning everyone came together for an incredibly delicious thanksgiving breakfast =) Mom made 3 different varieties of scrambled eggs, for everyone's tastes. There was also bacon as well as pumpkin scones. I found a starbucks pumpkin scone recipe and tried that out. It was 4 cups of flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. After mixing the dry ingredients, I cut in 3/4 cups butter. Then, I mixed in 1 cup pumpkin puree, 2 eggs and 6 Tbsp. heavy cream. Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes.

Pasty

This was my first time making pasties. They turned out fairly well, although the dough needs a little work. Jeff, a true yooper, was the official taster. He commented that the filling was good, the crust was a little too hard. I used the cuisinart to make the dough and I think I added a little too much water. The filling is just ground beef, potatoes, rutebega, onions, salt and pepper. Pretty easy. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then turn down to 375 for another 45 minutes. They were really yummy!

Nachos a la casa de Puskala

I love this quick and easy dish. Taco meat, salsa, onions, corn, cheese and lettuce....all on top of a layer of tortilla chips. Yum! Bake in the oven until cheese is bubbly and then sprinkle with crisp lettuce for an added crunch. A great dish for football sunday!

Pea Soup

I love soup in the winter time. This is pea soup in the crock pot, made with ham hocks. I also made cheesy baking powder biscuits to accompany the soup =)

Recreating and adapting

John and I had dinner in Los Angeles years ago and I always remember the dinner of scallops and polenta.

Creamy polenta and grilled scallops. Several times I recreate this dinner, each time it is different.....I never make the same "recipe" twice- every time it is different.

Tonight I found some wonderful scallops and I already had the

cornmeal. Cooking the polenta for an hour or more gave me time to make a salad. Fennel, red pepper, pears, arugula, frisée lettuce and roasted gold beets and walnuts with rice wine vinaigrette.

While the scallops are marinating in minced garlic, sea salt, hot pepper flakes, and olive oil, I made a reduction of white wine, lemon juice, garlic, and um ginger.

Saute the scallops. Arrange on top of the polenta and garnish with fresh Parmesan cheese, minced red pepper, and anise leaves.

It is best to have John type this for me.

Yummy fall meal.

Fall at Manitou

Rain, wind, rolling waves on the beach, clouds boiling over Canada.
Rainbows over the harbor in Grand Marias.
Bright yellow oak trees outside our bedroom window.
Harvesting wood for the fires of winter.
Breakfast of sweet potato pancakes with warm maple syrup.