Ok people, thanksgiving is only 4 days away. If you don’t know what you’re taking to your family thanksgiving shin-dig, it’s crunch time. You do NOT want to be that person wandering the grocery store at 8pm on Wednesday night.

Trust me, I’ve done it.

It’s terrible.

So, I’m here to help. I haven’t created any new any creative thanksgiving day recipes myself yet, BUT I have cooked several dishes that I would be happy to recommend. There are also a few new things I’m thinking about trying this year.

tried and true

• These creamy mashed potatoes from the Pioneer Woman are decadent. Don’t tell anyone how much butter & cream cheese is in them. You might not be invited back., but they are worth it.
• As much as I love dessert like sweet potatoes with a pecan-butter-sugar goodness on top, I adore a savory sweet potato dish and these domino roasted sweet potatoes with garlic and thyme are superb. You could do a lot of prep ahead of time for these too.
• This pear, prosciutto, and hazelnut stuffing? yum.
• Here is a great, simple roasted brussels sprouts recipe.
• There’s no reason to buy cranberry sauce in a can (unless of course you really like that odd jelly stuff with the can lines in it). Here’s a super easy recipe for cranberry sauce with only 4 ingredients.
• One of my go-to bread recipes, for anytime of the year, is this rosemary focaccia bread. There’s just something about making bread that makes me feel extra domestically accomplished.
• I know for some people it’s all about the pumpkin pie, and believe me, I LOVE me some pumpkin, but honestly, the pie is not usually my favorite. For a classic dessert I do like, this pecan pie recipe has been great every time I’ve made it.

something new

• In keeping with a not sickeningly-sweet sweet potato dish, I think I’m going to make these chipotle smashed sweet potatoes from Alton Brown, this year.
• I do have to admit that this recipe for whipped bourbon bacon sweet potatoes has been haunting me and tempting me since I first laid eyes on it.
• Have you ever had pretzel bread? It’s a weakness of mine. Trader Joe’s has these personal sized mini loaves of it. It would be better for my waistline if I didn’t know they existed. Anywho, they would be perfect to try out this pretzel bread quinoa stuffing with garlic butter mushrooms. I don’t even like mushrooms all that much, but I’d be willing to set that to the side for this one.
• I LOVE roasting brussels sprouts, and I think I might try out something like this maple-mustard glazed version this week.
• And some sage butter biscuits? Enough said.
• For dessert this year, I’m considering this maple buttermilk custard pie to switch things up a bit.

what are your favorite turkey day recipes? any new dishes you’re thinking of making this year?

love and butter,
amy

I know what you’re thinking…”another pumpkin recipe? c’mon already.” Well, yes. No excuses, except I love this pumpkin bread. I’d rather not tell you how much of it I’ve eaten in the last 3 days. If that’s not what you’re thinking, it might be something like, “eeewww, whole wheat?” And that’s where you would be wrong, very wrong.

Have you heard of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour? If not, this might just rock your world right now. Whole wheat pastry flour is a 100% whole grain flour, that’s made of a soft white wheat. It has a protein content of 9% which lands it in the middle of cake flour and regular all purpose flour. All that means is that it’s a whole grain flour, that you can use in place of regular all-purpose flour, without hardly noticing a difference. I’ve started to use it as a replacement for all purpose flour in our house. I am sure that there are instances where you couldn’t sub it with exact results like the original recipe, but I’ve been really happy with what I’ve tried so far. I love when I can incorporate whole grains without feeling like I’m making a sacrifice of flavor or texture.

Now, back to this pumpkin bread. I originally got this recipe from my friend Courtney that I used to work with, back when I used to work at a large format printer company, of all places. I have loved that recipe and made that recipe time and time again. It’s always a winner, it freezes well(if for some strange reason you don’t just eat it all at once), and it comes together quickly. The other day, I realized I hadn’t made a batch, this fall, and knew that MUST be remedied at once.

When I pulled up the recipe, to see if I had all the ingredients it required, I was struck by how much granulated sugar it had, and that it called for vegetable oil. I’ve been trying to cut back on how much refined sugar we eat in our house, especially in something like this that I would gladly eat for breakfast, which means I would have to let Liam have some with breakfast too. In order to feel a little bit better about having this bread for breakfast, instead of the 3 cups of white granulated sugar, I cut it back to 1 cup of granulated sugar, and 1 1/2 cups of real maple syrup. That also meant cutting back on the water in the recipe, as well as upping the amount of baking soda in the recipe. A little googling is how I found suggestions on how much to adjust everything. Vegetable & Canola oil are things we’ve cut out of our kitchen, the best that we can, because of how refined, processed, and genetically modified they are. An easy swap for the vegetable oil was butter, because of course. When I’m making decisions about food in our house, I’m generally not focusing as much on calorie content but more on the “realness” of it. So, butter is going to win over vegetable oils, shortening, margarine, etc. And of course, I swapped out the all purpose flour in this recipe for my new bff whole wheat pastry flour.

Pumpkin Bread

makes 2 standard size loaves

3 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 3/4 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 cup Butter, at room temperature (I always use salted)
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 cups Maple Syrup (the REAL stuff)
4 Eggs1/3 cup Water
1 15oz. can of Pumpkin Puree (NOT PUMPKIN PIE FILLING)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Butter and flour 2 standard loaf pans.

3. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk together(that’s my version of sifting) and set aside.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together butter and granulated sugar for about a minute or 2 on medium speed.

5. Add the maple syrup, mix, on low, until thoroughly combined.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing, on low, until combined, between each addition.

7. Add the water, mix, on low, until combined.

8. Turn off the mixer, add about a third of the flour mixture, combine on low. Add the rest of the flour in 2 more additions, in the same way.  Do not overmix. You just want to get it combined.

9. Last, but absolutely not least, add your pumpkin puree, and combine with a spatula.

10. Divide evenly, into the 2 loaf pans, they should be about 3/4 full.

11. Bake for about an hour, until a toothpick comes out mostly clean, with a few moist crumbs. I usually start checking mine around 50 minutes in.

12. Once you pull it out of the oven, allow to cool completely before cutting into it. I usually let mine cool in the pans.

13. If you want to freeze it, once it is completely cooled, wrap it well in a layer of plastic wrap, and then a couple layers of foil before stashing it away.

This recipe was a fun experiment, especially since it was a success! I’m always hesitant to make big changes in baking, because I know it is such a science, and I’m still learning about how it all connects and works together, but I have to say, I’m quite proud of this one. I love this bread just as much as the original recipe, and I feel a little less guilty when I eat it for breakfast.

love and butter,
amy