Half Baked: November 2013

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Cranberry Mousse Salad

Ok I'll let you in on a little family secret. We love jello salads. It's a shocking revelation, I know. We are the family that takes great pride in making most everything we eat from scratch, but yet there it is,a jello salad. We love our jiggly, sweet, gelatinous, with no redeeming qualities "salads". There is always at least one jello salad at every family gathering. Some of them are reserved for certain holidays only. Christmas jello (yes that's it's official name) for example, is only served once a year at Christmas. It's a big deal, just ask anyone in my family about the year mom forgot to make it. Not good!
It was fine when were all young, living at home, eating our jello salads amongst those of like minds, but now we've added husbands to the mix.Over the years, there have been a few raised eyebrows and confused looks on some of their faces at the presence of the jello salads at almost every family get together.If any of them are brave enough to question the presence of the jello they get an earful. Likely from everyone of us! Hubs once commented, "wow you guys really like your jello!" Yes. Yes we do! It's delicious, fun to eat, and oh so pretty, What's not to love?!
This one is really delicious and may have to become our Thanksgiving jello salad!

I made these sugared cranberries to decorate my salad.

Turkey Cake Tutorial

I got this wild brainstorm the other night to make a Turkey Cake. It occurred to me that the petal icing effect that I used on this cake would make cute "feathers" for the turkey. I knew I just had to try it to see if it would work. I think it turned out pretty cute and is fairly easy. It doesn't require any special equipment and would be a fun project for older children. How cute would this cake be for Thanksgiving!

Five Cranberry Condiments for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Time to start planning the menu for your Thanksgiving meal. Don't forget to plan for your Turkey Day condiments! Cranberry sauces and relishes are one of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving table. Here are five of my favorite cranberry condiments that I think are the perfect accompaniment to your Thanksgiving feast. These are some of the cranberry sauces etc. that I've made over the past few years. New this year is the orange cranberry butter recipe. I think it's fabulous on any yeast roll or muffin!

Cranberry-Orange Butter

Cranberry-Orange Butter
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
2 teaspoons orange zest,( about the zest from one orange)
In a food processor or a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and orange zest. Add the cranberry sauce, mix until well incorporated.
** If you want a sweeter butter and 2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar and combine well.