Thankful For Thanksgiving Treats

Thanksgiving isn't my favorite holiday.  I admit it - even if that makes me a bad person.  Honestly I'd like to go from Halloween straight into Christmas, but apparently that's only acceptable for the retail industry.  It's not that I don't love the idea of being grateful for things, I try to do that every day; I guess I'm just not a huge Turkey/cranberry sauce/football fan.  Or maybe it's how depressingly dowdy pilgrim clothes are...  But, in the spirit of being grateful and all that, here are some things that make me smile a little bit brighter. 

Pumpkin Pie - one of my top 5 favorite desserts/sweet treats of all time:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) Pumpkin
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Directions:
MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

FOR 2 SHALLOW PIES: substitute two 9-inch (2-cup volume) pie shells. Bake in preheated 425° F. oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F.; bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until pies test done.

FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING (3,500 to 6,000 ft.): Deep-dish pie- extend second bake time to 55 to 60 minutes. Shallow pies- no change.


Raspberry Pretzel Salad - because it can't be Thanksgiving in my world without it:

Pretzel crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
1/2 cup sugar
1 cube butter, melted
Mix and press into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Let cool.
Cream:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip
Blend together. Spread on top of pretzel crust. Refrigerate until cool.

Jello:
6 oz. raspberry jello
2 cups boiling water
1 bag unsweetened raspberries
Dissolve jello in water. Add raspberries, stir. Pour over cream mixture. Refrigerate until set.

Note:
I like to top it with another layer of Cool Whip and garnish with whole raspberries.


Thanksgiving Game Night (no, I don't mean the football game) - given the choice, I'd probably vote for skipping dinner just to get to the game playing:

Thanksgiving Placecards:

Pocket Pie Molds From Williams Sonoma

Thanksgiving Fun at Pottery Barn Kids:

Cute Acorn Bites from Family Fun:

Ingredients:

Chocolate Frosting or Peanut Butter
Donuts
Crumbled Toffee
Pretzel

Instructions:
Frost a third or so of a plain or glazed doughnut hole with chocolate frosting or peanut butter.
Roll the frosted top in crumbled toffee (look for it in the baking section of grocery stores), then add a small piece of a pretzel for the stem.

Funny Turkey Cookies from Pillsbury and first seen on Gordon Gossip:

INGREDIENTS:

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
1 container (16 oz) chocolate creamy frosting
Candy corn
Orange decorating icing
Black decorating gel
Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Bake cookies as directed on roll. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
2. Spoon chocolate frosting into resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut small hole in bottom corner of bag. On each cookie, pipe frosting on outer edge of half of cookie. Arrange candy corn over frosting for feathers.
3. Pipe orange icing onto each cookie to resemble turkey face and feet. Use orange icing to attach baking bits to turkey face for eyes. Pipe black gel on baking bits for centers of eyes.