Another Week and Another Thanksgiving Passes By

Another week has come and gone. Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. The weather was not nice at all, so we stayed home, thankful for warmth, a well-stocked freezer, and each other. (We're also thankful for television.)

I'd made both a candy apple and a chocolate pecan pie on Wednesday. Our plan had been to attend the community feast at the Outpost Cafe in Opheim, but the howling winds coupled with fresh powder and bad weather warnings changed our minds. I rustled through the freezer and found a package of sliced ham complete with brown sugar glaze from a previous celebratory meal, as well as a package of two turkey drumsticks. Have I mentioned how much I love the invention of the "defrost" setting on the microwave?

I baked the drumsticks, after defrosting, in the air fryer (another great invention). It's so easy to use: preheat to 390°, spray the basket with no-stick spray, and cook two drumsticks for 30 minutes, turning them over halfway through. I seasoned them before cooking with freshly ground black pepper, a little garlic salt, and poultry seasoning, with a bit of paprika for color.

Dennis doesn't much care for turkey, so he had the warmed up ham. I zapped a russet potato for him, and a sweet potato for myself. A jar of green beans from my garden completed the meal. That was our late dinner, and apple pie was our supper later. (We've been enjoying that pie every day since. The chocolate pecan is in the freezer.)

The cranberry muffins were fine (photo in the Nov. 27 issue), but next time I make them I'll use fresh cranberries, cut in half, in place of the unsugared dried ones. And I'll grate in some orange zest with a little juice for a bit more zing.

Cranberry Coconut Flour Muffins

1/2 C coconut flour

1/4 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs at room temperature

1/4 C coconut oil, melted

1/4 C honey

1/4 C Greek yogurt at room temperature

1/2 C dried cranberries

2 Tbl sliced almonds

Heat oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with paper cups. Sift flours together. Add in the soda and salt, using a spatula. Set aside. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add the oil, honey, and yogurt. Add the flour, mixing well with the spatula. Mix in the cranberries. Spoon into paper liners. Sprinkle nuts on top. Bake 25 minutes, until tops are crisped and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Store airtight, 3 days in the fridge, or freeze. Makes 8-9.

If you're like us, with an artificial tree, and also plan to be home for Christmas, you might have your tree up and decorated already. The other decorations for the season might also be out and on display. The weather had helped me decide to forego putting up outside lights. I might get my metal tree with the red lights on it put up outside later. There are also a couple of small trees in urns that could be installed on the front deck without too much effort. I do have another box (or two) of decorating items and a box of light strings, most of which I no longer use. If I get organized enough, those unused items might get donated to Valley View Home this week.

I tried a new recipe yesterday that I'd seen on Facebook (thank you, Tammy). I changed it up a bit, leaving out the green peppers since those don't sit well with us. Extra chopped onion made up the difference. I used minced garlic in place of the garlic powder, and used garlic salt in place of the regular salt, and maybe only about a half a teaspoon. (I didn't measure, being one of those "sprinkle it on until it seems right" cooks.) I didn't have the right cheese either, so I grated about 1/4 C asiago and about 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar, and put them both into the pan to melt with the meat. I skipped the cornstarch, letting it simmer until most of the liquid was gone. A package of skinny bagels was found in the freezer, so those, untoasted, took the place of the rolls. Provolone is on my grocery list...

Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

1 # ground beef

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tbl butter

1 small onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce

1/2 C beef broth

1 Tbl cornstarch

4 slices provolone

4 rolls, toasted

Brown beef with salt and pepper. Set aside. Melt butter in pan and saute onion and green pepper until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add beef back in, along with garlic powder, Worcestershire, and broth. Stir and simmer. Sprinkle on cornstarch, stirring until dissolved and thickened. (Can add a bit of water if too dry.) Remove from heat, top with cheese. Let cheese melt. Spoon onto toasted rolls and serve.