ENTERTAINING: Fall Special

Fall Centerpiece, Lotus Dinner Napkins, Apple Swan, TeePee Favors, Special Thanksgiving Candies,
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, Apple & Prune Stuffing for Turkey & Goose, Dinner Rolls

By MARY CANOVAS

Fall Centerpiece

Autumn is here with all its glorious colors. A Fall Centerpiece (see image on the left and also top image) is basically orange, yellow, deep red and brown. It can be as simple as a few fruits with some leaves and a candle or our spectacular Pumpkin Centerpiece. See our video for how-to.
• Fall centerpieces can be made with all kinds of fruits – apples, pears, grapes or vegetables like pumpkins, tiny gourds, dry Indian corn or dry wheat and grains, nuts…
• Use all kinds of leaves from trees especially with fall colors, ivy, evergreens. Flowers are important and the classic is crysanthemums.
• Don´t forget candles. All kinds and sizes – you can even try making some apple candles – just cut out the top and insert a tea candle. See photo above.
• Innovate – paint your walnuts with a mixture of half water and half white glue and add gold glitter or submerge your cedar o pine branches, shake off excess and sprinkle some gold glitter on them. You´ll be surprised at how a little glitter can go a long way to sparkling up your arrangements.

Lotus Dinner Napkins

Make every place setting spectacular or use as a setting for your sauce or dip dishes. These dinner napkins are not hard to make if you follow our detailed instructions by Babs on our video.

Apple Swan

Fruit and vegetable carving are just another way of decorating your table. This swan is perfect for any formal occasion. Don´t forget to douse it with lemon juice so it won´t brown before you serve dinner. See the video.

TeePee Favors

These are fun to make – get your little ones to help. They are filled with all sorts of candies and chocolates. They look lovely at a Thanksgiving table for each guest to take home or have them at your child´s birthday party with a western theme. The photo is only an indication of our take on these great favors. Ours are really great! Check them out and for full directions watch video.

Special Thanksgiving Candies

This is great for the kids although grown -ups love them too. Individual gumdrop turkey favors or a plate of chocolate marshmallow Pilgrim hats for your guests will put a smile on their faces and help to remind us of the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday in a sweeter way. Really easy to make. For full “how to” see the video.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Pumpkin pie – it´s a classic for fall. But sometimes it can be a little heavy on the stomach especially after a huge dinner on Thanksgiving. But then again, what is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? Why not try pumpkin chiffon pie? As light as regular pumpkin pie is heavy; delicious – more of a gourmet version of our classic pie. This time you can have your pie and eat it too – even after the turkey, potatoes, hors d’oeuvres… By the way, this pie tastes great all year round.
This recipe makes two 8-inch 20 cm. pies

Ingredients
Crust
• 30 cookies Maria type or 32 gingersnaps, coarsely broken
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons melted butter

Filling
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (10 g.)
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin ( 425 gr. or15-ounce can) or fresh pumpkin puree. If you can´t find canned make your own – see below**
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions
Crust
• Preheat oven to 175ºC. Process the cookies with the sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground. Add butter, and process until combined.
• Place in pie mold and bake until darkened and firm. Let cool 5 minutes.

Filling
• Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a bowl. Let stand 5 minutes until softened.
• Combine in a saucepan pumpkin, egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, milk, salt, and spices over medium heat.
• Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to thicken, about 8 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat. Stir in gelatin mixture until dissolved. Let cool completely
• Beat egg whites with a mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.
• Whisk one-third of beaten egg whites into cooled pumpkin mixture. Then gently fold in remaining whites.
• Spoon into pie shells, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
• Serve with whipped cream
Fresh pumpkin puree: place a halved, seeded pumpkin on a baking sheet, cut sides down. Roast in a 200ºC oven until soft, about 50 minutes. Scoop flesh from skin, and puree until smooth.

Apple & Prune Stuffing for Turkey & Goose

Some people love stuffing, others don´t find it appealing at all. Many turkeys are dry and tasteless. This apple and prune stuffing makes your turkey come alive with flavor. It´s also a great complement for your roast goose. You can either stuff your bird with this recipe or bake the stuffing and serve it on the side. I suggest you serve this turkey with cranberry sauce, applesauce, mashed potatoes and buttered peas with tiny onions on the side.

Ingredients
• 250 gr. unsliced white bread loaf
• 1/2 cup – 125 ml dry vermouth
• 500 gr. pitted and medium diced prunes
• 250 gr. sweet Italian style sausage
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium diced onions
• 1 teaspoon ground sage, or more to taste (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste
• 8 medium celery stalks diced
• 2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and medium dice
• 50 gr. Pine nuts
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions
• Heat oven to 180 ºC
• Remove the crust from the bread and cut into 1/2-inch – 25 mm. cubes and place on a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake until light golden brown and dry to the touch, stirring halfway through, about 10 minutes total. Set aside to cool.
• Heat the vermouth over medium heat until simmering. Add the prunes and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vermouth has been absorbed, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
• Cut sausage into small pieces and fry until no longer pink – about 4 minutes. Transfer the sausage to the bowl with the prunes leaving juices in pan.
• Using that same pan add butter and cook over medium heat adding the onions, sage, salt, and pepper. Cook until the onions are softened, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, about 6 minutes. Add the celery stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 6 minutes. Add the apples another 3 minutes or til apples start to soften.
• Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the prunes and sausage. Add the toasted bread cubes, the eggs,and pine nuts and stir to combine.
• Taste and season with additional salt, pepper, and sage as desired.
• Use to stuff your turkey or goose. IMPORTANT If you are not using this recipe to stuff the bird but as a side dish, transfer the mixture to a baking dish and bake uncovered until golden brown on top, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Dinner Rolls

There is nothing to compare to freshly baked dinner rolls spread with rich creamy butter. Make them especially for holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas or Sunday dinner. This is an adaptation of Martha Stewart´s recipe. Not hard to make, a little time consuming but well worth the effort.

Ingredients

• 14 gr. active dry yeast
• 50 ml. -1/4 cup warm water
• 375 ml – 1 1/2 cups warm milk
• 115 gr. – 1/2 cup melted butter
• 60 gr – 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs
• 6 to 6 1/2 cups (750 to 820 gr) flour

Directions

• Place water in a bowl and sprinkle with yeast, and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk together milk, butter, sugar, salt, and 2 eggs. Whisk in yeast mixture.
• Stir in 6 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, until you have a soft, shaggy dough (if necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more flour).
• Turn dough out onto a floured work surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes
• Butter the inside of a large bowl; place dough in bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours.
• Butter two 13-by-9-inch (33x22cm). baking pans. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 40 cm. rope; cut each rope into 2.5 cm pieces. Shape into a ball. Arrange dough balls in prepared pans.
• Cover pans loosely with plastic; let stand in a warm spot until rolls have doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours
• Preheat oven to 190ºC degrees, In a small bowl, beat remaining egg until blended; brush onto rolls. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Let rolls cool 15 minutes before serving.