SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

Canadian Thanksgiving is in a week, so I thought I'd share a yummy way to prepare Sweet potatoes for the Holidays.
(Double it if you have many people coming for the Holidays)

1 lb.sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 tbsps. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat over to 400.
Place potatoes in the top of a double boiler over boiling water. Cover and steam for 10 minutes until soft. Drain and mash.
Combine potatoes and the other 4 ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and a pinch of pepper.
Mix well and pour into a greased pan.

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsps. flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tbsp. melted butter

Combine the topping ingredients in a bowl and spread on top of the first mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes or until brown.

Enjoy!!

Baked Brie

I tried this recipe on Christmas eve and it was wonderful served with apple slices and crackers: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-brie-in-puff-pastry/detail.aspx

You will need:
half a pack of frozen puff pastry
1 wheel of Brie cheese (I used double cream brie)
some sliced almonds
apricot jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Slice the Brie in half, horizontally. Lay the puff pastry in the pie pan. Place half of the Brie (rind-side down) onto the pastry dough. Sppon some jam over the top and Sprinkle almonds evenly. Spoon some jam on other half of pastry and then place the other half of the Brie (rind-side up) over the almonds. Bundle the pastry dough around the Brie.
3. Once the brie is wrapped in the puff pastry, put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to prevent the cheese from becoming too liquid during the baking process.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.


The 1st time I made this, I misread the instructions and put everything on a pie crust (instead of a pie pan) and it still turned out nice :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

-2 cups of icing sugar
-2 tablespoons of butter
-1 cup of peanut butter
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups of rice krispies
-Semi-sweet chocolate


Mix together all ingredients (except chocolate). Form balls with mixture.


Melt chocolate in a pan and roll balls into melted chocolate. ( be careful when melting chocolate to avoid burning of chocolate). Melt it in a metal bowl or pot over boiling water for best results.

White chocolate bark and dipped oreos

A couple weeks ago we made some candy cane and white chocolate treats. Here is the prep:

Line cookie sheets with wax paper

Melt the white chocolate in a metal bowl or pot over boiling water and add a few drops of mint extract

Spread chocolate thinly on wax paper and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top

Freeze for 5 minutes and break into pieces

We also dipped the top half of oreo cookies in the melted chocolate and sprinkled candy canes on top

Apple Cranberry Sauce

I have never been a fan of canned cranberry sauce, but I decided to try this recipe out one Thanksgiving and it was great. I've made it a few times since.

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Apple-Cranberry-Sauce-172349