Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

We had a festive Thanksgiving celebration with the kids this year.  My DIL Kristen is a creative cook and likes to shake things up a bit.  Instead of a traditional pecan pie, she made these Chewy Pecan and Chocolate Diamonds.  The original recipe came from Epicurious.   The shortbread crust is topped with a caramel pecan topping.  To make it even more delicious, Kristen added chocolate chips to the final baking.

We loved these bars.  By cutting them into diamond shapes, there are edge scraps left for the cook and other family recipients.  Your guests or gift receivers can have the pretty ones, but the scraps are a treat just for you.  I will be making these as Christmas treats.

Instead of Pumpkin Pie, we had Pumpkin Custard Profiteroles with Maple Caramel.  Rachel helped her Mom make these amazing cream puffs.

It is great to have the kids participate in the meal preparation.  Four year old Cameron also got into the act by helping with the pecan diamonds.

As the casseroles came out of the oven, Michael carved the turkey and we sat down to our delicious meal. I am thankful for my family and for all of you who follow my blog.

To get you into the Christmas spirit watch this video of Rachel.  She is a new member of a competitive jump roping team and shows lots of talent.  https://youtu.be/ly-yG94eqBU   Here is another one https://youtu.be/QQJBbWjG-F4  Our dog, Daisy seems to be enjoying the show.  Rachel’s team will be performing at Disney World and possibly at next year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

CHEWY PECAN AND CHOCOLATE DIAMONDS

INGREDIENTS

1. Crust
   • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
   • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
   • 1/4 cup cornstarch
   • 1/2 teaspoon salt
   • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2. topping
   • 1 1/4 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
   • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
   • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
   • 4 cups coarsely chopped pecans (about 14 1/2 ounces)
   • 1/2 cup whipping cream
   • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

PREPARATION

1. for crust:
   1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, leaving 1-inch overhang on all sides. Butter foil. Blend flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt in processor. Add butter and process until mixture begins to clump together. Press dough evenly onto bottom of foil-lined pan. Bake crust until set and light golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Let stand while preparing topping. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
2. for topping:
   1. Stir brown sugar, corn syrup and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils; boil 1 minute. Add pecans and cream; boil until mixture thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Pour hot topping over warm crust.
   2. Bake nut-topped crust until caramel is darker and bubbles thickly, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to rack. Cool completely in pan (topping will harden).
   3. Lift foil out of pan onto cutting board. Using heavy sharp knife, cut crust with nut topping into 1 1/2×1-inch diamonds. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container at room temperature.)

For variation, add 1 cup of chocolate chips sprinkled over the top near the end of baking time.

Printable Recipe

With Thanksgiving approaching, I wanted to share a few dishes that have been on my table and on my blog in the past years.  These are recipes that have worked well for me and I am sure they will add a special punch to your usual menu.  Notice that I am not including a recipe for turkey.  I would not presume to tell you how to cook your turkey.  Everyone has their personal idea of the best way to do that.  Let’s start with appetizers.  Because there is a huge meal waiting in the kitchen, appetizers should be light.  These Candied Spiced Almonds require a little attention upfront, but can be made way in advance.

I always love homemade savory shortbread crackers and the addition of dried cranberries to these appetizer rounds make them perfect for the holidays.  The recipe for these Chipotle Cheddar Cranberry Nut Wafers can be found here.

If you prefer your sweet potatoes as a first course, this Creamy Sweet Potato Soup is sure to be a hit. It is easy too.  The sweet potatoes are cooked in the microwave and the mixture comes together smoothly with an immersion blender, although you could puree it in a blender or food processor.

Leek and Artichoke Bread Pudding makes a great dressing if you do not stuff your bird.  It is an Ina Garten recipe and you can make it ahead of time.  Bacon can be substituted for the pancetta or you can leave it out all together if you have vegetarians at the table.

This Cranberry-Lime Chutney is definitely a new take on cranberry sauce.  It is a combination of fresh cranberries, lime, apples, onion, raisins, pecans, and lots of spices.  It is best made ahead of time.

Instead of a green bean casserole, try these Green Beans Gremolata.  This dish is best made with the thin French Haricot Vert.  They have been readily available in several supermarkets that I visit.  They are usually found in a cellophane bag. The beans are cooked quickly and then tossed in a mixture of garlic, parsley, parmesan and pine nuts.

This Maple Glazed Acorn Squash with Sausage, Apple and Sage could almost be a meal on its own.  But it would certainly look pretty on the Thanksgiving table.

Instead of an apple pie you could make an Apple Bundt Cake.  This spice cake with a caramel frosting is a snap to make and there is a good tip on how to turn your cake out of the bundt pan easily.

If you are in a hurry you could make this Pumpkin Dump Cake.  For a while this cake was on my DIL’s family Thanksgiving table every year.  I first made it for Kristen for her birthday and she loved it so much that she shared it with her family.  They adopted it for Thanksgiving.

Instead of that apple pie you could make this free form Apple Crostata.  This is one of my favorite desserts.

Enjoy the preparations and fun of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Here is another great idea for Thanksgiving.  Salads are not usually a big part of the holiday feast, but why not?  With the heavy stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole and green beans slathered in cream of mushroom soup and french onion rings, something a little lighter should be a welcomed addition.

The components of this salad are all about Fall; apples, oranges, pecans, baby spinach and dried cranberries.  The pasta is just a small addition that gives the salad body.  I even amped the flavor up by making my sweet Bourbon pecans. This is a refreshing salad for the holidays.  The citrus dressing is light and delightful.

I saw this recipe on Facebook.  It was posted by my DIL’s Mom, Darla.  Since we will all be together for Thanksgiving I think this would be a great dish for our shared table.  Thanksgiving will be at Michael (Our Son) and Kristen’s (Our DIL) home.  They just moved into a new and bigger home that will accommodate all of the family.  We are looking forward to it.  The original recipe, and a much better picture can be found here.

A few more pictures of Italy.  We spent four days in Tuscany with a much too short trip into Florence.  But there is so much to do in the region that we were happy with our short trip into this historic city on the Arno River.

We stopped in San Gimignano, the epitome of a Tuscan hill town.  It still has 14 medieval towers standing out of the original 72.  Family towers were important in the 13th century.  The feuding noble families ran the hill towns and expressed their power by how tall their towers were.  Not much has changed over the years has it?  Although we enjoyed visiting the town, it was a tourist trap.

Our intrepid tour guide groveled to a new low to please us with a good picture. (although the picture is a little crooked). Notice all of the people eating Gelato around us!

But Laurent got his shot of us.  It was just one of many of his professional studies.  We were lucky to have this dear friend as our guide through Italy.  Thank you Laurent and Carole for starting your touring company and allowing us to be your test guests.  You are the best.  If you are interested in traveling in France or Italy by motorcycle or scotters, they will treat you so well. Here is the link.  Ride in Tours is the real thing.

AUTUMN CRUNCH PASTA SALAD

Taking a break from detailing our Italy trip, I wanted to share with you a tasty combination that I made on a recent cold and blustery day.  With thoughts of Thanksgiving in my mind, the idea of a cornbread with the addition of pumpkin sounded like a good combination. As it turned out, it was a good idea; moist, golden and lightly sweetened with honey.  The soup that I made with it came from one of my favorite blogs, Manger.  It is a combination of French lentils, farro and lots of vegetables.

The feeling I am trying to express in this post is that of warmth and comfort.  The food is the starting point, of course.  But I would like to give you a few more visuals to explain how I am feeling. Perhaps, because I am still dealing with the aftermath of surgery, I need to concentrate on what makes me happy and secure.

This Tuscan kitchen made me happy.  There were logs in the fireplace ready for an evening fire on a cool night. ( Wide angle lens tends to make people appear wider).  The gas stove was a dream to cook on and I could have spent an entire vacation in this charming villa.  I wanted to forego the motorcycle touring and just hang out here.

This was the view from the window.  The church bell rang on the hour all day and all night.  Who needs a watch?

This picture is small.  I saw it on Pinterest.  Although it is not necessarily my style these days, it is just like the house that I have seen in my dreams.  I don’t know about you, but I dream about houses.  In my dreams I always have this other house that I have neglected, but that I am very proud of.  I encourage my dream guests to make themselves at home, even though it is cluttered and dusty.  And I wonder to myself in my dream why I do not live there.  It is cozy and comfortable but a little bizarre.  This room lacks that bizarre element, but it is close to my vision.

I am on the mend.  Stitches taken out today.  Life is returning to normal and I am back in the kitchen.  If you are in the mood for some comfort food you will love this cornbread and Mimi’s Soup.

HONEY-PUMPKIN CORNBREAD

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Lightly butter a 9-inch square-baking pan.
2. Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, butter, honey, buttermilk and orange zest in a separate bowl. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until moistened; transfer to the prepared baking pan.
3. Bake until the cornbread pulls away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Cool in the pan 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and cook on a wire rack at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Printable Recipe

Venice is like no other vacation destination.  This decadent, elegantly decaying city is uniquely grand.  From the Grand Canal to the alleyways and waterway tributaries, it is a delight to the senses.  Getting lost in Venice is a good thing.  You never know what you will find around the next corner.

We wandered from the main thoroughfare of the Grand Canal to alleys so small we had to walk single file.

But every path led to a view of water, piazzas, and ancient buildings.  I was also on a quest in Venice.  I wanted to find a restaurant that my blogging buddy, Penny of The Comforts of Home, told me about.  While she and her hubby and another couple were in Venice a few years ago, they found a charming restaurant while wandering, but they found it through the back (or kitchen) entrance.  Not having any idea how to get back to their hotel through the front door, they departed through the kitchen and applauded the kitchen staff for a fine meal as they left.   So with the name of the restaurant, Poste Vecie, and the loose directions of “near the Rialto Fish Market”, we found it!

We took a little break from our group and had a quiet lunch together while our friends did other things.  As much as you love your traveling companions, it is good to have a break now and then.  It gave us time to shop for family and look at sights that were of particular interest to us.

We had a great meal on the patio of Poste Vecie.  The interior of the trattoria has a timeless warmth.

David’s seafood stew was wonderful, as was my Sole Meuniere.

After lunch we visited the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.  It features the work of three great Renaissance masters: Donatello, Bellini and Titian.  Above, Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin was called the most beautiful picture in the world by Canova.

We ended our two day tour of Venice with an evening Vaporetto boat tour of the Grand Canal.  Venice after dark presents an even more charming face.  Our next destination – Tuscany.