Thanksgiving Rewind 2009

Did you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving? I hope so. I had a great day, but it started out a little rough. I was tired from staying up late the night before, baking bar cookies. That morning, when I went to the kitchen and sliced the bars, they stuck to the pan and I couldn't get them out, which was my own fault because I didn't line the pan with foil like I usually do. So I got pissed off and stormed away. And then my mom did her best to slice the bars, and then she put them on a platter and set it on the table. I stormed into the kitchen, picked up the platter, and chucked the bars into the trash.

They looked really crappy and I couldn't serve them. Although they tasted good. I'm trying to decide if I should bake them again, but I don't know... I don't know if I want to go out and buy all the ingredients again.

Other than that, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. That's a picture of my plate, above. It's filled with stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes. There's a tiny bit of turkey, too. All of it was delicious. The stuffing and sweet potatoes are definitely my favorites.

Here's a picture of the turkey:

Here are the rolls. I didn't bake these. They come from the restaurant where I wait tables at.




This is me with my sister, Hannah.


...and my boyfriend, Eric.


Later on in the afternoon, we headed over to Eric's house and had dinner and margaritas with his family. Their food was delicious, too! They had smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato souffle, rolls, and several casseroles. Eric's favorite is corn casserole, which was really, really good. I've never had corn casserole before at my family's dinner. Does anyone have a good recipe?
That's Aunt Patti in the background. She's very nice and sweet. She makes a killer pecan pie and pumpkin pie.


This is the sweet potato souffle. It's not an actual souffle, but mashed sweet potatoes with a brown sugary-pecan topping. It was my favorite dish there. Soooo good.


So that was my Thanksgiving. I can't think of anything terribly exciting that happened. Eric and I watched Home Alone later. Wheeee! That's exciting. I secretly love Home Alone. Kevin McAllister is SO clever.

Now it's on to Christmas! I'm already exited about that. I can sense many, many cookies in my future.... and yours!


Here's one for you: Chocolate-Dipped Pomegranate & Pistachio Shortbread. Mmmm buttery shortbread with pistachios and pomegranate arils, dipped in chocolate. The red and green makes this the perfect cookie for the holidays.

Chocolate Dipped-Pomegranate Pistachio Shortbread (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1 cup Wonderful pistachios, toasted
1/2 cup quick oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 cup POM Wonderful pomegranate arils
2/3 cup POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
2 cups dark chocolate chips

Process the pistachios in a food processor until finely ground, and add to a medium bowl. Process oats until finely ground, and add to bowl. Whisk in flour and baking powder until combined.

In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in milk and flour mixture until combined, about 1-2 minutes. Form dough into two discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for forty minutes or until cold.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

On a lightly floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll each disc into a 11x8-inch rectangle. Slice rectangles into rows 5x4, and transfer squares to cookie sheets. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from oven; press an even amount of pomegranate arils into cookies. Continue to bake an additional 10-12 minutes or until cookie edges are golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Bring pomegranate juice to a simmer, in a small saucepan, over medium low heat; turn heat off and whisk in chocolate until melted and smooth. Dip shortbread into chocolate, and place on wire racks to dry.

Makes 40 shortbread