Today, I offer you a last-minute dessert idea for Thanksgiving. I originally made this apple crisp last week in my “Thanksgiving Leftovers” cooking class at Les Gourmettes. While I was making it, I was telling the students about the remarkable De Lujo Margarita and gave them the recipe for it. As I am going about these two tasks, measuring out the ingredients for the apple crisp and reciting the ingredients for the margarita, it dawns on me that it would be amazing to blend the two… and that is how this Margarita Apple and Oatmeal Crisp was born! A sweet and happy little marriage.

If you would rather make the original apple crisp, then use 1 1/2 cups of water in place of the first 6 ingredients in the recipe (the 3/4 cup water through the 1/2 teaspoon Grand Marnier).  And be careful to keep an eye out for the ingredients that are marked “divided”.  Those ingredients are used in both the apple and the crisp parts of the recipe, so be extra mindful while reading and measuring.

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Before we get to today’s timely tip, I want to remind you that if you need help with a Thanksgiving timeline, CLICK HERE. And if you are looking for Thanksgiving recipes – go to the “Complete Recipe Index” over there on the left and scroll down to the red “Holidays” section and then scroll down to “Thanksgiving” where there are more than 30 Thanksgiving recipes awaiting you.

Weekly Tip #7

I know that at least some of you are hosting Thanksgiving in 3 days and that you are stressing. One of the major stresses is, “How am I going to get everything done?!?” The reason this is common stress is that many of us, including me, don’t seem to be able to delegate tasks. Even though several guests and family members have offered to help – it is hard to begin to even know where to start delegating when all the burners are blazing, timers are going off, and your mind is racing. It seems as though it is just easier to do everything yourself. The solution to this common problem? Decide today what you can have people do for you when crunch time comes. Remember, you are going to have some stress because… it’s a holiday and everyone is around you! 

Make a list of non-cooking tasks – the last thing you need is more bodies in the kitchen. And make sure everything needed to complete those tasks is in plain sight, otherwise, you’ll get stressed telling people what drawer or cupboard to find things in, or end up dropping what you’re doing and getting it yourself.

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Turkey!?! Is it too early to begin worrying and wondering what you’re going to do with your leftover turkey?  Since Thanksgiving is one week from today, I don’t think so.  After turkey sandwiches,  I think leftover turkey works best treated with a Mexican or a Western flair, so that’s what I’ve provided for you today.

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… until Thanksgiving!

If you are hosting and you need help – then you need my “Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Sample Timeline” which I first posted 2 years ago. CLICK HERE to take you to that helpful page. Plus, today I have a special Thanksgiving bonus.  I found the most adorable vintage place cards on Pottery Barn’s website. CLICK HERE to download the place cards.

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If this soup doesn’t scream “AUTUMN” to you, I don’t know what does! You can find the pre-cut butternut squash at Costco and Trader Joe’s. Pictured below is one whole fresh butternut and a 2-pound package from Costco.

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Weekly Tip #5

When beating the eggs for your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie or any other custard pie, brush a little of the beaten egg over the pie shell and set it in the freezer for 10 minutes. This helps seal the crust and keeps it crisp.

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Since standing on my feet in the kitchen for long periods of time is out of the mix at the present time, how about a holiday craft? Now, I already told you in the first installment of Crafts 101, I am not a crafty person… not by a long shot.  In fact, for this particular craft, I needed professional help. Recently, Peggy and I took a class from the very talented Cindy and Lin Sue of Sweet-Stops on how to make these luxurious fabric pumpkins, which are perfect from the first day of fall, all the way through Thanksgiving. Now that’s some bang for your buck! And when I say “buck” –  I literally mean about one dollar! Depending on the fabric you use, or if you use scraps you already have on hand, these beautiful pumpkins may cost no more than that. If you’ve seen them in boutiques, you already know they go for anywhere from $20 to $40 each! That’s just crazy talk!

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We enjoyed Gwen’s lentil stuffed acorn squash so much last week, that I decided to take another spin at it, with quinoa, this time. Especially since I STILL had more squash from that darn Thanksgiving centerpiece to get rid of. Not that I’m really complaining, but those things take up more than their fair share of room in the refrigerator.

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We shall begin with “a dollar short” – Do you ever buy something that you want to keep all to yourself, even though it really needs to be shared? Oh, you say that do it all the time? Yup, me too! Last week, I discovered another one of “those” things! As silly as it sounds, “that” thing is a box of crackers. Not just any box of crackers, but really expensive and amazingly decadent crackers. How expensive? How about $6.99 (at Whole Foods) for a 6-ounce box! That is about $1.17 an ounce or about $18.50 a pound! How many food items are you willing to pay $18 a pound for? Maybe something like jumbo shrimp, prime rib or beef tenderloin. But crackers?

Raincoast Crisps are the most amazing crackers on earth. I have to thank, and then loudly curse, Gwen Ashley Walters for turning me on to them. And when I say me, I mean that I shall be purchasing these ridiculously expensive crackers and hiding them from family and friends while carefully rationing them out for myself.  (This post was written in 2010 – by now, I hope you all know that Trader Joe’s sells knock-offs of these crackers for a fraction of the price!)

Next, let’s address, “a day late” – Two days ago, I posted a recipe in which I used a smokey marinade from Gwen. At the end of that post, I said that the next day I’d put up another recipe of Gwen’s, that I adore. Well, I forgot and put up a lentil recipe yesterday instead. Sorry, here is Gwen’s scrumptious and “easy-breezy” party spread recipe that she made last week for the Les Gourmettes cooking class and served atop the Raincoast Crisps.

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You know that saying, right? It means you measure any wood you are working with twice to make absolutely sure that your measurement is correct because you only get one chance to cut it right. That is how I feel about greasing a pan when baking. I am not a huge fan of baking or making desserts. Too many things can go wrong, at least for me they seem to.

So the one thing I try to get right is to get the dessert out of the pan in one piece.  Easier than it sounds unless you use parchment paper. Whenever I make a cake or quick bread, I always (even when I forget to put it down on a recipe) grease the pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment, and then grease the parchment. Works every time, as you’ll see in the pictures below.

I’ll be on Channel 12 NBC Valley Dish live today at 3:30, making a wonderful winter salad, in case you want to watch. I’ll post a link to the taped show along with the salad recipe tomorrow. AND… a very happy birthday to my sweet Jennifer! I adore you! xoxo

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