Mom's Artichoke Cheese Balls

Ingredients
16 ounces artichoke hearts, drained and mashed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

• Mash 2 cans drained artichoke hearts.
• Put olive oil into frying pan.
• Saute cloves.
• Add mashed artichokes and eggs.
• Saute and stir about 5 minutes.
• Mix bread crumbs and cheese in bowl.
• Remove mix from heat, roll into balls, roll in bread crumb and cheese mixture.

Quartered Artichoke Hearts

I used canned artichoke hearts, though you should be able to use frozen or fresh ones you marinate yourself. (Google recipes for marinated artichoke hearts.)  I believe the canned ones come in marinades using things besides oil as a base.  Get the ones with the best nutritional stats.  I really don’t think it matters.  I did choose quartered hearts, as it made for quicker mashing.

Do the Monster Mash.

Though I used real eggs, I’m willing to bet that egg substitute would work just fine. For the garlic, I used chopped from a jar. I always keep a jar of chopped garlic in the fridge. I love fresh pressed, but these are a real timesaver for me much of the time. As for parmesan cheese, I believe we originally used the grated stuff in the green can. However, I never use anything but fresh shredded from the cheese case. I believe I used Sargento.

The breadcrumbs and cheese look on as the artichoke mash cools down a bit.

Pick whatever breadcrumbs sound good to you. Normally, I use Italian style. I picked a garlic & herb variety this time. Anything works. This is a key way to add unique flavor, though, so be creative. Plain will work, but it will probably bore you.  Add your own seasonings, if you so desire.  Don’t know how panko or ground up Fiber One would work here.  Might try that for a friendlier “throughout the year” recipe.  Wouldn’t dream of it for delighting Thanksgiving feasters.

The Artichoke Cheese Balls await their fate which lies down the gullets of fine Thanksgiving company.

Mom managed to get 24 Artichoke Cheese Balls out of this recipe.  Somehow, I only got 18.  I rolled them just a tad too big.   (Yes, we ate three at home.  Sorry. lol)

The red stuff is Suzy Q’s no sugar added cranberry sauce.  It just happens to be in the picture.  I don’t think I’d recommend it as a dip for the Artichoke Cheese Balls.  It is so yummy, though, that I made a batch to bring along.  I did offer up some healthier items to the cause, and that was one.  :)

Find this recipe in my SparkRecipes Recipe Box.
Also find this recipe in my public recipes on RecipeZaar.
It was also included in my Thanksgiving 2009 Brainstorm menu on RecipeZaar.

Often overlooked, yet wonderful cranberries!

Ingredients
12 ounces (one standard bag) unsweetened fresh cranberries
1 cup water
1 cup Splenda
1 packet Crystal Light Orange Sunrise powder
1 packet sugar free strawberry jello powder (.3 oz)

• Rinse cranberries.  Place cranberries in 2-quart saucepan with 1 cup water.
• Stir in Splenda, drink mix, and jello powder.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
• Turn heat to medium-low and simmer, smashing and stirring every few minutes until cranberries have all popped and sauce has thickened.
• Serve warm, or place into covered container and refrigerate.

When I went into the kitchen to clean up for the night, I basically dumped all the ingredients into a pan and monitored them as I filled up the dishwasher and wiped down the counters.  I turned the stove off just shy of the desired thickness and stirred once in awhile as it cooled down right on the burner.   That’s how quick and easy this is to make.  In fact, once I make it for Thanksgiving, I remember just how tasty it is and continue to make it weekly throughout the winter.  It is WONDERFUL stirred into greek yogurt or just eaten by itself as a snack.  You can certainly freeze some bags of cranberries to make this throughout the year.  I like to leave it as a seasonal treat.

Fall scented simmer!

You can play with this recipe a bit.  The original recipe calls for raspberry gelatin, but I already had strawberry on hand.  It turned out great.  I am trying out peach on a friend a bit later.  Can’t wait to see how that comes out!  You can also swap out Crystal Light flavors.  The original recipe calls for orange.  I had Orange Sunrise on hand, so in it went.  Yes, I “went rogue” by swapping out Orange for Orange “Sunrise”.   By the way…  one of the new style long Orange Sunrise packets, intended for a 2 quart pitcher of Crystal Light, comes out to exactly 1 tablespoon.

Suzy’s recipe calls for cinnamon.  A pinch of cinnamon is a fantastic addition.  Be sure you don’t overdo it.  A pinch will do.  Not everyone in my house likes cinnamon, so I leave it out most of the time.  Suzy’s recipe also says you can make this in a crock pot.  How I overlooked that, I have no idea.  What a wonderful recipe to have simmering on the counter all day.  I just love recipes that double as holiday potpourri.  You can bet I will try that soon.  I will probably need to double the ingredients to make it in my slow cooker effectively.

Also, I have never tried, but I am betting this cranberry sauce could make a wonderful top layer for some sort of cheesecake or cream cheese based pie.  It is so easy and has many many uses.  I recommend you try it at least once, even if you don’t care for traditional cranberry sauce.

Ready for Snackin'

There it is in all its saucy glory.  It’s still pretty warm there, but it continued to thicken in the refrigerator overnight.  I just had some, mixed into Fage Total, for my breakfast.

Served some weeks back with Prime Rib.

Wikipedia Article on Yorkshire Pudding
Wikipedia on Popovers

Be sure to google both terms when looking for the perfect recipe.  OR, just use this recipe I found on RecipeZaar! Definitely check out the original, but here it is with my preferred options.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
4 large eggs
1 cup skim milk
dried herbs or spices
morton lite salt
12 tsp canola oil

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Grab a 12-muffin baking pan and place a teaspoon of canola oil into the bottom of each tin.
• Place pan into oven for 15 or 20 min until oil is nice and hot. If you look carefully, you will see smoke. However, it takes much longer for canola oil to really start smoking than is needed to get it hot enough for these purposes.
• While pan is in the oven, beat the rest of the ingredients together to a nice creamy consistency.  Add herbs and spices to mixture as desired.
• When oil is hot enough, remove the pan from the oven and pour batter evenly into the 12 tins. DO NOT OVERFILL. These will puff up to at least twice what you place into the tin. They barely need to be half full.
• Place pan back into oven for 20-25 minutes until popovers are puffed up and crisp.
• Serve with gravy or butter or anything you think would be tasty when placed into the holes of the popovers.

The original recipe says to beat the mixture into the consistency of double cream.  I don’t think I get quite that consistency probably due to using skim milk.   Also, the original recipe calls for 1 cup of eggs.  I usually have large eggs on hand, so in my case that works out to 4 eggs.  Google for whatever size eggs you have.  (Did you know you can also google for standard conversions that will come up at the top of the search results??)

Sometimes I don’t add any herbs to the mixture, and other times I add savory herbs such as parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  (She was once a true love of mine…)  I’ve often thought it would be fun to add cinnamon or something to these… perhaps cheese… but my men won’t have it!  Since I only partake in these once a year or so, I just make em the way they like em and serve with brown gravy.  I do fantasize about some sort of whole flour / eggbeater type combination, but I have yet to try.  (Yes, I have odd fantasies.  What can I say.)

Alas, this is not a recipe I can indulge in on a regular basis.  I will be enjoying one at the upcoming Big Meal.  :)

This recipe was given to me years ago by a good friend. Unfortunately, we’ve fallen out of touch. Still, I remember her each year when I make this. It’s become a Thanksgiving staple. Here is the recipe in its original form…

Ingredients
One 18 ounce can sweet potatoes, drained
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon margarine or unsalted butter
1/4-1/2 cup miniature marshmallow (not colored)
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
One 8 3/4 ounce can peach slices

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In one bowl, stir ginger into brown sugar.
• Cut the butter up into tiny little squares on a separate plate.
• Drain and slice sweet potatoes into their own bowl.
• Drain and place peaches into yet another bowl.
• In a 1 quart casserole dish, layer half the potatoes, half the brown sugar mixture, and half the peaches.
• Repeat layering to use up remaining ingredients.
• Bake uncovered in 375 degree oven. Spoon liquid from bottom of dish over top of potatoes once or twice during cooking. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are glazed.

To start with, I usually double this recipe into a 2 quart dish and use an equivalent amount of fresh boiled sweet potatoes cut into chunks. I also use Splenda brown in lieu of regular brown sugar. This year, I might try Whey Low Gold. Typically, I can find a can of peaches with a Splenda base instead of heavy syrup. Fresh sliced peaches also work. I never use the marshmallow option. In spite of them still being in the list of ingredients… what to do with them has disappeared from my archives. I assume you would just throw the marshmallows on top during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Honestly, though, I think marshmallows would just wreck the unique and subtle peachy ginger taste.   This year, I also may try an earlier suggestion from NanaLinda to swap out a portion of sweet potatoes with butternut squash.

This recipe is not in my SparkRecipes database yet. It is in my RecipeZaar repertoire though. I just put in a request to have it made public. Check back later for the URL! I will also be creating my own Thanksgiving menu on there and will make that URL public. In the meantime, here are 220 other public Thanksgiving menus on RecipeZaar. Remember to sort by rating. THESE ARE FULL THANKSGIVING MENUS… not individual recipes. If you don’t already have a set of favorites, have a look through these. It may save you immeasurable amounts of time.

Ingredients
3 cups sweet potatoes (fresh or canned)
4 eggs
1 cup Splenda granular
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar blend
1/2 cup flour

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Blend first 3 ingredients, 1 stick of margerine, and vanilla until smooth. Place in casserole dish.
• Blend last 3 ingredients and 1 stick of butter. Crumble evenly on top of sweet potato mixture. It may sink in a bit. That’s perfectly ok.
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
• Have a serving and be done. Try not to pick at the top all week!

I finally did up the nutritionals for it on SparkRecipes and was not very pleased.  They’re off the charts, and I can think of many things I’d rather have for the cost.  Having said that, this is a pretty tasty recipe.  If you make it as stated, it’s suitable Thanksgiving fare.

I tried to give this recipe a makeover by swapping out the Splenda brown in the topping with Josephs sugar free maple syrup, among other things, but I think I wound up with something too sweet for normal human consumption.  So much so, that I apparently pitched my notes in disgust.  Disgust that I didn’t come up with a makeover worth blogging about.  I was not too disgusted to eat some of it.  ;)   Unfortunately, for me, I think this recipe is just an excuse to eat the topping.  I’d probably be better off just making some cookies.

I endeavored to fashion a much healthier sweet potato souffle recipe with which I could try again using my leftover sweet potato puree.  I will reveal the recipe tomorrow.  Suffice it to say, I came up with a nice alternative to mashed potatoes… perhaps even a festive one.  Ultimately, though, I think I’ve decided that I will stick with a more typical sweet potato casserole when it comes to Thanksgiving.  I have one I like that involves ginger and sliced peaches.  You may well see that one next week.   Overall, I think I like simple roasted chunks of sweet potato w/ olive oil… or a baked potato with some Splenda and cinnamon.  I’m just not a big enough fan of the sweet potato casserole to warrant the less than stellar nutritional stats that seem to come with it.

Photos and notes for both recipes to follow tomorrow.  Always leave them wanting more… isn’t that what they say?

The sweet roasty goodness of Autumn veggies. Yum!

Ingredients
3.5 cups cleaned and cut acorn squash, raw
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 large portabella mushroom cap, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon pumpkin seed oil
morton lite salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, toss squash, onions, and mushrooms with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
• Place into shallow roasting dish or on baking sheet. Roast in oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until squash is tender and sweet.
• Drizzle with the pumpkin seed oil.  That’s it!!!!  Enjoy.

This is the ultimate comfort food. Sweet, healthy, and simple! A little bit of fiber, the benefits of olive oil, and just a hint of protein. Squash is a veggie that is a little higher in carbs, but you’re clocking in just 12g or so per serving with this fine dish.

As you read above, I bought the pumpkin seed oil at Wegmans. You should be able to find it in the same section as olive oil in your grocery store or among the gourmet foods.  If you’re lucky, you can access a Wegmans and buy some pre-prepped acorn squash.  This allowed me to toss this together in record time.

Could I earn money as a Pumpkin Squeezer?

Even if you can’t get to a Wegmans, you can click those links to see the nutritional stats of each ingredient.

The original recipe called for shallots.  Alas, my shallots went off before I had a chance to use them.  No matter.  I threw in some regular white onion, and I added the sliced portabella cap, while I was at it.  You can add just about any vegetables you want.  Beets… carrots… potatoes… other kinds of squash.  Go ahead and clean out the veggie drawer.  Make sure the vegetables aren’t toooo overcrowded.  If you increase the overall amount of the vegetables, you might want to add a bit more olive oil.  (I don’t need to remind you to take into account the nutritional stats of any changes you make, right?  Especially potatoes will up the carbs.)

I love all kinds of roasted Autumn root vegetables, but the acorn squash was surprisingly sweet and warmed me up on a particularly chilly Maryland night.  I think you will love it, too.  The pumpkin seed oil added a lovely and tasty touch, but if you can’t find it… don’t let that stop you.  I find a shallow baking dish easier to deal with than a lined baking sheet.  Even with the oil, they still kind of stick.

Squarshies!

Find this recipe in my SparkRecipes recipe box.