Happy Thanksgiving!

A Day of THANKS and GIVING.  

A great way to start the holiday season.

GIVE THANKS

Pumpkin Cheese Loaf....er....Bread MMMmmm Monday

This is one of my favorite fall treats to make. I just have one big problem with it....The name. The recipe comes from my mom. Not sure where she got it, but it is the perfect fall goodie to give away or snarf up yourself.

 

It's called Pumpkin Cheese Loaf.... I know, right? Terrible name. I think for the sake of saying it over and over I will now call it "Pumpkin Cheese Bread"

 This recipe does have several steps, but it is very simple to make.

 

Pumpkin Cheese Bread

 

Ingredients:

3 1/3 cups Flour

4 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

2 2/3 cup Sugar

2/3 cup Oil

4 Eggs

1 lb can Pumpkin

2/3 cup Water

 

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

6 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

 

Topping Mix: (I double this)

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. Flour

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 Tbsp. Butter

Directions: 

Sift flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda, powder and salt. Set aside. Beat together sugar & oil until light. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in pumpkin. Add dry ingredients alternating with water to sugar. Mix until all is well blended.
Grease 2 large loaf pans. Spoon 1/4 of batter in each pan. Spoon layer of cream cheese filling over each. Sprinkle with 1/4 of topping mix in each pan. Add rest of pumpkin batter. Finish with the rest of the topping.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until tester is clean. 
TOPPING MIX: Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles corn meal. Set aside.  CREAM CHEESE FILLING: Mix cream cheese until smooth & creamy. Add egg & vanilla and beat well.

As you can see from the picture below, I didn't divide it as well as I should of so the filling is up a little high, but it still tastes just as great!
Enjoy!

 

Over the River and through the Woods...

Happy Thanksgiving Day!  We're thankful the big day is finally here and all of our planning and preparations are complete.  We're so grateful for the times that bring family and friends together.

Our family has MANY traditions associated with holidays.  One of these traditions happens to follow the big turkey dinner.  The Dessert Trolley.  Not just a few pies but tradition calls for a dessert BUFFET...a trolley full of choices.  Derby Pie is one of the favorites.  

One of our family members moved to Kentucky for Law School and while there became acquainted with Derby Pie.  She shared the pie and then the recipe with all of us and now our pie trolley is not complete without Derby Pie.

It's been said that DERBY-PIE was born nearly a half century ago as the specialty pastry of the Melrose Inn, at Prospect, KY.  Derby-Pie has become the signature Kentucky Derby dessert. 

Here is our family recipe:

Derby Pie

1 stick butter or margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

½ cup flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, beaten light and fluffy

¾ cup chocolate chips

1 cup nuts, chopped

Mix all ingredients together.  Pour into unbaked 9” pie shell.  Bake at 350 deg. For 30-35 min. or until golden brown and doesn’t shake in center when moved.  Freezes well.  If frozen, thaw slightly and warm slightly before serving with topping of Dream whip, Cool Whip, or whipped cream.

(Best when warmed after being out of the oven overnight.)

Another family tradition comes after dinner and dessert...the family hike up our mountain!
Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving on the banks of the Whangpoo River

I was standing duty on board our ship when it was anchored in the Whangpoo River (the river that flows through or near Shanghai).  I was watching the people who lived, worked, and slept in their little boats on the river.  They never left the boats, which meant that they used the river as a source for their culinary water and also as a bathroom.

The water in the river was terribly polluted.  One time, the sailors on my ship had been given ‘liberty’ to go ashore.  They piled into a lifeboat and headed for the city.  On the way, another boat crossed in front of them, and the water in the wake of the other boat splashed into the boat that I and my shipmates were in.  The officer in charge of the boat made us turn around and go back to the ship.  The sailors had to burn their clothing and take showers and get shots.  That lets you know how awfully dirty that water was.

The Chinese people had just come out of a brutal war with Japan, and had no resources for providing for themselves.  One of the ways they tried to provide for themselves was to construct a piece of wood and some nails and a rope to make a dragline to drag the river.  (Papa Kels never said so, but we think that the people were after the things that the wasteful Americans threw away--things like construction materials, clothing, and food.)

One time, I noticed that the youngest member of the family on one boat had found something on the bottom of the river and brought it up into the boat.  I thought it was a piece of coal.  The boy tried to hide the thing under his clothing.  I watched as the grandmother boxed the boy on the ears and took the item from him.  A fight ensued, and the biggest and strongest man on board won (of course).  He grabbed the item from the young boy.   

At this point in the story Papa Kels would pass the box around and ask us to quietly look inside—after all had seen the contents of the wooden box he would continue his story—

The man took a bite of it, I realized that it wasn't a piece of coal--it was a potato.  The man had eaten the potato that had been soaking in that dirty river water.

At this point in the story Papa Kels would express his deep gratitude for the abundance of blessings we as a family shared.  He would express his heartfelt gratitude to our Father in Heaven for the life he had been given.

He would then remind anyone listening to think of that dirty, diseased yet coveted potato when we saw the big bowl of beautiful, white mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving Day.

During the holiday season may we take many opportunities to be thankful—to express our thanks to our family, friends, neighbors and especially to our Heavenly Father.  

Happy Thanksgiving!