Forget the front door. These bite-size wreaths — whimsical enough to appeal to the smallest (and finickiest) guests — are meant to deck your plate (although they’re unlikely to stay there for very long). To make them, spread mini bagel halves with cream cheese (plain or tinted green with herbs or food coloring), then sprinkle on red, yellow, and green bell-pepper confetti.
The pine in this case is pineapple, and laden with colorful fruit kabob branches, it’s one holiday centerpiece almost too good to eat. To assemble one, cut off the top and about 1 inch of the bottom (for stability) of a large pineapple. On 4 to 5 inch bamboo skewers (you’ll need about 50), thread 3 to 5 pieces of assorted fresh fruits — melon chunks, grapes, strawberries, and the like — leaving an inch or so of skewer to stick into the pineapple; if your skewers are too long, you can easily cut them to size with the cutting blades of a pair of pliers. As you finish each skewer, insert it at a slight downward angle into the pineapple, starting at the bottom. Top with a skewered slice of star fruit or a star carved from the extra pineapple. Once the branches are eaten, don’t forget to slice up the tree trunk!
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 bottle (1 oz.) Red Food Color
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
MIX flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. BEAT butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Mix sour cream, milk, food color, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed just until blended. Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
BAKE in preheated 350°F oven 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Spread with frosting. Makes 30 cupcakes.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting: BEAT 1 package (8 oz.) softened cream cheese, 4 tbsp. softened butter, 2 tbsp. sour cream, and 2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in 1 box (16 oz.) confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until smooth.
Did you forget to unthaw your turkey?
No problem!
It’s perfectly safe to cook a frozen turkey. Here’s how- Remember it takes about 50% longer to cook a frozen vs. a thawed turkey so make sure you don’t buy one over 18 lbs. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Unwrap the turkey and bake in the oven for one hour. Remove the turkey and brush with olive oil and season with poultry seasoning. Place turkey back in the oven for two more hours. Then remove turkey again and pull out bag of giblets. The bag should be soft at this point and no longer frozen. This is the hardest part but you have to do it because you don’t want the bag to melt or you won’t be able to eat the turkey. After you remove the plastic bag of giblets continue roasting the turkey until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. A 12 lb frozen turkey usually takes about 4 ½ – 5 hours to roast. Use an instant read thermometer not the pop up button to determine how done it is.
Your turkey is done and problem solved!
PS: As noted by a comment… this technique should also work with a chicken… and a ham!
Country & Victorian Times 