#EdenCooks - Thanksgiving Party

Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Are you looking forward to the November Meeting of Eden Cooks? You should be---because we're sharing the spotlight with the Thanksgiving Holiday Party! Get ready for even more trivia, even more fun, even more prizes, and learn and discuss a few side dish recipes while you're at it. We're all going to meet at 8pm EST on Monday the 21st of November---right here in this thread!

Whether you're getting together for a big family gathering, or keeping it small and simple, there are foods that make everyone's mouths and memories water around late November. Because we don't want to interrupt your signature turkey recipe, we'll just talk about side dishes. Classic whole berry cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy in all their magnificent variations, and a homemade apple pie. Bring your own cooking tips to share, and follow along as I provide pictures for some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes.

Eden Cooks is a cooking club for any interested members of the Eden community. We will meet on the forum to discuss everything from tips and pointers for less well-equipped kitchens, explanations of cooking terms, and important techniques. There will be a featured recipe each meeting, with pictures taken as I prepare it for you. I will cover some ingredient substitutions to make each recipe more friendly to people with dietary restrictions.

During a typical meeting, a $25 gift card will be awarded for the winner of a contest where you guess the lesser known kitchen implement from a series of photos that I take. Another will be given to the winner of a trivia contest from information that I will provide during the meeting. During this extra-special two-hour Thanksgiving extravaganza, there will be lots of holiday trivia provided courtesy of the Holiday Party committee---and that means even more prizes, as well!

Our Party/Meeting is going to be held right here on Monday the 21st at 8pm EST---it's going to be a blast, with revelry til 10pm EST---so I hope you'll come hungry with your party hats on! And if you're chomping at the bit and just have to think about cooking before the party, be sure to check out the October/November Iron Chefs challenge or the 'Make it at Home' blog symposium!
11/14/2011
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Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Woo! Exciting!!!
11/14/2011
Contributor: Rarity Rarity
Sounds yummy! I can't wait.
11/14/2011
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
So glad this is happening!!!
11/14/2011
Contributor: wetone123 wetone123
So exciting! I'm making room on my calender for this event! Can't wait to see the homemade apple pie!
11/14/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by wetone123
So exciting! I'm making room on my calender for this event! Can't wait to see the homemade apple pie!
The practice version came out too flat---somehow I forgot that apples cook down? So everybody I share my food with is excited for round two!

To be honest, nobody really minded that it was flat except me. BUT---I'll bet they'll be even happier when the second one *isn't* flat.
11/14/2011
Contributor: Kkay Kkay
Mmm, great ideas for the recipes to share. Careful with the mashed potatoes though! Those can start -wars-.
11/14/2011
Contributor: wrmbreze wrmbreze
Cool, can't wait for this. Thinking of trying my hand at an apple cake, but using applesauce instead of apple chunks. Do you guys think that will turn out ok? My family doesn't like chunks of anything in their food so I am trying new things. I also saw a recipe for ham and cheese sliders that I may try as well.
11/15/2011
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Quote:
Originally posted by wrmbreze
Cool, can't wait for this. Thinking of trying my hand at an apple cake, but using applesauce instead of apple chunks. Do you guys think that will turn out ok? My family doesn't like chunks of anything in their food so I am trying new things. ... more
It'll have a slight apple flavor (depending on how much you put in) but the texture will blend into the cake and won't add much of anything to it. Applesauce is frequently used in place of oil in 'healthy versions' of boxed cake mixes, but the taste vanishes into the rest of the ingredients. You may want to look for 'apple extract' or 'apple flavoring' in the baking aisle.
11/15/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Chilipepper
It'll have a slight apple flavor (depending on how much you put in) but the texture will blend into the cake and won't add much of anything to it. Applesauce is frequently used in place of oil in 'healthy versions' of boxed cake ... more
Good thoughts, Chilipepper!

I'm not speaking from experience at all, but just as a drawing-board idea, you could try, instead of using apple sauce, making a puree of raw apples in your food processor. That way there wouldn't be chunks to upset your family, but hopefully some of the apple flavor would cook into the cake.

I'd make a sample cake or two before T-Day just to try things out, thought
11/15/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Kkay
Mmm, great ideas for the recipes to share. Careful with the mashed potatoes though! Those can start -wars-.
Food fights don't get too messy when we're all in different states, luckily
11/15/2011
Contributor: Cherry21 Cherry21
didn't know there was an Eden Cooks! awesome!
11/16/2011
Contributor: Cherry21 Cherry21
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Food fights don't get too messy when we're all in different states, luckily
lol. skype em.
11/16/2011
Contributor: geliebt geliebt
Awesomesauce!
11/16/2011
Contributor: A Woman And Her Wand A Woman And Her Wand
Nice! Sounds like a blast!
11/17/2011
Contributor: teachmetouchme teachmetouchme
I'm not home now, and I'll try to remember, but I have a recipe for apple cake with apple chunks and nuts and a caramel icing that is so gooooooooooood. I would not puree the apples instead of chunks--the batter would be very liquid and it wouldn't bake correctly. There are lots of recipes for "applesauce" cake using applesauce and not chunks, but the flavor is more cinnamony than appley (my opinion). They are still delicious (how can cake not be good?
11/17/2011
Contributor: oldman oldman
Quote:
Originally posted by wrmbreze
Cool, can't wait for this. Thinking of trying my hand at an apple cake, but using applesauce instead of apple chunks. Do you guys think that will turn out ok? My family doesn't like chunks of anything in their food so I am trying new things. ... more
If you peel the apples and dice them small, you won't have a "mouth feel" of apples--you probably won't notice them at all--just their ymmy goodness. Try a practice version before the holidays.
11/17/2011
Contributor: oldman oldman
Quote:
Originally posted by wrmbreze
Cool, can't wait for this. Thinking of trying my hand at an apple cake, but using applesauce instead of apple chunks. Do you guys think that will turn out ok? My family doesn't like chunks of anything in their food so I am trying new things. ... more
If you peel the apples and dice them small, you won't have a "mouth feel" of apples--you probably won't notice them at all--just their ymmy goodness. Try a practice version before the holidays.
11/17/2011
Contributor: oldman oldman
Quote:
Originally posted by Chilipepper
It'll have a slight apple flavor (depending on how much you put in) but the texture will blend into the cake and won't add much of anything to it. Applesauce is frequently used in place of oil in 'healthy versions' of boxed cake ... more
Now, I am not an "earthy crunchy", which is the term I use for those who eat healthy and/or natural/organic, but I do not like the artificial flavors of fruit extracts, so I don't give it my stamp of approval (not that anyone need or wants that, but...). I think pureed, raw apples would cause the cake not to bake as you intend it to do. Baking, unlike stew and soups (for example) are chemisty based, and if you increase the liquids, other things also need to be increased/decreased and usually not in the same proportions. So, when you puree raw apples, as they bake the liquid will be drqwn out causing it not to "react" and bake up to a yummy cake. Likewise, if you increase the liquid component by 100%, you may need to increase the flour by 125% and it will be different for different kinds of cakes. A chocolate cake (oooohhhh!!) usually has alot more liquid than an apple cake because except for eggs, which bind ingredients and don't really act like a liquid in baking, there is no natural liquid (like fresh apples and other fruits would contribute to the chemistry of the cake/baking).

I hope this helps--there are so many recipes on the web that you can try with the ingredients you want to use. If I were home, I'd be happy to look at some of our recipes, but sorry I won't be home before T-day.

I hope this was of some help to you in making your decisions.

Ymmmy...............I' d be so happy to sample everyone's cooking--too bad we can't pass food through the screens!
11/17/2011
Contributor: oldman oldman
I hope I remember. I love reading the cooking posts and the 1 meeting I watched--lentils--it looked so delicious.
11/17/2011
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Quote:
Originally posted by oldman
Now, I am not an "earthy crunchy", which is the term I use for those who eat healthy and/or natural/organic, but I do not like the artificial flavors of fruit extracts, so I don't give it my stamp of approval (not that anyone need or ... more
Sorry, I forgot I don't know how to bake. Again.

Somebody stop me when I do this again, please? It's very humiliating.
11/17/2011
Contributor: Hot 'N Sexy TexasMama Hot 'N Sexy TexasMama
Oooh - yummy.....need to remember to write this one down and attend.
11/17/2011
Contributor: teachmetouchme teachmetouchme
Baking is hard, but it just tastes so good!
11/17/2011
Contributor: Nothere Nothere
Yipee! makes me wish I celebrated thanksgiving
11/17/2011
Contributor: oldman oldman
Quote:
Originally posted by Chilipepper
Sorry, I forgot I don't know how to bake. Again.

Somebody stop me when I do this again, please? It's very humiliating.
I am sure you are a very creative and great baker--I think it was a good starting point and you can take it from there!!!

BUT...if I ever think you have embarrassed yourself, I'll be sure to tell you..so far, nothing to tell you about!!!
11/17/2011
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Quote:
Originally posted by oldman
I am sure you are a very creative and great baker--I think it was a good starting point and you can take it from there!!!

BUT...if I ever think you have embarrassed yourself, I'll be sure to tell you..so far, nothing to tell you about!!!
Thank you for being sweet.

Everyone can attest I make a pretty good wine cake, though.
11/17/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by Chilipepper
Thank you for being sweet.

Everyone can attest I make a pretty good wine cake, though.
Now I'm intrigued. What exactly is a wine cake?
11/17/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Chilipepper
Thank you for being sweet.

Everyone can attest I make a pretty good wine cake, though.
I think you're bringing the wine cake to the party, because I need to learn this too!
11/17/2011
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Your wishes are my command, Antipova and Sam.

The diner I worked at in Montana had a versatile bakery that made everything including pies, cookies, cakes, etc. and can run anywhere from doctored-up mixes to completely from scratch. (About 10% mixes with 90% scratch.)

One of our better sellers was the Wine Cake, a doctored-up mix of sinfully rich ingredients. I don't know who started making it or where they got the recipe, but it became synonymous with the diner around the holidays.

Wine Cake

3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 pkg white cake mix
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp nutmeg
3/4 c vegetable oil
3/4 c wine*
4 eggs

*Suggested wine is the cheap, strong red plonk sold in the glass jugs, preferably a merlot-type

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix sugar and cinnamon together.
Grease or apply cooking spray to inside of bundt pan.
Shake cinnamon-sugar mixture around inside of pan to coat all sides; any leftover should be disposed of.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together (cake mix, pudding mix, nutmeg, oil, wine, and eggs) with mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes.
Pour batter into bundt pan.
Bake in oven for 50 minutes. Check to see if done by toothpick method.
Remove from oven and rest in pan for 10 minutes.
Turn out onto plate and dust with powdered sugar when completely cool.

This cake smells like eggnog while baking. The cinnamon-sugar coating gives it a nice crust, although it can be made without the cinnamon-sugar coating if you prefer a regular cake crust.

There is also a 'non-alcoholic' version that I had personally made (due to my ex-husband being against alcohol in the house, period). Replace the wine with 3/4 cup fresh orange juice and the nutmeg with 1 teaspoon grated orange peel. The orange version is very good with a powdered sugar glaze instead of the sugar dusting.
11/17/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by Chilipepper
Your wishes are my command, Antipova and Sam.

The diner I worked at in Montana had a versatile bakery that made everything including pies, cookies, cakes, etc. and can run anywhere from doctored-up mixes to completely from scratch. (About 10% ... more
That sounds delicious. I will definitely have to try making that this holiday season.
11/17/2011