21 November 2007

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a blessed, safe and happy Thanksgiving. I will be busy cooking today. We aren't having Thanksgiving here, but are going to my husband's aunt's about 15 minutes away. I am bringing three pies, so have some baking to do. My son is going to help me, so it should be a good time...messy, but good!

One of my French silk pie recipes is at the end (from a very old recipe in the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Not at all like the French silk pies you get in the store that are more like chocolate cream, this is very light and I'm always asked to bring it. Of course, I'm bringing a pumpkin pie too!

This year, aside from being thankful for my family, friends, health and faith, I am thankful for our Holy Father. He's doing a great job.


THANKSGIVING 7 UPS
(sent to me by a friend)

1. Wake up
Decide to have a good day.
'This is the day the Lord hath made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.'
Psalms 118:24


2. Dress Up
The best way to dress up is to put on a smile.
A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.'
I Samuel 16:7


3. Shut Up
Say nice things and learn to listen.
God gave us two ears and one mouth,
so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking.
'He who guards his lips guards his soul.'
Proverbs 13:3


4. Stand Up
...for what you believe in.
Stand for something or you will fall for anything.
'Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time,
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good...'
Galatians 6:9-10


5. Look Up
...to the Lord.
'I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me'.
Philippians 4:13


6. Reach Up
...for something higher.
'Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not unto your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.'
Proverbs 3:5-6


7. Lift Up
...your Prayers.
'Do not worry about anything; instead
PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.'
Philippians 4:6

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Arboretum Tea Room French Silk Pie
Crust:
¼ cup melted butter
1 cup crushed vanilla wafers, about 30
½ cup pecans, finely chopped

Filling:
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

For crust, combine ¼ cup melted butter, vanilla wafers and pecans. Reserve ¼ cup of mixture. Press remaining mixture firmly and evenly against the bottom and sides of greased 9-inch pie pan. Bake crust and reserved crumbs (place in a small pan) in 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. Watch carefully; crumbs burn easily.

For filling, melt chocolate and let cool. Cream 1 cup butter and sugar. Add cooled chocolate. Add eggs to filling, 1 at a time and beating 5 minutes after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Turn into prepared pie shell. Sprinkle top of pie with reserved toasted crumbs. Freeze until ready to serve. Top with dollops of whipped cream, if desired.

9 comments:

Vincenzo said...

"Arboretum Tea Room French Silk Pie"

Ooooh that looks good! I'm baking a pumpkin pie today :-D~. Happy Thanksgiving Swissmiss!

swissmiss said...

Vincenzo:
It is BEYOND good!! I should really make two, since I don't really get to eat any (except for scraping the bowl) because everyone always claim a piece as soon as I walk in the door. There are some purists however, who want pumpkin. Ya have to have pumpkin!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Vincenzo said...

"I should really make two, since I don't really get to eat any (except for scraping the bowl) because everyone always claim a piece as soon as I walk in the door."

LOL that's just not right. YEAH I'll have to make that Silk Pie soon. It sounds much better than pumpkin right now. And I have a monster Kitchenaid Mixer that's still in the box that I need to try out.

swissmiss said...

The Kitchen Aid is perfect for this since you have to beat the eggs individually for five minutes each (which makes the filling almost like a heavy meringue instead of a cream). I usually do most things just by hand, but dig out my Kitchen Aid each year for this. It's also easier to let my son drop the eggs in and turn it on then to do this by hand and get it everywhere! Not to mention kill myself in the process!

Vincenzo said...

"I usually do most things just by hand, but dig out my Kitchen Aid each year for this."

I get away with doing most things by hand too. I tried a cool trick mentioned in a cookie recipe that I made recently. Everything (including cream cheese, butter, flour, etc.) went into a huge ziploc bag and I mooshed it for a while. Much less mess & cleanup.

I made cheddar-dill-beer bread yesterday. It was awesome.

swissmiss said...

Sounds like you do a lot of cooking! Was the bread by hand or bread machine? I got a book on "Jesuit bread making" or something like that last Christmas and have been wanting to make bread. There is a class at Cooks of Crocus Hill around here that I hope to take in February that teaches you how to make a bunch of breads from scratch.

I've entered my Irish beer bread in the State Fair competitions and never won anything :( Beer bread has a hard time competing against other ethnic breads that are light and flaky since my soda bread is made with Guinness and is as heavy as a rock! Hubby likes it though!

Vincenzo said...

That sounds good! This was a non-yeast bread so it was easy, by hand. Here it is. I added several garlic cloves and some more herbs (basil, oregano). I might try to make it with parmigiano reggiano instead of sharp cheddar next time.

Michele said...

happy thanksgiving to all my american readers and swiss miss's readers! God bless you!

Unknown said...

Well anytime you guys invite me over for Thanksgiving and Christmas, pumpkin pie will be the order of the day (but SwissM., you could hold a hefty slice of your French Silk recipe for me to take home.

Happy Thanksgiving (belatedly to Divine Mercy) to all.