Thanksgiving

I ended up making Claire's Muffuletta Pinwheels from the Cooking is Medicine blog for our big family feast this Thanksgiving. They may not look that great but they tasted delicious. I think their odd appearance was my fault though. I was in a hurry and not really sure what I was doing. Next time I will make them a little thicker, use a different pan and roll them more tightly and they will be much prettier. The recipe sounded great as it was but I added some sliced salami in with the ham since I've always used salami in my muffaletta sandwiches. It added just the right amount of "zing". This is definitely a recipe we'll be making again!

Muffuletta Pinwheels

2 packs crescent rolls
1 bottle Spanish (green) olives -- (10 oz.)
1 bottle black olives -- (10 oz.)
5 garlic cloves -- minced
a dash garlic powder
1/4 cup olive oil
8 slices deli ham
4 slices provolone cheese
5-cheese Italian blend (optional)
8 slices hard salami (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Chop the all of the olives. Add garlic, garlic powder, and olive oil and mix. Open the crescent rolls and divide into four "rectangles. Press down each rectangle until slightly larger than it started. On one long side place the ham (torn in half). The ham should cover the long side. Take half a slice of cheese and place of the ham. Add salami if using. Spoon some olive salad over the ham and cheese. I didn't measure how much, but if there is too much you'll know; it won't roll! Sprinkle the extra cheese on this if using it. Roll from the stuffed side toward the other. Use a serrated knife to cut the pinwheels. Place in a greased round cake pan (as you would place cinnamon rolls) almost touching. Bake for around 11 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove and enjoy!


The Chocolate Truffle Pie from the Holiday 2007 issue of Kraft food & family Magazine turned out pretty well. It looked nice (and it would have looked a little better if I had thought to take a picture of it before we schlepped it halfway across the county to my aunt's house. Duh!)

I was a little disappointed in it and won't be making it again though. I thought it was too bitter. I'm not a big chocolate fan anyway and then it's gotta be sweet, milk chocolate so in order to eat it I had to have *lots* of whipped cream and even then I was only able to choke down half a piece. My husband didn't care for it either. But apparently it was pretty tasty if you like dark chocolate. My cousin and her daughter loved it and at the end of the day, the pie plate was empty and I didn't have any left to bring home so I really can't complain.

By far, the yummiest thing at Thanksgiving this year were the Banana Bars that my sister and her new husband (a fellow Food Network addict) brought. They were awesome and hopefully they will be sending me the recipe soon so I can blog about them! Hopefully I'll get it in time to try them before I start my New Year's diet! Hint, hint guys if you're out there. The clock's ticking! ;-)


Chocolate Truffle Pie

1-1/4 pkg. (10 squares) Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

1/2 cup whipping cream

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

Preheat oven to 325°F. Place chocolate in large microwaveable bowl. Add whipping cream. Microwave on HIGH 2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended; cool slightly.

Add eggs, sugar and flour; beat with wire whisk until well blended. Pour into lightly greased 9-inch pie plate.

Bake 35 min. or until outer half of pie is puffed and center is slightly soft; cool. Serve topped with the whipped topping.

Size-Wise:

A portion of this special-occasion dessert is all that is needed to provide big chocolate flavor.

Jazz It Up:

To add a decorative powdered sugar garnish, place stencil on top of cooled pie. Use wire mesh sifter to sprinkle powdered sugar evenly over stencil. Carefully remove stencil to reveal the show-stopping garnish on pie.

Make Ahead:

Prepare, bake and cool pie as directed. Cover and freeze up to 1 week. Thaw in refrigerator before serving.