Come Ye Thankful People Come...

Come, ye thankful people, come,

raise the song of harvest home; 

all is safely gathered in, 

ere the winter storms begin. 

God our Maker doth provide 

for our wants to be supplied; 

come to God's own temple, come,

raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God's own field, 

fruit as praise to God we yield; 

wheat and tares together sown 

are to joy or sorrow grown; 

first the blade and then the ear, 

then the full corn shall appear; 

Lord of harvest, grant that we 

wholesome grain and pure may be. 
 

For the Lord our God shall come,

and shall take the harvest home; 

from the field shall in that day 

all offenses purge away, 

giving angels charge at last 

in the fire the tares to cast; 

but the fruitful ears to store 

in the garner evermore. 
 

Even so, Lord, quickly come,

bring thy final harvest home; 
gather thou thy people in, 

free from sorrow, free from sin, 

there, forever purified, 

in thy presence to abide; 

come, with all thine angels, come, 
raise the glorious harvest home.

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving Recipes

Hooray - Thanksgiving is almost here! A time of reflection for all of our blessings and a time to spend together with family making wonderful memories.

We get together with my husband's family on this day and although I don't make the turkey, I enjoy making some of the side dishes.  I love to try new recipes and this year will be no different! I plan to take old favorites and try a different twist on them.  So, here are the dishes I will be making this year:



Cranberry-Apple Cider Sauce
 Ingredients

• 3  cups  apple cider
• 12  ounces  fresh cranberries (about 2 cups)
• 1  cup  packed light brown sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon  cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon  allspice
• Pinch of salt
• 1  medium Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch dice

Preparation

1. In a large saucepan, bring cider to a boil and cook until reduced to 1 cup, about 40 minutes.
2. Combine reduced cider, cranberries, sugar, spices, salt and apple in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Simmer sauce until thickened and cranberries have popped, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes. (Sauce will thicken more when cool.)
Recipe and photo courtesy of allyou.com

Florence Mama’s Candied Yams

Ingredients
3 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced crosswise in 1⁄4-inch-thick rounds
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 cinnamon sticks
1⁄2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 orange, thinly sliced into rounds

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In an ungreased 2-quart baking dish place sweet potato slices, overlapping slightly and covering the dish. In a saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Cook until sugar is dissolved, then add the orange slices. Pour the mixture over the potatoes, covering the entire surface.
Cover the dish tightly with foil. Bake 40 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove foil and bake 20 to 25 minutes more or until top is golden brown. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Makes 8 to 10 servings + leftovers.
*Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence. Photo courtesy of tinygreenmom.com

Maple-Nut Tart

Your Favorite Pie Crust 

2 large eggs
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 F. On lightly floured piece of wax paper or parchment paper, roll dough into 12-inch circle. Carefully fit into 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan, gently lowering dough into bottom and sides of pan without stretching. Roll rolling pin over edge of tart pan to cut off excess dough; set tart shell aside.

In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and salt; whisk in maple syrup. Add nuts, and mix filling to combine. Place tart pan on rimmed baking sheet, and pour in filling. Bake tart until filling is set and crust is slightly golden, 55 to 60 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Remove tart from pan before serving.

Recipe courtesy of Everyday Food

Pumpkin Spice Roll

Ingredients

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar, divided

3/4 cup  flour

1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp.  Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3   eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup  canned pumpkin

1 cup chopped Walnuts

4 oz.  (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened

1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Preparation

HEAT oven to 375°F.
GREASE 15x10x1-inch pan; line with waxed paper. Grease and flour waxed paper. Sprinkle clean towel with 1/4 cup powdered sugar.
MIX flour, spice, baking powder and salt. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl with mixer on high speed until thickened. Add pumpkin; mix well. Add flour mixture; beat just until blended. Spread onto bottom of prepared pan; sprinkle with nuts.
BAKE 15 min. or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately invert cake onto towel; remove pan. Carefully peel off paper. Starting at one short side, roll up cake and towel together. Cool completely on wire rack.
BEAT cream cheese and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in medium bowl with mixer until well blended. Add COOL WHIP; mix well. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour. Unwrap and sprinkle with remaining powdered sugar just before serving.

Recipe courtesy of kraftfoods.com

Linked up at: It's So Very Cheri Party Time
Tuesdays at the Table

Wordless Wednesday - A Trip Down Memory Lane

We have family that lives near San Francisco and on a trip to see them we also gazed upon the Golden Gate bridge - on a clear day!  I took the photos in B&W and Sepia to give them a neat, vintage look.

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Chocolate Fondant Birthday Cake

I have been intrigued for awhile now about decorating a cake with fondant and wondering if it would turn out as pretty as they always look in pictures, etc. Watching a few episodes of Cake Boss on Netflix made it look so easy! So, since I had a birthday coming up for a wonderful sister, I decided to try it out on her cake. She had asked for chocolate mousse, but I had no experience with that, and didn't want it to turn out to be a total flop when others were expecting a tasty birthday treat!  So, she agreed to a chocolate cake with a mousse-like filling.

I used this recipe from Joy of Cooking for Sour Cream Fudge Cake. It is so moist and delicious!

3 oz unsweetened chocolate (I used 60% chocolate)
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
6 tbls unsalted butter, softened (3/4 stick)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 hot water or coffee

Preheat oven to 350. Melt chocolate and set aside.  In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add sour cream and softened butter and beat on high speed for exactly 2 minutes.  Add the melted chocolate, eggs, vanilla and coffee and beat for exactly 2 minutes.  Spread evenly into two floured and greased 8x8 pans or two 9x2 round pans or one 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes for smaller pans or 25 to 30 minutes for 9x13 pan.