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Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

February 12, 2020 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

The season for peppermint crunchy topped chocolate cookies may have passed…no wait, it hasn’t.

While traditionally a this is considered a Christmas peppermint cookie, I dare to say these little darlings can still find a place in February. The smart marketing people of the world determined that pre crushed peppermint candies make this possible. Starlight mints (I think that’s what they used to be called) are available year round as well, so if the combination of chocolate and peppermint makes your heart flutter, this cookie is for you.

There is something to be said about the way mint complements the dark chocolate, red and white are for sure in with Valentine’s theme, and no one will say no to cookies. Unless your sweetheart is one of those not into sweets people. I know they are out there.

My return to writing the blog has been slow, and I am going to ease myself back in, but this recipe was too nice to wait for my thoughts to get lofty to blog about. I switched up Broma Bakery’s recipe to include dark chocolate chips instead of white, mine are drizzled instead of dipped, but the essence of the recipe is the same and they get all of the credit. I also bake my cookies at 325* because that is what I do. I like a cookie with no brown on the bottom, a soft chewy cookie that is just ever so slightly under-baked and left to continue cooking on the cookie sheet tends to make perfection for my taste. If you are a 350* baker, watch the cookies so they don’t overcook while baking!

Hopefully this new year has brought all good things, and this cookie recipe will find you with happy hearts.

I hope you enjoy it, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

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This dark chocolate peppermint cookie is drizzled with white chocolate and crushed peppermints…perfect for the holidays and for your favorite minty valentine. Original recipe found on Broma Bakery’s website. Their cookies use white chocolate chips and are dipped in additional white chocolate. I used dark chocolate chips and drizzle…but the options are limitless.

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 Cup Butter at room temperature
1 Cup packed Dark Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg at room temperature
3/4 Cup Flour
1/3 Cup Dark Cocoa Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract
1 Bag Dark Chocolate Chips
7 ounces White Chocolate
1 Teaspoon Coconut oil or Crisco
1/2 Cup Crushed Peppermint Candies

Instructions

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in Egg and Peppermint Extract.
Sift together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add dry ingredients carefully into butter mixture, until combined.
Fold in Chocolate Chips.
Scoop dough into balls and chill dough (I do this with almost every cookie dough I make- it isn’t necessary but I like the way the cookies turn out after the dough has been chilled).
Preheat oven to 325*, prepare cookie sheet with parchment or silicone mats.
Place chilled dough balls on the cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.
Allow cookies to come to room temperature.
Combine white chocolate and crisco or coconut oil over a double boiler or microwave and stir gently until melted.
Drizzle white chocolate over cookies and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies while chocolate is still soft.

Cherry Crescent Moon Cookies and Finding the Joy

February 11, 2020 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Welcome 2020 a little bit late…I have been busy being a mom. Like, full on seeing the light at the end of the tunnel momming. Not that I haven’t always been a mom, or that things have ever been really quiet in our world.

With one child in college and the other a junior in high school, we are ending the days of carpooling and chauffeuring, of planning calendars for who needs to be where and when, and what does the future hold? Looking for colleges, choosing majors, making decisions for an uncharted path. But I find myself with the knowledge that unfortunately age has granted along with my laugh lines. It’s all about the journey, it’s all about finding the joy.

I have told my children in their endeavors to choose what is next, that you have to love what you do. Not every day, but most days. I have also told them that no one at nineteen maps out what the future holds. Almost no one in my life is living Plan A. It just isn’t a thing. We choose something and then life hands us something else, and we grow, and change, and become something better. So choose the path that gives you joy.

I am not sure that this is the advice of the wealthy. I am not sure that this is the advice you would give your children, but it is the advice I am giving mine. Now, that being said, there is a no-stagnating rule in my home. You are not allowed to just sit and do nothing. You will either go to school or work, or both. You will move forward in one capacity or another, but you will move. Choose wisely, but be flexible, life has a plan of handing you options. My father used to say, “Keep moving forward. As long as you keep moving forward, you’ll be ok.”

So, to this cookie; Which is a little bit about the journey, and a little bit about joy.

This is a cookie my Pennsylvania family makes. Now, that family could be an ex-family, but they aren’t. They could be a removed family as a result of divorce and sad circumstances. They aren’t…and that is by choice. By them as well as me. I am thankful for it. I say this because sometimes, in choosing joy, you choose to do the thing that other people don’t get or understand. Sometimes though, grace and love choose the better thing. The different path. It shapes you, if you let it…and then you find joy when you didn’t expect it. Oh, and a cookie.

This cookie is a soft, pillowy cream cheese dough filled with either cherry preserves or the good old pie filling, then drizzled with an almond glaze and sprinkled with sliced almonds.

They are delicious.

They are little pockets of joy.

They take a little extra time in that you have to make the dough and chill it. Then you have to roll it out, cut into circles, spoon a little cherry filling, then press together. You can use a fork to seal the edges or pinch with your fingers…then there is the post baking decorating that is extra…but oh so worth it. Cherry and almonds and soft dough, oh my.

And, this momma is trying to find her way back to the thing that brings her joy, which is writing. The cooking and baking has continued, but the writing has been stuffed back in the corner of my brain with the cobwebs, and it’s taken me a month to do what a writing professor once said, “Put your Butt in the Chair” and write (Thank you Jane Yolen). I still plan on momming full time/over time, but somewhere, I am hoping to catch up on the blogging and post more. That is the 2020 creative intention, anyway.

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon and cool weather still in the forecast…I highly recommend these tasty little cookies for your loved one. You will not be disappointed. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give you all the Norma Jane warning…”Watch out, the cherries may have pits!”

Find the joy my darlings.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and as always, thank you for coming to the table.

Chrissy

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Cherry Crescent Moon Cookies

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Cherry filled and drizzled with almond glaze, these light cream cheese pastry cookies are the perfect combination of sweet and tart.

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

1 cup butter, softened
1 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cherry preserves
2 egg whites
¾ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 – 2 tablespoon water
¼ cup sliced almonds

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in the 1 teaspoon almond extract until combined. Beat in the flour until dough comes together. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill dough about 1 1/2 hours or until easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside. On a lightly floured surface roll half the dough at a time to 1/8 inch thick. Using a scalloped-edge 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out dough. Place rounds 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.

3. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon cherry preserves onto one side of each round; spread to 1/4 inch from the edge. Fold dough rounds in half, enclosing preserves; press edges with the tines of a fork to seal. Whisk egg whites until frothy; brush cookies lightly with egg whites. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until cookies are light brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

4. In a small bowl stir together powdered sugar, the 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and enough of the water to make an icing of drizzling consistency. Drizzle cookies with icing. Sprinkle with almonds. Let stand until icing is set.

And Then There Were Fluffernutter Bars…

May 27, 2019 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

I’m going to make this post quick. It’s Memorial Day, most of you are heading somewhere to eat at someone’s cookout if you didn’t already, and time’s a wasting. Get to baking.

The Fluffernutter is the quintessential New England sandwich, made with peanut butter, and Fluff (not marshmallow creme, and yes, there is a difference). I am not saying it is the most nutritious food item to put in a lunchbox for your kid, but I do know anyone raised in Massachusetts knows what it is…and likes it. If you were lucky you got it on soft white bread, and maybe even got the crusts cut off.

Tuck those Peanut Butter Cups into their bed of Cookie Dough

Fast forward to now: My bread is typically sprouted grain. My peanut butter is natural. Oh, but there is a brand new container of Fluff in the cabinet at all times. For you know, life emergencies. Some days a woman needs to stand in her kitchen with a spoonful of fluff and giver her dog the stink eye because she is not sharing.

To the recipe: the original recipe is from soccer mom.com. When a friend sends you a Pinterest posted recipe and you have a cookout to be the next day, you try it. I am glad I did. I am also glad I fiddled with the proportions and made MORE. I am also glad I left them at the campsite where our cookout was because they are like a siren song to me. All good.

This recipe is a basic peanut butter dough with chocolate chunks, divided into two parts. Press one part on the bottom of a pan and add FULL SIZED Peanut butter cups. Add Fluff! Add more dough! Bake and leave to cool. Sound simple? It is. Do people need to know this deliciousness wasn’t an all day process? No. You can keep that little secret to yourself.

If you were one of us who embraced sugary marshmallow and peanut butter, loves peanut butter cups, or just needs to feel like a gooey dessert is essential for a cookout, you have met your match. I hope you make these. Today.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe

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Fluffer Nutter Bars

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This delicious creation of peanut butter, peanut butter cups, and fluff originally was posted on thesoccermomblog.com. I changed the proportions to make a larger batch. You will not be disapointed!

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

1 Cup Butter
2/3 Cup Plain Peanut Butter (I used Creamy Jif)
12 Unwrapped FULL SIZED Peanut Butter Cups
2 Cups packed Dark Brown Sugar
2 large Eggs
2 generous teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 bag Nestle Chocolate Chunks
1/2 Container Marshmallow Fluff

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350* and prepare a 9×13″ baking pan by lining it with parchment paper.
in a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add peanut butter and combine. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to combine until uniform.
Add flour until mixed in, fold in chocolate chunks (I just add mine while the mixer is running on low)
Divide dough into 2/3 and 1/3.
Press 2/3 of dough into prepared pan. Distribute Peanut butter cups evenly into dough.
Cover peanut butter cups with Marshmallow Fluff, smooth to create an even layer.
Break apart remaining dough and cover the mixture. Press down.
Bake in 350* oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown, do not overcook.
Leave bars in pan until cool (they will continue to cook in the pan and you want this!)
Pull bars out of pan with edges of parchment paper and slice!
These will keep in an airtight container for a few days…but they won’t last that long!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

April 17, 2019 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

I know in the new year a lot of us make resolutions to do this or that. Some of those resolutions we keep, and some…well…let’s just say we get points for trying.

Muffins, even healthy muffins, still seem like an indulgent thing. So when I spy a recipe for a healthier muffin I of course am going to investigate. This muffin incorporates greek style yogurt, coconut oil and sugar, and in the original recipe on the www.bakerbynature.com website (which is gorgeous) whole wheat flour. I substituted bread flour, and I like the substantial chocolate chunks as well as the dusting of cookie or decorating sugar on top of muffins…which makes them less healthy…but still yummy.

I used bananas I had previously frozen, and let them defrost. I only used the banana itself not the thawed juice of the mix. (If you have ever frozen a ripe banana and then thawed it, you know what I mean). If you use a fresh ripe banana this won’t be an issue. I didn’t notice any difference in quality by using a frozen banana…and actually the combination of bread flour with the yogurt and baking powder gave these muffins a lift that was light and cake even though banana muffins are typically dense.

This is pretty much a one-bowl recipe, I melted the coconut oil and set it aside to cool a bit before adding it to the mix. There is just enough cinnamon to offset the chocolate and banana flavors. The muffins bake up rounded and puffy, they are sweet without being overly so. They are delicious warm out of the oven, and the next day. I froze half of the batch and they thawed out fine.

I am a big fan of a healthier anything, and if a muffin looks and tastes this good with the healthy substitutions it has, it’s a winner in my book.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click on the link below for a printable recipe.

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Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

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These banana muffins incorporate healthier ingredients such as yogurt and coconut oil, bananas and honey. Original recipe from www.bakerbynature.com

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com original recipe posted by Ashley Manila on the bakerbynature website

Ingredients

Scale

1 Cup mashed banana
3/4 Cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 Cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 Cup honey
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3 Tablespoons coconut sugar
1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon salt
3 Teaspoons baking powder
2 Cups flour *original recipe called for whole wheat, I used bread flour.
1 Cup chocolate chunks
Decorating sugar for tops of muffins (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375*
Line muffin tins with liners and set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Combine mashed bananas, greek style yogurt, eggs, honey, and sugar until completely incorporated.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Add melted coconut oil and combine.
Fold in chocolate chunks until just combined.
Scoop batter into lined muffin tins, filling each almost full.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until muffins are puffed, light golden brown, and a tester comes out clean.

Grandma’s Angootie/Ungootie (Easter Bread)

April 16, 2019 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

This post is about a year in the making. Partially because I wanted more research on this recipe prior to sharing…and partially because I haven’t found the answers I was looking for. For example…

What is the real name of this bread?

How do you really spell its name? This is phonetically spelled I am sure.

Where did this recipe originate?

Which recipe is the right recipe?

The answers to those questions? There are many answers. This is a recipe my Grandmother made, that she learned from her mother in law (my Great Grandmother). The recipe varies and regardless of researching “Italian Easter Bread” in old Italian church cookbooks, online resources, etc…I am coming up empty handed.

Actually, I come up with an abundance of information…just not my specific answers. Every region in Italy has a variation of this bread. It can be covered with glaze, sugar, colored eggs, plain eggs, sprinkles, no sprinkles. It is named with a list of names, but I could not find one the way our bread is named. (It is pronounced UN-GOO-TEE). But, I didn’t find it anywhere other than in the family recipes. I have learned that Easter Bread is Easter Bread. It usually is sweet, enriched with some sort of butter, oil, or shortening. It typically holds one or multiple eggs, and is served as a part of Easter weekend.

I do, have the recipe from family three sources, each slightly different, but I am going to use the one my own Grandma used. It is also a tradition to make it on Good Friday. I figure empty/over handed or not, I don’t want to wait another year to post this recipe. If my readers can add to the story, or fill in the blanks, I will update this post as I go.

This bread starts out with melting Crisco in boiling water, then allowing it to cool. Milk is added, along with a large quantity of flour and sugar. This bread can be baked into larger loaves, or, as I remember them, smaller individual loaves.

Once the dough is risen, it is rolled and shaped around an egg. Our recipe does not call for coloring the eggs, but I can see the attraction. It’s pretty with the colored eggs, and while I am at it, the glaze and sprinkles make it not only sweeter but a decorative bread. This recipe is pretty basic when it comes to decoration, but it is a tradition I can’t imagine letting go. Even though carbs are my enemy. Even though sweet bread is in essence, a dessert. It is the kind of bread I rip a hunk off of, and it can be served with coffee or tea, eaten for breakfast, etc. It doesn’t need butter or preserves. It is a complete taste in and of itself.

When I was little, this bread was a part of Easter weekend, as we helped my Grandma with the making of the bread, and Easter dinner was served with each place setting having a bread. (I am not sure if this was just one time or every time…but it is distinctly imbedded in my brain, seeing the little breads at the table).

I never knew “Nona” or the stories around this bread. I just know it was something my Grandmother, along with second cousins, and other family members carry on as a tradition of family and food. I can be a part of that, and continue it on for another generation.

Now the egg. It is baked in the oven, and apparently has the same consistency of a hard boiled egg but better. I have never eaten it. At our house, my Father would always eat the egg the day the bread was made. I can very clearly see him taking a hunk of bread, the egg, and a cup of coffee to his space at the table. I didn’t eat the egg when I was little because Dad always did, and there was only one egg. Now I don’t, only because the bread is out on the counter and not refrigerated…and for some reason the egg is still in my heart, the part my Dad would eat. It’s a heart thing for me.

I am thankful for memories of my family, and for traditions that were part of my childhood, such as this bread. It makes me smile, the idea of my Grandmother being in my kitchen with me as I make the breads. I’d like to think she would be happy they are still being served. I wish I knew Nona, she seemed like quite a lady. I am glad she was willing to share the recipe with her daughter in law, so we could have it with us today.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe.

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Grandma’s Angootie/Ungootie (Easter Bread)

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This is the Easter Bread I grew up with. As I have researched, there are many variations, even within my own family! I love that nothing is specifically measured, but it usually turns out as a sweet bread. I don’t eat the egg and we have never died the egg or put a glaze on it, but both of those additions sound wonderful!

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

5 Pound Bag of Gold Medal Flour (I have used other kinds of flour but this is the recipe my grandmother gave me).
3 Packages Dry Active Yeast – Check the date
3 Good heapings salt (we use salt to taste now)
2 to 2 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1– 1 1/2 Pound Crisco (we use 1 pound now)
1 1/2 Quarts Boiling Water
1/2 Quart Milk

Instructions

Boil water and add Crisco, allow it to melt.
Add milk and allow mixture to cool to tepid temperature.
Mix flour, salt and sugar.
Make a well in your flour and add cooled crisco mixture.
Add yeast in and knead.
Let rise in a warm place, cover with a damp towel.
When the dough has risen, knead until silky, cut and shape into form (form is a round shape surrounding a raw egg).
Place on baking sheet, cover with a damp towel and allow to rise a second time.
Brush with beaten egg yolk.
Bake at 365*-375* approximately 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Easy Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

April 14, 2019 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Lemon, you belong in my life. Easy lemon recipe? Game on. This recipe could pass for either a breakfast treat or a dessert, depending on the time of day you choose to serve it…if that even matters. Basically it is a light, cream cheese batter zingy with lemon zest and juice, with a flaky pre-made crescent dough top and bottom. As in, the hardest part of this recipe is the pat pat pat of stretching out the dough you popped out of a can, and blending the cream cheese part.

While your cream cheese filling is in the mixer, press your crescent roll dough in the bottom of a parchment lined pan (you can skip the parchment but I like to be able to slice/serve and it makes it so much easier).

Smooth the cream cheese mixture over the dough, then cover with another layer of crescent dough.

I wasn’t super careful about the making sure the top was sealed together, because you end up brushing the dough with butter and sprinkling with sugar and additional lemon zest, which…covers the mistakes.

This simple, light, lemony dessert is the perfect addition to any spring table, bringing a sweet, tangy, creamy, pastry combination to your meal.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Easy Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

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These delicious Lemon Cream Cheese Bars combine the sweet cream cheese lemon layer sandwiched in between crescent dough. Very much like a danish, this easy recipe is light and tangy and sweet.

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

2 containers of refrigerated Crescent Roll Dough (8 ounces)
2 packages of Cream Cheese (8 ounces)
2 Lemons, Zested and juiced (I used more lemon zest because I like it)
1/2 Cup White Sugar
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
3 Additional Tablespoons White Sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350*
Line the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
Take one container of crescent roll dough and press into pan (try to keep it as one whole piece-rectangle)
Mix cream cheese, sugar, zest, and juice together until smooth and creamy.
Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the bottom layer of crescent roll.
Unroll the second container of crescent roll dough and carefully stretch over the lemon cream cheese layer.
Brush melted butter on top of crescent dough top.
Mix remaining sugar (3 tablespoons) and additional lemon zest together and sprinkle on top of the butter.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the sugar/butter mixture is crackly.
Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to cut into bars.
When cool, use the parchment paper to lift the bars out the pan, and transfer to cutting board.
Cut into squares and serve.

Sparking Joy and Not Letting Go

February 23, 2019 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

I’ve been in a Marie Kondo state since January. In fact, that’s the verb I use…I’m MarieKondoing my house. LOL. True story. Clothes, books (yes the books), kitchen stuff, basement stuff. It’s been going and it needs to still keep going. We’ve only been in this house for six years. How do people end up with so much stuff…I don’t know. But, I am combating it in the present tense as I purge and donate the stuff from the past. As long as I am working the process, I am ok. and just to be clear, my house isn’t messy.

Typically when I leave my home for work it is “Norma Ready.” That means, should my mother feel the need to stop by or come inside when she is helping me with rides for my daughter…she will not feel compelled to do anything. It is already done. Tell me I am not alone in this. I know I am not alone in this. My sisters in life confess the same madness. I will never be one of those people who can sleep with dishes in the sink. There is clutter, but essentially, everything has a home. I like clean counters, clean floors. The person who owned my home before me put bisque colored tile as the kitchen floor. It is my nemesis. But I will save that for a later post.

It’s gotten me thinking, all of this asking “Does it spark joy?” about other areas of my life. Sometimes with the stuff, we can decide rather easily.

Sometimes, with relationships, with memories, not so much.

I am just over the cusp of mid forty.

What “sparks joy?” for real?

If you take a few minutes to sit down with yourself (which, believe me, is hard. I know. I get it…) you may see some blatantly obvious things that don’t have a place in your life. Not anymore.

I think it’s more than ok to say, “This, right here…does not make me happy.” To look that crap right in the face and say, “Yeah, you need to go.”

Regret.

Mistakes.

Apologies you didn’t get.

Approval you didn’t get.

Paths you shouldn’t have gone down.

Paths you should have, and yet you didn’t for some reason.

Toxic relationships. Not limited to people (no I don’t mean my obsession with Rice Krispy Treats…back off).

Just the stuff that weighs us down.

These Crocus are the first to show up every year. They are right by my Mom’s back door.

Lately, in conjunction with “Does it spark Joy?” I am asking, “Would I want my kids to think this about themselves/struggle with this?” and that’s where the line is drawn. If I wouldn’t want my babies to mentally struggle with it, I don’t deserve to either. If I wouldn’t want someone or thing in their life that causes them pain, why should I allow it in my own?

Big thoughts. Big actions. Cue the big scary.

Change is HARD. Changing a mindset is HARD. Living a life with joy should not be. So I ask, what sparks your joy?

The reason I am writing…it’s not a big deal in the big picture…but it is, to me.

As I have mentioned, my dad passed away after his battle with cancer almost five years ago. His camera has been in my closet. The newly clean and organized and downsized closet. The camera that was hidden behind stuff. On purpose.

Cliff loved his toys. Whenever my dad got a hobby, he was all in. Fly fishing? Check. Golf? check, Art? Check. Photography? Check.

My dad has lenses and filters and books on photography that I am seriously working through to understand. I’ve been taking pictures since my first real camera three decades ago and I am still trying to understand all of the toys in his camera bag.

While sorting through said camera bag, I found a smaller point and shoot he had stashed in a side pocket and just this morning I looked at the pictures.

Flowers. Flowers. Flowers. My best friend’s wedding. My family. More flowers. Less than 100 pictures between two cameras and I find that my photos, are very very similar to the ones my father took. Mine are closer up and more in your face, but the subject matter…its the same. My family, my flowers, my great loves, including the food I create. I didn’t know. The things that spark my joy, sparked his joy too.

I think, there are things we need to let go. But, there are things we need to cling to with everything we have inside of us. The beautiful parts of this life that literally, cause us to glow inside.

Find those things.

Let the other stuff yell it’s way, tear it’s way, cry it’s way, chunk it’s way, fluff it’s way, or slink it’s way out of your life. Can we dare to live a life like that?

My son is not happy when I take pictures of the everyday life. He’s playing guitar with his best friend. My two kids are on the couch trying to see who can push each other’s legs farther…people laughing at the table. This morning I caught a glimpse of my son and the dog curled up together and if I didn’t restrain myself, it would be digitally captured because stuff like that fills my heart. That’s where I want to live.

I know as I write there is heartache. I know there is sickness and disease and wrong in the world that is undeserved. I know there is sorrow. I think we all own our share. But it shouldn’t define us. It’ll leave scars but it won’t detract from who we are.

Anyway, on this Saturday morning when the sun is reflecting off the snow and I am knee deep in chores I am making time to do two things: Write, and celebrate the thread that I didn’t really know I had with my dad who I miss every single day. My heart is grateful. Ever so grateful.

Sending you love, strength, and joy today. Thank you for coming to the table.

Chrissy

Mary’s (Sort of) Apple Cake

February 19, 2019 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

This past year we were blessed at our school with the best intern anyone could ask for. When you work in a team, you count yourself lucky when every one who comes to the table (figuratively) is a contributing member.

In the world of primary education, we wear a lot of hats. We aren’t just teachers, we are so much more…but more on that in another post. You have to jump in with both feet and hit the ground running a lot of the time. You get a lot of great stories, and loving children is a gift in itself, but it’s like the ocean; you don’t turn your back on it.

When a new member joins the team, there is always that time period where you lean in and wonder if it is going to work. Then, you have someone like Mary who just fits right in, right away. Mary not only was kind, but also always did more than was expected, got the job done, and just grafted right into our school family (she is actually a first grade teacher in our building this year). Oh! and she shared this cake…which I then stole the recipe and made myself.

This recipe is the quintessential apple cake. Loaded with chunks of crisp apple and surrounded with cinnamon cake-y goodness, it is not only for autumn when the apples are abundant. I actually made this recipe in the spring, when the final snows were melting and it was time for the freshness of strawberries. To commit to a fall-is recipe when you can dream of sunshine and fresh berries says something!

This cake is one of those recipes that could be served for dessert, but is just as wonderful for breakfast with a cup of your favorite warm beverage. It is sweet, but in a naturally apple-y way.

The original recipe is from Burdick Orchards of New Hartford, Connecticut. Some differences between the original and my changes…

The original called for for more than a cup of oil, which I reduced by reducing the amount and adding applesauce to make up the difference. It also calls for sliced apples and for the cake to be baked in a rectangular baking pan. I changed up the recipe a bit, adding more apples, tweaking the oil; I also baked my cake in a bundt pan and chunked my apples for more texture.

This cake is so moist and flavorful, it doesn’t require a glaze or frosting. It doesn’t even need a dusting of confectioner’s sugar…though any of those would work. I loved that this versatile cake celebrates one of the best parts of New England, the season of apple picking. Yet, it can be made year round.

Just like our Mary, when you encounter something so precious, you tuck it away in your heart and are thankful the universe brings it to you.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Thank you Mary for sharing! And as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Love,

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe.

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Mary’s (Sort of) Apple Cake

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This delicious, apple and cinnamony cake brings together all of the wonders of fall, although truth be told, the first time I made this was spring! Original recipe is from Burdick’s Orchard, with some alterations by myself.

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

3 well-beaten Eggs
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup unsweetened Applesauce
2 Cups of Sugar
3 Cups AP Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
3 Teaspoons Cinnamon
4 Cups chopped Apples
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts (if desired)
2 Teaspoons Vanilla

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325*
Prepare either a Bundt Pan or a 8 X 12″ pan with non stick spray.
Combine Eggs, Vegetable Oil, Apple Sauce, and Sugar and Vanilla.
Sift together Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon.
Add Flour mixture to Egg mixture.
Add Chopped Apple, and Nuts (if desired).
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 325*
Bake for 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
Serve plain or with whipped, sour, or vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin Bread (Super Moist)

December 4, 2018 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

If for some reason you are not a fan of pie during the holidays, never fear, the world is filled with this fall-ish deliciousness. I have been whipping up pumpkin protein smoothies and muffins, and this spectacular bread made from the Key Ingredient Recipes website. This makes three full loaves or six smaller loaves, should you wish to share.

What I love about this bread is that it is super moist. As in, stays that way for a few days. It is fully cooked but somehow doesn’t dry out and get crumbly. I’m a fan. Another bonus is that even though I was reticent to add as many spices as the recipe called for, I followed the recipe to the letter and found it was just enough without being too much. I always consider myself heavy-handed in the spice department, but for some reason I shy away from cloves. Cloves seem to be a heavyweight and a bossy pants when added to a recipe. In this recipe, clove reigns supreme. It is enough to bring out the fall-ish celebration that is pumpkin bread.

And wait…did I mention it is EASY? As in one bowl throw together mix and pour into pans easy? It is. I know the directions say to add the dry ingredients at once, but I mixed my wet ingredients and moved from small to large in dry quantities (I ended with the flour) and did it all in one bowl. I have done this more than once, it has not impacted the quality of the bread. It is still delicious.

This bread freezes nicely, and the recipe makes enough to share. It’s perfect with a cup of coffee or tea, it is perfection still warm from the oven. I will tinker with the recipe to add less sugar, and maybe even a cream cheese swirl because, hello, cream cheese and pumpkin.

I am so thankful for the holidays and for a time to gather with the family you are born into and the family you are grafted into. The people you love and hold close to your heart. I am for sure adding this amazing bread recipe to my table.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe!

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Pumpkin Bread (Super Moist)

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This recipe from Key Ingredient Recipes is an amazing moist pumpkin bread full of flavor!

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

3 Cups Sugar
3 1/3 Cups Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
½ Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 ½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
4 Whole Eggs
15 Ounces *1 Can Pumpkin
1 Cup Oil
1 Cup Water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350*
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside.
Combine eggs, oil, water, pumpkin in another bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once.
Mix well, prepare three 9×4 or six 3×5 bread pans.
Bake at 350* for 45 minutes -an hour (when knife or toothpick comes out clean).

Harvest Salad

November 7, 2018 by chrissy@mythankfultable.com

I have embraced all that is butternut squash of late. Bake it and make it into soup, roast it as a side dish, or use it in this autumnal salad.

I have not loved kale, however, ever. But chop it up, use it as a base with some delicious ingredients, and use a little lemon dressing…I find, I look forward to my kale-based lunch. No, seriously, I am slowly falling in love with this vegetable. (Does anyone else think of the chard solicitation in the Farmer’s Market episode of Parks and Recreation? No?) Well, maybe I’m falling in like with this vegetable…

This salad is a full-course meal in that it incorporates a lot of vegetables, quinoa (I like tricolored for the visual) and crunchy apples, cranberries, and creamy goat cheese. It is also sort of weight watcher’s friendly as it is veggie based and if you only use a little cheese/cranberries you get a solid meal for not a lot of points.

The beauty of this kind of salad is it is interchangeable. As in, you don’t like dried cranberries or goat cheese you can eliminate or swap them out. You don’t have quinoa but have farro on hand, same deal. You make the meal unique in what makes you happy and is available in your pantry.

For this recipe, I cubed up butternut squash, tossed it in a little maple syrup and olive oil, roasted it up for an hour or so (Think glorious orange cubes of tastiness). While that is happening, I am first cooking a quinoa in a little butter on the stove top, then adding chicken stock to cook. In my research, I read that browning the quinoa adds depth of flavor and “sets” the protein. While I like quinoa as is, even cooked in water, I definitely like the flavors of the butter and the stock. (Again, you do you). Meanwhile I am tearing up kale, dicing apple, red peppers, and even this time, raw thin asparagus stalks, and getting ready to combine.

I have made this where I do the squash and quinoa the night before, and assemble the rest the next day, and I have made it when the quinoa is still slightly warm when assembling. Both turn out great. I also like that in a land of meal prepping on Sunday, this salad holds up, unlike the regular lettuce or baby spinach salad, which can’t really be made too many days in advance (nothing is worse than the smell of spinach turning…blah).

For the dressing, I combined lemon juice, olive oil (I used blood orange olive oil but any will do), salt, pepper, and a little bit of maple syrup (can also leave it out). I shake it up in a mason jar and keep it on hand for when it’s time to serve. I am not a fan of pre-dressed salad, but you could certainly dress the salad prior to serving and it will hold up.

If you are like myself in that you try to pack healthy lunches ahead of time and stay on track during the day (I won’t pack the halloween candy so I can’t be tempted and then around two I am asking myself why…) this is a salad for you. If you don’t love kale, this is the salad for you. My children aren’t fans but I make it anyway. It’s a recipe for Chrissy. And we need those in our lives. Recipes that make us healthier and stronger and happier, right?

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe.

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Harvest Salad

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Other options of this delicious fall salad could include chopped raw asparagus, pecans or walnuts (raw or roasted) or any additional seasonal vegetable/fruit. It is hearty, healthy, and versatile!

Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

1 Butternut Squash, Cubed
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
2 Tablespoons Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 Cup Tri-Color Quinoa
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 Diced Granny Smith Apple
½ Cups Craisins (Dried Cranberries)
1 Diced Red Pepper
2 Cups Kale, Washed and Chopped
2 Ounces Crumbled Goat Cheese

Dressing:

1/3 Cup Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
Lemon Zest

Instructions

Toss Butternut Squash Cubes in maple syrup and oil, season with salt and pepper.
Spread out Squash on a sheet pan and bake for 375* until roasted. (45-60 Minutes).
In a pan, melt butter and add quinoa, stirring until slightly toasted.
Add Two cups chicken broth and simmer until quinoa is cooked.
Wash and roughly chop Kale, add remaining ingredients to the salad and toss.
Combine dressing ingredients and add to salad (I put mine in a mason jar on the side).