My Story

Cranberry Pecan Streusel Crunch Pie

Cranberry Pecan Streusel Crunch Pie

I am a New England girl. I am more specifically a Massachusetts girl. Give me my glorious western mass mountains, rotaries, the turnpike, the cape, the fact that I can be in Vermont in an hour, and all the glory that goes with the Patriots, the Celtics, the Bruins, and the Red Sox. Ok, so I am not a big sports fans, but I can name key players and read a twitter feed to follow games, so who is any wiser? (Oh wait, just shared that on my blog…)

Cranberries

Cranberries!

Something that every New Englander can hopefully know is the harvesting of a cranberry bog. These little power houses of antioxidants are amazing in their chambered, floating figures of bright red goodness. It is a fall tradition, to flood the bogs, set those babies free, and corral them into their futures as cranberry juice, cranberry sauce, Craisins, and of course, to be sold as is in the stores.

Cranberries, Orange Zest and Sugar

Cranberries, Orange Zest and Sugar

If you are not from New England, in the world of YouTube and other internet wonders, you too can witness a cranberry harvest, but there is nothing like actually being there. It’s cooler weather, the leaves are starting to turn, cider and cider donuts are happening, typically there is a festival one weekend, and you think to yourself, “Hey, we are known for this! This is a very cool New England thing.”

Does everybody love the cranberry? No. Some people like it with their booze (Hello Cape Codder), some people like it for health reasons. I’m just a fan. Thus, this pie for the holidays.

Look at how pretty they are. All nestled in sugar and with orange peel.

Cranberry Pie Filling

Cranberries Pie Filling

This pie is so beautiful color wise, and it is paired with a pecan oat streusel that is just sweet enough and just crunchy enough to balance the tart of the cranberries. The original recipe is found on the www.smittenkitchen.com website.

The filling is partially cooked on the stovetop, and the combination of the pectin in the cranberries with the cornstarch make for a tight filling that packs a punch flavor wise. It is not cranberry sauce in a pie crust at all.

The streusel crust combines oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and is pulverized to make a crumbly but consistent texture. I processed mine quickly so the little bits of pecan and oats were identifiable without being dominant. This may, in fact, be my new favorite streusel topping. I may just try this on top of muffins or crisps in the near future.

Cranberry Pie

Cranberry Pie

After the cranberry filling is partially cooked and the streusel is prepped, it is as easy as assembling the layers and popping it in the oven.

You know when you have to wait for something special and you wait and wait and wait? I got these pie crust punch cutters in my Christmas stocking last year and have waited all this time to use them.

I made an extra pie crust just for the decorative edges on this year’s pies and was I ever happy. I rolled the pie crust into the pie plate, and instead of pinching the edges, I cut and attached the pretty leaves on the outside rim.

 

Cranberry Pecan Streusel Pie

Cranberry Pecan Streusel Crunch Pie

Of all the pies this past holiday held, this was the one I chose for dessert. Just enough tart and sweet, crunch and chew, and balance between the flaky pie crust, crumble of the streusel, and consistency of the cranberries. Topped with a dollop of fresh homemade whipped cream, I was a happy girl.

There seems to be a common thread in my life these days of balance, between the sweet and the not so sweet, the blessings and the sorrow, and the fine line to keep solid between the two.

In this daily journey, I am thankful for the sweeter side of things, for the smell of cinnamon and the beautiful colors around me. I am thankful to live in a part of the world where every fall the mountains burst with colors, and the cranberry bogs fill with tiny chambered floating fruit, bobbing along their flooded homes to make their way into this special dessert for my family.

Every day is a gift.

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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Cranberry Pecan Streusel Crunch Pie

Print Recipe

This pie combines the jewel like color and tart flavor of cranberries, orange zest with a pecan oat streusel topping. It is a perfect balance of tart and sweet, crunchy and chewy and flaky!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 Unbaked Pie Crust

Cranberry Filling:

  • 4 1/2 Cups of Fresh Cranberries (original recipe said you can use frozen- I did not).
  • 1 Cup White Granulated Sugar
  • Orange Zest from one Orange OR 2 Clementines (I like the taste of orange and cranberry so I add more)
  • 1/8 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Tablespoon of Cornstarch

Streusel Topping:

  • 2/3 Cup Rolled Oats
  • 1/2 Cup Flour
  • 1/3 Cup White Granulated Sugar
  • 1/3 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/4 Teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 Cup Pecan Pieces
  • 6 Tablespoons Butter, melted and cooled

 

Instructions

For Cranberry Filling

  1. Combine cranberries, orange zest, sugar, cornstarch, salt in a saucepan over medium heat and begin to cook. Some of the cranberries will pop or leak juices, which is perfect. Continue to stir and cook for approximately 5-7 minutes. Allow filling to cool slightly. (I waited about 10-12 minutes).
  2. Pour cooled filling into pie shell.

For Streusel Topping:

  1. Using a food processor, grind oats and pecans for a coarse grind, add additional ingredients except butter. Pulse processor to combine all streusel ingredients.
  2. Combine Streusel ingredients with melted and cooled butter until crumbled in texture.
  3. Sprinkle topping over cranberry filling.

Bake pie for 50 minutes or more or until the cranberry filling is bubbling up through the streusel topping. If pie crust begins to brown too much while filling is cooking, cover edges of pie with foil to protect from burning.

 

Notes

While cooking this pie, I erred on the side of longer, waiting for the cranberry filling to really bubble up through the streusel topping. It did mean my cooking time was longer, but the result was worth the wait. The cranberries cooked down but retained their consistency, the crumble topping browned nicely, and it was all over a beautiful pie to cut into!

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Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

I wish I could tell you that I do everything right the first time. That, without flaw, I tackle projects, and recipes, and parenting, and life in general with the best possible attitude and right mindset. I don’t.

I know the right thing to do, and I even do the right thing a lot of the time, but sometimes…there is that nagging, grumpy feeling that just plain honestly feels good to indulge in.

I recently asked my good friend how it is even physically possible for me to live in this “totally blessed” mindset (Which I do). And simultaneously live in a “grumpy” mindset. (Which sometimes, I do).

Please don’t miss the excessive lemon zest. My bad.

I have a very thin filter, and at this point in my life I am kind of transparent about how I feel on things. I just don’t have the time to fake it. Life is too short. I am not talking about slaying someone over something minuscule. Big picture stuff.

If I disagree, you know.

The best advice I ever got about the holidays and divorce was from my bestie (the ricotta maker), who said, “We all navigate the holidays Chrissy, even the married people.”  That is true. We all decide to go to where and what are we bringing and when. Or, we choose to order in and stay on the couch in quiet. We navigate. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes, not so easy. Gratitude and Grumpy.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie with Lattice Crust

Which brings me to this pie. Salted Caramel Apple. Granny Smith and Macoun Apples. Lemon Zest. Salted Caramel. Flaky Crust. This pie is beautiful and I am not even an apple pie lover.

I did make the Salted Caramel and yes, it is spectacular. The apples did not mush and get runny.

The lattice was sprinkled with cookie sugar and my son, who says very little says, “I don’t know how you do this. That is really pretty.” Cue the mom tears.

So imagine my surprise when my daughter bites into it and says, “It’s kinda tangy.” “Good tangy? Sour? Bad? I mean, does the caramel balance it out?” (this is Thanksgiving and my pie is bad)?

“No mom, it’s really good, just tangy.” Lemon zest. you sneaky devil. You are the grumpy to my blessed life. So true confession? I added more lemon zest than the recipe called for. I like lemon zest. Oh well. But, it did get me thinking. It was the zing of the zest that made the pie tangy.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Life lesson, once in a while it’s ok to have a little grumpy with your gratitude. To say, “I am tired and may not want to do this thing.” or,

“You know what, I baked pies all day and I am not cooking supper because I am getting up tomorrow at the crack to drive.” or,

“Is this holiday going to be ok, now that some major parts of our lives are different?”

Which is the heart of this holiday for my kids.

It’s ok to feel a little sad or a little tangy. It’s not good to wallow in it. But to feel it? Yeah, that’s ok.

This Thanksgiving was wonderful, and cherished; and, it was sad. Which is fitting. A lot of people who grieve during the holidays have the additional emotions that they too have to navigate.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

It doesn’t mean that it’s easy. It’s got a little zing. You can love the people you are with and miss the people you aren’t. You can cry when you wash the holiday dishes and think, “he/she should be here.”  It’s all a part of it.

I personally loved the tang of the extra lemon zest, and when you top the pie with salted caramel, it balances out really well. Like life. You get a little zing to balance the sweet. I used a combination of Granny Smith and Macoun apples- and the amount of flour in the mix with the apples prevented the apples from getting runny and soft. (Not a fan of apple soup in my pie crust).

I will do my best to get the salted caramel recipe up asap, as it is used in the pie as well as for topping. (The finished picture was actually my daughter’s Thanksgiving dessert). This pie, originally from www.sallysbakingaddiction.com is simply beautiful and delicious. I use my own pie crust recipe (yes, I actually make pie crust on the holidays…) but the lattice I brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with decorating sugar, like the original recipe calls for.

Although our Thanksgiving was a “first” in many ways, the mix of bitter-sweet made the holiday. We loved on family, sat with friends, and said goodbye to some parts of who we used to be. Life is a gift. Thankful hearts, both blessed and grumpy, are still thankful. And hey, nobody wants a super sweet apple pie, anyway. That’s all about balance. Big hug friends!

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

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe.

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Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Print Recipe

Delicious chunks of apple with lemon zest and salted caramel. Original recipe from www.sallysbakingaddiction.com

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale
  • Two pie crusts (lattice is optional but you will want two)
  • homemade salted caramel sauce (I made mine but you can use purchased caramel- I won’t tell)
  • 10–12 Cups Peeled and Sliced Apples -I used four Granny Smith and three Macoun. I kept my apple slices relatively 1/2 in slice- not super thin and not super chunky. Every apple pie lover likes their apples a certain way- you do you!
  • 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons Fresh Lemon Zest. (I used at least 2 tablespoons. I zested the whole lemon)
  • 1/4 Cup fresh Lemon Juice (I used the juice from the lemon I zested)
  • 1/4 Cup flour
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg (I used my microplane and ran the nutmeg over it a few times)
  • 1 and 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

Egg Wash:

  • 1 Egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon Water or Milk
  • Decorating Sugar for sprinkling on top pie crust after egg wash

Instructions

  1. Place apple slices in a bowl with lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and spices. Toss to combine.
  2. Roll out pie crust and place dough in pie dish.
  3. Fill pie dish with apple mixture. This will be a fairly large mountain of apples, but that’s what we are going for. Drizzle 1/2 Cup of Salted Caramel mixture over apples. (So pretty).
  4. Cover apples with remaining pie crust.
  5. For Lattice- measure and cut out strips of pie crust dough with a pastry cutter or knife (I use an old tortellini cutter – it has a rippled edge that I like and it is about a million years old).
  6. I start my lattice by securing one side of strips to the pie, then weaving the second side over and under the established strips. Then trip excess crust dough and pinch edges for a pretty finish.
  7. Brush with egg wash, then sprinkle decorative sugar.
  8. Bake in a 400* oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes. When baking pie, don’t wander to far, you want to watch your crusts to make sure they don’t get too brown. You can tent your edges with foil if crust is getting browner than you would prefer.
  9. Allow Pie to cool. Drizzle additional Salted Caramel over each slice when serving.

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Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Squares

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Bars

I know, I placed a teaser picture on my Facebook page and then made everybody wait because I was too busy being a mom and a daughter and a teacher and a multitasking human who didn’t actually get anything right last week. Cue the tears. Ok, maybe no tears. I think I put myself in time out last week maybe three times. People, one minute for every year adds up to a nice little segment of time to decompress. Or put away clean laundry. You decide.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Bars

 

Anyway… This is an absolute frankendessert of goodness. Oh. My. Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Bars. As in…make a chocolate chip brownie like bottom and then top it with the pecan pie filling and bake.

On the edges, the pecan pie absorbs into the cookie layer. on the inside, it remains that gooey, Karo

Chocolate Chip Layer

syrupy nutty amazing ness that is all things pecan pie.

You don’t like pecan pie? We need to talk. Unless you have an allergy, it could be a deal breaker in our friendship. Like country music, or not returning one of my books (you know who you are).

This recipe is actually pretty easy to prepare, you mix your cookie dough in  the mixer, and then as it bakes, you mix your pecan pie topping.

It bakes in two sessions, and the ingredients are a little higher end (I know, pecans are expensive) but if you want to impress a crowd, this is your dessert.

Chocolate Chip Layer

This is also a large dessert. This recipe fills a 9×13 pan, to the top. I lined my pan with parchment, making it easier to lift out after baking, easier to cut into bars, and saving me a lot of time with pecan stickiness on the pan after baking.

This dessert is so beautiful.

This was one of two desserts I made for the last of the pumpkin carving parties. Nothing says hello Halloween like a fire, friends, food, and more food.

Pecan Pie Layer

We have been lucky enough to be invited for several years, and it is hard to believe our kids are seniors this year. Sigh. We have transitioned to it being all about the pumpkins, to all about the hanging out. Party food needs to also be portable, so these bars work nicely. They don’t need a fork like pecan pie does. You will, however, need a napkin.

I did mention that these bars had to go to school the next day?

I can’t be trusted with anything this lovely. My school peeps are so worthy of great love, and desserts.

The original recipe is from www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com. I did alter the recipe, par for the course, changing the brown sugar, the vanilla extract, and the amount of chocolate chips.

One thing I would mention is- really watch towards the end of the baking time. I actually cooked these a little longer because I wanted to make sure the topping set. In doing so, I think the color of the base layer was more brown and caramelish than intended.

Once the bars have baked, allow them to cool completely. Remove from pan, and slice into squares.

Because this is a richer dessert, the squares don’t need to be large, but I like a hearty portion, so this made enough squares for the party, to share at school, and still manage a portion to live on my countertop calling out to me.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Bars

In this season of thankfulness and abundance, this dessert just seems perfection to me. It’s a Thanksgiving treat, and my heart is always looking for another reason to be thankful.

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

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe.

 

Print

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Squares

Print Recipe

Chocolate Chip and Pecan Pie come together to make delicious bar dessert. Original recipe is from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen (Amazing Food Blog!) I changed a few of the measurements and the amounts of sugars.

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

Cookie Layer:

  • 1 Cup Softened Margarine
  • 1/2 Cup White Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 1/4 Cup Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 12 Ounce Package of Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate Chips

Pecan Layer:

  • 4 Eggs
  • 1 1/2 Cups Corn Syrup (I used light)
  • 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup White Granulated Sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons Melted Margarine, slightly cooled
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2–3 Cups Pecan pieces (I used a blend of pieces and halves- the halves add to the visual)

Instructions

  1. Line a 9 x 13 Baking Pan with Parchment Paper and spray with cooking spray.
  2. preheat oven to 350*
  3. For cookie layer: In a mixer, combine margarine and sugars until creamed and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs and vanilla, mix until combined.
  5. Slowly add flour and baking soda to the mix.
  6. Fold in chocolate chips of choice.
  7. Press batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Your outer edges will appear more cooked (golden brown) than the inner portion.

Pean Layer:

  • While cookie portion is baking, combine eggs, sugars, corn syrup, vanilla, melted margarine and whisk until thoroughly combined.
  • Stir in pecans, combining and coating the pecans in mixture.
  • Carefully pour pecan layer over cookie layer and return to the oven.
  • Bake for an additional 25-35 minutes until the pecan layer is set (only a little jiggle) and golden brown. Your kitchen will smell amazing at this point!!!
  • Remove for oven and cool on countertop. Place in refrigerator to cool before slicing.
  • Remove liner and slice into squares.

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On Three Year Anniversaries, Being Kind, and Baked Potatoes

When you lose someone a love, even if you have time to prepare, you are never ready.

My Father, the Storyteller

You can heart wrenchingly try to imagine a world without them, do everything in your power to cling to every moment; embrace all of the goodness life has to hold with them in it. But in the end, you have lost someone…and in return find yourself lost.

And this was when you have had the time to prepare.

When my father was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, even with a top notch battle plan, the odds were not ever truly in his favor. It was a year filled with appointments, medications, cutting back on social stuff, trying to maintain normalcy, and being ever so positive.

It was treating every day like a gift.

And when suddenly, swiftly, he was rushed to the emergency room…and then an ICU; Those final hours were a lifetime and a nanosecond, a breath, a vapor, and an eternity.

You are never ready.

Me and Dad

Three years later and even now it’s hard to write about. Three years later and my brain is starting to piece back the events that happened in that window of time. Physician’s words, nurses who worked with my father during his career at the hospital stopping in to check on him. Being cold, and having some kind person give my mother and I blankets. People to keep my children safe and fed while we spend two long days in the intensive care unit.

My brother, making it home just in time.

There are just some days you need to stop, and let your mind roll through the waves and memories so you can find yourself again. So you can say, “yes, this thing was real, and happened. This sad, awful journey happened.” Let it shape you. Leave its mark on your heart.

When I was younger, my father dabbled in fly fishing. Very “A River Runs Through It.” Ten and Two O’ Clock (if you never read the book, you may not get that reference).  He had a fly tying station, and even went to Orvis to build his own rod.

Dad's Fly Fishing Gear

Dad’s Fly Fishing Gear

I picked these up yesterday.

And everything is fresh again.

Why the anniversary of my father’s passing and my children’s father’s passing is back to back, I do not know, but I know my role in each is leader. Leader of

a home, leader of my family, leader in the journey of being fatherless but being anchored all the same. I hold the lantern on the path of grieving. I hold the hand and try to be more…always more than I am.

My point in all this is to say, I do cook and bake all of the time, we have an abundance of recipe trials and rotation of suppers, home cooked beautiful meals and time around the table, because my father believed in family dinners. If you were late, you were in trouble. Even as an adult, with children of my own, people know I would hustle for Cliff’s family dinner.

But some days, you need to be kind to yourself. It’s ok to bake potatoes and put out an assortment of toppings, maybe even pan sear some broccoli and call it supper. It’s ok to eat a salad and a bowl of soup, a grilled cheese sandwich, or a bowl of cereal, and call it family dinner. It’s ok to cut up cheese and fruit and crackers and call it snack plate supper. Or make pancakes. Or yogurt, or chicken nuggets on a sheet pan. Nutritional needs are met and bellies are full.

It’s OK.

It’s OK to say, “Today, it is too hard to cook, too hard to do more than I am doing.”

I remember every fruit basket, muffin container, soup bowl, Shepherd’s Pie, sandwich tray that was brought to our door. We didn’t ask for food but it was there. People stopped over and hugged us and loved us and fed us. That is a gift. Kindness is a gift. Gathering together as a community-big or small is a gift.

 

When someone is grieving, there is never any kind thing that another does that goes unnoticed.

If you don’t know what to do for a family who is suffering, do any kind thing.

Kind isn’t something people push away or get angry over. Even the small stuff, the things you think won’t matter, matter.

In our town this week, we have suffered an unthinkable and unexpected tragedy- the kind that makes you hug your children closer. The kind that makes you wonder how the human heart can go on.

Blue balloons throughout my hometown symbolize a life a a precious boy who is no longer with us. As a community, we do the small things together to make the big hurt less.

We ask ourselves, “How can I help share this burden?” 

We rally. We act.

We do go on, even shattered, in spite of loss.

The posts have been sparse this week, and I will get back to my banging out of treats and recipes. I will.

But this past week for me has been one where I am kind to myself, kind to my kids, kind to my Momma. Where I choose to sit with my daughter on the couch, or teach her to make scrunchies (they are back, did you know that?), or watch my son hit the punching bag, or eat the soup that was supposed to be for library cook book club but I forgot to plug the crock pot in, or go to my mom’s to get my father’s fishing stuff.

We walk on this earth, and every day is a gift.

Every. Day. A. Gift.

So, my recipe for you today at my thankful table, is this:

1 Cup of Kindness

1 Cup of Patience

1 Cup of Helpfulness

1 Cup of Seeing a Need

1 Cup of Meeting the Need

1 Overflowing Cup of Love

1 Cup of Healing

1 Cup of Grace

1 Cup of Mercy

1 Cup of Understanding

1 Overflowing Cup of Gratitude

1 Cup of Empathy

1 Cup of Resilience

1 Cup of Past Heartache that Made You Stronger

1 Cup of Wildfire

1 Cup of Sass

1 Strong Backbone

1 Big Heart

2 Willing Hands

1 Cup of Strength

1 Cup of Rest

Mix it together, and you have yourself one remarkably amazing human. This is you, friend. This is you.

I hope you enjoy this post today, and I thank you, truly, for coming to the table.

Much love,

Chrissy

 

 

On Divorce, Loss, and Beef Stroganoff

Browning Beef for Stroganoff

Do you ever associate certain recipes with a special someone? Like my mother’s meatballs, or her oatmeal raisin cookies, I am sure you too have recipes that belong to someone.

As in, you don’t really make them ever because, that is their thing, and they do it so well you don’t even attempt it?

That’s how it is with Beef Stroganoff; this was his recipe.

When you are involved in a divorce, no matter how hard you try, it’s complicated, and messy.

Even under the best of circumstances. Add a few states in between and an issue of addiction, there are very few things that are easy. There were some ugly and dark parts. I wasn’t always the nicest version of myself. I own that.

I did, however recognize and encourage the value of relationship between my children and their father. I knew in my heart that he loved them even when he couldn’t get out of his own way. And love them he did.

To draw a line between your way and his way and move forward, recognizing that this requires you to step back. Focusing on your children, and their relationship with their dad is non-stop-in-your-head battle. It’s a reminder that no, this isn’t about you. It’s about them.

Beef Stroganoff

You counterweight as much as you can and buffer as well. You become strong and keep your mouth shut as much as possible and take the phone outside when you don’t see eye to eye. When stuff goes wrong, and it did go wrong, you do what you need to do to be bigger, stronger, and not lose your positivity.

It’s such a dance. It’s like dancing on glass and looking good doing it. That broken glass dance is exhausting.

My kid’s Dad loved to cook. It was a common language we had, we cooked for the people we loved. We cooked for each other. He was an off-trail skier and an off-recipe cook, and he made it look easy. On one of our first real dates, he taught me how to fry an egg. And that was that.

So, of course in the break up, he kept his Kitchen Aid, I kept the Williams Sonoma Baking Pans, and he kept the Stroganoff recipe.

That’s the unrealistic and semi-humorous version.

I vaguely remember trying to make this when the kids and I first moved into our home, and it being an epic fail. I never made it again.

Then came the phone call one night, and suddenly, unexpectedly, he is gone. Forever.

You think about the last phone conversation when you said, “I love you.” and meant it. Your last texts where he tells you that you are an amazing mother, and you tell him how much the kids love him and need him. You invited him to the Easter table to share a holiday dinner with his family.

And those are the last words you say to each other.

The last words, thank God, were kind and filled with grace, and you are given this gift of ending things, on a good note. So many conversations that could have been our last were not, but this one was.

He told his son he was proud, he told his daughter he loved her.

And then he was gone.

So on the six month anniversary, when your son asks you to make Beef Stroganoff, you research every recipe and pray it comes out better than the epic fail from a few years before.

As if your entire happiness rests on this one meal.

Your son even goes to the grocery store with you to buy the ingredients, and reads the list to you so you don’t forget anything.

And you cook as if your whole heart is in it. Because, really, it’s what your kids remember, and its a good thing…you don’t want to mess it up. You pull out the crockpot to make sure the meat is tender. You add Cream of Mushroom Soup to the recipe to make sure the sauce is the right consistency. You hang out in the kitchen to watch over it. You and your memories.

The kitchen is where you do your therapy anyways.

Beef Stroganoff

So, you make the meal, and all of heaven makes sure that it comes out just right. You sit with your children, a threesome who have weathered quite a bit in the last decade, and you remember.

You think to yourself, maybe he might even have liked it, even though you know he would have added something else. That’s just what he did.

For once in your family, even the leftovers are eaten.

So many times I call my table “My Thankful Table,” because that’s where my heart lives. I have chosen to be thankful. In all things.

But for this one meal, with these two amazing children, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude.

For all we had, and all we lost, and all that the future will hold.

Until we meet again.

Thank you for coming to the table,

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe

Print

Beef Stroganoff

Print Recipe
  • 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
  • 3 Tbsp Butter
  • 1.5 Lbs Cab Stew Meat
  • .75 Lbs Cab Chuck Stew Meat
  • 8 Ounces White Mushrooms, sliced or quartered
  • 8 Ounces Baby Bella/Crimini Mushroom, sliced or quartered
  • 2 Tablespoons A1 Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
  • 16-24 Ounces of Beef Broth
  • 2 Large Sweet Onions, chopped into good sized chunks
  • 1 large package of egg noodles of choice (we went with wide)
  • 2 Cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
  • 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 Cup Sour Cream
  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

  1. Saute garlic and butter in pan until tender
  2. Add stew meat and brown, turning frequently to get a nice color but not to cook.
  3. Add stew meat to crock pot along with onions, mushrooms, broth, and seasonings.
  4. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or until meat is cooked, onions are tender.
  5. Add Cream of mushroom soup and Sour Cream and mix thoroughly.
  6. Cook for an additional 30 minutes to bring to temperature.
  7. On the stovetop, cook Egg Noodles in water until cooked. Drain and serve.
  8. Top Egg Noodles with a hearty scoop of Stroganoff mixture.
  9. With a thankful heart, enjoy.

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