Canberry Sauce>Turkeys other best friend

When I think of  the Thanksgiving Feast there are all those delicious traditional dishes that can be found on most all holiday tables. Then there is the RED gelatinous cylindrical blob on a plate usually dressed up with a leaf of lettuce for a bed, it is the dreaded Cranberry sauce. I grew up thinking that is what cranberry sauce was supposed to be and gave my mom praise for carving those decorative  rings around its exterior, once a year she would develop Ninja Knife skills to impress the crowd. Sound familiar?

My first experience with whole berry cranberry sauce came in my early 20's. I was stationed in San Diego unable to get leave to be home (Some body has to mind the store) I ate my Thanksgiving meal in the Officers Club. Part of the condiments on the table where a whole berry cranberry sauce. Mom got a phone call not long after that and we had a good laugh about her Ninja skills and how I must seek out therapy because I was deprived as a child.

Thanksgiving is such a great time with amazing food and I hate the thought of only having this incredible dinning experience only once a year so I celebrate it twice the traditional and again in July. Although the menu is built around the summer turkey is the protein of choice. Have you ever tried to find cranberries in July in Texas? So I needed to find a solution. Little did I know this would become THEE cranberry sauce for all my turkey dinners. So easy and very good it, it is one of those recipes that give maximum bang for the buck with ingredients that can be picked up in any grocery store any time of the year. Enjoy!

Perp time: 10 min                                cooking time: 30 min                   yield: 2 1/2cups


Ingresdients:

1 med granny smith apple
2 cups cranberry juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1 6oz pkg dried cranberries
Juice of 1/2 a lime: about 1 1/2 tbl spoons
1 tsp corn starch and 1 tsp cranberry juice, mixed
pinch of salt

Directions:

Core peal and  finely dice 1/2 of the apple.
Put a high sided skillet over med heat pour in the cranberry juice, lime juice, apple and the spices. Bring to a simmer and add the berries and sugar.

 Simmer 20 min until the berries plump up and the sauce thickens

.
Stir in the corn starch and cranberry slurry simmer for 3 min remove from heat and transfer to a bowl and refrigerate uncovered till cool.

Chocolate Eclair Desert> Skinny Food; really!

I found this recipe on a cooking site some time ago I cut and pasted it into a word document and saved it. So if you are the original poster Thank you !
As I have stated before I am a self diagnosed Doughnut Junkie. You wave a Chocolate Eclair in front of me and I guarantee I will be "your new best friend". After all I ask you what is better than fried sweet dough filled with vanilla pastry cream and covered in chocolate icing.May be two, one for each hand! 
 With the holidays fast approaching it seems as everybody gets stressed with more on the ToDo list then there are hours in the day. Coupled with the trend toward heavy comfort food in the cooler weather and shorter days.  You can get to feeling a little guilty when it is time for desert and so many sweet treats tempting you. So the thought of a rich Chocolate Eclair while tempting may make the little person with the Halo that whispers in your ear say "No don't eat that!" But what if you could with no guilt? Interested??
Enter the Chocolate Eclair desert, Now this is not the original recipe That I have living in my hard drive recipe file. I Lightened it up but you would never no it.
Easy and  to prepare with off the shelf items that you could probably find in a convenience store. It is so good that folks will think you spent hours preparing it, while you smile keeping the little secret that it is a low calorie/fat desert. They will never now. Enjoy!

Perp time: 10 min                           Refrigerator time: 2 hrs min

Tools: 13x 9 " pan


Ingredients:

1 box Graham crackers
2 boxes sugarfree French vanilla pudding
2 cups Shim milk                                       
1 tub sugar free Chocolate fudge frosting


Directuons:

Mix the two boxes of pudding with the two cups of Skim Milk ( I know the box says 2 cups per box) We are making pastry cream not pudding.

Open the grahams and lay a layer on the bottom of the  of the *pan

 Spread 1/2 of the pudding/pastry cream over the grahams then follow with another layer of grahams. Change
the direction of the layer. It makes for neater slices.

Cover this layer with the other 1/2 of the pastry cream and top with another layer of grahams


Remove the plastic lid from the Frosting and the safety seal. Microwave 30 sec on high give it a srir and heat 20 sec more.

Pour the Frosting from the tub over the top layer of grahams evenly smooth it out with the back of a spoon.  Cover the pan plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours minimum over night is better.

* the pan in the picture is 8X8 I made a half batch.

BBQ Meatballs

I Know what your thinking "these are those little gut bombs that I had at the last what ever party from the wholesale place." WHOA not so fast! I promise you these are not even close to those dreaded frozen in the bag ho hum marbles. These are are the food of the BBQ gods. Tender and  moist packing big time flavor. I think of them as BBQ Crack, one bite and your hooked . This is big time comfort food that at home on the plate with some mashed potatoes or Mac & Cheese that will chase the Blues away.

The thing I like about these is their versatility, I have baked them in the oven, smoked them in my wood fired BBQ Pit, and slow cooked in the Crock pot. What ever route you decide to go you will be richly rewarded.
The first time I had these was at a potluck supper. I passed on them at first but my date that night was adventurous and insisted I have a taste, to say I was pleasantly surprised is to understate the Happy Dance my taste buds where preforming. I was on a mission and left that evening with the recipe. I was amazed by it's simplicity and surprisingly few ingredients. Over time I Tried a few things, small changes here and there and have developed this into a real show stopper. Enjoy!

Perp time: 40 min                        cook time : 2 1/2 hrs             Yield 2 dzn

Tools: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, small bowl, wax paper

Ingredients:

Meatballs

1 1/2 lb Ground chuck 80/20
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp lemon pepper
3 tbl finely diced onion
2 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp powdered mustard
2 tbl lt brown sugar
1tsp ground ginger

BBQ Sauce:

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water.
2 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1 tbl lemon pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp onion powder
2 good dashes Louisiana hot sauce
2 tbl grape jam
1/3 cup water

Directions:

Break up the ground chuck in a mixing bowl  add the dry spices, Worcestershire, oats and milk mix to combine. place the meat in the freezer for 15 min to firm up.

In a sauce pan over medium heat combine the ingredients for the BBQ sauce except for the water and simmer for 15-20 min. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Heat the largest skillet you have over med low heat with 2 tbl of vegetable oil.
Remove the meat from the freezer roll approximately 2 tbl spoons of the meat into a ball ( the mix will be tacky a light touch is required) and drop into the small bowl of all-purpose flour  to coat then place on the wax paper.

Brown the meatballs on all sides to firm the exterior.

If you are going to cook these in the oven place then in a 13x 9" baking dish  add the 1/2 cup water to the BBQ sauce give it a quick stir and pour over the meatballs, place the meatballs in your oven and set it to 225 deg and bake uncovered 2 - 2 1/2 hours.

If you will be using a Crock Pot put the browned meatballs in the crock, prepare the sauce like above cook on low 4 hrs or high for 2-1/2 hrs lay a wooden spoon across the crock at 1 end raising the lid to allow the sauce to thicken.

If you are going to do these in a smoker put the meatballs in a disposable aluminum pan NO sauce! Run the smoker at 225- 240 for 1 1/2 hours then add the sauce with only 1/4 cup of water. Continue to smoke
for 45 min to an hour.