Thanksgiving

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Turkey

If you were following our posts on our Facebook page last night you would already know that we are celebrating Thanksgiving here in Canada this weekend. Our family dinner was actually yesterday and I’m still full from all the delicious food that Claudia made. I mean, look at that turkey above! I’m excited for my lunches over the next few days which will consist of all the delicious leftovers.

Cabbage Rolls

It would not be Thanksgiving in our house without Cabbage Rolls. Claudia decided to make an entire roaster full! When I asked her why she made an entire roaster full when she was only cooking for 6 people, she replied “Well, why not?!”. I love my mother! You can find our delicious Cabbage Roll recipe by clicking here!

Gravy

While Claudia and I were preparing dinner, I learned yet another valuable food lesson. She always uses potato water mixed in with the turkey drippings to make her gravy. It gives it a little added flavour rather than using just regular water. Brilliant, right? It blew my mind anyways.

Pumpkin Pie

We finished off the evening with the Claudia’s delicious Pumpkin Pie, and the standard family debate: whether pumpkin pie should be served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I take ice cream every single time. There is nothing better in my opinion.

Whether you are celebrating this weekend, or in a few weeks, Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

Fiery Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians! Today definitely feels like autumn. All the leaves are changed and have fallen on the lawn. We even had our very first snowfall of the season here in Winnipeg a couple days ago. It didn’t stay long – thankfully. Today is windy and rainy and it really made me want to stay inside, keep warm and make a nice hearty soup. Not to mention after all the turkey, cabbage rolls, stuffing and potatoes I ingested this weekend, I needed something light to start off the short work week.

I can confidently say that this soup that I’m featuring is by far the best soup I have ever made. It’s absolutely AMAZING. Rich and packed with so much flavour. The roasted tomatoes and garlic really do make a huge difference. Not to mention, it leaves your house smelling delectable for hours. The side of smoked gruyere cheese toast is also a great compliment to the roasted flavour. I was so happy I made this soup today that I raced to the computer to share it with you tonight. Delicious!

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Butternut Squash Apple Bacon Soup

I love soup. Especially in autumn. When I was given fresh garden butternut squash and leeks this Thanksgiving weekend, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. I searched for inspiration on the perfect butternut squash soup. I combined my favourite elements from three recipes online and ended up creating this recipe. It’s savoury with a little hint of sweet from the cinnamon and nutmeg. Perfect flavours of autumn.

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Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes

Ever since the I got back from vacation a week ago I can’t stop thinking about pumpkin. Maybe it’s the cooler weather or the leaves changing red, yellow and orange. It could also be the fact that Starbucks is now serving their delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte that has made me obsessed with making anything and everything pumpkin.

Since I have featured 2 of my absolute favourite pumpkin recipes with you already – Pumpkin Scones and Claudia’s Pumpkin Pie – I had to find a new recipe that me and Claudia enjoyed enough to share. Enter Silvana Nardone from Every Day with Rachel Ray and her Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes. Because there is cream cheese baked inside, these are probably one of the richest cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. And they are absolutely, positively delicious! If you want a substitute for pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheesecake this Thanksgiving, these babies are by far your best bet. Your family and friends will love you for it.

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Pumpkin Pie

With Canadian Thanksgiving coming up this weekend, we decided it was a perfect opportunity to share Claudia’s special pumpkin pie recipe.

Now, there is a furious debate in our household on whether or not pumpkin pie should be eaten warmed up with vanilla ice cream or with whip cream. Now, when I say in our “household” I mean it’s a debate between my immediate family (i.e. my brother, Claudia, my Dad and me)  against the newcomers – my boyfriend and my brother’s girlfriend. My family feels that anything other than vanilla ice cream on pumpkin pie is simply absurd. The newcomers (and apparently everybody poled on our Facebook fan page) think otherwise. I still stand by my ice cream opinion.

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