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The GREAT Holiday Recipe Collection
Re-runs are on TV. Re-runs are on this blog… it’s a “slow news day” as it were, and since Thanksgiving is coming up, why not create a “best of” recipes blog? It’ll be your one stop shop!
An all vegetarian, mostly vegan recipes list for your holiday get-togethers. Great for Thanksgiving, Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Eid ul-Fitr عيد الفطر, Christmas, or the also popular Xmas…
Here are some of my favorite recipe creations (dreamt up here)…
- S’mores Pouches – super fun, not too difficult, I’m really proud of this creation…
- Chantrelle & Gruyere Quiche – I also made it with a Cheetos crust, but don’t feel as if you have to follow suit…
- Jalapeno Brie Poppers – Great served with a blueberry compote!
- Taco Scones – How could something so easy and so delicious never have been conceived of before? These are flippin’ brilliant (and versatile for substitutions). Have some salsa, guacamole or sour cream on hand for dippin’…
- Savory Feta & Kalamata Pound Cake – I took an olive oil poundcake recipe and “Greek’d” it up. It’s a fave!
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Cocktail paired with…
Grilled Mac & Cheese Sandwiches – This was one of my favorite, unique recipes. It took some time to test (oh no, I have to taste test vodka again!?). The pairing with the grilled mac & cheese sandwiches worked really well. The peanut vodka is too late to start for Thanksgiving, but I’d recommend trying it!
Here are some classics… they’d go great for your holiday noshing…
- Mushroom Dumpling Stew – brilliant for the cold rainy fall!
- Vegan Biscuits & Mushroom Gravy – I could eat this year ’round, any meal!
- Framboise Cranberry Relish – Easy, but almost a waste of beer. Delightful – no lie!
- Cute Olive Penguins – I wish I had thought of this… I did make ’em though… super cute…
- Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake – super easy, and pretty quick (outside of the chill time).
- Pumpkin-infused Vodka Cocktail – A little too late to start for this year, but outside of time letting it sit, it’s pretty easy.
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls – Very time consuming, but oh-so-delicious!
- Bleu Cheese Buttermilk Biscuits – Sort of my own creation, but enough of a staple to include down here. I took a biscuit recipe and added about a cup of bleu cheese to the dough. I’m making these again for Thanksgiving 2011…
- Avocado Fries – I heard about these from Punchy, bassist from one of my favorite bands. They’re super decadent. The avocado fries are, too.
Desserts…
- Vegan Chocolate Pudding – I couldn’t believe how smooth & rich it was…
- Spiced Biscotti – with or without fruit – a really flexible recipe.
- Blueberry Muffin Bread Pudding – I don’t really like bread pudding. But I looooove blueberry muffins.
Raw Vegan Pies – apple & strawberry pies from Jónsi & Alex’s raw cookbook. The crusts are the big takeaway here… super awesome raw pie crusts!
- Raw Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake – The secret ingredient is elementary school kids’ hopes & dreams. Tastes as expected… awesome!
- Carl Sagan’s Simple Apple Pie – you must first create the universe…
Back to the normal music blogging shortly… have a great Thanksgiving holiday!
RECIPE: Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake
A little belated, but for the Gonzalo Bergara Quartet house concert, there was a potluck element, and I brought…
Pumpkin Cheesecake
…
Makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 (8 ounce) cream cheese containers
there are good vegan options, like Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese - 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 small pie pumpkin (roasted) or 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, all-spice, nutmeg mixture)
- 1 graham cracker crust – prepared or homemade
- optional: whipped topping
Steps: prep time ~10 minutes, cook/cool time varies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Beat cream cheese until soft. Add in sugar, and continue mixing.
- Add in pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.
- Pour into prepared crust, and bake for 35-40 minutes until soft but still set in the center.
- Let cool for 1 hour, then refrigerate for 3+ hours.
Since the above recipe is fairly remedial ( but still delicious), if you want to “fancy” it up… here’s a great, more complicated recipe with a ginger-pecan crust and sugared pumpkin seeds! Hat-tip to Panda le Chef for passing on that fancier recipe (I’ll have to try it soon).
This is a mainly music-based blog. If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes at THIS LINK.
~Dan – Peter Mulvey & David Goodrich – Nine Days Wonder
RECIPE: Pumpkin Vodka Cocktail (repost)
Since Thanksgiving is coming up soon… this weekend, you should start infusing some pumpkin vodka. Seriously, it’s easy… and yummy! Here’s my old post for a pretty amazing Pumpkin Vodka cocktail recipe!
Enjoy!
~Dan
RECIPE: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
For some friends’ Canadian Thanksgiving get-together last night, I adapted this recipe from Don’t Eat Off the Sidewalk. I changed up the glaze (using spiced rum instead of water)…
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
…
Ingredients:
Dough~
- 1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp)
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1/4 cup soy, rice, or almond milk
- 1/4 cup margarine, melted
- 1 Tbl granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbl vegetable oil
Filling~
- 3 Tbl granulated sugar
- 3 Tbl brown sugar
- 2 Tbl all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 Tbl chilled margarine, cut into small pieces
Glaze~
- 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbl hot water (or spiced rum)
Steps:
note: takes time, but generally due to waiting to let dough rise several times
- In a large bowl, combine the warm water with the yeast and whisk together with a fork, let stand for 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, milk, melted margarine, and sugar in with the yeast, and lightly mix. Sift in the first two and a half cups of flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Take the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and use it to flour the top of the dough and your surface a tablespoon at a time, as needed to keep the dough from getting sticky as you knead it. Knead the dough for about ten minutes, the dough will be elastic but soft and still a little sticky to the touch without being floured.
- Place the dough in a large bowl coated with oil, turning to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in margarine with a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Roll up the rectangle tightly, from the long side, pinch seam and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place the slices in a 9-inch square or round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack.
- Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add the water (or rum) and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. It should be thick, but easy to drizzle. If it’s too thick, add another 1/2 teaspoon of water.
This is a mainly music-based blog. If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes at THIS LINK.
RECIPE: Framboise Cranberry Relish
Framboise Cranberry Relish
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This recipe is modified from Lisa Morrison’s recipe for “Cranbeer-y Relish” that appears in The Christmas Table: Recipes and Crafts to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition by Diane Morgan.
Judging by the cover, the book doesn’t look too vegetarian/vegan friendly, but this Relish recipe is definitely a gem and super easy. Note: my modification is the addition of blueberries and a pinch of salt.
makes about 2 1/4 cups
Ingredients:
- 12 ounce bottle Lindemans’ Framboise Lambic beer (or other suitable fruity lambic)
- 10-12 ounce package fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup finely diced crystallized (candied) ginger
- 1/4 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
Steps:
- In a deep four-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the beer to a boil.
- Add the cranberries, blueberries, ginger, sugar, and salt. Adjust the heat so the mixture simmers and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the cranberries & blueberries have popped open, about 10-15 minutes. You can assist the fruit by pushing against them and the side of the saucepan with a spoon.
- Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
- Refrigerate in a covered jar or container until ready to serve. The relish can be made up to 10 days in advance.
This is a mainly music-based blog. If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes, like vegan biscuits & gravy, spiced biscotti, vegan cactus chili, vegan bananas foster, mushroom dumpling stew, strawberry cornbread muffins, fruit spring rolls, grilled coconut-rum pineapple, vegetarian s’mores pouches, pumpkin-infused vodka cocktail, creamy vegan chocolate pudding, cute olive penguins, raw blueberry cheesecake, Jónsi and Alex’s raw vegan pies at THIS LINK.
RECIPE: Pumpkin Vodka Cocktail (via last November)
Since Thanksgiving is coming up soon… and there’s still some time to infuse some vodka – here’s my post last year for a pretty amazing Pumpkin Vodka cocktail recipe!
Enjoy!
~Dan