October is here!

I can't believe it's already October! The Christmas stuff is ALREADY on sale as low as 50% off. Shopping season has begun.

But it's also Holiday Cooking Season! Here are some of my favorite recipes:

Potato, Mushroom, Sausage "Stuffing"

4 Tbl. Olive Oil
3 shallots, finely chopped(or 1 c. sweet onion)
3 cloves garlic
3 lb. mashed potatoes(russet, red, or gold)
1 1/2 lb. portabellow mushrooms, chopped
3 lb. sweet Italian Sausage
2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 c. finely chopped chives
1/2 c. Italian parsley
2 tsp. thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste

Over med. heat, combine 2 Tbl. oil, shallots, and garlic. Saute until soft. Add shallots and garlic to potatoes. Over med. heat combine 2 T. oil and chopped mushrooms. Saute until golden brown and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add to potato mixute. Cook Sausage, breaking it up so that it isn't clumped, about 5-7 minutes. Add to potato mixture. Add rosemary, chives, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper, and mix throughly. Cover with foil and cook at 325' for approximately 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 10 minutes. If using dried herbs, cut measurements by half. This replaced the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas stuffing in our family. It seems like a lot of steps, but it's SO worth it.


Lion House Lemon Truffle Pie
This is copied from the Lion House Desserts cookbook, however, I usually use a graham cracker crust instead, shortbread is my favorite, and I double up the lemon mixture. You can never have too much lemon custard in my opinion. This is the dessert I'm "expected" to bring to Thanksgiving and Christmas get-togethers.

Lion House Lemon Truffle Pie

Baked 9-inch pie shell
½ cup water
2 Tb. Sugar
1 egg
1 Tb. Cornstarch
1 Tb. Sugar
Zest of ½ lemon
1 ½ Tb. Fresh lemon juice
1 ½ tsp. butter
1 cup vanilla chips
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
½ cup whipped cream, sweetened
1 Tb. Toasted almonds

Put water and 2 Tb. Sugar in saucepan and bring to a boil. In a large boal, mix egg, cornstarch, 1 Tb. Sugar, and zest of lemon. Slowly add hot water to egg mixture in bowl; then pour entire mixture back into pan. Heat until thickened, stirring often. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and butter. Stir until mixed and cool.

Pour 2/3 of filling in bowl. Add vanilla chips to the filling remaining in pan. Stir until chips are melted. Place cream cheese in bowl. Add filling with vanilla chips to cream cheese and beat together. Spread this mixture in bottom of pie shell. Spread remaining 2/3 of lemon filling on top. Chill for 2 hours.

Top with whipped cream and garnish with toasted almonds or sprinkle toasted almonds over whipped cream and serve on side. Makes 1 pie.


Creme Puffs

Choux paste:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpos flour
4 eggs, seperated

Preheat oven to 375' and cover large cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray. In 2 qt. saucepan bring butter, water, and salt to a boil and remove from heat. Add flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture formas a ball and leaves side of pan. (It should be similar to Playdough consistency) Add eggs to flour mixture ONE AT A TIME, stirring vigorously until mixture is smooth. Using a small greased cookie scoop drop batter onto cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 45-50 minutes(until golden brown). Cool completely.

Filling:
1 cup milk
1 small pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix
1 tub of Cool Whip

Mix milk and pudding with whisk until smooth and thickened. Fold in Cool Whip and refrigerate until slightly set. Position a large star tip with a coupler at the end of a cake decorating frosting bag. Fill bag with creme mixture. Poke each creme puff with tip and squeeze a moderate amount of mixture into the puff. Place back on cookie sheet and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be drizzled with chocolate sauce or caramel. Makes approximately 40 puffs.