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Posts Tagged ‘Savvy Entertaining’

Pumpkin Mousse Trifle

Posted in Cake, Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Holiday Recipes, Puddings and Custards, Recipes, tagged , , , on November 18, 2011| 4 Comments »

Warning: If you are on a diet or trying to avoid sweet, delicious goodness, you may want to skip right past today’s recipe post.

I made this Pumpkin Mousse Trifle for a potluck last week and it was quite tasty. Actually, it was more than quite tasty. It was downright want-to-lick-the-plate good.

And here is the best part – it was super fast and easy.

Anyone looking for a quick and simple no-bake recipe for Thanksgiving, try this. You’ll be glad you did!

Cast of Tasty Characters

You can use any kind of dense cake – pound cake works especially well. You could also use angel food cake or bundt cake. Regular cake tends to get a little crumbly. I ran out of time to bake gingerbread and resorted to a pound cake from the bakery.

Cut the cake into little bite-sized cubes. Try not to snitch too many. At this point I got in a bit of a hurry to get this finished and forgot to snap photos of mixing up the mousse. Mix the pudding mix with milk then add the cream cheese. If you have a 3-ounce package of cream cheese, it will work fine, otherwise cut an 8-ounce package in half. Mix it with the pudding then add pumpkin filling and spices. Blend well then let rest for about 5 minutes.

Whip up some whipped cream. I like to add about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to sweeten it up a bit.

Start layering the trifle by adding in 1/3 of the cake cubes.

Layer in 1/3 of the mousse mixture. Top with a drizzle of the caramel and then whipped cream. Continue making layers of cake, mousse, caramel and whipped cream.

Finish with a layer of toffee sprinkles, if you so desire.  My taste buds greatly desired. You could also do another drizzle of caramel. Or a spinkle of cinnamon. Go wild and crazy if you wish.

Pumpkin Trifle Mousse

1 box of gingerbread mix, baked (or 2 cups of cake cubes)

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 small box instant cheesecake pudding

2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin pie filling

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup caramel sauce

2 cups whipped cream

Toffee bits for topping (optional)

If you are making your own gingerbread, bake and let cool. You need about 2 cups of cake cubes. I planned to use gingerbread, but I ran out of time to make it, so I grabbed a pound cake that looked quite yummy. It was.

Mix pudding with two cups of milk. Add in softened cream cheese and blend. Then mix in pumpkin and spices. Blend well then set aside for about five minutes. Whip up whipped cream, set aside.

Cut cake into cubes and start layer in a trifle bowl, large glass bowl or individual glasses.You are going to do three layers, so use everything in thirds (guesstimates work just fine).

Top cake with mousse then drizzle with caramel sauce. Spoon on a layer of whipped cream then start again with a layer of cake.

Finish with a layer of whipped cream. You can top with toffee bits and cinnamon or another drizzle of caramel and cake crumbs. Whatever strikes your fancy.

Have fun with it and enjoy!

She Who Would Have Licked Her Plate If Witnesses Weren’t Present

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Thanksgiving Tablescape Ideas

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, Thanksgiving, tagged , , , , on November 15, 2011| 3 Comments »

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to put a little extra effort into setting your table. You can make it rustic, elegant, whimsical and modern. Have fun with it and see if it doesn’t make you smile.

Here are some ideas I thought were just fun:

From Country Living

From Studio Ten 25 – gorgeous and so simple. Even I could pull this one off!

The Glamorous Housewife did an amazing job with this simple yet fabulous tablescape.

This is one of my favorite centerpieces – flowers in a pumpkin. You can do minis or a big one on the center. Great colors from Holidash.

From Wedding Girl, this is a simple, easy and yet perfect design for a rustic Thanksgiving. Absolutely love this!

However you decide to set your table this Thanksgiving, I hope those gathered around it enjoy the time spent together and you each have many reason to be truly thankful this year.

She Who Needs to Get Busy with Her Own Tablescape!

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Friends

Posted in Musings, tagged , , , on November 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I ran across this photo in a clip art file and loved it. I don’t know who these women are. What I do know is that they seem to be enjoying one another. They look like they know how to laugh and have a good time. They aren’t letting a little wind keep them from enjoying the day. The one on the right looks like she might even have more than her share of sass.

What really spoke to me, though was the friendship, kinship, that appears to be evident. We all need close friends who warm our hearts. Who make us laugh until we cry. Who offer a shelter against life’s storms.

I spent time Saturday with one of my very dear friends. It had been months since we’d spent more than a quick lunch together. You know, there really isn’t a lot of conversation that can take place in 45 minutes in a crowded restaurant. It was good to have that extra time to catch up on life, on dreams, on fears, on disappointments, on accomplishments.

Life gets so busy and hectic, especially this time of year. But once in a while we need to make the time to connect with the people who do our heart good. Who keep us in balance. Who can bring out the best in us and harness the sass.

She Who is Grateful for Good Friends

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Polenta Alla Romana – His and Hers Style

Posted in Main Dish, Quick and Easy, Recipes, tagged , , , , on November 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A few months ago, Captain Cavedweller and I went to an Italian restaurant we had never tried before. The atmosphere was quite lovely, the service top-notch and the food… was marvelous.

CC decided to be adventurous and try something beyond lasagna or spaghetti (his two standard choices when we eat Italian).

He ordered Polenta Alla Romana. Polenta (ground corn) was covered with a rich tomato sauce thick with sausage and chicken pieces. He thought it ranked right up there with carrot cake on his list of all-time favorite things to

The other day I decided to try and make it at home.

For those of you who make your own polenta and tomato sauce, I envy you, but will never be you.  If sauce from a jar and pre-made polenta turns you off, you might want to skip today’s post.

If you are someone who doesn’t mind a few easy shortcuts to a fast and fabulous dinner, you are going to love today’s post!

We made two versions of it since I can’t eat the tomato sauce. So below you’ll find instructions for both the His and Hers version.

Ingredients

Brown Sausage in a heavy-duty skillet.

Chop cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces. I had leftover baked chicken that worked well. If you don't have pre-cooked chicken, you could purchase a package of grilled chicken pieces if you are really in a hurry!

Add chicken pieces to cooked sausage.

Add sauce to chicken and sausage. You can use tomato or white sauce - your choice!

You can either slice the polenta and heat the slices or chop it up and simmer with chicken stock to make it smooth. I think I liked the smooth version best.

To get the smooth polenta, cook with chicken broth and butter until the liquid is absorved and the polenta breaks down.

Grate some Parmesan cheese.

Freshly grated parmesan is absolutely fantabulous!

Plate and enjoy... Hers Style

or His!

Polenta Alla Romana

1 pound of bulk sausage (you can Italian, this just happened to be what I had on hand)

2 cups of cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

2 cups of sauce (tomato or Alfredo)

2 cups of chicken broth

1 tube of Polenta

1 tbsp. butter

Parsley (optional)

Hers Version:

In a heavy-duty skillet, brown the sausage. When it is cooked, add the chicken and alfredo sauce, along with a cup of the chicken broth and simmer about 10 minutes or until sauce starts to thicken.

While the sausage is cooking, warm butter in a skillet. Slice polenta into slices about 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick. Place in the skillet and cook until heated through. Put slices on a plate and pour sauce over the top. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese and, if you wish,  a nice dash of parsley bits.

His Version:

In a heavy-duty skillet, brown the sausage. When it is cooked, add the chicken and tomato sauce and simmer about 10 minutes until sauce starts to thicken.

While the sausage is cooking, break the polenta into small pieces and place in a skillet with a cup of the chicken broth and a tablespoon of butter. Simmer on medium heat until liquid is absorbed and polenta breaks down smoothly (about 10 minutes).

Spoon polenta onto a plate and top with the sauce, then sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese and, if you like, parsley.

See how easy that was? Super simple and super good.

Enjoy!

She Who Licked Her Plate Clean!

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