Get your carrot on!

You know what one of our favorite go to veggies of all time is around here?

Yup, it’s the carrot.

Who doesn’t love a carrot?

They’re perfect!

Perfect for snackin’

Perfect for dunkin’

Perfect for roastin’

Perfect for grabbing a big bag and eating on the go!

To show our appreciate for everything carrot I’m going to feature some of our favorite carrot recipes over the next few week.

Let’s give it up for our favorite orange fella!

featured   Get your carrot on!

Asian Glazed Roasted Carrots

What you need:

1 T extra virgin olive oilfeatured   Get your carrot on!

1/2 t sesame oil

1/2 t minced ginger

1/2 t minced garlic

1 T soy sauce

1 T mirin

5 dashes chili oil

1 T honey

S&P

1 pound baby carrots

1 t toasted sesame seeds

cilantro for garnish

What to do:

featured   Get your carrot on!Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Place the first 10 ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.  Place the carrots in a 13×9 baking dish.  Pour your mixture over the carrots.  Mix well to coat.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Roast at 425 for 3o minutes.  Remove from oven and place on serving dish.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro for garnish.  Enjoy!

Stay tuned for more exciting carrot recipes….

What’s your favorite way to eat carrots?

Turkey Tom Foolery

Seems to me there are a lot of shortened days and days off around this time of year.

So we’re always looking for something fun to do in our off hours.

Enter the Thanksgiving crafty afternoons.

Today we’re making turkeys…

fruity turkeys…

apple turkeys…

Fun turkeys your little ones can make in a flash and eat even faster.

Here’s our recipe for

Apple Turkeys

crafts   Turkey Tom Foolery

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Craft time:  20-30 minutes

WHAT YOU NEED:

Apples (for the turkey body)

toothpicks

pretzel sticks

fruity cheerios

raisins

dried pineapple

dried apricots

marshmallows

crafts   Turkey Tom Foolery

WHAT TO DO:

After positioning your apple on its side.  On the bottoms of your apples, stick 4 toothpicks to give your turkey some legs to stand on.  You can stick a raisin or marshmallow on the bottom of each leg for his feet.

crafts   Turkey Tom Foolery

Next let your kids decorate the turkey’s feathers.  Stick 4-5 toothpicks into the top/rear part of your apple (away from the stem).  Your kids can thread the toothpicks with raisins, dried pineapple, dried apricots or cheerios to make the turkey’s feathers.  Top each feather off with a big raisin or a mini marshmallow to keep things in place.  In between each feather you can add a pretzel stick for added color.

crafts   Turkey Tom Foolery

We used big marshmallows or big pieces of dried fruit for the turkey head.  You could even cut some construction paper and color a turkey head if you like.  Get creative, have fun, happy turkey day!

How to Roast the Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

So we’re getting close…

Can you believe that Turkey Day is less than 2 weeks away?

Crazy!

So let’s rev up and get ready…

dinner   How to Roast the Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

Roasting a moist and juicy bird is no easy feat.

Sure Mom made it look like a snap all those years but when you’re suddenly faced with tossing your own bird in the oven for the first time you realize that you actually have no idea how to do this!

Have no fear…

I have mastered how to create the perfect Thanksgiving Turkey.

First up…

Stuff it.

No, not not with stuffing.

dinner   How to Roast the Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

With lemon…

and herbs…

and onion…

and garlic…

Cut ‘em up and shove ‘em right up in there.

dinner   How to Roast the Perfect Thanksgiving TurkeyNext put some butter underneath the skin.

Carefully separate the skin from the breast meat and slide some pats of butter on in there.

Add in some herbs too, rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme.

Not too many, just enough for the flavor to sink in.

Trust me, you’re going to love it.

I use about 3 T or so, broken up into smaller pieces.

Leave it out to soften for an hour so, make it easier to get in there.

Sprinkle the outside of the bird with S&P and you’re ready to rock.

So let’s cook this thing.

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees.

Yup, I said it, 475.

When it’s hot and ready to go, put your bird in a covered roaster and toss it in the screaming hot oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes knock back your heat to 250 degrees.

Yes, I said 250.

We’re going to slow roast this bad boy and make it super tender.

Cook the turkey at 250 for 20 minutes for each pound.  So if you have a 12 pound turkey you cook it for 4 hours, a 15 pound turkey would be at 250 for 5 hours.

This is the final and most important step.

Let your turkey rest on the counter for 20 minutes before carving.

It will continue cooking while all the juices soak into the meat.  You don’t want those yummy juices all over your cutting board, right?

After 20 minutes just to be sure you should check it with a meat thermometer.  Just stick it into the breast.  It should read 170 degrees.

That’s it, you’re all set, and now you’re a Turkey All Star!  Get ready for the perfect bird.

Apple Cinnamon Pretzels

You know those yummy delicious pretzels that you see in the mall?

The  ones whose delicious scents waft their way down the breezeways and make you crave their buttery goodness?

Well these are them…

Only with an apple cinnamony crust that fills your kitchen with that wonderful aroma.

Oh and the kids had a blast making them…

crafts   Apple Cinnamon Pretzels

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 1/2 cups warm Apple Cider (110 degrees F)

2 t salt

2 T sugar

1 t cinnamon

1 package active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 T melted butter

1/2 cup applesauce

oil

12 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

FOR TOPPING:

1 egg, beaten

4 T sugar

1 T cinnamon

pinch of salt

WHAT TO DO:

crafts   Apple Cinnamon PretzelsIn the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the first 5 ingredients.  Let the mixture sit until the yeast makes it begin to foam.  Add in your flour, butter and applesauce.  Mix on low speed with your dough attachment until combined.  Bring speed up to medium and knead for 5 minutes.  Remove dough and move to an oiled bowl and allow to rise for 90 minutes in a warm spot in your kitchen.

Once the dough has risen preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Turn the dough out onto an oiled counter (it’s sticky!) and divide it into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a long rope, then twist into a pretzel shape.  The kids will have a blast with this.  It won’t be perfect.  But it will be fun.  crafts   Apple Cinnamon Pretzels

In a large pot heat up water with baking soda.  In a bowl combine your remaining sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.  Once boiling drop each pretzel individually into the water for 20 seconds.  Remove to a lined baking sheet.  Repeat until each pretzel has been boiled.  Brush each pretzel with your egg wash.  Sprinkle with your cinnamon mixture and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

No need to drive to the mall for this goody!

Perfect Pumpkin Dip

So you all know how much I love to dip…

Yes, I am a dipper.

And it seems I have passed the trait onto the kids.

We’re a dipping family.

So we came up with a great dip for fall!

A creamy and delicious pumpkin dip.

It’s perfect…

Perfect for parties.

Perfect for appetizers.

Perfect for after school.

Perfect for sitting down and eating the whole thing with spoon.

appetizers   Perfect Pumpkin Dip

Perfect Pumpkin Dip

8 oz softened cream cheese (I used light, and you could even use fat free)

1 15 oz can pumpkinappetizers   Perfect Pumpkin Dip

1 c brown sugar

2 t pumpkin pie spice

1 t vanilla extract

2 T apple cider

appetizers   Perfect Pumpkin DipCombine all the ingredients in a food processor (you could mix this by hand in a bowl if you don’t have one) and stir well to combine.  Pour into a small pumpkin to serve.  Chill for 3o minutes.  Serve with ginger snaps, apples, and pears.

Our New York Minutes

If you Don’t live in the New York area don’t fret…you can still check us out on New York Nonstop’s Moms and the City and a Dad named David.

Check out our NY debut here…

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the Connecticut Style piece.

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