Ike's Thanksgiving.

Hey all --

Jewel and I decided to divide and conquer for Thanksgiving. I spent the day with my aunt and uncle, as I have for the past few years. Over those past few years, it's become a bit of a tradition for me to make my mother's broccoli casserole.

If I do say so myself (which I do, because this is my post and you can't do anything to stop me), it turned out pretty well (as usual). If you care to try your hand at it, here's the recipe:

Mom's Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 10-oz. packages of frozen chopped broccoli
• 1 small can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 jar chopped pimentos
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup crushed cheese crackers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook the broccoli according to the package directions.
3. Mix soup, mayonnaise, cheese, and lemon juice in large bowl. (I prefer a creamier casserole, and thus usually at least double the amounts called for.)
4. Spread a layer of broccoli in a large casserole dish, followed by a layer of soup/mayo mixture. Repeat with remainder of each. (If I'm in a cheesy mood, I add a layer of cheese between the first layer of sauce and second layer of broccoli.)
5. Distribute pimentos evenly on top.
6. Distribute crushed cheese crackers evenly on top.
7. Bake casserole uncovered at 350 for about 20 minutes.

This year, though, I decided to expand my repertoire of Thanksgiving cooking by attempting a new recipe (found by Jewel on one of the many blogs she subscribes to) for pumpkin scooter pies.

Scooter pies are basically soft homemade Oreos: two cookies with a cream filling between them. This particular recipe uses pumpkin in the cookies and a bit of maple syrup in the filling. It should make about four dozen cookies; my batch fell short of this because I dumped 12 on the floor when the parchment paper slid off the cookie sheet onto the floor. Anyway, the recipe:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Cookie ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 3 cups chilled pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin; NOT pie mix)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Maple-cream cheese filling ingredients:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and oil. Add pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.
5. Using a small cookie scoop or large spoon, drop a rounded, heaping tablespoon of the dough onto prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies are done when they just start to crack on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean; they should be firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
7. For the filling: beat the butter on medium speed about 3 minutes until smooth (no visible lumps). Add the cream cheese and beat again about 2 minutes until smooth and combined. Add the powdered sugar gradually, then add maple syrup and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
8. For assembly: Turn half of the completely cooled cookies upside down. Pipe or spoon the filling (about a tablespoon) onto each upturned cookie. Place a second cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press slightly until the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie. Chill assembled whoopie pies for about 30 minutes to firm before serving.

I found the piping bag worked really well for the filling. They're not overly difficult, but they are time-intensive; the cookies have to be cooled in order not to melt the filling, the butter and cream cheese need to be room temperature to mix properly, the cookies and filling need to be assembled, and the finished pies need to be chilled. It was worth it, though; everyone who ate one agreed it was pretty awesome.

Hope your Thanksgiving--in terms of food, people, or whatever--was wonderful. If your football team of choice was victorious/defeated, you have my congratulations/sympathies. (As Carolina wasn't playing, I really didn't care that much.)

- its