If you still have some leftover turkey, here’s a tasty way to help use it up.

Turkey Calzones

2 1/4 cups chopped turkey
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 cup shredded pizza-blend cheese
1 (8 oz.) can pizza sauce
2 (10 oz.) packages refrigerated pizza dough

In a large bowl, combine turkey, spinach, cheese, and 1/2 cup of the sauce. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one package of the pizza dough into a 12″x10″ rectangle. Cut into three 10″x4″ rectangles.

Place about 1/2 cup of the turkey mixture onto half of each rectangle to within 1″ of the edge. Moisten the edges of the dough with water and fold over, forming a square. Press with a fork to seal the edges. Prick tops of the calzones with a fork and place on lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and turkey mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 18 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with remaining sauce.

Makes six.

When the holiday season begins I make two lists, one for gift shopping and the other is a list of the cookies I plan on baking. I haven’t gotten my list finalized yet but this recipe from Betty Crocker looks like a good one to add to it.

Classic Sugar Cookies (Cookie Exchange Quantity)

3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs
5 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Decorator’s Glaze
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract
Food colors, as desired
Decorations
Betty Crocker® decorating gel (in 0.68-oz tubes), colored sugar and/or decors, if desired
Betty Crocker® decorating icing (in 4.25-oz tubes), if desired
Flaked coconut, if desired

In large bowl, beat 3 cups powdered sugar, the butter, vanilla, 1 teaspoon almond extract and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface, roll each half 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with 3-inch cookie cutters. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

In small bowl, beat all glaze ingredients except food colors on low speed until smooth. Divide among several small bowls. Stir desired food color, one drop at a time, into each until desired color. Decorate cookies with glaze and other decorations as desired.

Some of my favorites from past years are here.

Holiday cooking can be a hectic experience. One way to make it go a bit easier is to select some recipes that can be made ahead of time.

Eggnog

1 qt. milk
12 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup to 1 1/2 cups bourbon*
1 Tbl. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, divided
1 qt. whipping cream

Heat milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. (Do not boil.)

Beat eggs and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer until thick and pale; gradually add sugar, beating well. Gradually stir about one-fourth of hot milk into egg mixture; add to remaining hot milk, stirring constantly.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, 25 to 30 minutes or until milk mixture thickens and reaches 160°.

Stir in bourbon, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Remove from heat, and cool. Cover and chill up to 2 days.

Beat whipping cream at medium speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into milk mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg before serving.

*1 1/2 to 2 cups milk may be substituted for bourbon.

3 quarts

Freezer Cheese Balls

Make ahead and keep frozen until you need them.

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
4 oz blue cheese, cut into pieces
4 Tbls. butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Allow cheeses and butter to stand at room temperature until soft. Place Cheddar, cream cheese, blue cheese, and butter in a large bowl; with an electric mixer; beat until blended. Add garlic and beat until creamy.

Cover and chill mixture until firm enough to shape into balls, but not hard (about 2 hours). Divide in half and shape each half into a smooth ball. Sprinkle nuts on a piece of was paper and roll each ball in about half of the nuts, pressing in lightly. Place balls in separate freezer bags and seal; refrigerate or freeze until needed.

Before serving, allow cheese balls to stand at room temperature, unwrapped for 30 minutes if refrigerated or 3 to 4 hours if frozen.

Makes 2 balls about 3″ in diameter.

Frozen Fruit Salad

1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1 (#2) can pineapple tidbits, unsweetened
4 bananas, cut up
1 - 2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 can mandarin oranges

Cook flour, sugar, egg, and juice from the pineapple in a double boiler until thickened.

Combine with remaining ingredients except for the oranges. Pour mixture into a glass dish, quiche pan, or muffin cups. Decorate the top and border with the mandarin orange segments.

Freeze for 24 hours before serving.

Marinated Vegetables

2 cups cauliflower flowerets
2 cups sliced carrots
1 1/2 cups broccoli flowerets
3 stalks celery, diagonally sliced
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1/2 medium cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
2/3 cup diced green pepper

Dressing:
3/4 cup tarragon vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbl. vegetable oil
2 Tbl. sugar
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp. prepared mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine all vegetables in a large bowl. Mix all dressing ingredients separately. Pour dressing over vegetables; toss gently. Cover; chill at least 12 hours.

10 servings

Potato Icebox Rolls

1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1 cup milk
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 tps. salt
2 large eggs
1 medium baking potato, cooked and mashed (about 1 cup)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or stick margarine, melted

Stir together yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/3 cup warm water in a 1-cup glass measuring cup; let mixture stand 5 minutes.

Heat milk, shortening, remaining sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. (Do not boil.)

Place mashed potato in a large mixing bowl. Pour hot milk mixture over potato, and let cool. Beat in eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer. Add yeast mixture. Gradually add flour, stirring until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes). Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured surface, and cut with a floured 1 1/2-inch round cutter, adding flour as needed.

Brush rolls with melted butter; make a crease across each roll with a knife, and fold in half. Place in lightly greased cake pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 375° for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned.

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

8 cups peeled potatoes, cut into 1″ pieces
2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 (3 oz. package) cream cheese
paprika, if desired

Cut butter and cream cheese into cubes, leave out to soften.

Place potato pieces in a large saucepan, covering with water. Add salt and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes (until potatoes are fork tender.) Drain.

Place potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Mash on low speed, increasing speed to medium. Add 1/4 cup milk, butter, and cream cheese. Beat until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Place in 3-qt. casserole dish and cover. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Pour remaining milk (1/2 cup) over potatoes. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Stir and continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Serves 10.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Cider-Braised Pork with Onions and Apples

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
3 1/2 to 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of fat, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 onions, thinly sliced in half-moons
2 apples, cored, sliced in half-moons
1 cup each: cider, chicken broth
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. fresh thyme

Place cubed pork in a large sealable bag. Season flour with salt and pepper; add to bag. Shake bag until pork is lightly covered. Remove pork from bag; discard bag.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add half the pork; brown on all sides. Remove browned pork from Dutch oven; keep warm. Repeat with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and pork, removing from Dutch oven and keeping warm as browned.

Add the onions and apples to Dutch oven. Cook, stirring often, until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add cider to the Dutch oven; cook, stirring to scrape up browned bits. Heat to a boil; cook until cider has reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add chicken broth and reserved pork, along with any juices from the pork. Return to a boil; cover and reduce heat to a simmer.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until pork is tender, about 2 hours. Add the mustard and thyme; cover and simmer 30 minutes longer.

The Foodblog blog has an alphabetical listing of food blogs. You can also click on the “blog hop” button and visit random food blogs. Most of my blog tour took me to cooking blogs with tasty sounding recipes.

There were also a few that I saw that were a bit unusual.

One was McChronicles, a blog about McDonald’s. The posts about regional offerings are interesting. I would love the chance to try McPatatas and Sweet Taro Pie.

There was also The Breakfast Bowl, a blog about cereal, Candy Addict, a blog about (no surprise) candy, a blog about snack foods, and one about beer.

My two favorite pumpkin bread recipes are one that makes two loaves (these make nice gifts) and one for muffins but I don’t always have the time it takes to mix the dough and monitor the baking so here’s one for use in the bread machine.

Pumpkin Bread (Bread Machine - one 2 lb. loaf)

2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, cut up
4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup chopped pecans

Add the ingredients to the machine in the order specified by the manufacturer’s instructions. Select “basic white bread” cycle.

Is the Disney Dining Plan (pdf link) a good deal?

If you go to Walt Disney World and purchase a WDW package, one of your options is the Disney Dining Plan. Adding this will cost just under $40 per day for adults (age 10 and up) and about $11 per day for children (ages 3 - 9). Children between the ages of three and nine must order from the child’s menu. The plan includes one table service meal, one quick service (counter service) meal and one snack per day per person.

This can be a good deal if you are spending most of your time on Disney property. The out-of-pocket cost for just one table service meal can exceed your cost per day for the DDP if you order the appetizer, entree and dessert that the plan allows. When the exits for many of the most popular rides is through gift shops (with or without kids, it’s hard to get through these without buying something…I blame it on a combination of savvy marketing by Disney and post-ride adrenaline high), it’s nice to sit down to a meal and not worry about the cost. You can order the most expensive thing on the menu or try something new without the pressure of worrying about the price of the meal.

You can divide up the credits among the people in your package group as you wish. For example, two parents with two teenage children who are staying for 5 nights would have a total of 20 table service meal credits, 20 counter service meal credits, and 20 snack credits. If the parents enjoy a leisurely break and the kids see eating as something that should take as little time as possible, the parents could use a larger share of the table service credits while the kids use more of the counter service credits. This means you won’t be spending every meal together but I’ll let you decide whether or not that’s a good thing.

You do not have to use one of each type of credit per day. You can have a couple of table service meals on one day and then a couple of counter service meals on another. My only warning here is that the table service meals give you so much food that if you have two or three of these in one day you won’t feel like doing much else.

It’s a good idea to make advanced dining reservations for the table service restaurants. During the busiest times of the year and for the most popular dining locations, you’ll need to do this before you leave home because some book up weeks or even months in advance. If you would rather squeeze in meals during your park touring rather than schedule your park visits around your meals, the DDP may not be a good option for you.

The table service credits can also be used for Character Dining but if you’re not interested in this or don’t want to spend the extra time required for any table service dining you might be better off skipping the DDP option.

We used the DDP on our last trip and I thought it was worth it. If our trip had been shorter or my kids younger, I may have decided against getting it.

Questions to ask yourself if you are considering the DDP:

-How long is your trip and how much time do you want to devote to meals?
If your trip will be for four or fewer days and you want to spend as much time on the rides as possible, skip the dining plan and buy counter service meals. On the other hand, a table service meal makes for a nice relaxing break in the day and if you plan on averaging one of these per day the DDP will probably save you some money.

-When are you going and do you prefer to plan ahead or be spontaneous?
How eager will you be for a filling table service lunch in mid-summer? Sure, the restaurants are air conditioned but if you have the appetizer, entree, and dessert you might be more interested going back to the hotel to rest than back to the parks. If you wait for dinner for your table service meal, will you feel too hot and tired to take full advantage of the plan or would you be happier with a lighter meal? I don’t think this is as big an issue if you are traveling during cooler pleasantly warm times of the year.

If you don’t want to decide in February where you will have a meal in August, then skip the DDP. If you are traveling during a slower time you can still get the DDP and have some spontaneity. Our trip was in October and we made most of our reservations the day before or the day of the meal. If you want to go to any of the most popular restaurants or character meals you will need to make reservations further in advance whether you have the DDP or not.

-What are the ages of the people in your group?
If you have young children or teenagers, they may not want to spend an hour in a restaurant. For the younger kids, this time might be better spent on a mid-day nap. For the teenagers, it’s just time that could be better spent waiting in line for one of the rollercoasters.

One advantage for those with children old enough to tour the parks without parents is that the DDP is on the same card as the hotel key/park pass. This means they can just use their cards to spend the meal/snack credits and don’t need to worry about carrying extra cash. (Since they need the cards to get into the parks and to get Fast Passes, you know they aren’t going to lose them!)

-How much are you likely to spend on meals if you pay out-of-pocket? (see menus on All Ears Net)
Browse the menus and compare the prices for the things you and your family would be most likely to want. Remember that the dining plan covers the tax (I think it’s about a gajillion percent in Florida but I could be wrong on that) and an 18% gratuity.

- Are you on a diet?
Unless you have amazing will power and are traveling with someone with a high metabolism who will “help” you with your appetizer and dessert, you may want to skip the DDP. (You aren’t required to order the appetizer and dessert but when you know it’s part of the plan and you’ve already paid for them, it’s hard to pass them up.) If you think that diets shouldn’t be a part of a vacation or that eating well is one of the best parts of a vacation, then go with the dining plan.

This and other sweet potato recipes can be found at The Louisville Courier-Journal.

Sweet Potato Corn Bread

1/2 cup mashed sweet potato from 1 baked sweet potato
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons oil
2 eggs

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Poke several holes in the sweet potato with a fork. Place potato on a baking sheet, and bake until very soft — a fork should easily penetrate the flesh — one hour or more. Cool, cut in half, scrape out the flesh and mash it. Measure ½ cup of mashed sweet potato for the corn bread.

Sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, sugar and spices into a large mixing bowl.

In another bowl, combine the milk, oil, eggs and mashed sweet potato, mixing well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring to blend. Do not overmix.

Ladle batter into greased muffin tins, and bake until firm in center and brown at edges, 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes about 12 muffins, depending on the size of the compartments of your muffin tin.

We just returned from a trip to Walt Disney World. While we were there we visited the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop in Downtown Disney.

We tried the Hot Fudge Sundae

Yield: 2 cups
4 ounces 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar
4 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup(s) water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, combine the chocolate (broken into 1/4-inch pieces) , butter, sugar, water, and light corn syrup. Stir the mixture continuously over medium heat until the chocolate and butter have melted and the sugar has dissolved. When the sauce comes to a boil, lower the heat and continue boiling gently for 10 minutes. Remove the thickened sauce from the heat, and stir in the vanilla extract. Store covered in the refrigerator.

To reheat, place in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium 6 to 8 minutes, stirring after the first 3 minutes.

From the Cincinnati Post:

Apple Sour Cream Slaw

1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 scant tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 cup sliced celery
2 to 3 cups coarsely shredded green cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
2 large red apples, diced, unpeeled
Small handful of raisins
1/3 cup chopped, salted peanuts

Yield: 8 servings

In a large mixing bowl — no more than an hour or so before serving — stir together the sour cream, orange juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and dry mustard. Stir very well. Add the celery, cabbage, carrots, apples, raisins and peanuts. Toss to coat and serve within an hour or so. No need to refrigerate or the cabbage will release some of its water content, thus thinning the dressing.

(Recipe adapted from “Apple Kitchen Cookbook” by Demetria Taylor for the International Apple Institute, 1971.)