Clean Out Your Fridge Day Poetry

It's that time once again,
poetry day on this blog.
Our group talks themes,
like smog, frog or hot dog.

We suggested and laughed,
weird holidays on the way.
This time, chose tomorrow's
Clean Out Your Fridge Day!

Clean Out Your Fridge Day

There's kids starving in Europe,
my mama would say.
But if I eat my beans
I help them in some way?

You're lucky, she'd explain,
for no meal have you yearned.
And let nothing go to waste,
it's a lesson well learned.

My clan, we all love
"clean out the freezer" night.
Little lasagna, stroganoff, chili,
all find something just right.

But "clean out the fridge day"
is met with such scorn.
"What concoction this time?
Rather starve", they all mourn.

They dread it, they fight it,
"I have to work late."
"But you never know,
I could make something great."

Got some lettuce, a lemon,
and there's a few eggs.
Oooh, a chicken,
forget it, seems it's got green legs. 

There's a carrot, some ketchup
a beet and milk's fine,
a Brussels sprout, grape jelly,
dinner will be divine.

With my head in the fridge 
and still no dinner plan, 
I finish taking stock
with mustard and bran.

Wait, who could that be
ringing my front door bell?
"Pizza's here" in perfect unison
those damn traitors yell.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Now you know in each post,

a new recipe I add.

Was going to use those leftovers,

but that'd be . . . well, bad.

So today I'm sharing cookies,

all ingredients fresh bought.

You'll appreciate it more,

at least that what I thought.

Mint and Raspberry Pinwheels

Before you go, click on these links to more poetry from some of my friends: 
Dawn of Cognitive Script shares Out with the Fuzzy. 
Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Clean that Fridge. 
Diane of On the Border shares Clean!

Mint and Raspberry Pinwheels

                                                           ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened

1 stick margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 TBSP baking cocoa

1 tsp raspberry extract

2 drops red food coloring

1 TBSP flour

chocolate sprinkles 

1/2 tsp mint extract

2 drops green food coloring

1 TBSP flour

multicolored sprinkles

Directions:

*Cream together the butter, margarine and sugar, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in 3 cups of flour, baking powder and salt.

*Divide dough in half. To one half, add the baking cocoa, then split into two fairly equal pieces.

*Split the other half into two fairly equal pieces. To one, add the raspberry extract, red food coloring and 1 TBSP flour. To the other, add the mint extract, green food coloring annd the other TBSP flour.

*Roll out each of the 4 dough segments separately between 2 pieces of wax paper to about 9 X 11 inches.

*Carefully flip the raspberry layer on top of one of the chocolate layers and the mint layer on top of the other chocolate layer. Lay them flat in the refrigerator to chill for an hour.

*Using the wax paper to help you, roll up using the long side until you have 2 tube shaped rounds, one chocolate an raspberry, the other chocolate and mint.

*Roll the raspberry dough round in chocolate sprinkles and the mint dough round in multicolored sprinkles. 

*Wrap each round in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put parchment paper onto baking sheets.

*Slice rolls into about 1/4 inch slices. Bake for 11 - 12 minutes. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Thanksgiving Croquettes: Family Gathering Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends theme collaborations. Each month a group  of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about this partnership is that it’s not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may have a recipe, sewing tutorial, crafts projects, book review and/or a technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Family Gathering.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here’s a peek at what we all came up with:

I made Thanksgiving Croquettes:

Thanksgiving Croquettes

I know, you expected the recipe of a dish I serve on Thanksgiving. Not today. Mostly because of what I explained in my last blog post Sweet Red Hot Pretzel Snacks: Secret Subject Swap (you read it, didn't you?). Just in case you didn't, I'll give you the Cliffs Notes (pay attention, there'll be a test). 

As family gatherings go, Thanksgiving is a favorite. It's a day for family, friends and food. But for the list maker, shopper, sous chef, cook and baker (all the same person, btw), it's a lot of work. My favorite time of Thanksgiving day is when the turkey's in the oven and it's too early to be prepping the side dishes, my respite in the day. We have a fire in the fireplace and sit together with cocktails and snacks, talking and laughing and partially watching football. It's the part of the day when I'm engaged more as a family member than as the chef. 

Since I've already posted so many favorite recipes from this holiday over the years and even done a round up of Thirty Thanksgiving Recipes, I'm going to share a recipe today from another favorite time associated with the celebration. Leftovers.

The weekend after Thanksgiving we have leftovers. It's a more casual day than the holiday itself and so much less work for me. Part of the fun, the challenge of this particular family gathering is reinventing the leftovers into something new. After much thought I've decided that this year I'll be making Thanksgiving Croquettes. Although it's an easy dinner, calling for precooked leftovers, you can easily adapt it for other times of the year, just "doctor up" a box stuffing mix and use chicken instead of turkey. The directions are in the recipe below.

Start by gathering your ingredients:

Mix, form balls and refrigerate. I actually do this the day before so all I have to do the next day is saute the croquettes.

Cook in a saute pan:

And serve. Easy peasy. Perfect for enjoying some family time the weekend after Thanksgiving.

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares her recipe for Turkey Soup.

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares how to make a DIY Kids’ Travel Pillow.

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Grateful Hearts, scrapbook layouts and cards for expressing gratitude.

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares Advice for my Daughter (and you) About Family Gatherings.

Thanksgiving Croquettes        

                                    ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes about 12 - 14):
2 - 2 1/2 cups leftover stuffing (see note below if you don't have enough leftover stuffing), cold
2 eggs
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked turkey (can substitute chicken), cold
1/4 cup corn niblets
1/4 cup whole cranberry sauce OR 3 TBSP jellied cranberry sauce mashed plus 2 TBSP cranraisins
1/4 cup sliced almonds

vegetable oil
butter

Directions:
*NOTE: if you don't have enough leftover stuffing, make a box of stuffing mix using chicken broth instead of water and adding in shredded carrot and chopped green onion.
*Chop the leftover turkey into small pieces.
*Mix together the stuffing, eggs, turkey, corn, cranberry sauce and almonds. Using your hands, roll into about 2 - 3 inch balls and place in fridge for an hour (or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to a day).
*Heat 2 TBSP of vegetable oil and 1 TBSP butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat until hot. Add 5 stuffing balls and immediately press down with a spatula to form a patty. Cook for 5 - 8 minutes.
*Gently flip over and cook the other side about 5 minutes. Remove to paper towels to drain. Keep warm while cooking the remaining croquettes. You may need to add more vegetable oil and butter between batches.

Sweet Red Hot Pretzel Snacks: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 9 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish and how do you make it?
It was submitted by: Rena of The Blogging 911.

"She cheated", you're thinking. "She chooses who gets what prompt and she chose this one, fits right into how she blogs".

Well, you'd be wrong. The way I assign prompts is way more involved than just choosing whatever I want. If you want to know how it's done, I'll be happy to let you know but I don't think I'll bore everyone with the whole routine here. 

And, honestly, this is a tough prompt for me. I've been blogging for more than a few years at this point. All of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes have pretty much been posted at this point. I've even done a recipe round up, Thirty Thanksgiving Recipes from Start to Leftovers. If you're looking for new holiday recipes to try, check out that one, bet you find something you like.

So coming up with a favorite Thanksgiving dish for this seemingly made-to-order (pun intended) subject and have it be something new for my readers really made me sit down and give it some thought. And as I worked it through in my mind, I came up with both a favorite recipe for today, and one for Monday's Blog With Friends post as well. Holiday recipes that are and yet are not Thanksgiving foods. Let me step back a minute and tell you about where I'm coming at this from. 

Quite simply, I'm coming at this from the point of view of the shopper, prepper (yes, I know that's not a word, sue me) and chef. Truth is, a lot of Thanksgiving is work. Don't get me wrong, I love the holiday, we light a fire in the fireplace, have cocktails and leisurely graze on snacks in the afternoon, then the piece-de-resistance, the big Thanksgiving dinner (and dessert, don't forget dessert) in the evening. Before all that I've made lists and shopped and prepped the food and, of course, cooked it all. 

So what is one of my favorite recipes and why? It's the afternoon snacks. The part of the day when we're sitting in front of the fire with football on the TV. The turkey is in the oven but it's too early to start coordinating the rest of the dishes. We're all old enough to drink in my house so we are each sipping our cocktail of choice, snacks are set out around the room and on the kitchen counter so everyone is helping themselves to whatever they want. This is the time of the day that is a respite for me, a lull, a time when I can relax, join in, be part of the group.

And I love it! No, that's not the cocktail talking. Well, maybe partially, but even afterwards when I look back on the day, the family time, the success of the meal, this is the time of the day that makes me smile the most.

So the recipe I'm sharing today isn't technically a Thanksgiving recipe. I make it this time of year, but other times as well. My family happens to love hot and spicy food so this snack was developed with them in mind, and with love. The love of a family, a season, a thankful chef. 

Sweet Red Hot Pretzel Snacks

BTW, on Monday my Blog With Friends group will be posting projects based on a theme. The theme this month is Family Gathering. I'll be sharing another recipe that, like today's sort of is and sort of is not a Thanksgiving recipe.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

The Lieber Family Blog
The Bergham Chronicles 

The Blogging 911
Cognitive Script 
Never Ever Give Up Hope 
Part Time Working Hockey Mom 
Sparkly Poetic Weirdo
Climaxed 

Sweet Red Hot Pretzel Snacks

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients:

1# bag of pretzels
8 oz Red Hots (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 TBSP butter
1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions:
*Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
*Place the pretzels in a large bowl and set aside.
*In a saucepan, heat the red hots, butter and maple syrup over medium low heat, stirring, until the candy melts completely.
*Remove from heat and immediately pour over the pretzels. Mix well.
*Spread the pretzels out on the baking sheet. Refrigerate for one hour or until they harden. Store in an airtight container.