Cinnamon Applesauce Jello

This dish is one that we've had at holiday meals for as long as I can remember. It is usually served with the main meal, to accompany poultry and the other dishes, just like one would serve cranberry sauce. My mom always made this in a special jello mould that was like a tupperware bundt shaped pan that had interchangeable shapes in the center for various occasions. After the jello set up, she'd always turn the mold upside down on the plate and serve the jello free-standing. I've never done that because (a) I don't have a dish like that, and (b) my consistency is never quite right. All the same, I still enjoy this!

Ingredients:
1 (3 ounce) package cherry Jell-O
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup cinnamon red cinnamon candies
1 (16 ounce) jar applesauce

Directions:
1. Combine water with candies and boil to melt candies.
2. Pour over Jello and dissolve.
3. Add Applesauce.
4. Chill.


Notes from Thanksgiving 2011's rendition of this.
-- I used an 8oz package of cherry jello
-- I upped all the measurements of the recipe proportionately
-- The tiny cinnamon redhots are not in season (like valentine's day, when you can get a large bag), and the small little bottle in the cake decorating section with sprinkles was disproportionately expensive, so I bought some of the brach's individually wrapped cinnamon candies (size of a butterscotch) and used those instead. Because they were larger, I knew they'd take more time to melt and added a little extra water. Then, fearing it was too watery and would not set up, I added one packet of Knox gelatin.
-- I put 2 ladles of the mixture into small glass cups (pictured), and the rest into pyrex baking dishes. When we served it at dessert time, it had been sitting out for a bit and wasn't as solid as usual. I think putting it back in the fridge for a bit would've fixed it, because it was solid when we were traveling, and the individual cups at home were solid too (see picture below):

Pilgrim Hat Cookies

Not healthy, but fun!!!

Blurry picture taken by my camera phone.

Rohit and I made these on Thanksgiving Eve. So easy, yummy, and a hit at our Thanksgiving dinner!

Ingredients:
1 package striped fudge shortbread cookies
1 package reeses mini peanut butter cups
1 tub prepared vanilla frosting
food coloring
2 plastic sandwich bags
scissors

Instructions:
1. Freeze the reese's cups. We found out the hard way that they get mushy when small hands handle them a lot to unwrap at room temperature. If they start frozen, they hold up fabulously. Give them 30-60 minutes before you get to step 4.
2. Lay all the fudge striped cookies upside down on a cookie sheet (fudge side up, striped side down)
3. Take 1 cup of the frosting, place in a small mixing bowl, and put in 7-8 drops of yellow food coloring. Spoon the mixed icing into a sandwich bag and cut a small hole (<1cm) in the corner so you can pipe the icing out of that.
4. Squish a large dallop of yellow frosting in the center of each cookie and place a reese's cup on it, pressing in gently for the frosting to bind the cookies. I found it worked well to do a circle of frosting around the cookie hole so not as much leaked through.
5. Take a few tablespoons (~ 1/4 cup) of plain vanilla frosting from the container, place in a mixing bowl and add 2-3 drops of both red and yellow food coloring. Mix to create orange frosting. Spoon the mixed icing into a sandwich bag and cut a very small hole (1/8 inch) in the corner. This will be used to pipe on the hat buckles and is a little more precise than the yellow frosting.
6. Do a 'dot' or draw a square with the orange frosting to create a buckle on each hat.
7. Place in the fridge or freezer to set up for 30 minutes, then serve at room temperature.
8. Enjoy!