November Holiday Memories & Recipes

The array of recipes I've received recently could fill a cookbook! Here is an exquisite soup for a chilly day alone with salad and bread, or served as an appetizer to your holiday meal! It's sent by the very funny, very personable, and very talented author and full-time mom,  Renee Bernard, who I am utterly delighted to call my friend.

Her Jaded Gentleman series are fast-paced and wonderfully written reads!! If you need a good story to occupy your holidays--follow this series! The release of PASSION WEARS PEARLS, is slated for March 2012 release!

Sherried Carrot Soup
On a cold night and for holiday season special occasions, I love to make sherried carrot soup. It's a creamy carrot bisque kind of thing and the color is nice on a Thanksgiving table--or any table!!...and then I toast and slice french bread to go with it to try to avoid having to use your fingers or lick the bowl ;-) It's a very decadent
dish but Super Easy to Make.

As with all Bernard signature recipes, measurements are simply guidelines. Have fun and make it your own!

Sherried Carrot Soup
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons of butter
8 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth (or water with chicken buillon to taste in a pinch ;-)
1/2 cup medium dry sherry
1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream

white pepper
chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

In a kettle, cook the onion in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring until the onion is softened. Add the carrots, the ginger and the cinnamon, and cook the mixture, stirring for one minute (to coat the carrots in the flavor and let them know what's about to happen).

Add the broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20-30 minutes or until the carrots are very tender. (Here's where it gets tricky.) In a blender or food processor puree the mixture in batches and transfer it back into the
kettle as it's pureed. Add the sherry and the cream. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Then season with salt and white pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and Enjoy!


More Holiday traditions!
Nothing seems more traditional at the holidays than pumpkin pie! Here are a few memories of that time-honored treat!

Jackie writes;   "My favorite tradition at Thanksgiving time is to bake home-made pumpkin pies. Most of my family would rather eat other foods besides a turkey and all the trrimmings....except...pumpkin pie...they do love the ones I bake. It is a recipe that my grandmother passed down to my mom and then down to my sister and me.
"
Joanne writes; Pumpkin pie with cool whip a must, cranberrys, sweet pot's, apple cider!!!!!!!!!!! And family and friends!!!!!!!!!

Olga writes; "Here in Canada we have Thanksgiving earlier than the States. One of my new traditions stems from a loss that we suffered this past August. My sister's mother-in-law (who everyone loved) passed away. It had been a long tough year, and we all miss her greatly. She was always the one who brought pie to Thanksgiving dinner; blueberry, apple and pumpkin. My youngest niece and nephew's favourite was pumpkin - and this year I made them pumpkin pie, and I got a wonderful compliment, because it was "almost as good as Nana's".