Re-living thanksgiving

There is one holiday that my family does extremely well and it is Thanksgiving.  We all try to show up in the same city, usually either in the suburbs of Minneapolis or Chicago, and then the second generation of the family gets to work cooking for everyone else.  I would say the "kids" of the family, but I have to come to terms with the fact that I have six (!!!) nieces and nephews, so me and my siblings are no longer the "kids."  We are very much the grown ups.

What do you do in the winter in Minneapolis?  You go to the mall.
photo courtesy of gossiponthis.com
(I don't normally read that blog. Its what came up with the best pic when I googled the Mall of America, okay?

Last year the younger of my two brothers took it upon himself to come up with a menu for Thanksgiving.  In the past my sister came up with the menu, we showed up at her house and she put us all to work.  This time we all showed up at my oldest brother's house and were put to work by my other brother.  I must say... Daffy did a good job of coming up with a menu.  So good, in fact, that this year we recreated the same menu. (With the exception of the poblano corn pudding.  I really missed that this year.)

This was the turkey we made.  By "we" I mean my sister and brother.  Due to my back injury, I got to supervise.

The unfortunate part to this year's meal was that we were not all able to be together.  Because of sick kids, my oldest brother and his family did not make it. Also, the cooking got started REALLY late on Thanksgiving day. So we ate dinner at about 9 pm instead of at 6 like a normal family.  But, we did eat dessert.  None of us were in the mood for it, but we did.

The next day was a whole other story.  Many of us were so sick of eating (literally on Thanksgiving it was non stop eating, even though dinner was not till 9 pm.  It was beyond crazy.), that we opted for the "pie and chai option" rather than actual lunch. And while there was no actual pie this Thanksgiving, there was this:

Delicious pumpkin trifle will make you forget all about pie.

Now, if you think you would miss pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, believe me you wouldn't if you had this.  I actually like this better than pumpkin pie... and I love pumpkin pie.  So you should give it a try.  Its layers of pumpkin pie filling, gingerbread, and whipped cream.  Its absolutely decadent without being too heavy.  While the pumpkin in it makes it an obvious fall dessert, the gingerbread cake gives it a wintry feel as well. Its like fall and winter got together and had a beautiful dessert baby that is this dessert. 

The other great thing about Thanksgiving this year?  My family did a White Elephant gift exchange and I got one of these:

Clap on... Clap off... Clap on, clap off... the clapper!

I also learned that my sister's house has superior natural light to my little apartment. ;)

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle


Ingredients:

• 2 (14 oz) packages of gingerbread cake mix, prepared
• 1 (5.1 oz) package of vanilla instant pudding
• 1 (30 oz) can pumpkin pie filling
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
• 1 (12 oz) container frozen cool whip
• 1/2 cup gingersnap cookies, crumbled

Directions:

Bake the gingerbread according to the directions on the package and set aside.  

kudos to my brother for doing most of the work on this one

While the cake is cooling, prepare the pudding according to the directions.  Stir in the pie filling, sugar and cardamom (or cinnamon) into the pudding.

Yummy goodness!

Crumble one batch of the gingerbread into the bottom of a trifle bowl.  Pour half of the pudding mixture over the cake and spread evenly.  Then add a layer of cool whip, spreading evenly over the pudding layer and being careful not to mix the two layers.  Repeat a second layer of the cake, pudding mixture and the cool whip.  Top with the crushed gingersnaps.

Refrigerate overnight, or at least several hours to set before serving.

Source: Paula Deen, Food Network