With Thanksgiving looking a little different each year, we thought we would share a bit of our traditions and food with all of you.

Recipe from the kitchen of Abbey Burkel, Interior Designer

SWEDISH TEA RING

A classic Swedish holiday pastry that my family has made for generations. Traditionally, this is made at Christmas time, but my family enjoys making this pastry for any holiday gathering. Enjoy!

Dough Ingredients:

1 package Dry Yeast

2 ¼ c. Flour

1 tsp. Salt

2 Tbsp. Sugar

½ c. Butter

¼ c. Evaporated Milk

1 Egg

Optional: ¼ c. Currants or Chopped Raisins

Filling Ingredients:

¼ c. Soft Butter

½ c. Firmly Packed Brown Sugar

¼ - ½ c. Chopped Pecans

Glaze Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Butter

1 c. Powdered Sugar

½ tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

1-2 Tbsp. Evaporated Milk

Image from Google search

Directions:

Soften dry yeast in ¼ c. warm water. Sift together flour, salt, and sugar. Place dry ingredients in mixing bowl and cut in butter until particles are fine. Add evaporated milk and egg (optional currants or chopped raisins) and mix. Add softened yeast, mixing well. Chill for 2 hours, or overnight.

After dough is done chilling, make the filling. Cream the butter and the brown sugar well and set aside. Divide dough in half. Roll out one half on a floured surface or pastry canvas to a 12”x 6” rectangle (approximate). Spread half of the filling and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Roll the pastry, starting with the 12” side and seal. Place in a crescent shape on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet. Make cuts along the outside edge; 1” apart and within ½” of the center. Turn cut pieces on to their side. Repeat with remaining dough. Let ring rise in a warm place (85-90⁰) for about 45 minutes.

Bake is 350⁰ for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Makes 2 crescents. Make glaze while baking: Brown butter, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Stir in evaporated milk until it reaches spreading consistency. Glaze pastry while warm.

Recipe from the kitchen of Kallie Taylor, Intern

PEANUT BUTTER PIE

I will be spending Thanksgiving at home with family this year and one of our favorite family traditions is a pie baking contest where all the men in the family pay to have their pies entered in the competition. They spend the night before thanksgiving preparing and decorating their pies. Thanksgiving morning all the girls judge the pies based on appearance, taste, and creativity. It’s a great tradition because the girls can take a break from baking and get to taste test all the different pies and the men have a chance at winning the jackpot!

Here is one of my favorite peanut butter pie recipes that comes out every thanksgiving

Ingredients

9 Graham Crackers, crushed

3/4 cup Salted Peanuts, finely chopped

1/4 cup White Sugar

1/4 cup Butter, melted

1 quart Vanilla Ice Cream, softened

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1/4 cup Salted Peanuts, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
In a small bowl, mix together crushed graham crackers, 3/4 cup peanuts and sugar. Stir in melted butter or margarine. Press mixture into a 9 inch pie plate.
Bake crust in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Chill.
In medium mixing bowl, mix ice cream and peanut butter together on medium-low speed until combined. Pour into chilled crust. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped peanuts.
Freeze for at least 6 hours. Remove from freezer 10 minutes prior to serving.

Recipe from the kitchen of Nate Saddler, Job Captain

DELICIOUS PUMPKIN BREAD

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/delicious-pumpkin-bread/

Ingredients

5 large eggs
1-1/4 cups canola oil
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 packages (3 ounces each) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

· In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients; gradually beat into pumpkin mixture.

· Pour batter into five greased 5-3/4x3x2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
Freeze option: Securely wrap and freeze cooled loaves in plastic and foil. To use, thaw at room temperature.

Editor's Note: Bread may also be baked in two greased 8x4x2-in. loaf pans for 75-80 minutes.

Recipe from the kitchen of Jacob Perez, Project Designer

KIM’S CACTUS SALSA

Traditionally our family travels to Hollandale WI, a small dairy and farm town south of Madison with a population of roughly 230 ppl.

We are typically greeted by several relatives (upwards of 20 or more) for turkey and the fixings, deer hunting, and Black Friday shopping, to break it down in simple terms. This year our tradition has been modified for obvious reasons. We plan to have a much smaller gathering with relatives all who are tested on a regular basis for COVID-19 or are currently immune. The ones who cannot make it or choose to opt out this year will be bombarded with awkward and fun Zoom/face time calls to supplement the cheer. We are making the best of it!

Thanksgiving Recipe:

Quick catch -up: this recipe is not a traditional thanksgiving accompaniment. It the product of different family traditions. I will explain; one side of my family is Mexican, and they celebrate turkey day in a traditional manner with a few interjections of Mexican dishes. The other side of my family is Norwegian, they also run a traditional thanksgiving but throw in some lefsa here in and there. This recipe is the product of cross pollination; in that, a salsa using traditional Mexican ingredients has been welcomed into the Norwegian side of the family. The salsa is made with nopales (cactus) and used an appetizer.

Kim’s Cactus Salsa

1 Jar nopales (cactus). Rinse, drain and chop

1 Large tomato, diced

1-3 jalapenos, finely chopped

1 small onion, diced

Lemon juice squeezed, ¼ - ½ lemon

1-2 tsp. garlic, minced

Salt & pepper to taste

2-3 avocados, cubed/diced maker choice

4-6 oz. feta cheese

Mix all ingredients except avocado and feta cheese. Right before serving add avocado and feta cheese. Toss lightly and serve with chips or eat as a salad.

Recipe from the kitchen of Jennifer Lindgren, Director of Business Development

GRANDPA RED’S PUMPKIN PIE

Pumpkin pie is serious business in our families. It starts in the garden with growing the pumpkins, then in the fall when they are roasted, the pulp removed and blended into the family pie filling mix and frozen in containers. There is a great joy in having the perfect size to fit the large pie plates. When your grandfather was an army cook, things continue to be done in large batches, always with enough to share.

Be watchful for the family food fight with the Reddi Whip. There are reasons it was banned for a few years before we snuck it back in.

1 Regular Pie

o 2 cups pumpkin pulp

o 2 eggs

o 1 cup flour

o 1 tsp. cinnamon

o 1 tsp. ginger

o ¼ tsp. cloves

o ½ tsp. salt

o 1 2/3 cup milk

5 Large Pies *divide and freeze | thaw & bake

o 12 cups pumpkin pulp

o 12 eggs

o 6 cups sugar

o 12 Tablespoons flour

o 6 tsp. cinnamon

o 6 tsp. ginger

o 1 ½ tsp. cloves

o 3 tsp. salt

o 10 cups milk

o 1 tsp. nutmeg

o 1 tsp. allspice

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce to 350 for another 45 minutes in a pie plate lined with your favorite pie crust.

Recipe from the kitchen of Gillian Cermak, Business Manager

SPINACH PIE

Just like everyone else, my Thanksgiving will look different. We don’t eat many of the traditional Thanksgiving foods (we had pulled pork last year, and have deep fried chickens in other years), but we do have our own traditions. This spinach pie is something we have at most holidays, even both sets of grandparents would make this! This year, we are not gathering as a family due to COVID. However, we are doing a side swap. My siblings and I are all going to make a side, pack in containers and deliver. My brother and his kids are making my grandmother’s potato dumplings, my sister and her boyfriend are making his family tradition of beans, and I will be making this. So even if we can’t be together, we can still have our traditions.

This recipe really is just kind of a guide line. Rarely do we exactly measure most of these ingredients. As you can tell from the recipe card, this is a well loved dish.

Ingredients

1 bag of Spinach (card calls for frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained, but we have used fresh for years now)

1 16 oz carton small curd cottage cheese

3 eggs

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 cup champ cheddar cheese, shredded or cut into 1/2 in. cubes

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

Garlic

Directions

Mix all ingredients thoroughly

Turn into as buttered 9 inch pie pan

Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until set