Thanksgiving Cheeseball

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I found this adorable cheeseball on Pinterest and had to make it for our family dinner!  This cute idea came from Angela over at Handmade In The Heartland.  I simplified it by using a store-bought cheeseball and it turned out great! It was a big hit at our family get-together.

Turkey Cheeseball

Source: Handmade In The Heartland

2 8oz pkgs of cream cheese, softened

2 T. minced onion

1/2 T. minced green bell pepper

1 8oz can crushed pineapple well drained

1 t. salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. onion powder

1 c. chopped pecans

Decorations:

pretzel sticks

whopper candy

beef jerkey stick

candy eyes

candy corn

fruit roll up

chocolate icing or melted chocolate 

Mix all ingredients other than the pecans together until well combined.  With damp hands roll the mixture into a ball and then roll in chopped pecans.  Wrap it in wax paper and put it in the fridge to chill and firm up a bit. 

Decorate: 

To make the turkey "feathers" stick your pretzel sticks into the back 1/2 of the cheese ball.  To create mr. gobblers head take a stick of beef jerkey and "glue" a whopper candy on top with icing.  Then attach the nose and eyes also with icing.  We made the gobbler by cutting a little strip of fruit roll up and then laying it over the candy corn.  

Happy Thanksgiving

I would like to take a moment and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  As I think back over the past year, I have so many things to be thankful for. I am looking forward to spending this Thanksgiving with my family and enjoying some good home-cooked food and laughter. May your Thanksgiving be filled with family, friends, and happy memories.

I'll leave you with some Thanksgiving goodies that I made in the bakery this past week...

Turkey Cupcakes:






Turkey Sugar Cookies:


Fall Tree Cookies:


and a pumpkin Turkey Cake!

Pumpkin Pie Bites

I know it's a little late for this recipe but I just now got around to posting it. Sorry...but perhaps you can keep it in mind for next year! :)

I made these little delights for our Thanksgiving Day dinner this year. They were yummy and pretty cute too!

Marshmallow Pilgram Hats

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for this year, including all of you. Thank you for being my fan club, for leaving me sweet comments and inspiring messages. Thank you for motivating me to keep on blogging!

Here's one last cute Thanksgiving cookie recipe for you just in time for the holiday! Enjoy your time with family and friends and happy eating!!!!

Mashmallow Pilgram Hats
Source: Family Fun

24 chocolate-striped shortbread cookies
12 oz. pkg. of chocolate chips
24 large marshmallows
tube of yellow decorators' frosting

Set the chocolate-striped cookies stripes down on a wax-paper-covered tray, spacing them well apart. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave or double boiler. One at a time, stick a wooden toothpick into a marshmallow, dip the marshmallow into the melted chocolate, and promptly center it atop a cookie. Using a second toothpick to lightly hold down the marshmallow, carefully pull out the first toothpick. Chill the hats until the chocolate sets, then pipe a yellow decorators' frosting buckle on the front of each hat.

Turkey Week Conclusion

Well...that concludes Turkey Week! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. I had a blast (and some good laughs too) while making all these turkeys. Now I'm interested in hearing back from you. Let me know which turkey cookie you like the most by answering the poll on the right.

Turkey #1 - Sugar Turkey
Turkey #2 - Oreo Turkey
Turkey #3 - Striped Turkey
Turkey #4 - Chocolate Turkey
or
Turkey #5 - Gobble Gobble Turkey with Legs

Turkey #5

Check out these super cute turkeys!! And they even have legs!!! Wouldn't these be perfect to send with your kid to share at school or to serve at your family's Thanksgiving dinner? Some people will think these little guys are just too cute to eat!

Turkey #5 - Gobble Gobble Turkey with Feet
Source: Cookies and Cups

Double Stuff Oreos
Pretzel sticks
Chocolate covered marshmallows (New from Kraft!)
White decorating icing
Black and red decorating icing
Candy Corn

Take your Double Stuff Oreos and break your pretzel sticks into small pieces, about an inch, and push them gently into the bottom of the Oreo, like legs. Press 5 candy corn in the top, like feathers. Next take some white decorating icing and put a squirt in the middle to work as glue to hold your turkey's head on. Press a chocolate marshmallow or Whopper on to this. Now you have a head! Then dot on some white icing for eyes and then use your gel or sprinkle to give your eye a black center. Squeeze a little icing on to attach the beak. (For the beak cut off the top (white) part of a candy corn and color it orange with a food marker if you have one.) Then squeeze on some red for his gobble. Let it dry, so the head doesn't fall off and you're done! Super cute!

Turkey #4

This turkey is related to Turkey #1 (aka The Sugar Turkey) but is covered with chocolate icing. All you chocoholics out there will love this turkey!

Turkey #4 - Chocolate Turkey
Source: Betty Crocker

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 container (12 oz) chocolate frosting
Candy corn
1 tube yellow decorating icing (I used red.)
Mini M&M's
1 tube black decorating gel

Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms. On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.

Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Frost and decorate 1 cookie at a time. After spreading frosting on cookie, add candy corn for feathers. Pipe yellow icing for beak and feet. Add M&M's for eyes; pipe black gel for center of each eye.

Turkey #3

These turkeys are going for the simplistic look. Great for holiday parties and fun to make with your kids. These are so cute everyone will want to GOBBLE them up!

Turkey #3 - Striped Turkey
Source: Oodlekadoodle Primatives

40 fudge-striped cookies
1/4 c. chocolate frosting
2 packages (5 oz. each) chocolate-covered cherries
20 pieces candy corn

Place 20 cookies on a flat surface, solid chocolate side down. With frosting attach a chocolate-covered cherry to the top of each base cookie. Position another cookie perpendicular to each base cookie; attach with frosting.

With a dab of frosting, attach one piece of candy corn to the front of each cherry for the head. Let stand until set.

Turkey #2

This turkey is made up of several favorites of mine: Oreos, a whopper, and a miniature Reese's peanut butter cup! Gobble, Gobble!!!

Turkey #2 - Oreo Turkey
Source: Oodlekadoodle Primitives

7 - 9 Candy Corn
2 Double Stuffed Oreo Cookies
1 Whopper
1 Miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
black piping gel
white icing
Yellow and red food coloring

DIRECTIONS:
Put your Peanut Butter Cups in the fridge to cool. If you have cold hard chocolate to work with it makes it a lot easier.

Squeeze some of the white icing into a bowl. This will be your orange. Mix red and yellow food coloring with the icing to create your desired orange. Then put that into a plastic bag and set it aside for later.

Creating:
First you will be creating the tail using 1 Oreo cookie and 6 Candy Corns. Gently, with one candy corn, pull apart just one side of the Oreo don't break! . Put a good amount of icing in between the two sides. This will help the Candy Corn stay. Place 6 Candy Corn (white side down) in between the cookie.

Take your white icing and squeeze a generous amount onto the top back of an Oreo cookie. Take the other Oreo and put the bottom into the icing to have it stand up. If it doesn't stand, add more icing! Once you have it stand put it up against something so it doesn't fall until the icing is dry.

Remove your Peanut Butter Cup from the fridge. Take your knife and cut off the very bottom so you have a flat surface. Put icing on the bottom of it. Bump it up against the bottom and back of your Oreo cookies.

Next take your Whopper and squeeze more icing on it on one side. Place the whopper on top of the Peanut Butter Cup to make your head.

Find a piece of Candy Corn that has a nice big white end. Using your sharp knife cut the color off leaving you with the white end. Place some icing on it and stick it on your whopper as the beak to your Oreo Turkey. Hold for a moment.

If you want wings on your turkey add two candy corns to the sides.

Take your icing and place two white dots as eyes. Get your tube of black piping gel and place a black dot on each eye to make them come alive.

Grab your bag of already created orange. Cut a very small hold in the corner of the bag. Pipe the feet.

- - - - - - - - - -

With Wings...



Or Without Wings...



I personally love the wings!!!

Turkey Week!

Thanksgiving is only 10 days away so I am declaring this as Turkey Week on my blog! This week I am going to post a different turkey cookie recipe each day and at the end of the week you can vote which one is your favorite.

Turkey #1 is one that I made a couple years ago at a MOMS Club function. Just bake and decorate some pre-made sugar cookie dough and voila you have a cute turkey to serve at your upcoming Thanksgiving dinner.



Turkey #1 - The Sugar Turkey
Source: Pillsbury

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
1 container (16 oz) chocolate creamy frosting
Candy corn
Orange decorating icing (I only had red.)
Black decorating gel
Mini M&M's

Heat oven to 350°F. Bake cookies as directed on roll. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.

Spoon chocolate frosting into resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut small hole in bottom corner of bag. On each cookie, pipe frosting on outer edge of half of cookie. Arrange candy corn over frosting for feathers.

Pipe orange icing onto each cookie to resemble turkey face and feet. Use orange icing to attach baking bits to turkey face for eyes. Pipe black gel on baking bits for centers of eyes.