With the holidays approaching, T.W.O. spent some time experimenting with recipes this weekend to make sure we have the perfect menu for our Holiday meals. This recipe is a great option for your Friendsgiving feast! It’s non-traditional, but festive and will add a refreshing dish to your table. Find out how to make this easy recipe in just a couple steps! Continue reading “Quinoa and Pomegranate Salad”
Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays since it’s always filled with family, friends, great food and adventures. This year we also had amazing weather, so we got to go to the beach and take advantage of the outdoors. Here are some photos that capture our fun 5 days at home with our family. (Video trailer included at the bottom)
With Thanksgiving this week everyone is scrambling to get their grocery shopping done and the house ready for the guests. Forget anything….I am sure you did. What about name cards? If you did, don’t stress. T.W.O. has the perfect and affordable name cards you can use on your Thanksgiving table. You can even pick up some of the supplies while at the grocery store. Check out how we made these fabulous gold apple name cards.
Supplies:
– Apples (T.W.O. used Granny Smith apples)
– Gold spray paint (or any other metallic color depending on color scheme)
– white paper
– scissors
– pen
Is it just T.W.O. or does everyone have the Monday blues. It’s mostly because we had a fabulous weekend with our family and wish we can do it all over again. Here are some highlights from our Thanksgiving weekend!
Turkey Trot
The Table Decorators
The Cousins! 
The Ladies
Baby Taylen climbing up the stair for the first time!
The Sampler Platter!
HB Pier
Cheers to another successful Thanksgiving!
Galette’s are a quick and easy alternative to making a pie or tart. It doesn’t require a special pan or master technic. Check out how to make this pear & almond galette.
Ingredients
*Flaky Crust:
-2 cups flour
-¾ cup shortening (T.W.O. uses butter flavor)
– 2-3 Tablespoons sugar
– 5-6 Tablespoons cold water
-1 egg white
*Please note this recipe usually makes two pie crusts, so adjust accordingly based on the size you want your galette
Filling:
– 7 ounces almond paste
– 5 Comice Pears, peeled & sliced
– ¼ cup granulated sugar
– 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
– 2 Tablespoons nutmeg
– 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Preheat oven to 425ᴼF. In a bowl mix the flour, shortening, sugar and cold water. T.W.O. uses a pastry blender to mix the dough together until you form it into a ball. Set aside.
In a bowl, carefully mix the sliced pears, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cornstarch. Be careful not to break the pears while mixing.
To roll out the dough, make sure your surface is floured so that the dough doesn’t stick to your countertop or mat. Using your rolling pin, roll the dough out evenly in a circular shape. With the assistance of a spatula, move the rolled out dough into the oiled or “PAM’ed” baking pan or cookie sheet. Next, add the almond paste to the center of the dough. You want to make sure the clumps of paste are distributed evenly, leaving a 1 inch border around the edge of the circle. Next add the pear mixture on top of the almond paste.
Using a knife, cut ½ thick strips along the edge of the dough. Next, take each strip and fold over to make a crust. Each strip should be crisscross. Brush the crust with the egg white and sprinkle sugar on top.
Bake the galette for about 35 minutes or until the fruit mixture is bubbling. Check the crust at 15 minutes and if the pie crust is getting brown, cover with foil. Remove the galette and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving. If you don’t plan to eat the galette right away, T.W.O. suggests warming it up prior to eating. Add a scoop of ice cream and you have yourself a gourmet dessert!!!
Happy Baking!!
Setting the Thanksgiving table might be as important as cooking the turkey in T.W.O.’s family. Much time is spent deciding on the linens, decorations, dinnerware, stemware, silverware, AND place cards. By having place cards on the dinner table, each guests feels even more special that this setting was created just for them and it cuts down 5 minutes of the seating process since you already know where you are sitting! So this year, we have “T.W.O.” ideas on how we will be displaying our guests’ names on the table.
Fall Leaf
Gather some autumn leaves of your choice. Take a black sharpie and write the name of each guest’s name on the leaf. Next, situate the leaf, as you would like at the place setting.
“Spiky Balls”
Gather “spiky balls” from liquid amber trees, particularly the green ones. Cut long, rectangular labels out of construction paper. Next, write the guest’s name on each rectangle and punch a hole at the end of the paper. String raffia through the hole and tie to the stem of a “spiky ball.” Situate each nametag as you would like at the place setting.
Cheers!
Potatoes make a great side dish, but sometimes, well- they can just be so bland. T.W.O. decided to change things up a bit and make Potatoes Au Gratin! And wow, was it a hit! The ingredients are simple, but the flavor is so delectable!
Ingredients:
-½ cup low-salt chicken broth
-1½ cups heavy cream
-2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
-1 Tablespoon dried basil
-2½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/8 inch thick
-Krazy Salt and freshly ground black pepper
-1 Tablespoon nutmeg
-1-2 cups grated Gruyère cheese
In a small saucepan, combine the broth, cream, garlic and basil. Bring to a boil. Take it from the heat and let the flavors infuse as you assemble the potatoes.
Heat the oven to 350°F. Spread about one-third of the potatoes in the bottom of a 2-qt. gratin or heavy baking dish. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Layer with 1/3 of cheese. Top with another one-third of the potatoes, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg again. Layer with another 1/3 of cheese. Arrange the remaining potatoes on top and season.
Put the gratin dish on a baking sheet to catch any spills. Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake in the oven until the potatoes start to get tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking, basting occasionally with the liquid in the dish, until the potatoes are very tender when pierced with a knife and a golden crust forms on top. This will take about another 30 to 45 minutes. Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.
Bon appetite!
Pumpkin Pie. It is as important (maybe a little more!) than the turkey for T.W.O.’s family Thanksgiving feast. With Thanksgiving around the corner, T.W.O. decided to bake this delicious dessert a few weeks before the big day to get our and your mouths watering! You won’t be disappointed!
Ingredients
Flaky Crust:
-2 cups flour
-¾ cup shortening (T.W.O. uses butter flavor)
-2-3 Tablespoons sugar
-5-6 Tablespoons cold water
*Depending on the size of your pans or how thick you want your crust, you might want to double the crust recipe. T.W.O. uses 9 inch pie pans.
Pumpkin Filling:
-1 ½ cups sugar
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1 teaspoon ground ginger
-1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
-4 large eggs
-1 can (29 oz) Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
-2 cans (12 fl. Oz., each) evaporated milk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl mix the flour, shortening, sugar and cold water. T.W.O. uses a pastry blender to mix the dough together, forming into a ball.
Once the dough ball is formed, let’s get ready to roll it out! Make sure your surface is floured so that the dough doesn’t stick to your countertop or mat. Split the dough in half to make the 2 piecrusts. Using your rolling pin, roll the dough out evenly in a circular shape. With the assistance of a spatula, move the rolled out dough into the oiled or “PAM’ed”pie dish. Pinch the crust tops with your fingers to make a stylish pattern. Repeat for second pie dough.
Now for the pumpkin filling. Mix sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in small bowl (T.W.O. uses a KitchenAid). Beat eggs in a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
Pour into pie shells.
Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees; bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for about 1-2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Happy Baking!
*T.W.O. makes a foil ring to cover the crusts so that it does not burn.
1. Fresco Turkey Plates , 2. Bernardaud Louvre Dinnerware, 3. French Country Side Goblets, 4. Bali Dark Placemats, 5. Cross Dyed Linen, 6. Damask Print Table Runner
7. Gold Pumpkin Vase Filler, 8. Lead Terra Cotta Pillar Candle Holders, 9. Marlowe Vases, 10. Gold Pumpkin Candles
T.W.O. 