Tag Archives: thanksgiving potluck

Thanksgiving Potluck/Movie Night!

For our Thanksgiving cluster meeting, we ate lots of good food (thank you so much to everybody who participated), shared different holiday traditions and experiences, and watched “Three Wishes for Cinderella” (Tři oříšky pro Popelku), which is a Czech/German fairy-tale film from 1973. The film has become a holiday classic in several European countries and is shown on TV around Christmas time every year in the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, and sometimes Russia. It was wonderful to catch up with everybody!! 🙂 

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Countries represented: Czech Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Austria 🙂

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Elena from Costa Rica and Hana from Czech Republic received their Education Certificate after fulfilling the educational component of the program (6 credits or approx. 72 classroom hours at an accredited Post-secondary institution).

Pistachio Pudding and Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie

Pistachio Pudding 

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20 oz. can crushed pineapple
¼ cup pineapple juice 
3.5 oz. package pistachio pudding and pie filling
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup chopped pecans – toasted
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip), thawed (8 oz)

Preparation:
1.  Drain the pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice.
2. Place the pineapple and reserved juice in a large bowl.
3. Add the pudding mixes, miniature marshmallows, pecans and coconut. Stir well.
4. Gently fold in the whipped topping until the mixture is well-combined, but not soupy. Refrigerate until ready

Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie

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Crust:
1 refrigerated pie crust
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg, beaten

Pie:
7 – 8 cups apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (I used Granny Smith and Honeycrisp.)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumb topping:
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated (or coarse) sugar

Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon good vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 teaspoons milk

 

Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F.

Unroll your crust on a lightly floured surface. Then, brush the crust with melted butter and evenly sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll the crust up tightly and slice into 1/2-inch rounds.
Press these rounds, cut side down, into a clear glass 9-inch pie plate. Press until flat, covering the entire pan. Make sure there are no spaces between the rolls; then brush lightly with the beaten egg.

In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with the cinnamon and sugar until evenly coated. Then, pour the apples into the crust. It will mound up and almost seem to be overflowing. This is good.

Then, in a medium bowl, combine the butter, flour, and brown sugar with your fingers or a pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle the crumble over the heaped apples. Finally, sprinkle the whole pie with the sugar.

Bake the pie until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly (about 50 – 60 minutes). (My oven tends to brown things easily, so I very lightly covered the top of my pie with tin foil for most of the baking process.) Once baked, remove form the oven and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

When the pie is cool, you can prepare the icing. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and milk. If your mixture seems too thick, add a bit more milk. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar. Transfer the icing to a pastry bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off. Then, pipe the icing in a swirl (to resemble a cinnamon roll) on top of the crumble.

For more instructions with pictures, see http://www.inspiredbycharm.com/2014/11/year-pie-cinnamon-roll-apple-pie.html