Enter Today!! WQmag Holiday Recipe Contest- You Could Win Dinner for Two!

[Amy Warren, LMHC / WQ Mag Columnist]

This Contest is Sponsored by Lonjevity Restaurant

Everyone has their favorite holiday recipes. Wes, Kim and I are hungry (especially Kim since she’s steadily dropping pounds in the Weight Loss Challenge), and we want to know your favorites. Holidays are for sharing, so share your favorite holiday recipes on WQmag.com and be entered in our Holiday Recipe Contest. We will be featuring two recipe contests: one for Thanksgiving and another contest to carry us through the rest of the holiday season. The winner of the Thanksgiving recipe contest will win Dinner for 2 At Lonjevity Restaurant. The second contest prize is to be announced.
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Recipes may be any course: appetizer, entrée, side dish, dessert – you name it. Recipes do not have to be original, but recipes do need to be taste-tested by the contestant to ensure good results for our members. Each week through the holiday season, one member’s recipe will be selected for the Recipe of the Week.

Contest Rules:
1) You must be a WQ Mag Online Member to enter. Not a member? Join here
2) If the recipe is from a cookbook or magazine, the source must be credited.
3) Submit your recipe as a discussion below in the reply box. If you do not see the reply box you are not signed or you have not joined wqmag.com. Click Here to sign in or join wqmg.com
4) Each member may enter one recipe.
5) Photos of the recipe are welcome and encouraged, but not required.
6) The winner will then be chosen randomly from the finalists. (Entries which are brought to the WQ Mag office to be taste-tested may be given extra consideration…LOL).
7) The Thanksgiving Recipe Contest Starts on Monday November 16th and ends on Sunday,November 29th at 11:59 pm.

To get you started, here’s my recipe for Apple Cranberry Casserole. I serve this casserole as a side dish although it could also be served for dessert.

Apple Cranberry Casserole

3 cups chopped, unpeeled apples
2 cups whole, fresh cranberries
½ to ¾ cup raw sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose flour)
½ cup canola oil or melted butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
¾ chopped pecans

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Combine apples, cranberries, raw sugar and flour. Pour into greased 9x12 casserole dish. In small bowl, combine oil or butter, brown sugar, oatmeal, and pecans. Sprinkle over cranberry apple mixture. Bake for 1 hour. Serves 8.

Start sharing your recipes with WQmag.com now. I happen to know there are some great cooks amongst our members, so we expect to be your source for holiday meal ideas. Keep checking the site throughout the holiday season for new recipes. If you try a recipe, be sure make a comment to let us know how you liked it or to note any modifications you made. Let the feast begin….


Please visit and Support our Sponsor Lonjevity Restaurant

[Jane Barr]

Sweet Potato Souffle (My son's favorite)
1. Boil 6 sweet potatoes for 45 minutes or until soft.
2. Peel potatoes and mash. Mash into the potatoes
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1/2 cup of hot milk or cream.
3. Add to the mashed potatoe mixture,
- 1/2 cup of melted butter
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of pure maple syrup.
4. Beat all with an electric beater until smooth and fluffy.
5. Pour mixture into a lightly greased souffle dish
6. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes
7. Open oven and add topping (below) Place back in oven for approximately 5 minutes or until lightly browned.

Topping:
6 tlb. butter (softened)
3/4 c. of brown sugar
1 cup of crushed cornflakes
1/2 cup of chopped pecans

[Carissa]

Pumpkin Chocolate Tart

This is a Martha Stewart recipe, November 2003.

Prepare the crust first.

Chocolate Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup + 1 tbsp. sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1 stick butter cut into small pieces
1 egg
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

Mix first 6 ingredients with electric mixer. On low speed, add butter. Mix until it forms small balls. Add egg and mix to form dough. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On floured surface, roll out dough. Transfer to tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan. Prick bottom of dough with fork. Chill for 30 minutes to firm. Bake shell until firm. Immediately, sprinkle chocolate bits over crust.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Mixture:

1 can pumpkin puree
¾ cup brown sugar
8 oz. crème fraiche
3 eggs
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 oz. high quality semi-sweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients except for the chocolate. Strain and pour into prepared crust. Bake for 40 minutes or until set. While the pie cools, melt chocolate in a double boiler. Then drizzle over tart. Refrigerate until well set.

[Punum]

Pumpkin Squares
This is a very easy thing to make and everyone will love it! A friend gave it to me years ago. I'm not a dessert person but this I like. (The picture is not one made by me).
Cake:
1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake, the center should be a little gooey.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.
Variations:
1. Pineapple Cake: Instead of the pumpkin, add a drained 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.
2. Banana Cake: Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.
3. Peanut Butter Cake: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter to the cream cheese filling instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.