Category Archives: recipes

Easy Turkey Crescent Ring

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Turkey Ring: A Mini Thanksgiving Feast

The calendar has just turned to November. The Halloween candy is still sitting in bags from trick-or-treating, and all I can think about is turkey!

I love turkey, and it’s not always easy to find year-round.

There is one small sandwich shop I know that serves amazing turkey sandwiches. I used to stop by at least once a month, but without a car, that’s not an option anymore.

D’Angelo’s has a turkey sub called the Thanksgiving that’s available year-round, and when I get desperate, it helps. But it’s just not the same.

So now I’m watching the grocery flyers to see what kind of turkey deals will be available this year. In the meantime, I was thinking about having a little mini Thanksgiving feast just to get in the mood.

That’s where the Turkey Ring comes in. It’s easy to make and includes all your holiday favorites in one delicious snack.

Step 1: Create the Ring

Place a can of cranberry sauce in the center of a large cookie sheet or pizza pan. For now, the can is simply a placeholder to help you shape the ring.

Open one or two cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, depending on how large you’d like the ring to be.

Arrange the crescent roll triangles around the cranberry sauce can with the wide ends pointing toward the center and the tips pointing outward. Overlap the dough slightly if needed. When you’re finished, it should resemble a large flower.

Step 2: Add the Filling

Place a layer of turkey slices on each crescent roll triangle.

Top the turkey with prepared stuffing. Stove Top works perfectly for this recipe.

Open the cranberry sauce and add a spoonful on top of the stuffing.

Some people even add mashed potatoes. 

Step 3: Roll It Up

Fold and roll the crescent dough around the filling, forming a complete ring.

If desired, brush the dough with an egg wash for a beautiful golden-brown finish.

Step 4: Bake

Remove the cranberry sauce can from the center.

Bake at 375°F for approximately 15 minutes, or until the crescent rolls are golden brown.

Step 5: Serve

While the ring is baking, heat a jar of turkey gravy and pour it into a small bowl.

When the Turkey Ring comes out of the oven, place the bowl of gravy in the center of the ring and serve immediately.

A Great Way to Use Leftovers

One of the best things about this recipe is that it works just as well after Thanksgiving.

Simply substitute leftover turkey for the deli turkey and use your homemade stuffing and cranberry sauce. It’s a delicious way to transform leftovers into an entirely new meal.

And if you’re like me and already thinking about Thanksgiving before Halloween candy is even gone, this little Turkey Ring might be just the thing to hold you over until the big feast arrives.

 

Ghosts in the Graveyard

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Halloween-themed banner featuring an orange background with black silhouettes of haunted houses, bats, and a full moon. In the foreground, a glowing blue ghost decoration stands beside two orange tabby cat figurines wearing witch hats. Black decorative fence posts frame the scene, creating a festive Halloween display with warm orange lighting and spooky accents.

alloween-themed chocolate pudding cups topped with crushed cookie "dirt," white ghost-shaped whipped cream decorations with candy eyes, and small tombstone cookies labeled "RIP." Several dessert cups are arranged on a light-colored surface, creating a playful spooky cemetery effect.Here we are. It’s almost Halloween!

Are you going to a party? Are you hosting one? Do you need a special dessert for this spooky time of year?

Here’s one last ghostly recipe. You might say I saved the best for last. It’s one of my favorites, and the nice thing is that you can make individual servings in plastic cups or one large dessert in a 13 × 9-inch baking dish.

 

So, without further ado, I give you…

Ghosts in a Graveyard

Ingredients

  • 2 packages (3.9 oz. each) instant chocolate puddingHalloween-themed dessert decorated to look like a graveyard. A metal baking pan is filled with dark chocolate crumb topping resembling soil, with cookie tombstones decorated with black crosses standing throughout the dessert. White ghost-shaped frosting figures, small orange pumpkin candies, and pieces of candy corn are scattered across the surface. The dessert is photographed from an angled overhead view against a light background.
  • 3 cups cold milk
  • 1 tub (12 oz.) Cool Whip topping, thawed and divided
  • 15 Oreo cookies, crushed (about 1½ cups)
  • Assorted decorations: 3 cream sandwich cookies, decorating gel, candy pumpkins, candy corn, gummy worms, ghost peeps and any other spooky candies you can think of

Directions

  1. Beat the pudding mix and milk in a large bowl for 2 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in 3 cups of the Cool Whip and half of the cookie crumbs. Spread in a 13 × 9-inch baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining cookie crumbs.For individual servings, divide the pudding mixture among plastic cups and top with the cookie crumbs.
  3. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Meanwhile, decorate the cream sandwich cookies with decorating gel to resemble tombstones.
  4. Insert the decorated cookies into the pudding. Add candies as desired. Use the remaining Cool Whip to make ghosts by dropping spoonfuls on top.

Halloween-themed graveyard dessert in a white baking dish, topped with crushed chocolate cookie "dirt," marshmallow ghosts, cookie tombstones decorated with "RIP" in chocolate, candy corn, gummy worms, and small pumpkin candies. An orange ghost-shaped cookie with a jack-o'-lantern face stands near the front, while additional ghost and tombstone decorations fill the dessert, creating a colorful and playful spooky scene.

Notes

This recipe makes 18 servings, so plan on using 18 plastic cups if you’re making individual servings.

Around our house, we call them Boo Cups!

Ghost Dogs: The Cutest Halloween Snack

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Step-by-step collage showing how to make hot dog mummy ghosts for Halloween. The four-panel image demonstrates halved hot dogs being wrapped in crescent roll dough, eyes and mouths cut out with a straw, and the finished baked snacks resembling small golden-brown ghosts on a baking tray, with a pumpkin visible in the background.

Ghost Dogs: A Haunted Snack or Spooky Lunch

This is the time of year when things get spooky, even at mealtime. Not just because the table is surrounded by miniature ghosts, goblins, and superheroes. Wait… is that Spider-Man? It’s also because we all try to outdo ourselves with spooky lunches.Bloody Brains, a halloween based edible

Chocolate-covered rice cereal treats decorated as playful spiders, with pretzel-stick legs and candy eyes, arranged on a light baking tray with colorful sprinkles scattered around. Bright lighting highlights the crunchy texture and whimsical Halloween-themed design.From creepy spiders made from crispy treats to bowls full of bloody brains (spaghetti), we can come up with some pretty gruesome creations. It’s a testament to childhood that anyone would even attempt to eat these obnoxious-looking edibles. But the kids love them. Truth be told, so do I.

One of my favorite snacks is Pigs in a Blanket. They’re little hot dogs wrapped in Pillsbury crescent roll dough. I prefer the plain hot dogs, not the spicy or smoky varieties, but they’re getting harder to find. I’m guessing I’m in the minority when it comes to flavor preferences.

Anyway, I spotted a cute Halloween twist that I think I can live with.

They’re called Ghosts in a Blanket, among other things. Start by cutting a hot dog in half. Make sure your cuts are straight because those little hot dog pieces need to stand upright.

Next, drape a square of Pillsbury crescent roll dough over each piece. Poke tiny holes for eyes and a mouth, then stand them upright on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until the dough begins to turn golden brown.

A baking tray filled with Halloween-themed ghost-shaped cookies sits on a wooden table. The golden-brown cookies have chocolate chip eyes and mouths, creating surprised ghost faces, with a small bowl of dipping sauce blurred in the background.

The result? Perfect little ghosties ready for dipping into blood (ketchup) or gore (mustard).

When I saw these, I couldn’t wait to try them for myself. They’re cute and easy, two qualities that are really important to me when making an oddball meal like this. I served mine with a side of hay (coleslaw).

This one is definitely a keeper for next Halloween.

 

Fall in New England Means One Thing: Apple Season

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A New England apple orchard with rows of trees full of ripe red apples, green grass between the rows, and a soft, partly cloudy sky overhead.

Welcome to Peak Apple Season in New England

A wooden bin filled with freshly picked red apples, with green orchard trees in the background.You gotta love Fall in New England. The gardens may be past their prime — no more tomatoes, cucumbers, or carrots — but the squash and zucchini are still hanging in there. And now the other seasonal stars have moved in to take over. I’m talking about cranberries and apples.

Apple orchards are everywhere in New England, so crisp fresh apples are in abundance, whether you’re picking your own, stopping at a farm stand, or just walking into your local grocery store. With that in mind, I thought this would be the perfect time to revisit one of my favorite fall recipes.

I learned this one last year. Before that, I made it in a regular old pie pan, but being the cast‑iron fanatic that I am, when I found a skillet version I had to try it — and oh my, what a success. So back by popular demand is my Easy Skillet Apple Pie. Yes, I cheated and used refrigerated pie dough, and yes, it still came out amazing.

Easy Skillet Apple Pie

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. Granny Smith applesA golden‑brown apple pie baked in a cast iron skillet, with slits in the top crust and bubbling filling around the edges.
  • 2 lbs. Braeburn apples (I used McIntosh)
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 (14 oz) package refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts)
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • Ice cream or sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

A golden‑brown apple pie in a round baking dish with a slice removed, showing the warm fruit filling inside.Directions

Step 1: Prepare the Apples Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel apples and cut into ½‑inch wedges. Toss with cinnamon and ¾ cup granulated sugar. Set aside.

Step 2: Prepare the Crust Melt butter in a 10‑inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir constantly for 1–2 minutes until dissolved. Remove from heat and place one pie crust over the brown sugar mixture.

Step 3: Add the Filling Spoon apple mixture evenly over the crust.

Step 4: Add the Top Crust Top with the second pie crust. Whisk egg white until foamy and brush over the top. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp granulated sugar. Cut 4–5 slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Step 5: Bake Bake at 350°F for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly. Shield with foil during the last 10 minutes if needed to prevent over‑browning. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with ice cream or a slice of sharp cheddar cheese.

A slice of fruit pie with a golden, flaky crust on a blue plate, showing the warm, juicy filling inside.

Notes & Tips

  • Use a drip pan or line the bottom of your oven with foil — this pie will bubble over, and cleanup without protection is no fun.
  • Surprisingly, the tougher refrigerated crust holds up beautifully against the gooey filling.

Now I’m stuck with a delicious 10‑inch apple pie. Guess I’ll just have to take one for the team. I’m going to enjoy every bite — and I hope you do too.

 

Dusty’s Cranberry Orange Quick Bread

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Hey Gang — It’s cranberry season, and you know what that means. I’m back in the kitchen with my fall baking in full swing. We even made donuts a week ago — wow. I’m still proud of myself for those. But today, let’s see what we can do with some fresh cranberries. I love those sweet‑tart little rubies. So here’s a simple Cranberry Orange Quick Bread.

I’ve been making versions of this cranberry bread for years, and it always feels like the official start of fall in my kitchen. The smell of orange and cranberries baking together is one of those simple comforts that makes the whole house feel warm. It’s an easy recipe, but it tastes like you fussed.

Cranberry Orange Bread“Freshly baked fruit loaf with a golden, textured crust cooling on a metal rack over parchment paper.”

Ingredients

  •  2 cups all‑purpose flour
  •  1 cup granulated sugar
  •  1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  •  ½ teaspoon baking soda
  •  1 teaspoon salt
  •  ¼ cup butter, softened
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  •  ¾ cup orange juice
  • 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with non‑stick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a fork or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly.
  3. Add the egg and orange juice to the crumb mixture and stir until combined.
  4. Fold in the cranberries.
  5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Glaze

You don’t need a glaze for this bread, but if you want a little extra sweetness, a simple orange‑vanilla drizzle is lovely. Just powdered sugar, a splash of orange juice, and a touch of vanilla. It adds a pretty shine and balances the tart cranberries without overpowering the loaf.

  • 1/2  Cup powdered sugar
  • 1-2 Tablespoons orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Mix ½ cup powdered sugar with 1–2 tablespoons orange juice until smooth. Drizzle over cooled loaf.

And that’s it — simple, delicious, and full of my favorite fall fruit. Let me know if you try it — I love hearing how your bakes turn out.

“Homemade cranberry bread loaf on a cooling rack with one slice cut, showing a golden crust and moist interior with bright red berries.”