Domesticity Log, no. 2 | Some Thanksgiving Recipes, weeks after the fact

Wolfman's Ham Recipe

My honey makes one mean ham. And by mean, I of course mean sweet and spicy and tasty.

6-8 lb ham

whole cloves

1/2 cup honey or molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup cola

1 tbsp mustard (dijon or brown)

1 tbsp ginger

1 teaspoon clove

sliced orange & orange zest

Mix ingredients (minus whole clove and orange) together and glaze ham. Spear ham with whole cloves, cover with sliced orange. For cooked ham: needs 18 minutes at 325 degrees in the oven per pound. Uncooked ham: needs 30 minutes per pound at 350 degrees. Remove ham from oven every once in a while to re-glaze. When finished cooking, remove whole cloves from the ham as they will make your mouth and your guests' mouths numb if eaten.

Autumn Quinoa

This quinoa recipe can be used as a stuffing substitute if you or a loved one is experimenting with a gluten-free diet. Or, it's just delicious if you just like delicious food. I also froze a few individual tupperware containers of this for work lunch on my vegetarian days--it's super filling and yummy on its own. Recipe originally via With Style & Grace.

2 cup quinoa (I used a quinoa that had dried mushrooms and onions mixed with it)

3 medium sweet potatoes

Scallions (or, 1/2 medium red onion; I, however, do not eat onion that way, so...)

1 garlic clove

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup pecans, toasted

3 tablespoons parsley, chopped

salt & pepper to taste

Cook quinoa as directed. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover baking sheet with foil, add sweet potatoes (and onions if cooking onions), season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast 30-25 minutes. Combine sweet potatoes with cooked quinoa. Drizzle with olive oil. Stir in other ingredients. Season if necessary.

Honey Beer Bread

I have been touting this recipe to anyone who will listen. Super simple, a few easy ingredients, super tasty, and a great way to get rid of any extra beer in your fridge. As we often host friends at our house, our fridge is constantly full of beer that neither Wolfman nor I will touch. I've found that this recipe tastes best with PBR, and the only beer that has totally ruined the bread was Guinness. So, trust me on this, even if you like Guinness, do not use Guinness or Guinness-like beers in this recipe. You'll get a dark, tasteless, cardboard-like loaf of hellfood. Recipe originally from Gimme Some Oven.

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tpsp honey (or, agave nectar, but it's tastier with honey)

12 oz. beer (one bottle or can)

4 tpsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Spoon batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter. Bake 50-60 minutes. Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Cranberries

I don't do much experimenting with pumpkin pie; the simpler, the better as far as I'm concerned. So, this is the same pie recipe you'll find on the pureed pumpkin cans at the super market. My only addition (besides a ton more spice, because, seriously, a teaspoon of ginger? a single teaspoon, really?) is fresh cranberries. I like some tartness and something to chew on in an otherwise almost pudding-like pie.

Apple, Plum, Pear, & Cranberry Pie

Your basic apple pie recipe, but with more autumn fruits and, as with the pumpkin pie, a heck ton more spice. Also, yes, perhaps I cheated a bit. The bottom half of this pie's crust was a frozen store bought one my sister left in my freezer. Sometimes the thought of rolling out a pie crust is daunting, okay.

Pomegranate Double Chocolate Cookies

I have this thing with favorite fruits--cherries, blueberries, pomegranate--I don't like to "waste" them by baking with them. I'd much rather just eat them straight and raw. But, I decided to try this recipe, and these were very good cookies, but still, I think I would've rather have just eaten the pomegranate seeds alone. So, probably never again, but you never know unless you try. Recipe originally via Made.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup pomegranate arils (1 pomegranate should suffice)

Cream together butter, shortening, 2 sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Beat for 3 minutes. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Combine with butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Add pomegranate arils and chocolate chips. A few seeds may burst during mixing, but don't stress over it. More flavor. Scoop dough into small balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes.