16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte

16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte

One of the two desserts I made for this year’s Thanksgiving (TGV 2016) was 16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte (the other was 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe). I wanted something “of the season”, and this seemed like a cross between apple pie and fruitcake.

This was the second dish I made, starting off the Wednesday 11/23 portion of my holiday cooking marathon. Since this cake holds well at room temperature, I planned to just slightly underbake it, and then finish it off for 5-10 minutes in a preheated oven to warm it up for dessert on the day of the holiday.

16-52 Apple Nut Saucepan Torte

If I hadn’t made this for Thanksgiving, I think it’d make a great gift (mailed or delivered in person) or potluck dish, especially for an office or somewhere where it would sit for a while. Even though Thanksgiving is over for the year, it’s totally still the season for a cake like this one.

Other dishes I made on this night (Wed. 11/23): the dressing for 1-10: Seafood Louisiana Cocktail, cranberry sauce, 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe, and a roasted garlic & herb butter to serve with 17-5: Hot Seedy Rolls.


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6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken

6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken

Two-packs of whole chickens were on sale at Costco and the other chicken in this pack was used to make 6-20: Rosemary Chicken. This recipe, 6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken required me to rub a few brain cells together to prepare the chicken as written on the card.

Lime flavor added to anything is a winner with me. Chicken and lime is a great combination, the white wine sauce added a unique twist.


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1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad

1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad

Artistic appetizers are amazing!🖕 I can’t get enough of them and Simply Delicious has interesting appetizer recipes that are easy to prepare like this one, 1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad. 🇮🇹

Easy to prepare ahead of time, these rolls are light and delicious appetizers to serve for any occasion. ✅


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3-4: New Orleans Bean Soup

3-4: New Orleans Bean Soup

Simply Delicious has a few New Orleans/Southern recipes–3-4: New Orleans Bean Soup is one of them. There are a lot of different takes on a “New Orleans Red Bean Soup” that exist out there–most of them have more exciting ingredients than this version. 🎺

I made another “New Orleans” recipe at the same time as this one–you can go back and read 12-29: New Orleans Beans and Pasta for what is essentially a pasta version of this dish. Either one is a hearty and relatively inexpensive meal. Since the two share a lot of ingredients, consider making both–they store and reheat well. 💰


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12-3: Pasta Bolognese

12-3: Pasta Bolognese

This recipe, 12-3: Pasta Bolognese calls for spaghetti on the back of the card, but the dish on the front clearly shows the meat sauce on Rotini. 🍝

The blurb on the front of the card is definitely true. “Quick to prepare and not too expensive,” is exactly how I felt about this dish.


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9-27: West Indian Meat Casserole

9-27: West Indian Meat Casserole

If you had told me as a kid that I would eat meat and bananas together in a dish, I would have called you, “crazy”! Some cuckoo chef over at Simply Delicious is playing a weird joke on people with 9-27: West Indian Meat Casserole, but this dish is rated mostly edible. Jamie wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. 🍌

I don’t really see how this dish is festive. It also isn’t very attractive, at least, not in the way I prepared it.


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7-23: Pork Chops with Tarragon

7-23: Pork Chops with Tarragon

Pan frying pork chops is not the easiest method for cooking pork chops. It is really easy to over cook pork chops that way, but 7-23: Pork Chops with Tarragon came out “just right”.

These pork chops are pan fried and the sauce is added to the pan, drippings and all at the end. Cooking the sauce and meat together creates a flavorful sauce.


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13-12: Eggplant-Rice Casserole

13-12: Eggplant-Rice Casserole

🍆 13-12: Eggplant-Rice Casserole is a heavier preparation of eggplant than my other eggplant recipe, 13-16: Arabian Moussaka, this rice and eggplant dish is two, two, two dishes in one. I’ll show myself out for that dumb, old reference… 👋

There were lots of colors in this dish: purple 🍆, orange, green, yellow, white, and a few shades of beige.


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1-14: Avocado Halves with Spicy Shrimp

1-14: Avocado Halves with Spicy Shrimp

I don’t make appetizers very often, so I made 1-14: Avocado Halves with Spicy Shrimp for us to eat as a snack while cooking other dishes. 🍤

I was lacking lettuce at the time, so my dish was served on a platter instead of a bed of crispy lettuce.


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5-13: Italian Easter Pie

5-13: Italian Easter Pie

🐰 The Easter Bunny has come early this year and he’s brought 5-13: Italian Easter Pie! I prefer the Cadbury Bunny to the Easter Bunny, but I’ll eat this pie any day.

This dish is certainly elegant and delicious, I’ve never made a Torta Pasqualina before. Now I can check it off the list. ✅


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