Thanksgiving Desserts

Before going to work this morning, I was busy baking. We are going to friends' for Thanksgiving tomorrow and I wanted to bring a cake with us. Our friends just brought home their little girl from Haiti last week and will probably not be able to make a big dessert. Tomorrow, I'll work on the vegetarian/vegan side dishes for dinner. I am also trying to make some food that they can heat and eat for the next few days. Em, if you lived closer, I would do this for you too :)
Also, my brother and his family are getting ready to make a big move in their lives with their 2 month old son and 2 cats... first to New Jersey and then to India. Lucky for us, on their way to NJ (from MN), they are stopping at our home and spending a little time with us. To help them with the move, I want to do what I can do best - cook food and freeze it for them.
Two good reasons to bake!

First, cake. Our hosts said that pumpkin is not their favorite taste and I am not to comfortable with pies - I am not sure why. So, I decided to look for a cake recipe. I really had to search a LOT to find something that I liked. And then I found - Cherry Chocolate Cake.



I used this recipe almost completely. We have not eaten any of the cake yet, but I tasted some while it was baking - I used a rectangular pan, but a round cake pan would have probably been better, so it took a much longer time to bake, requiring many tastes :) I liked the taste, but would have liked more chocolate in the cake. Melting chocolate chips meant that some of the chocolate remained stuck in the skillet, so I should have used more chocolate chips or cocoa powder. I think pouring some chocolate syrup on top will be good!!


The next baking activity was an old recipe that I had forgotten. A few years ago, I made this Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips regularly! And just like many other meals, it went to the back of my mind and never got made again. As I was browsing for recipe ideas for muffins/bread to bake, I re-discovered this recipe from an old faithful blog - One Hot Stove.
I modified by using Soy Yogurt, Soy Milk and Egg Replacer to make the recipe Vegan. One bite and it reminded me why we loved the recipe and I made it so often. I doubled the recipe to make a loaf and 12 muffins too. I think I may have to bake another loaf soon. Only half a day has gone by and we already have eaten half the bread!!



I hope you all have a very very happy Thanksgiving and have LOTS to be thankful for. Of all the holidays in India and here, I find this one to be most meaningful and special. It will be a quiet Thanksgiving for us (a friend just called and said they would be coming to visit), but I am thankful for everything that life has given me and will take some time tomorrow to treasure it all.
Em, I hope you have a great thanksgiving too - and you get to enjoy the first day of your time off and the little one lets you rest a bit!