Happy Thanksgiving to you all and justsomethis&that.... :-)

Hello people... If anyone’s been wondering why I’m not so active on the blog lately or why haven’t I been posting any seasonal recipes etc , then here’s the reason : my 6 year old Laptop has decided todie on me....it's not loading the pages as fast as I want it to, keeps restarting whenever I don’t want it to, is missing the L, M and V keys (thanks to lil’Appu), my space bar doesn’t work at all leavingstatementstolooklikethis (as how i left in my title as well) and by the time I’m done with a post literally banging on my space bar for it to work I am this-close to going mad and crazy which is not what my family needs anytime at all…Lol! So pls bear with me folks until I can get these minor yet annoying issues rectified and hopefully the Black Friday deals will save my day and my blog ;-)

So how many of you are celebrating or cooking for Thanksgiving this year?  I’m celebrating alright, 'by eating' and not gonna do any cooking at all for a change. We along with some of our close friends have decided to just eat out and go straight into Black Friday shopping and shop all night ;-) Not that I have a huge shopping list or anything, but I love the energy and excitement that you see on Black Friday nights and the Malls look so fancy and glamorous, and it’s crazy cold outside, which makes you laugh even if you don’t want to…so its fun!! Hopefully lil’Appu will find it fun too and help by sleeping through it all…keeping my fingers crossed on that…

I'm not sharing any new recipe here today, but just re-sharing a yummy dessert I made last year for a Thanksgiving dinner potluck and it was enjoyed by all....A gorgeous Pumpkin Trifle (click link for more pics). Do give it a try if you are still deciding on what to make for dessert.

I'm just copy-pasting my recipe from last year...enjoy!

Pumpkin Trifle Recipe

You'll need

For Gingerbread Cake

Gingerbread Cake mix - 1 box (I used 14oz box)

Egg - 1

Water - 3/4 cup

Oil - 1 cup

For Pumpkin Pudding

Instant Pudding -  3 boxes (I used Jello brand , Cheesecake flavor)

Cold Milk - 2 cups for each pudding box (so total of 6 cups)

Canned Pumpkin Puree -1 can (15oz)

Pumpkin spice mix - 1 tsp Cinnamon powder + 1/4 tsp each Dry Ginger powder + Nutmeg + Allspice

For Whipped Cream topping

Heavy Whipping cream - 2 cups

Powdered Sugar - 1/4 cup

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Directions

For Cake

Bake the Gingerbread Cake mix as per box instructions- mix together the egg, water, oil and Gingerbread cake mix and bake for 30-35mins at 350F. Allow it to cool and crumble the cake.

For Pumpkin Pudding

a. Prepare the pudding as per package instructions - Add 2 cups of cold milk to 1 pack Jello instant pudding and allow it to set for 5 mins. Repeat the same for the other pudding boxes.

b. Once pudding is set, mix the canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice mix into the pudding and combine it until smooth.

For Whipped Cream

Prepare the whipped cream by beating together cold heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract on high until the cream is smooth forming soft peaks.

Assembling the mini Pumpkin Trifle

I have used mini 5oz cups.

Layer with 1 tblsp crumbled Gingerbread Cake. Next add 2 tblsp Pumpkin pudding, then add 2 tblsp Gingerbread Cake crumbs and top with 2 tblsp whipped cream. Garnish with Chocolate sprinkles or some gingerbread cake crumbs.
(This made around 20 or 24 mini dessert trifles)

Suggestions and Tips:

1. You can use Vanilla / Butterscotch flavored instant pudding if you'd like. I wasn't very fond of the cheesecake flavor, but Manish loved it. So I guess its just personal preference.

2. Add more or less pumpkin spice as per taste preference. I added a pinch more than the above recipe for a stronger flavor.

3. If you don't have gingerbread cake mix, feel free to use Chocolate cake, I bet it would taste exceptional. And anything with a sweet whipped cream topping always tastes heavenly!

4. You can use frozen and ready-to-use whipped cream if you prefer :-)

Have a gorgeous Thanksgiving if you are celebrating and let'sallenjoysomeshopping...oh,well there goes my space bar... :-) See you soon!!

-Manju