Eggnog Spice Bundt Cake

I have made Thanksgiving dinner each year over the past several years. It just worked out that way because both moms are getting up in years and don't get around so well and my sister is a nurse and therefore either sleeping off a shift or working one. I didn't mind because the house always smelled so good and I love the holidays! But this year, my brother is home after 20 years of missed Thanksgivings. He wants to make up for being away so he has been planning Thanksgiving since he was stationed in Cuba almost two years ago. When I offered to help make something, he suggested desserts. Right up my ally! Instead of my usual Pecan pie, this year I can afford to be a bit more creative. I found a recipe in the newspaper for Eggnog Spice Bundt Cake. This cake is easy to make and smells divine. Along with the pumpkin pie and chocolate pie, I think the desserts are covered!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Eggnog Spice Bundt Cake

1 (181/4-ounce) boxed spice cake mix
1 (4-serving) instant vanilla or cheesecake pudding and pie filling mix
1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup light eggnog
1 egg
3 egg whites
1 1/3 cups toasted chopped pecans
Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray.

2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, yogurt, oil, eggnog, egg and egg whites in a large bowl. Mix until creamy.

3. Stir in pecans. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. When cool, dust with powdered sugar.


"What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?"
-Erma Bombeck

Sweet Potato Pie

For those of you that requested a simple sweet potato pie recipe (ahem...you know who you are, Debi and Beth), here is my favorite. It comes from an Old Virginia Receipts recipe I have framed on my kitchen wall. I've tried to make other recipes, but this is the one I always come back to. I'm making it again this year for Thanksgiving. I wrote it out as it is written exactly in the recipe. I really don't talk like that, honestly!

Tidewater's Own Sweet Potato Pie

1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust
1 1/2 cups sweet potatoes, mashed
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon peel
1 cup light cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine sweet potatoes, brown sugar, spices and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix well! Fold in lemon juice and peel. Slowly, you hear, add butter, vanilla, eggs and cream. Make it smooth. Spoon into pie shell. Bake 45 or 50 minutes. Poke a straw in center....clean? Done!


"Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence." -Erma Bombeck

"Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action."
-W.J. Cameron