Corned Beef and Cabbage

This year I cooked my Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Crock Pot. It was tasty and tender. I am opposed to tough Corned Beef ;). Here is the recipe (again, from allrecipes.com).

Corned Beef and Cabbage
1 (3 lb) corned beef brisket with spice packet, cut in half (I leave whole but I have a large Crock Pot)
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (I use about 10 small, red onions, skins left on and kept whole)
1 lb baby carrots
3 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP cider vinegar
1/2 tsp pepper
1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges

Place the corned beef in bottom of a 5 quart slow cooker. Add onion, potatoes and carrots. Combine water, garlic, bay lear, sugar, vinegar, pepper and contents of spice packet; pour over vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours, or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove corned beef and vegetables to a platter and cover with foil. Place cabbage in Crock Pot and cook until crisp-tender, about 15 minutes. If you like soggy cabbage, then add it in with the other vegetables, but my prefence is crisp-tender cabbage.

Thanksgiving Side Dish #1

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES WITH CINNAMON PECAN CRUNCH from McCormick

3/4 cup (180 ml or 0.18 kg) firmly packed brown sugar, divided
2 TBSP (30 ml) orange juice
2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
1 1/2 (7.5 ml) tsp ground cinnamon, divided
1 1/2 (7.5 ml) tsp ground ginger, divided
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) salt
3 lbs (1.4 kg) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 cup (240 ml) dried cranberries
6 TBSP (90 ml) butter, cut up, divided
1/2 cup (120 ml or 0.12 kg) flour
1 cup (240 ml) chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400F (204.4 C). Mix 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the brown sugar, orange juice, vanilla, 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) EACH of the cinnamon and ginger, and salt in a large bowl. Add sweet potatoes; toss to coat well. Spooon into a 13" x 9" (33 x 23 x 5 cm or 3.3 liters) baking dish.

Sprinkle evenly with cranberries. Dot with 2 TBSP (30 ml) of the butter.

Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix flour, the remaining 1/2 cup (120 ml) brown sugar and remaining 1 tsp (5 ml) EACH cinnamon AND ginger in medium bowl. Cut in remaining 4 TBSP (60 ml) butter with a fork until coarse crumbs form. Stir in pecans. Remove sweet potatoes fromoven and stir gently. Sprinkle evenly with pecan topping. Bake, uncovered, 25 to 30 minutes longer or until sweet potatoes are tender and topping is lightly browned. (I found this to be closer to 25 minutes than 30 minutes for my oven). Makes 8 servings. We so loved this - it was more like a dessert! lol. As you can see it got pretty dark on the top, so I wouldn't cook it for more than 20-25 minutes for the last half of the cooking.