Fresh Green Bean Casserole

For Thanksgiving 2024, Laura made Fresh Green Bean Casserole. It was amazing. Don't get me wrong; I still like green bean casserole made with canned green beans. But the fresh version is so much better. The green beans are slightly crunchy and much more flavorful. So in 2025, I asked Laura to make Fresh Green Bean Casserole again.

This post is based on Laura's 2025 Thanksgiving casserole. The only difference is that blanched green beans replace the can of green beans. To blanch green beans, clean and cut the beans, then drop them into salted boiling water for about 2 to 4 minutes removing them to a bowl of ice water.

Fresh Green Bean Casserole

• 1 pound green beans, blanched
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounce) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• dash of salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cups french fried onions

Heat oven to 350. In a bowl, mix together soup, milk, salt, pepper, green beans, and 1 cup french fried onions. Pour into a 1.5 quart casserole baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes, until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the mixture. Then, top with the remaining french fried onions. Bake 5 more minutes. Enjoy!

Apple Harvest Cake

Many of Mom's recipes feature treats that are not often available in grocery stores or bakeries. This apple cake is a prime example. The cake uses fresh apples, nuts, and cinnamon for a fantastic cake perfect for Fall. While you might be able to find apple products, such as apple cider donuts, this apple cake is so much better.

The ingredients in this cake are pantry staples, except I did not have any whole wheat flour on hand, so I just used all-purpose flour. The cake turned out just fine. Any type of apple or nuts could be used for this cake. I used walnuts for this version. The glaze frosting is standard. Next time, I might add some cinnamon to the glaze to compliment the cake's flavors.

Apple Harvest Cake 

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups peeled and finely chopped apples
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 2-3 tsp. milk

Mix together the flours, sugars, cinnamon, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, blend together the salt, baking soda, oil, vanilla, and eggs for three minutes. Add the flour mix and blend. Stir in the chopped apples and nuts. Pour into a greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 325 for 50 to 65 minutes. Allow to cool. Make the glaze by blending the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Spoon over cake. Enjoy!

Pecan Bars

I look forward to pecan pie as part of Thanksgiving, so I thought I would try this recipe from Mom's recipe box as a preview for Thanksgiving. These bars are something of a shortcut pecan pie. When I made this recipe, I did not do a good enough job sealing the perforations in the crust so the filling slipped though and ended up on the bottom instead of the top of the bars. The bars were still delicious but an absolute mess to get out to the pan and eat.

These bars use canned crescent roll for the crust, which is a nice shortcut. Next time, I will have to take more time and care to seal up the seams and perforations to prevent the filling from seeping under the crust. When I made this batch, I used closer to one cup of pecans for a nuttier bar.

Pecan Bars 

• 8 ounce can crescent rolls
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 Tbsp. melted butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 13x9 pan. Separate crescent dough into two large rectangles. Press rectangles over bottom of pan and 1/2 inch up the sides of prepared pan to form crust; seal perforations. Bake crust for  minutes. In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Pour over partially baked crust. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool; cut into bars. Enjoy!