November 2025 - Risa's Family Kitchen

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Month: November 2025

These Baked Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese are the ultimate comfort food and make the perfect side dish for holiday baking. These make-ahead potatoes can be made 1-2 days in advance and then baked just before serving. Made with cream cheese, butter in the potatoes and on top, and cream, they are ultimately creamy and buttery, with a light golden top. Here a spoon is scooping the potatoes out of the pan in the center of the image

Baked Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese

We make these Cherry Bars with Almond Glaze every holiday season. Made in a half sheet pan, they make a beautiful dessert for a larger crowd or make an easy Christmas gift. The tender crumb, cherry pie filling, and almond icing drizzle are a delicious combination, and they are easy to prepare. In this image, a cherry bar is plated in the center of the image with a bite taken, showing the inside tender crumb, cherry pie filling, and almond drizzle up close. Plated bars are in the background.

Cherry Bars with Almond Glaze

This Brined Boneless Turkey Breast with Maple Glaze is incredibly tender and flavorful. The overnight brine, seasoning, and maple butter glaze when roasting, gives this boneless turkey breast an incredible depth of flavor and just the right balance of slightly sweet and savory. This is an easy, elegant dish for dinner or for a small group for Thanksgiving if you don't want to make a large turkey. This is an overhead shot of the boneless turkey breast placed on a serving platter with sage, thyme, and cranberries. The breast has several slices cut so you can see the interior of the turkey as well.

Brined Boneless Turkey Breast with Maple Glaze

This Maple Pecan Pie without Corn Syrup has the buttery, nutty, gooey filling you expect from pecan pie but with an added depth of flavor from maple syrup. Made with mostly maple syrup, some honey for thickening, and a touch of maple extract, each bite of the pecan pie has a hint of maple which beautifully compliments the roasted, sweetened pecans. Here in the center of the image is a slice of pecan pie with a bite taken out of the front with the pie and an additional slice in the background. Maple syrup and pecans are in the foreground and background as well.

Maple Pecan Pie without Corn Syrup

This Coconut Cream Pie with Coconut Milk, made with part coconut milk and half-and half, is my husband's favorite pie. We have made it for countless birthdays and holidays, and truthfully, it is always a favorite for guests and family. It has a dreamy, creamy custard with coconut flavor that shines through from the coconut milk, sweetened coconut flakes in the custard, and toasted coconut flakes sprinkled on top. Here the pie is in the pan in the center of the image, and has been sliced into to see the creamy filling of the pie. Slices of the pie are in the background.

Coconut Cream Pie with Coconut Milk