For Texans Cheerleader Dani, Thanksgiving is about family, friends, football and food. That's why it's her favorite holiday.
"Thanksgiving is definitely my favorite holiday," Dani said. "I love being with my family and the holiday is right around my birthday, so there is a lot of celebrating and eating going on!"
For as long as she can remember, Dani has joined her mother, aunts and cousins in the kitchen, helping to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Her specialty has become making decorative and delicious desserts.
A couple of years ago, Dani made dessert on her own, a pineapple upside down cake, which proved to be a very popular.
"I'm pretty intimidated because I have some good cooks in my family," she said. "Everyone brings their own signature dish. I have an aunt who makes the best dirty rice. I have another aunt who makes the best collard greens. I have an uncle who fries the Turkey. Then, I have an aunt who is the best baker.
"It's just so hard to compete. I did my own dessert a couple of years ago. It was a pineapple upside down cake, and I think it was a big hit. There wasn't any left at the end of dinner!"
She's not revealing what is on the menu this year, but she does want to share her recipes for making adorable Thanksgiving treats. Not only are these cookies and cupcakes fun to make with the whole family, they taste pretty good, too!
Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar cookies or snicker doodles (store-bought or homemade)
1 container chocolate creamy frosting
Candy corns
Orange, white or green decorating icing
Black decorating gel
Directions
1. Spread chocolate frosting over the entire cookie
2. Arrange candy corns on outer edge of half of cookie for feathers
3. Use pipe icing to draw a mouth, eyes and feet.
4. Use black decorating gel on top of the icing for centers of eyes
Thanksgiving Turkey Cupcakes
IngredientsVanilla cupcakes (baked and cooled)
1 container chocolate creamy frosting
Nutter Butter cookies
Red and green Laffy Taffy
Orange, white or green decorating icing
Toothpicks
Directions
1. Spread chocolate frosting over the top of the cupcake
2. To make each turkey, use a knife to cut a red piece of Laffy Taffy into the shape of a gizzard and press onto a Nutter Butter cookie.
3. Use tiny dabs of icing to make eyes on the Nutter Butter
4. Put the lower portion of the Nutter Butter into a frosted cupcake for the bird's head.
5. For each turkey's tail, use a knife to cut green pieces of Laffy Taffy into the shapes of feather.
6. Lay the feather shapes on a flat surface and place a wooden toothpick lengthwise atop each so that one end of the toothpick extends about an inch below the feather.
7. Stick the colored feathers into the cupcake behind the cookie head.
