Pumpkin Trifle, with Candied Pecans

The last half of November always seems like it's just a long, drawn out planning period for the biggest feast of the year (well, maybe only second to Christmas, if you have a large feast then too). Our office just had our Thanksgiving feast at work, and this year I splurged and brought two items!

First, the infamous green bean casserole! This isn't the Campbell's version though (only fresh and non-mushy ingredients here!)

I've never been a fan of green bean casserole until last year, when my friend Jenn posted a recipe for it on her blog Peas and Crayons. See, I don't like mushrooms or onions, and I can't stand green beans from a can. So when the option to have it sans mushrooms and with fresh green beans came along, I figured I could work around my distaste of onions and give it a shot!

Photo via Peas and Crayons

Check out her recipe here: Light + Tasty Green Bean Casserole.

I also brought a dessert (is anyone surprised?). I never like to bring the same thing each year (though I'm sure not many people would remember) so I scoured Pinterest for an idea of what to bring. This caught my eye: 

via Pinterest

But the link didn't make finding the recipe easy. So I googled it and actually came up with this recipe: 

Pumpkin Trifle

I adapted the recipe to use a cake mix I had on hand (I needed a shortcut since there was so much cooking going on that night!) Here is my adaptation (of just the cake portion)

Ingredients

• 1 box vanilla cake mix
• 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup veggie oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cake mix, cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin.
• Transfer to a greased 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Remove pan and cool completely. Yield: 12-16 servings.

It turned out fantastic (or so I was told... I don't like to judge my own cooking). Here is a photo from my Instagram (the only photo I got of either dish)

Happy Thanksgiving!