Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is next week! I can't even tell you how excited I am. I love cooking, I love eating, I love days full of just spending time with my family. Thanksgiving rocks!

We are celebrating at the in-laws again, and Mo (that's what we call her, it's shorter than her name) is an excellent cook. I've never eaten anything at her house that I didn't like. She's always in charge of the turkey, the stuffing, the jello (remember, we're Mormons, from Utah...), the pumpkin roll, the relish dish. So, this year I made myself in charge of a few things for the Thanksgiving dinner. I called her from the store and told her I was going to do the rolls. She then reminded me that she always makes her famous crescent rolls. I conceded that her rolls were amazing, so she could have that one. Then I told her I was going to do the pies. That's when she reminded me that she makes one really good pumpkin pie. I conceded once again, that her pumpkin pie was amazing. So then I told her I was making the mashed potatoes and the sweet potatoes. She said ok, but she was making the gravy. I agreed, because seriously, who other than Mother-in-laws (my mom included) can make gravy?

So, after a week of planning and conspiring this is the result. I'm making mashed potatoes, I'm making my famous Sweet Potatoes, and I'm making the pies. Yep, even Mo's famous pumpkin pie, because seriously, I already had the recipe...

So now for the other pies...I want to be a little creative, but we have to have the staples too. Pumpkin, Apple, Cherry, Banana Cream and Shane's chocolate pie, we've had a request for Cranberry-Apple too. But then I found this website and my pie making life has been changed forever. Check it out, it's AMAZING and INSPIRING! http://pieloveyou.blogspot.com/

What are you making for the Thanksgiving feast? and, what pies would you suggest?

Turkey Day Leftovers

I thought we had a pretty big house. Not so much when you stuff 24 people into it. It was worth it though!
This is a recipe that you can always add a little of this or that. I think it's different everytime I make it. We topped ours with leftover cranberry sauce.
Chicken (or Turkey) Bundles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together:
1 cup cooked chicken or turkey
8 oz soft cream cheese
2 TBS green onion
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

Flatten crescent or biscuit dough and add mixture to each one. Roll and seal inside dough and roll in melted butter and then bread crumbs. Place seam side down on baking sheet.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes.
I have frozen these raw before and it worked out well.

Thanks Givin'

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's all about family, gratitude and good food! It's interesting to talk to people about what HAS to be on their Thanksgiving table when the meal starts. I know people who insist on brussel sprouts, or ham, or rice pilaf. I was raised a Thanksgiving traditionalist: turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, stuffing, and cranberry sauce - with a table for pies of every kind.

Nowadays it's less about the variety of food and more about the company at the table for me. People gathering over a communal table to discuss what they're grateful for. There should be more Thanksgiving dinners in politics...just sayin'.

My contributions to the Thanksgiving feast this year include:

Mashed potatoes

Sweet potatoes

Pumpkin pie

Cherry pie

Chocolate pie

Apple crisp pie

Green bean casserole

and a store bought pecan pie that my mom couldn't pass up.

Mashed potatoes are starting to appear more at our dinner table. I haven't mastered gravy making, so most of the time I make them yummy by adding butter, milk, cheddar cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. That way no one complains about the lack of gravy. I never peel my potatoes before boiling and I mash by hand, the old-school way. We like them a little chunky.

Sweet potatoes are my family's favorite. We always have a stock of sweet potatoes in the pantry. For Thanksgiving I'll be making three types of sweet potatoes. I love this recipe - for Thanksgiving I'll be making the potatoes with that topping and with plain marshmallows. I'm also going to try a new recipe:

SUNRISE SWEET POTATOES

Green bean casserole will be a new adventure for me. It gets eaten one time a year - Thanksgiving - and I've never made it. It might make it on the menu more often if I ever remembered to actually purchase the French Fried Onions. It's a simple recipe, right on the package of French's French Fried Onions or found here.

That brings us to the pies. Pie fits into the category of yummy but kind of a pain because you have to roll it out...right there with sugar cookies, pizza dough and biscuits. If you like homemade pie crust try this recipe:

BROOKE'S BEST PIE CRUST

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 cup shortening

1/2 cup water

In a bowl combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don't over work it. Makes two pie crusts or one double crust pie.

If you want a new recipe for apple pie, try this one:

APPLE CRISP PIE

pie crust

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

6 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced (about 7 cups)

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 450°. Prepare pie crust in 9-in. pie plate. Set aside.

Prepare topping: in a medium bowl combine flour and brown sugar. Using a pastry blender cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in almonds. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine brown sugar, apples, lemon juice and cinnamon. Toss until well coated. Spoon apples into pie crust. Sprinkle with topping.

Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350°. Bake until bubbly, about 40 minutes longer. Remove onto wire rack and serve warm with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream.

My husband's only request other than a good football game for Thanksgiving is Chocolate Pie. He makes his own, seriously, because he's that into chocolate. I still have this recipe written on an envelope scribbled on the drive to Vernal for our first Thanksgiving a month after we started dating. Thankfully the recipe and the chocoholic are still mine!

SHANE'S CHOCOLATE PIE

9 tbsp. cocoa

2 1/3 cup sugar

4 tbsp. and 2 tsp. cornstarch

3/4 tsp. salt

3 eggs, beaten

3 1/8 cup milk

4 tbsp. and 1 tsp. butter

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

pie crust

Mix cocoa, sugar, salt, and cornstarch together. Add milk slowly and mix well. Cook over medium heat until it begins to thicken. Add beaten eggs and cook until thick enough for pie. Cook slowly over low heat stirring constantly. Add butter and vanilla. Pour into baked pie shell and top with whipped topping.

Turkey Day

I am not going to post about "the most amazing Thanksgiving dinner ideas ever". If you want those I'll refer you to either Karen or here. I'll admit I've never hosted an entire Thanksgiving dinner by myself. I can do rolls, salads, potatoes, yams, etc. but I've never cooked a turkey or made green bean casserole...whew, that's kind of a big weight off my shoulders.

I'm going to talk today about what we'll be facing a week from tomorrow...

No, not incredibly huge sales and crowds...(thankfully, I do the majority of my shopping on-line)

I'm talking about LEFTOVERS. *cue angelic singing*

We all know next week's menu skips Friday, Saturday and Sunday because those days are going to include eating what's left of Tom Turkey, right?

How about a recipe to help out?

Turkey Tetrazzini

2 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz mushrooms, sliced as small as you need to to hide them from your kids...

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup flour

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

3 oz cream cheese

12 oz uncooked spaghetti, or other long, thin pasta

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp crushed saltine crackers

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Add onion, carrot, pepper, salt and mushrooms. Saute until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

Add 1/4 cup chicken brother, cook for a minute.

Gradually add flour to pan. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add remaining broth, stirring constantly.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and cream cheese, stirring until cream cheese melts. Add the pasta and chicken and stir until mixed.

Transfer to a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the pasta.

Combine breadcrumbs and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over pasta.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until lightly brown.

Let stand 15 minutes before serving.