While we still have time to plan and choose what we want to serve, I thought we would get the recipe thread going. That gives everyone time to shop and be all ready for Thanksgiving Day.
It has been a hard year. Tough on most of us individually and as family and community. We need a day of gratitude for the many blessings we all have, and good times with family and friends. Don’t let anyone steal your joy.
Help Me Thanksgiving Day Prayer
O God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home, help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion, and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.
— Samuel F. Pugh
I will start with a new recipe I found. I love this guy’s videos. For all the mac n cheese lovers, here’s a way to combine with a classic bread stuffing. Looks great to me! I like to try new recipes and change things up, but we always have the core favorites mixed in too.
Here my family’s favorite pie recipe. Yep, I know there’s an official Derby Pie and no one is supposed to use the name. Oh well. I have used a recipe closer to that famous one with bourbon in it, and it is excellent, but a lot harder to make than this one. If you time this pie just right it has a little gooey in the center, a caramel like flavor over the chips. Yum.
My second favorite dessert (I have cookies that I can only make once a year or I’d not fit through doorways).
Derby Pie
1 stick butter
1 package chocolate chips (smallest package)
1/2 cup self rising flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs well beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Deep dish pie crust
Pour choc chips into bottom of pie crust. Melt butter and add to flour and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and nuts. Pour over choc chips and bake at 350 degrees 40-50 minutes. Note about baking time: it varies according to your oven. If you cook the pie just the way I like it, it has a melty caramel center. A little more done and it is like a big chocolate chip cookie. Best cooled completely. Not good hot or warm, believe it or not. Great with cool whip! Or better yet, fresh made whipped cream.
Here’s another big favorite we discovered about five years ago. Aebleskivers are a delicious, fun treat to make. They are also known as Danish pancakes, and I’m sure they would be a great breakfast treat. I make lemon curd filling, blueberry and tart cherry, and Nutella. Everyone will be crowding around asking for their favorite in the next batch. It’s great fun to give everyone their favorites, warm from the pan.
Best. Apple Cake. Ever. Not Kidding!
This recipe is not mine, it’s from a deceased gentleman who was a friend of the family.
Grease and flour 9×13 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1 and 1/4 cups oil
2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 C all purpose flour
3 C apples peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 C chopped nuts
2 tsp vanilla
Blend oil and sugar. Sift all dry ingredients and add to mixture. Beat eggs slightly and add to batter. Add vanilla, then fold in nuts/apples. This is a very thick, stiff batter. The baking apples make it moist. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean Cool and top. Bake 45-50 minutes.
Topping
1 C brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
Cook in heavy saucepan to full boil. The recipe says to beat, then cool and top. I don’t. I just cook the glaze, cool to lukewarm and top the cake by pouring it on. If you get the right apples, there is no better cake.
Here’s another recipe I copied from an older post. Looks too good not to try!
From Czarowniczy’s Wife
Blender Chocolate Truffle Pie
Serve with or without whipped cream. Note: you only need a very small sliver – it’s THAT rich!
Pour 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips in a blender. Scald 12 oz. heavy/whipping cream (note to non-cooks: scald means heat to ALMOST boiling). Turn on the blender as you begin to carefully pour the hot cream onto the chips. Blend until the cream is all poured & the chips melted. Turn off the blender, scrape down the sides, put in 1 tsp real vanilla, then turn blender back on for a few seconds. Pour into a graham cracker pie shell. Refrigerate until set. Lick off the scraper. Wash the blender & the pan & you are done.
For variety, use dark chocolate chips, mint chocolate chips, peanut butter chips,or white chocolate chips. Or, make 1/2 recipe of one kind, chill that, then pour 1/2 of another kind on top. Or swirl together. Hah!
Zurich Mike gave us this recipe back in the day. Hmm. No bacon in it. He must serve this with mounds of bacon instead.
Cranberry-Orange Nut Bread
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. grated orange zest
3/4 cup orange juice
3 cups chopped cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Sift dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Cut in butter until crumbly.
Add egg, juice, and zest. Mix until moistened evenly.
Fold in nuts and cranberries.
Bake at 350 degrees F.
9 x 5 loaf pan greased or lined with baking paper
Bake for 60-70 minutes (toothpick test).
Spread for bread:
Cream cheese mixed with a little organge marmelade and orange zest.
Here’s a recipe for roasted cherry tomato soup, which czar commented on several years ago, although he likes to mix and match recipes.
https://www.gatheratable.com/blog/roasted-cherry-tomato-soup
And finally, since I started with dessert, detoured to soup, let’s finish with a ham recipe. I’ve never had better, this is a family favorite. I like Costco’s Kirkland brand hams, which are flat and hold the liquids well. Don’t change the recipe, and don’t open that oven door. This is excellent cooked the night before a holiday and left in the oven all night long.
https://www.sweetteaandcornbread.net/2012/12/kentucky-bourbon-brown-sugar-ham.html
Here is the recipe pictured above. Look’s great!
https://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/1898/sweet-and-spicy-bacon-wrapped-155227.shtml
Good grief people, I’ve already had to trash two inappropriate comments. This is a recipe thread. Leave your garbage out or I will just take the post down.
Love love love love love these threads! No matter the stressors, no matter storm clouds on the horizon (literally and figuratively this year), these convivial threads always fill my glass of good will again. If only I could lose my COVID19# before I add another 10#! God bless Menagerie, SD, and all!
Uh oh…you didn’t catch that COVID at the illegal Sunday ‘socials’ that have been going down on Claiborne all through Latoya’s ‘lockdown’ didja?
Hmmmm…how ’bout barbequed swimpses from Pascal’s Manale, fried chicken from Jacques Imo (ain’t the same since Austin Leslie passed), erster dressing from K-Paul’s (RIP), mac & cheese and wop salad from Rocky and Carlos, green beans from Popeye’s, frainch braid from Schwagmann’s, beignets from Morning Call, cafe brulot from the Fairmont, some after dinner Eyetaliun ice from Angelo Brocato’s and some Abita (ain’t gonna be drinkin’ no Faubourg beer, period)?
Now, on to the Reveillon Dinner menu…
No rona f’me or mine, but thanx for axin! Hope all’s well for y’all and y’allses over in God’s country. We gon’ try to eat everything at Brocatos but there might be a couple of anise cookies and mini canolis left for y’all if you make it to the city. No current indication of another shutdown, so everything that weathered the earlier troubles should continue to be open, but would like to knock some wood upside Latoya Destroya’s head for good measure!
If nothing else she should be burned at the stake for the restaurants she helped destroy, especially K-Pauls. Where was she when NOPD received those 200 calls a week about her supporters’ illegal mass gatherings during the time the rest of us were fo’bidden from even getting a meal in town?
We lived on the farm 1 mile from a 10,000 bird turkey farm. Mom never made turkey for Thanks giving. We raised 100 chickens every year for frying and soup and a few ducks for Thanksgiving.’
Our country church had a 2 day harvest and missions festival. Turkey and more food. We had several missionaries attend and used money from crops to support them.
This year, the typical: Turkey, mashed loaded cheesy cauliflower, green bean casserole (and I make it right lol), low carb cheddar herb biscuits, home made cranberry sauce, and cheesecake for dessert.
I am considering either a peanut butter and jelly cheesecake or a classic cheesecake. Or maybe a classic cheesecake with a crushed praline pecan crust. And caramel swirls on top. Still thinking about it.
We steam our turkey to 3/4s done or so then brown the skin, it comes out perfect every year and the broth is so rich. We then dump the carcass in the pot with the broth, and make bone broth and can it up for me. I like my bone broth lol.
https://www.livingchirpy.com/the-best-easy-low-carb-keto-green-bean-casserole/
That is the green bean casserole I start with. Naturally is just isn’t right lol. I use home made chicken bone broth in there, drastically cut the mushrooms because I dislike them, and we tend to sauté the onions in bacon grease. And lightly stir fry the green beans in bacon grease too rather than boil them.
I often make it layered with a middle layer of Italian sausage crumbles. Sometimes it becomes a full meal with the addition of meat all the way through, along with more yummy veggies like cauliflower rice. By varying spices, veggies and cheeses used you can come up with all kinds of cool variations on this very basic casserole.
How do you steam your turkey? Sounds interesting…
Tell him he has poor taste in chicks?
Well, first off you have a big deep pan. Then you mix up a few quarts of chicken or turkey broth with lots of spices. Then, you dump the thawed bird (though you can have a partially frozen bird, just takes longer) into the pan. I lift the skin and rub on butter and herbs and lay the skin down again, though some people put strips of bacon under the skin. I also baste the cavity with butter and spices, and generally leave the neck and giblets and such in there to cook.
Then you tightly seal the pan with heavy foil and stuff in the oven at 350 for about 4 or 5 hours. I pull it out about 3 hours in to test a leg and stick a thermometer in it to see where the breast is. When the leg falls off and the breast is 10 degrees away from the end, you pull off the foil, and load the veggies into the broth to cook. Stuffing in a container on the side. Then you just finish it off, basting now and then until the skin browns up as you wish. I usually do a butter herb and honey baste myself. With a dash of mustard for snap, so to speak.
It comes out super moist and amazing. Then I dump all the broth in a stock pot with the bones and make turkey bone broth, after pulling some off to make gravy.
If I am just roasting, about 3/4s of the way through I pull the bird out and wrap it in bacon. it’s good that way too. But I prefer steaming, it’s generally fast and makes for a moist bird. This year’s bird is 25 pounds, I got luck. Last time I had a 25 pounder it took me about 4 hours or so.
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pumpkin-chiffon-pie
Made this some years ago. Need to make the filling the day before. A little extra work but so worth it to do something slightly different from the traditional but still be within tradition.
Got the turkey breast recipe, menagerie! TY! And I love your Derby Pie. Small amount of ingredients, and something that could be whipped up pretty quickly!
And here is my recipe for a Thanksgiving Martini:
Chiiled martini glass
Black and/or green olives of choice, or add cocktail onions for more fun
Freezer-prepped vodka of your choice…I love a good Stoly or Tito’s for another region
A view of the Dry Vermouth bottle in the fridge door
Pour vodka up to the top of the martini glass minus the displacement of the three olives
Enjoy!
I can’t take credit for the Derby Pie recipe either. I got it way back in the late 70’s or early 80’s from the best source ever here in the South. An elderly relative’s church fundraiser cookbook.
I have a dozen of these southern church fundraiser cookbooks. I live in OK so most are from OK and North TX. But while on trips I search out these.
OK is surprisingly diverse. In the North East most are descended from settlers from the midwest and those mostly come from the New England area of the US. In the middle and Eastern sides of OK come from the Appalachians, so more Irish stock. The Southern part of OK is mostly from settlers that hoped through the old South.
The point of that preamble is that these church cookbooks across OK reflect a very diverse amount of recipes. You can see the difference in recipes like cobblers. In the southern part they are all the typical southern pie dough cobbler. In the North you run into a cake batter cobbler where the fruit is on the bottom of the pan and the cake is poured across it and baked.
I had never seen a cake style cobbler until I was away from home for Thanksgiving while stationed in Connecticut. A friend who was from the area invited me over to his families dinner. I had gotten to know his mom pretty well, so she had asked what my favorite dessert was, and I said blueberry cobbler. On Thanksgiving we had all just eaten and his mom said “I made you a blueberry cobbler, it on the counter with the rest of the desserts” I thanked her and hurried in to get me a slice. I looked around the desserts but didn’t see a cobbler anywhere. She walked in so I asked about the cobbler. She got this confused look on her face and said right there pointing right in front of me. I could only see a couple pies, a bundt cake and some kind of square cake that resembled a crumble of some kind. So I said I am sorry but I don’t see it. She stepped right beside me and grabbed the crumble cake and said here, looking at me like I was a confused mentally impaired grade schooler. I said “Oh, ok I missed it”. I was cutting this thing to get a piece and I kept thinking, what the hell just happened. Why is she calling this a cobbler? Is this some kind of practical joke? I don’t see anyone staring at me. Her daughter just told her mom the cobbler was good, and she has the same thing on her plate. What in the world is going on and why are these people calling this cobbler. I ate my slice of “cobbler” and thanked her profusely of course.
Later my friend asked me why had weirded out about the desserts. I explained to him what we call cobblers in the South and how vastly different it is. He laughed and later relayed the info to his mom and next time I saw her she asked my why on earth I would tell her my favorite dessert was blueberry cobbler when it was actually blueberry pie. We all had a good laugh at my expense. From then on, I keep wondering, why do we Southerners refer to double crusted fruit pies as cobblers.
In my neck of the woods cobblers with a pie crust top only usually have the top crust. More commonly around here we have a kind of modified thin biscuit topping, with a little sugar in the biscuit crust. Of particular note and importance, this is the ONLY time a Southern cook will put sugar in her bread.
Here in Nebraska, I came across …
A COOKBOOK OUTLET!
No kidding, they print those local organization/church/family cookbooks, and the overruns end up in their outlet store.
I ’bout DIED when I saw it – told hubby I couldn’t be allowed to go in the place, lol…
(I have a serious weakness for those kinds of cookbooks. They’re the BEST!)
Fabulous, and who does not get a recipe from someone else ❣️?
EGG NOG FRENCH TOAST
You’ve never tasted anything so good and simple to make:
Any good egg nog.
Any good French, Italian or Sourdough bread.
A shot of Burbon, Rum or Brandy.
Dip thick slices of bread into egg nog and booze. Toss on a hot heavily buttered frying pan. After a few minutes flip each slice and serve with your favorite topping. I microwave blackberry preserves instead of maple syrup. You can add roasted pecans or whatever you like. A hot pan and lots of butter added to keep the slices from sticking until they are golden brown.
Sounds good!
Sounds delicious. At one hotel in Edinburgh, the chef manning the breakfast buffet station stopped me as I ladled hot oatmeal into a bowl noticing I was American. He offered to pour a wee splash of Scottish whisky into the hot oatmeal and of course I accepted. You will never want to eat it any other way again!
Last year, my sister hosted Thanksgiving… Meaning I baked the turkey and a few of the sides. She doesn’t touch a whole anything, including onions! It was the 1st year that I pre-cooked the turkey to take somewhere the next day, and it turned out great!! With preparations, this is a good alternative, if needed. I drizzled the sliced turkey with its drippings before refrigerating, then popped an aluminum pan in the oven for a bit day of… Also adding more of the drippings before it was turned into gravy. Pretty delicious turkey! (Not a recipe, I know! But I don’t think it matters! Method should be ok!)
Fillett mignon. Slowly smoked over charcoal and your favorite wood, for an hour for medium.
Webber charcoal grill
small amount of coals
a big chunk of wood, and flakes for when turning the meat.
Rub thoroughly with Montreal steak seasoning, or you favorite other seasoning
Place all steaks around the perimeter of the grill
after 15 minutes rotate, do not flip
after 15 more, flip
Then rotate again
The last 5 minutes, put whipped butter on top.
Adjust the amount of coals for cold weather and especially cold, windy conditions.
Sorry everyone. I’m not a turkey guy. Just a self-taught fillet griller.
Our family usually goes to Arlington Cemetery to place flowers on graves of family and friends early Thanksgiving morning. Has always made for interesting rush to get back home and cook the bird. I finally found the perfect solution with the following recipe – https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/no-baste-no-bother-roasted-turkey-recipe-2109446
Only works with 12-14lb turkey (I add extra 15min if 14lbs). I dry brine it ahead of time. Once I turn off the oven we’re out the door to Arlington and can come home and have everything on the table in about 40 minutes. First time I made it my husband thought there was no way that turkey would be fully cooked but it’s been the best recipe I’ve ever used. I change up the flavorings from time to time but keep the same cooking method. I bought granite ware covered roasting pan to withstand the 500 degree heat. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. “I got this.” – God
One year in November I went to a 2A potluck. The organizer owns a deli, so for a no muss/fuss pot luck she sliced up the whole deli turkey in decent size slices, poured bottled turkey gravy in between the layers and heated it up in the crock pot. It was delicious. Everyone loved it and was wanting to know how she did the turkey. Keep it in mind if you ever need to feed a turkey dinner on short notice for a crowd.
Butternut squash is easy to grow, it doesn’t get destroyed by vine borers which means the vines live to produce! It’s a great storage squash, too – they can last for 8 months! I’ve been growing a ‘bush’ variety and that one does vine quite a bit so it pretty much takes over a whole section of the garden (and mine is tiny, so that can be a problem). I have made ‘butternut squash pie’ instead of pumpkin…turned out yummy. Here’s a video of Sarah from Living Traditions Homestead showing her squash pie..