**Bumped**
I usually do this thread a little closer to Thanksgiving. This year we all know we might be having problems finding things, so I plan to shop for all the things I need that don’t have to be fresh this week. Anyhow, we hope you will contribute your family’s favorite recipes, and especially any new things you plan to try.
My family loves our traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My sons have all become excellent cooks, and my daughters in law are good cooks as well, so we share the cooking duties. One son will spatchcock and smoke the turkey. He is especially good at smoking meat, and we’ve had just about every kind of meat there is from his table, but all of us have loved the turkey best. Kind of strange for a bunch of red meat lovers, but it is so good. He brines it for a day or two, and then smokes it Thanksgiving morning.
We fill out the table with cornbread dressing, an array of fresh vegetables, breads, pies, and maybe a cake or two. My specialties are sweet potato casserole, homemade bread, and derby pie. Sometimes I bake a bourbon brown sugar glazed ham overnight.
Here are some links for the ham recipe we love best, and some recipes that are similar to how I make sweet potato casserole and derby pie. This ham recipe is the only one my guys want after we had it the first time. It is easy and luscious. I like Kirkland brand hams from Costco. They are cut flat and hold the glaze on well. Don’t skip the pineapple slices, they catch the glaze and keep it on top of the ham.
https://www.sweetteaandcornbread.net/2012/12/kentucky-bourbon-brown-sugar-ham.html?m=1
I can’t find a good recipe for my sweet potato casserole. I’m putting a link here, but I do not like the way all these recipes do the topping. They all have flour in it, and in my experience that messes up the topping. My topping is only brown sugar, pecans, and butter. This is a good guide for ingredient quantities, but leave that flour out!
Here’s a recipe for derby pie similar to what I make. This is a luscious, rich pie. It is tricky to know how long to cook it. If you cook it just the way I like it, the top crusts a bit and underneath a caramel like layer covers the chocolate. I do not mix in the chips, I put them on the bottom of the pie shell, so you have a layer of chocolate, the caramel like layer, and cookie crust similar top. If you cook the pie longer it has an almost chocolate chip cookie texture. Don’t forget the ice cream or homemade whipped cream. Not a traditional Thanksgiving dessert, but you won’t regret it.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/kentucky-derby-chocolate-walnut-pie-recipe-101352
Here are some links to Stella’s Thanksgiving posts. She has some really good recipes and tips over there.
I’ve made sourdough bread for years. I almost always keep the starter bubbling on the counter throughout the fall and winter. A few years ago I really got into the health benefits of fermented food, and I learned to make my own kombucha and kefir, along with fermented pickles. I have tried to make sauerkraut several times, and I almost always get pink mold, which is not the kind you can scrape off. If any of you have any tips on what I’m doing wrong I’d sure appreciate it. I’m an experienced, good cook and this is a big failure on something simple to do and I’m baffled. I’ve googled it over and over and I cannot find my problem. Sorry for the temporary side track!
So, here’s a new recipe I’m going to try. This site is full of great recipes and tips for fermenting all kinds of foods, if you are interested. I love sourdough bread, and I love cranberries, so hopefully this will be a real treat.
Thanks for the bumping!
My grandmother always used a big crock for the sauerkraut and put a heavy plate on it to weigh it down into the brine. You might also double check how much salt you are using, may need to add more. She didn’t keep it in the kitchen while fermenting because it got to hot in there. Just some ideas
My dad used a big crock, about 5 gallon size, and put a heavy plate on it to weigh it down also. He put it on the basement floor where it would stay cool.
I am NOT a baker and was wondering if anyone had a simple recipe for Buttermilk Pie.
They are all about the same. I used this one when I made my pie, and I did sprinkle some freshly grated nutmeg on top, just a hint. It was good. I used a store bought pie crust.
https://www.blessthismessplease.com/old-fashioned-buttermilk-pie/
I AM a baker/pastry chef. I agree with Leavemygunsalone. Use a store bought pie crust and some freshly grated nutmeg.
Also, for the best whipped cream ever, put one 8 ounce container Mascarpone cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream in bowl and whip until smooth, add another 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream and whip until medium stiff peaks form. Use on EVERYTHING!
Oh, my…thank you for this…it sounds divine for all those pies we’re baking!
Happy to have permission to use a store bought crust.
Be careful on the cream. Cream from the top of the bottle is typically 36% butterfat while simply “cream” is 20% by the legal definition from the Dept. of Ag.
My family had a commercial dairy. Our Whipping Cream was taken straight from the separator at roughly 36% butterfat and slightly higher when we used Jersey milk instead of Holstein. My uncle tested all of our products and decided to test some competitor’s products and found their “cream” in the low 20’s. He complained to the DoA and they said not problem as the regulations said 20% was “legally” cream. In addition, Half-and-Half could be 10% and not the 18% we were selling. Since we could sell cream out the back door to butter makers at about $4 a gallon, my uncle saw this as an opportunity and began to blend our cream down to to 20’s as well. Within a week, we had a near riot. Cooks and bakers from the community were calling and even coming by to complain that our cream was ruining their recipes. We did an informal recall pulling all of the recently bottled cream we could find and sending out the regular stuff as replacement. The women in the community were our friends again.
We also made homemade custard in 200 gallon batches. It was made from my grandmothers recipe scaled up. My dad and his brothers spent a weekend perfecting the formula with a few failed batches that were fed to the suddenly very happy hogs on the farm. The recipe included fresh eggs, frozen egg yolks, cane sugar and real vanilla extract. Oh, and that 36% cream. One of my memories of working in the dairy was sitting with the other employees with cases of eggs and breaking them into ten gallon milk cans. As I remember, it took about 20 gallons of freshly broken eggs to make a batch of custard.
When we sold the business, my uncle withheld the custard recipe as intellectual property. The first holiday season, the people that bought the business were getting so many calls for the custard that they made an offer for the recipe. My uncle told them that they really did not want it, but they insisted. He sold it to them after conferring with the other owners and they split a nice check for the recipe. About a week later they came back a bit upset because there was no way they could make that custard and sell it anywhere near the going price of holiday custard. My uncle said he knew that and that we had always offered it as a special holiday offering on which we lost money. He ended by saying, “I told you that you did not want it.”
I enjoyed your memories, VibeMan. Thank you for sharing and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
My housemate and I opted for no turkey this year. There are already too many in the White House and on the boob tubes. Housemate is smokin’ some meat. Ribs, pork butts, who knows.
I’ll be doing the sides. Mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, finger foods, maybe my famous chocolate cake.
It all just got a little harder this past week when the oven went out while I was just starting to bake a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. I ended up having to do 9 cookies at a time in the air fryer convection bake oven, which I became very grateful for, again. It took all day for all of the cookies and I was exhausted. 😉
Housemate took a look at the oven yesterday and if they can get parts Monday we might be in luck, but I am going to try not to sweat the small stuff this next week.
Menagerie, I always put marshmallow fluff or marshmallows on top of my sweet potatoes. Ooey-gooey yummy.
Here’s a Thanksgiving list from a sweet bird:
Hungry talking parrot plans a dinner buffet
By Einsteinparrot
Published November 13, 2021
https://rumble.com/vp6emb-hungry-talking-parrot-plans-a-dinner-buffet.html
Bummer about your oven. 9 cookies at a time, sounds like fun:)
Thankfully it got fixed yesterday. The part they tho’t was the problem was no longer available. More research and investigation and critical thinking skills arrived at a different part which was available for $50 and a 2nd trip to the dealer. It got tested for dinner last night and is good to go.
Thank You Lord!
Our old stove died (well, it caught on fire) in the middle of cooking our Thanksgiving turkey. We had to finish up everything at a relative’s house. We survived nicely. Went out on Black Friday and bought a new one. The old one was toast, literally.
When my oven gave out a couple of months ago I pulled out my cast iron skillets and used them in its place. In fact they worked so well, I am now using them regularly for certain dishes. What is important is to keep the heat low because once that cast iron heats up it stays hot for a long time…then put a lid on what you are cooking….keep checking to make sure the bottom isn’t burning, just turn the heat down some more. Works great and an extra benefit is in cold weather it helps heat your kitchen…even after you turn the heat off the cast iron continues to radiate heat.
That bird must belong to Leo Sayer!
Leo Sayer – Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance) • TopPop – YouTube
You set a beautiful table Menagerie.
My menus been set, but I will keep these recipes for next year.
Thanks
a holiday side I learned from my mom that has no added sugar consists of:
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 can crushed pineapple
1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 container of Cool Whip
Mix in large bowl and refrigerate overnight
That sounds just like the southern recipe for Heavenly Hash, except we used chopped Maraschino cherries instead of cranberry sauce. I bet it’s just as good the way you make it.
No “added” sugar as there is enough of the “already there” sugar.
Last week we picked up a case of Michigan apples, Macintosh and Honey Crisp.
I found a wonderful apple crumble pie and butter crust recipe on PreppyKitchen.com
It was the first time making homemade crust which turned out very flaky and delicious.
My son’s birthday is the day before Thanksgiving. He requested a Red Velvet Cake so it will be another first attempt for me baking one. I’ll make some homemade vanilla ice cream so we should have plenty leftover for Thanksgiving.
Love reading everyone recipes and plans.
You can do it, I have total Faith in you. You and your son will talk about that awesome Red Velvet Cake forever. My Mom loved my cooking when I spent 13 years living in their downstairs apartment. I will always remember my Mom saying, this is the best hamburger I ever ate. She loved my cooking, she lived to almost 96 years of age. My mom was a great cook, Slovak, Hungarian, the super best homemade bread. You are ready for the challenge. I was amazed that Mom loved my cooking. God Bless us all and a Blessed Thanksgiving to the World…
I just ate a Honeycrisp this morning!
Homemade vanilla ice cream brings back so many childhood memories for me. We only had it in the summer, though, because we cranked it by hand outside. As the ice melted, we would pour the saltwater on the weeds growing in the cracks of the sidewalk. One of those things that required a lot of manual work but it was so worth it in the end. The ice cream lasted for one meal, but the memories have a long shelf life.
My wife does the heavy lifting with a combination of outsourced or homemade recipes for Turkey with cornmeal sage sausage dressing, so I have carved out my role of pastry chef. I now either make my great-aunt Arline’s moist cheesecake using a recipe she found in California in the 1940s, and/or my recipe for apricot glazed French apple tart. For the last few years we travel at Thanksgiving, so we have our Thanksgiving dinner at Christmas, with the addition of green chili sage sausage quiche, our friend’s beef chili – two recipes – with/out red beans, and homemade chicken & green tamales.
This is a family favorite. We make it both at Christmas and Thanksgiving. I think the orginal recipe came from the Junior League of Baton Rouge…. It makes a ton, we normally have 20 to 30 for Thanksgiving. Enjoy!
Greek Artichoke Spinach Casserole
2 14-ounce cans artichoke hearts packed in water
1 Tablespoon butter
1-pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 ½ Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup evaporated milk
4 10-ounce packages chopped spinach, thawed with water squeezed out.
1 16-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise/salad dressing
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Paprika
Arrange artichoke hearts in bottom of 3-quart baking dish.
In separate pan, saute’ mushrooms in 1 Tablespoon of butter until done. Reduce heat and remove mushrooms from pan. Add 1 ½ Tablespoons butter to pan, let melt. Gradually add flour and stir. Gradually add the milk to this mixture constantly stirring to make a white sauce. Once sauce smooth and slightly thickened, remove from heat. Add spinach, diced tomatoes, and sliced mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste. Blend Well. Pour spinach mixture over the artichoke hearts.
Blend sour cream and mayonnaise, slowly add the lemon juice. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder. Spread sour cream/mayo/lemon mixture over the spinach mixture. Sprinkle top with paprika.
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Menu set for Thanksgiving but this is definitely a “go” for Christmas. Thanks for sharing it.
I like to smoke a ham next to the turkey.
I call it “my ham sucks!”
(explained later)
I use a combo of post oak and pecan for added flavor.
After the fire burns down it’s ready to go.
Cooking with the doors closed. Only using the flue to control the smoking.
First I spread out several layers of tinfoil on a cutting board large enough to cover the face of the ham and enough to wrap up the sides of the ham about 3 to 4 inches up the sides. Important not to puncture the tinfoil or have any seams on the bottom, as it is intended to catch the juices as it cooks.
I garnish the sides of the ham with pineapple, cherries, and starAnis using toothpicks cut in half so they aren’t sticking out.
I place the ham face down,opposite of the fire box. (It’s a large new braunfels style smoker) and slow smoke till the ham starts separating from the bone sticking up on the top.
Then I cover the top with foil to let the rest of the ham catch up. (About 45 mins)
Being very careful not to puncture the tinfoil on the face of the ham I remove it from the smoker and set on a nice ample sized pizza tray.
Important!
Let it sit unmolested for another 30-45min.
As the ham cools off all the juices that were captured in the tinfoil you wrapped on the face get sucked back up into the ham!
Leaving a nice, tender, juicy ham every time!
Slice and serve.
Saving the bone for the next time you make a pot of pinto beans. Yum!
I found a serious ham recipe in Myron Mixon’s cookbook Everyday Barbeque, it calls for an already smoked spiral sliced ham that you trim and re-smoke with an apricot glaze. Outstanding recipe. I will be doing this for Thanksgiving,as our year and a half old Whirlpool stove has quit working for the third time. Replacement parts are at least 3 weeks out. The stove was Made in America (of foreign parts). My grill is too small for the turkey my boss gave us.
Everyone I know that ever learned how to weld HAS to build their own smoker from scratch. Lol
The bigger the better for some reason.
I built mine on an old boat trailer so I could take it to use for charity fund raising events.
I’ve had whole hogs 100 to 150 lbs on it before.
For as long as I can remember, my family has started Thanksgiving with an odd but delicious cocktail of lime sherbet in cranberry juice. As far as I know it is not an Irish tradition, it is not a Catholic tradition, but it is a Skehan tradition.
This says “Easter” but in lieu of eggs Benedict – we’re doing this one for a light Thanksgiving breakfast this year. I’m adding spinach and some pickled sweet red peppers. Cleo Coyle Recipes.com: Italian Easter Pie Palmiers: Little Heart-Shaped Quiches by Cleo Coyle
That sweet potato casserole is awesome. I made it yesterday and had to sample it when it came out of the oven. Wow! Thanks for sharing this.
What in the world does it mean to “spatchcock” a turkey???
Split the backbone and cook it flat. Like butterfly shrimp but huge.
https://www.butterball.com/how-to/how-to-spatchcock
You are a wordsmith sir – LOL.
A family tradition has alway been to have one experimental recipe, this year my sister is trying Cold Cherry Soup. Sounds pretty good…
Once upon I time I had cold strawberry soup in prelude to Steak Diane. It was delicious. Will never forget that meal!
Hi! Here’s one that I love that Jill gave me. I have the girls in the White House kitchen whip this up for me every afternoon, and I love it!
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED:
Jello™ gelatin mix – Whatever flavor you want.
Boiling water
Cold water
KITCHEN TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT YOU’LL NEED:
Medium Mixing Bowl
Spatula or Spoon
Tea Kettle or Sauce Pan
Glass Measuring Cup
This is a time-sensitive recipe. So before you start, you need to make sure you have everything you’ll need, because it goes fast, and your gelatin can start to set up faster than Corn Pop with a rusty blade if you’re not prepared. Not good!
Pour the powdered gelatin into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Add boiling water to the gelatin mix, and stir for 2 minutes until it’s completely dissolved.
Stir in the cold water.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until the gelatin is firm and doesn’t stick to your fingers when touched.
Once your Jello has firmed up, it’s ready to eat. If you’re making it for dessert, you can scoop some into a dish and top it off with whipped cream or Dream Whip. Finish it up with your favorite scoop of ice cream and a nice sniff of hair. Enjoy!
Have a wonderful Independence Day, everybody!
Joe
LOL!
Sauerkraut troubleshooting: sterilize your jars, boil for 10 minutes. If you don’t know where your cabbage has been, clean each leaf. Ensure your tamper is very clean. Use enough salt. Ensure all the cabbage is submerged at all times. Add salt water the second day if the brine doesn’t cover the cabbage by itself. Stir it once a day for the first week.
Sometimes ferments just go bad, which is sad but not criminal.
Thank you!
As far as Thanksgiving dinner, we’re staying home and eating (what we consider) appetizers all day: cold cuts, cheeses, biscuits, homemade pickles and relishes, ginger ale for spouse, coffee with cream for moi, crackers (we don’t eat them except on special occasions), assorted nuts…neither of us like turkey that much, but I may make some smoked turkey leg soup Wednesday night. We’re not into sweets anymore, to help keep the immune system humming and it just makes us feel tired, so no pies or cakes. Yes, I know that’s heresy, but that’s the way it is.
I’ll probably make bone broth for the hens.
I would like to share my Cranberry Sauce recipe. Its very easy and tastes extraordinary. Take a package of whole cranberries, usually a one pound size, rinse off, place in a stove top pot, add 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar, one cup of orange zest, and 1/2 cup of brandy or cognac. Simmer until the berries burst, about 10 minutes, voila! You’re done. Chill overnight and serve with your bird. Everyone who has tasted it has called me back for the recipe. On another note, last few years I evolved from a wet brine to dry brine turkey cook. Much much easier in all aspects and the results were stellar. The key is to get it under the skin as well as on the surface, not a difficult task spreading, just use your favorite tools… your hands and fingers. Almost like a massage. Place in the refrigerator overnight uncovered, then on the big day, cook it according to your ancestors favorite style. The ingredients are plentiful and one can omit items if not available or not your preference.
Brown & Maple sugar, 1 tablespoon each
Kosher salt, 2 tablespoons
Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic, Black pepper, Paprika, one teaspoon each, I tend to use fresh herbs and mince finely but powders work well also. I also throw in some crushed fennel 1/2 teaspoon, celery leaf chopped fine. Also the paprika is half sweet, half smoked. The sugar and salt are the workhorses of the process with the herbs lending grace and complexity to your bird. Bon appetit!
Okay, just quit teasing us. 😉
But seriously, that table looks good and wish I were there.
We prolly gonna have a minimized dinner this year, not because we can’t afford it…we are in heartland USA where there are no shortages of food, gas, etc. No empty shelves in our area’s stores and Wal-Marts. You should see our produce section!
We have just decided to keep things simple this year, renovating a house and thanking God for sending us great people and craftsmen.
So we are doing a simple Thanksgiving in thanks for God to have helped us.
I don’t know who you are, but may you and yours be blessed this year.
Solomon
Well, I hope I’m not too late to post this crazy thing my family demands each holiday now. It’s sort of a pie-cake. Using dry cake mix may seem weird but it’s really yummy.
Pumpkin PATCH
Oven Temp: 350
Bake time: 60+30 mins
Filling:
Pumpkin, 1 29-oz can
Condensed milk, non-fat – 1 12-oz can
Eggs, beaten – 3
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Cornstarch – 1+1/2 tab
Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt – each 1/2 tsp
Butter, melted – 1/4 cup
Topping:
Yellow cake mix, dry – 2 cups
Walnuts, pieces – 1/2 cup
Butter, melted – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 2 tabs
Pumpkin pie spice – 1/2 tsp
Butter, 1 tab (to grease pan)
Directions:
1. Grease 9×13 cake pan with butter on paper towel.
2. Mix/beat all filling ingredients in one large bowl & pour into pan.
3. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over filling, then walnuts over cake mix layer.
4. Dribble mixture of butter, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice over all.
5. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 60 minutes, then uncover and bake for 30 more.
Note: I don’t eat sugar, so I actually make this with Splenda in the filling, leave it out of the topping layer, and use the sugarfree yellow cake mix that Pillsbury makes. I don’t however, have any objection to plenty of butter. ☺️ Someday when I get time I’ll post my cornbread recipe which uses 3 fats: butter, buttermilk, and sour cream. It’s wicked – as we say in blueMA – moist…
Steph_gray ,,
I made this one year (very similar) and it Is Good ! Thank You for posting Your Recipe !
Some people , like me , are not so hot on Pumpkin
Pie , but Love Pumpkin ! This is a Tasty Alternative !
Happiest , Grateful Thanksgiving to You 💐
Nice to hear, thanks, and hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.
And of course, thanks to sundance for bumping this so I could finally procast-i-post it. 😆
Thank you for the wonderful recipes and comments on gratefulness. You are my Thanksgiving this year….
Love this thread!
Almost ready for tomorrow. I’m so looking forward to spending time with our children , grandchildren and 8 month old great grandchild. I’m used to making the traditional foods so getting to taste what the kids are making will be a treat.
Only one mishap this year. You know there is usually at least one. My marble rolling pin rolled itself onto the floor and broke into 3 pieces. Not having another one the pie crusts got hand pressed then rolled to size with a can of black cherry Pepsi. Worked out fine.
To all of you I wish you a very Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving. God is so good.
I am so ready for my cranberry, bacon, dressing, turkey, havarti, on a ciabatta roll sammich, heated of course.
I know it was late, but this is ABSOLUTELY THE BEST cranberry sauce recipe I am aware of. It is not originally mine, I believe I found it posted in a Thanksgiving recipe thread on Lucianne (Lucinanne.com) years ago.
2 cups sugar (or for low-carb use Splenda, if you must)
1 cup water
4 cups raw cranberries (about the amount in the
commonly sold packages so use one package)
1/3 cup orange marmalade
Lemon juice to taste—be careful—you can always add more; or use the zest of one lemon
½ cup blanched slivered almonds skin off
1/3 cup Amaretto 1/2 cup is better!
(or use a much cheaper knockoff Amaretto which you can get for $6 a bottle or less—I use the real stuff)
Bring sugar and water to boil until sugar completely dissolves
Add cranberries and cook until they pop
Add marmalade and lemon juice or zest
Must then cool down (don’t cheat; you don’t want to evaporate the Amaretto)
Add Amaretto and almonds
Might look runny but it firms up when chilled in the refrigerator. This will take the shape of the dish, so use a nice clear glass dish, maybe a stemmed dish. Pour the
runny mixture into the nice dish, cover, and put in refrigerator overnight so it will gel (actually, it will gel in a few hours)
Enjoy the compliments you will get.
–Robert Gorkin
Yum! close to that cranberry chutney recipe I made a few tears ago…
of course growing up w the cranberry sauce w can ribs, my how cosmopolitan we are….
G-d’s blessings to all, am so thankful to our ancestors who had faith to cross the Atlantic for the unknown,
and give us a life of freedom and blessings of the fruited plains.
It is the 400th anniversary of Thanksgiving this year in our country.
In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states.
400TH BIRTHDAY
In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states.
And into the oven!
WOW. Is there an “after” picture?!?! I will remember this for next year 😉