From my comment at Stella’s Place, on her recipe post, here’s our family’s sweet potato casserole recipe, with a pecan topping.
It’s not Thanksgiving for our family without a good sweet potato casserole. I wouldn’t eat sweet potatoes until I was in my twenties, but now I love them. I became the person who brings the huge pan of them to our big family meal long ago.
My husband’s huge extended family goes all out for the day, with all his siblings trying to show up with kids and grandkids. There may be one very elderly but super active and fit aunt to come. The members of that oldest generation are sadly almost gone.
Everyone who comes brings their specialties, and after so many years, we don’t plan a menu. We show up before noon, and there will be maybe a dozen or so sides, more than a half dozen desserts, two or three turkeys, several hams. A bouncy house in the huge yard for the kids, which makes for a much more peaceful day, and good fun all around complete the day.
I don’t have a recipe anymore, so these are approximations. You can find recipes for similar casseroles, but the topping ingredients always include flour. Don’t add flour! It ruins a good crunchy topping, makes it cakey.
About 3# sweet potatoes, half stick of butter, 3 large eggs, pinch of salt, cup of milk, quarter cup of sugar. Mix cooked sweet potatoes with all ingredients and beat well.
Mix about 1/4 cup butter, softened, one cup brown sugar, and one cup pecans into a crumbly topping and drop onto the sweet potato mixture. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes until topping is browned.
I tried to reduce quantities to make a smaller, normal size casserole. To adjust according to taste, etc., don’t add all the ingredients at once. For example, start with a quarter cup of sugar, and check the tast after you mix the other ingredients in. You may want more sugar. Add milk gradually. You want the mix to be a little thicker than a pudding. If topping has too much butter, add a few more nuts and a little brown sugar.
You can also add vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon if you wish.
Also posted over at Stella’s, here’s another family favorite.
For those who’d like to try a true Southern cornbread dressing, here’s my favorite recipe, my Aunt Gay’s dressing. She was one of the best cooks I’ve ever learned from. She loved to give out her recipes, and kept index cards with her favorites, ready to gift to anyone who asked, so unlike me, she measured!
I have a lot of her recipes, and may share more later. She made the best, the most addicting Chex mix I’ve ever had. I often make a quad batch to give out during the holidays. And she gave me a cookie recipe, not originally hers, that is far and away the most delicious cookie I’ve ever tasted.
The family does some underhanded and dirty dealing to steal, yes, steal, as many of those cookies as they can. Let’s just say that you can’t turn your back on them, and not one of them can be trusted to deliver cookies to an absent friend or family member. Although they will solemnly swear to deliver them, they never do. Learned my lesson.
7” pone of cornbread, cooked, cooled, then crumbled one day ahead
10 biscuits, also cooked and crumbled ahead
5 slices white bread, laid out the day before. Note here, I like 3 slices thick French bread, torn in pieces, instead of white bread.
5 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (I use a lot more)
3 tsp sage, or less. I like less.
2 cups chopped celery and one cup chopped onion, sautéed in 3/4 stick butter
4 cups chicken or turkey broth
Aunt Gay notes that she used Ketner’s Mill cornmeal, which is from a local mill, and you may not need as much broth if you use a store bought brand.
Bake at 350 1.5 -2 hours until very brown. My own note here. Although she was pretty careful about measuring, you want this dressing to go in the oven sopping with the butter from the vegetables and the broth. When you assemble it all, if you don’t have broth slightly covering the cornmeal mixture, you don’t have enough.
Oh, so good with fresh turkey and cranberry sauce. I can eat dressing for days after Thanksgiving, and never get tired of it. I love both kinds, our cornbread dressing, and the wonderful bread varieties. Maybe I’ll spare some of my sourdough bread or rolls to make some this year.
I like to buy fresh sage, which I also use in the cavity of the turkey, when I cook a whole one.
Here’s to you Aunt Gay, in gratitude for all you taught me, and the wonderful recipes you left me. May you rest in peace.
And finally, my favorite turkey recipe. One of our first commenters posted this at the prior blog we all hung out at, and I tried it the next day. Hard decision for me, because I’d always used Aunt Gay’s super easy no fail recipe, and man, was it good. So, it was a big risk, and I still use this method to brine and prepare the turkey. Nowadays I smoke my turkeys, but the recipe stays the same.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe-1950271
If you’re interested in a much easier way to cook a great, super moist turkey, here’s Aunt Gay’s recipe.
Place the prepared bird in the roaster. Generously salt and pepper the bird, and stuff the cavity with at least half a stick of butter.
My own exception: use some of the aromatics from the Alton Brown recipe instead of just butter in the cavity.
Depending on the size of the bird, put 2.5-3 cups of water in the pan. Use a double layer of wide heavy duty foil and crimp tightly all around the pan. Essentially, you are going to slow steam the turkey.
Cook at 200-225* overnight. Again, temp and length of time depends on how big your bird is.
This will not give you a beautiful bird you can platter up and make the center of your table. It’s going to fall off the bones into the juices. It will be very moist, and delicious, but not pretty. You must really get the foil tight and sealed in order to keep the juices in. If you don’t, the water will evaporate and your turkey will dry out.
You’ll wake up starving due to the wonderful smells all night, and have the oven available for all your sides and desserts!
Best ever Italian-inspired dressing: measurements and amounts to your own tastes:
My Italian aunt would put sausage in the stuffing. Yours sounds good. Stuffing/dressing is my favorite part of the food for Thanksgiving.
Have a great Thanksgiving
Italian language instructor would baste her “American” turkey with 1/2 pomegranate juice and 1/2 white wine.
But the real trick for the best ever turkey gravy is a few dollars of excellent balsamic vinegar.
I’ll have to try that balsamic vinegar trick with turkey gravy. I always finish pot roast gravy with a tablespoon or two of red wine vinegar, really elevates it. Maybe next time I make pot roast I’ll try balsamic instead of RWV.
When I’m deglazing the pan after cooking pork chops I include balsamic vinegar
Dollops …… (not dollars, though it might depending on your choice for “good balsamic vinegar” – deepens the color of the gravy too.)
Smoked mashed potatoes. Hey grill hey has the recipe. It’s stout.
Bourbon Cranberry Sauce
Two cans of whole cranberries, 2 small cans mandarin oranges, drained. 1/4 cup of fine bourbon, makers mark is my choice.
Mix together in a vessel of choice, cover. chill overnight. Set out before serving for room temperature or serve cold as desired.
I use the rest of that bottle of bourbon to shoot the turkey up with and let it marinate overnight too. Before deep frying it.
7” pone of cornbread? Could you translate this into modern english? Sounds good and I want to use enough cornbread. Don’t know about the biscuits and bread otherwise.
Hi, all it means is the cornbread is baked in a 7 inch cast iron skillet. An 8 inch cake pan would work as well.
close is good enough
I always make cornbread in cast iron skillets of some dimension.
Me too. I make old southern cornbread, no flour or sugar. White cornmeal, salt, baking soda, egg, melted lard or bacon grease and buttermilk. Hot skillet into hot oven. Yum!
My late husband would chunk up cold cornbread into a glass and cover it with buttermilk for a snack. I like mine floating in sorghum. 😊
Yes! If you’re gonna make cornbread, make it right!
You betcha! Thank you for this wonderful annual thread. I look forward to it every year. A Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Amen!!
How about that cookie recipe? Don’t tease us like that Menagerie!
I’m a native of southeastern KY and this is exactly how we cooked and ate it also!
My first husband was from Meridian and taught me cornbread making the “proper”way. Me, from California had no idea. Lol.
Imagine my surprise, after moving to Mississippi 7 years ago, being served sweet cornbread with jalapeños in it in every restaurant I’ve been to. Such a big let down.
We call sweet cornbread, corn cake.
Up here in New England we call sweet cornbread corn muffins, delicious split in half buttered and grilled in a skillet and served as is or spread with marmalade
NH here Mary.. there is nothing better than blueberries in the corn muffins.
I thought everyone did this– but I guess it’s a New England thing too.
Can you please share more about moving back to Mississippi from California – on paper, it has some wonderful positives with great housing prices.
Jaye, I’m sorry for the delay. I’m originally from California and married a soldier from Mississippi. I never actually lived here though. Eight years ago my daughter took a job in Oxford and a year later we followed.
Moving to Mississippi enabled my daughter to buy a home with a lower monthly payment than what she was paying in rent inCalifornia. Two of my grandchildren have also moved from California and are doing well here.
The cost of living here is o much less overall. For seniors like my husband and me it’s been a Godsend. We purchased our home in a small town and are both homestead and senior exempt for property taxes. We have a 2006 car so our registration runs $36. Our utilities run +/- $150 for a 4 bdrm home with ac on all summer and heat all winter. Gasoline so far hasn’t hit $4. It bouncesbetween $2.75 an $3.50.
We love having seasons and if I want to collect rain I can. I hope this helps.
or, cane syrup….hard to find, tho
Love cane syrup..Stein’s brand..my Grandma used to make syrup cake with it..yum…my granddad worked at a syrup mill as a youngster..boiling down the sugar cane…
Ribbon can syrup and black strap molasses are plentiful here in Mississippi along with the sorghum.
That actually sounds like a good recipe for corn meal mush, Grama, which was sometimes served for breakfast on Sundays in our house. It was sliced and fried, and then topped with butter and maple syrup. And of course the crusty part was always the best. 😋
My Grama used to make cornmeal mush like that. I loved it.
My Mom always ate chunks of cold cornbread covered with Buttermilk too.
Favorite old-fashion church buffet dish -Corn Pone Pie – a tomato, onion, kidney bean and hamburger base, topped with corn bread batter and baked to form a nice sweet cornbread crust.
Thanksgiving is my most special of all the Holidays. It is the only one that doesn’t involve anything except the joining of family, friends and newly discovered jewels of humanity to gather together and share food ,drink and love. No presents or Madison Avenue hype need apply. To the thrust of this post, Cranberry Sauce. As a kid, I enjoyed the canned, jellied variety, Ocean Spray. In fact when having my own family, one year the entire generational family went to some haughty taughty restaurant in Mendocino county, and our daughter insisted on our bringing a can of cranberry sauce. We presented it to the server with instructions to place some in a dish for her. The server picked up the can as though it were plutonium, and SOME of it was presented to her, the rest discarded presumably at a Superfund Toxic dump site. A hilarious achievement for those who think so small.
That said, here is our simple, elegant, and tasteful recipe for cranberry sauce:
1 lb whole cranberries
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup of cognac or brandy
1 cup of orange zest
Combine in a pot, simmer until until the berries burst, chill and if you want, refrigerate it as long as deemed necessary.
Yes it has some alcohol. Teetotalers and AA members need not apply, send them outside to smoke a cigarette if they protest.
I see some recipes above that look akin to formulating a new element for the periodic table or roasting a Christian knight in armor on a spit for days.
Just keep it simple. Life is to be enjoyed, not scripted, an extemporaneous burst of joy and happiness. Happy Thanksgiving!
Use a china cap to make the cooked cranberry into a sauce. Fresh cranberry sauce is sooooo delicious.
1 cup of orange zest??
Yes, 1 cup of orange zest, of course you may add more if you desire. I prefer cognac myself as I always sneak a bit for a sip or two while laboring over this most difficult task. YMMV. Happy Thanksgiving!
I feel the same way about Thanksgiving. It is my favorite.
It even tops my birthday. Happy Thanksgiving!
I agree, Thanksgiving is all about just being together and eating some great food.
To be embraced by the love from those around you elevates the heart and spirit skywards. I am always reminded of visiting a close friend for Thanksgiving with an assemblage of twenty plus folks, most of whom I did not know. My friend, the host came to me and announced that she wished me to lead our group in a prayer for the celebration. I am the least qualified individual for such an endeavor, never was I religious, not a member of any designated church, and I have little or no knowledge of the scriptures, my only ventures into a holy structure were weddings, funerals, and a baptism. In other words, other than I believe in God, have no qualifications whatsoever in the holy arena. It is said that God works miracles, even strange ones, and indeed it happened on that day. I stood up, glanced to all the faces, looking eager for some semblance of light from heaven to come forth from my lips. To this day, I do not remember what I said for the course of two minutes except ‘Amen’. Over the course of the day, I was congratulated again and again for such a moving invocation. That alone provided my soul with sustenance that lasts to this very day. It is further proof that there is a God and good things do happen in our world despite the pandemonium of life that envelops us all. Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you for sharing your ordinary-Extraordinary moment.
You experienced “Inspiration” – the Divine coming forth from within you.
“Church” or “religion” is simply not required;
to *Know*, beyond belief, is all that’s required.
Thanks. I was in a state of bewilderment about it all for a long time. I accept your gracious pronouncement as to what occurred. Happy Thanksgiving.
Where’s the bacon Turkey recipe?
You inspired an inspiration. Cook a pound of bacon til crisp, crumble it well, put in a small serving bowl w/spoon, and pass it along as a side dish for folks to put bacon on whatever they like on their plate. I bet at the end of the meal the bacon bowl will be empty.
Bacon on the mashed potatoes.
Bacon on the green beans.
Bacon in the gravy.
Bacon in the dressing along with the fresh ground sausage.
Uh huh – bubba gump bacon company over here – uh huh!
Thanks.
An idea I’ve just gotten into from jello salads that I love is cutting the water for jello in half.
Use the hot water to dissolve the jello, but for the cold water… instead mix in half and half or a half and half and flavored Greek Yogurt combo equal to the water content.
You can also make creative layers.
I did the above and placed it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Then took more unflavored jello dissolved in water, heated to throughly dissolve, then let cool on counter top for 10 minutes. Added that to more half and half and honey vanilla Greek yogurt and poured it over the already setting jello in the fridge by pouring very slowly.
Made really fun layers of orange jello, mandarin oranges, blended orange and half and half, and the half and half and yogurt on top.
It was delicious. Could be fun and creative with cranberries.
Hey JWoo, hope you’re having a good weekend.
I had a whole book of Jello recipes. I used to collect the little recipe booklets you see at the grocery checkouts. My husband hates Jello so I gave it away.
I sort of forgot Jello, Deb, but got into using a bit of unflavored jello in coffee and such for its collagen benefits.
Then one day, I screwed up a recipe of stabilized whipped cream and couldn’t move myself to throw it out, whipping cream being so expensive. Put it in the fridge and it formed this delectable mousse that I would place a scoop of my coffee. Oh my word…I was hooked.
Now it’s just fun and delicious!
No idea where the recipe is, my mom used to make a jello w/blueberries and pineapple bits, nuts, and a layer of cream cheese and cool whip. It was delish. My BIL always asked her to make it. Now I am going to have to go on a search. She served it as a side salad, but it could be a dessert too.
Could this be it? My aunt always made this.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/creamy-blueberry-gelatin-salad/
That be it! Thank you. Now I am going to make it as a Cheers to my mom.
Awww… I love that!!
Yummmm
Have you tried Broken Glass (aka Stained Glass) jello?
https://bellyfull.net/broken-glass-jello/
You can use the formula for the sweetened condensed white part to make pastel layers, just mix about 1/3 cup of prepared but still liquid Jello with 1/2 cup of the prepared gelatin/sweetened condensed milk recipe.
This is a favorite of mine: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/orange-buttermilk-gelatin-salad/ I made it a couple of weeks ago using strawberry Jello instead of orange and that was a big hit.
Ooooo… I love that idea! I’ve not tried it, but want to!
Combining raspberry jello with jellied cranberry sauce is another good treat.
I do that a lot! I do it with fresh or canned whole cranberries, crushed pineapple, pecans and sometimes use Cran-Cherry from Ocean Spray instead of the water.
We love cranberries.
I think we should all bring back Jello to the family gathering. It’s so fun.
And there’s always room for jello!
And you don’t feel like too big of a lug after you’ve eaten it.
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia but when I’ve been invited to events at my sister’s house, she would always ask me to do my LoL for her American friends 🙂
Leg of Lamb:
Bring your lamb up to room temp. If you are using garlic cloves, insert the slivers into the meat.
Spread the jam over the lamb – you will see the jam slide off during cooking, just keep spooning it back over the meat – not a baste but kind of is.
Lay the fresh rosemary sprigs over the lamb, and if you have garlic leaves, don’t insert the slivers, just lay the leaves over the lamb with the rosemary.
Sprinkle of salt and good pepper (not heaps, just a little)
Bake in an oven @ about 170 degrees (Celsius) for 2 – 2 1/2 hours until the jam forms a coat & it should be ready to go.
You can cook it more slowly for a longer period – but that is up to you.
Now, the carving: Discard the rosemary & garlic leaves: Your carver may think that he/she needs to scrap off the ‘black stuff’ (jam) on top of the lamb – but after tasting the meat with the black stuff in place – your family may come to blows over who gets the most of it. The lamb can still be a little pink, but it can also be ‘well done’ – it’s very forgiving. Serve with mint jelly or thick mint sauce, roast spuds, pumpkin & any other veg that you fancy.
Bon Apetit!
Oh dear! No Thanksgiving celebration? This is the saddest thing I’ve read all day. As my English father-in-law (RIP) would likely exclaim: “No Thanksgiving? Well you haven’t lived!” All the best Treepers, wherever you are.
This is my family recipe for 1 loaf of Dilly Bread. It was handed down from my Grandma Virginia back in Oklahoma where we’re from.
1 pkg yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs instant minced onion
1 tbs butter
1 tsp dill seed
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1 egg
Soften yeast in water. Heat cottage cheese to lukewarm and add to yeast, sugar, onion, butter, dill, salt, soda and egg. Mix in flour a little at a time until dough is stiff. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise. Punch down and place in a casserole dish and bake at 350F until done. Brush top with melted butter.
We always buttered the inside of the baking dish. For our baking dish we use a round one about 8″ diameter and about 4″ high. It has a wicker holder it goes into if you want it on the table. It has become a family favorite and has a lot of history. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Menagerie, please send or post your cookie recipe that people steal, connive and refuse to deliver. I must have some. Pretty please. 😊
Plum jam is hard to find in the US, but black currant or black raspberry is available, do you think they would make good substitutes?
Absolutely! Try to avoid jam with the pips in it 🙂
Let me know what you think if you give it a try.
Where is the stolen cookie recipe?
I would second that motion Grandma Deb!
I made this turkey last month after finding the recipe on Youtube. The results were fantastic, so we are making it again for Thanksgiving! I usually make a wet or dry brine and make a big fuss, but this turned out much better and so much easier to make! It really was better than any other Turkey I made in the past.
If you are looking for an easy recipe for your turkey, this is the one!
“The BEST-Ever Garlic Butter Turkey Recipe! Super JUICY & Delicious!!”
Izzyspy, Thanks for posting this recipe for the bird!!!! YUM, this is happening at my house this Thanksgiving…only thing is the gravy needs to be made in the roasting pan…my Mom’s way!
I use Daddy Pete’s soil amendments for all my landscape deign / installations….they are a 100+ year old dairy cow farm and they always post Thanksgiving recipes, the leftovers recipe looks interesting.
https://www.daddypetes.com/from-the-garden-to-the-kitchen/thanksgiving-meal-recipes
We found a similar recipe (seasoned butter under skin and similar cavity stuff) and it was excellent. Always do that now.
This is my favorite brine. Enjoy!
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/my-favorite-turkey-brine-2250057
You know that movie, Mars Attacks, when at the end, as the new POTUS is sworn in on the steps of the demolished US Capitol, a Mariachi Band plays the American Anthem?
The USA is the land of real diversity. Why follow a menu made for people living in cold weather when the sun is shining outside and a mild santa ana wind is keeping things in the 70s?
It’ll just be four of us… so I’m thinking of making carnitas from scratch… mounds of sous vide carnitas, corn tortillas, good beans, home made salsas, grilled chili peppers, home made guacamole, sour cream, nice chopped lettuce with a bit of cilantro, sour cream and either good beer or a nice red wine.
With flan and ice cream for dessert.
Why not? Good pork is more expensive than turkey, and done in the sous vide is miles better tasting than turkey.
¡ Olé !
Or, if my señora, complains, we might make nice aged thick pork chops….. smoked with apple chips for a bit in the Little Chief, then popped in the sous vide at 130F for three hours… with home made potatoes au gratin, brown gravy from the pork drippings, corn, stir fried okra, french bread, veggies, green salad and a nice red wine.
With a home made cheesecake (german style) and apple tarte… with ice cream.
Bon appetit, mes amis.
Note: we’ll reserve the platters of sashimi for Christmas. Like the time we celebrated Christmas in Hawai’i with rice, ten pounds of sashimi tuna, mac salad, cucumber salad and some very good beer.
Traditional, nope.
Fun, yes!
Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.
We thank the Global Money Cabal has not yet destroyed the World.
Last year on one of the recipe threads I mentioned a friends mother that made Jewish Apple Cake. A Treeper, apologies, I don’t remember who, asked for the recipe. I promised I would post. I couldn’t find it. Cleaning out some bins the other day I found it. Made me happy. I hope that Treeper is reading and will accept my apologies for being a year late. It is a really good cake.
Many times a slice, or two, of this cake was given to me for my road trip home. A cup of coffee and a slice of this cake made the drive so enjoyable. Brings back fond memories.
Jewish Apple Cake
4 medium apples (3 red, 1 green)
3 cups unsifted all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup Wesson oil
1/2 cup orange juice
4 eggs
2 1/2 tsp of vanilla
Peel and slice apples.
Mix 5 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl, then stir in w/apples until coated. Set aside.
Put the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well until smooth.
Add apples. Blend well.
Pour into greased bundt pan.
Bake at 350* for 1 hour, 10 minutes.
Make sure it is really brown on top.
Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.
***no salt in cake
P.S. Not long ago I made an apple cobbler dessert and didn’t bother w/peeling the apples. The peel is where the fiber and quercetin is, and the dessert came out just fine. If you are going for something to serve company, maybe peel ’em, but if making for family keep the peel on, or perhaps do a light peeling.
I like to eat the apple peels. Perhaps you can crunch them up in the oven for scoops to use with a dip.
There is a cold dip recipe for apples that involves cream cheese, soft caramel and toffee candy crumbles.. YUM!
I like peels also, I think they bake up fine in recipes, but I think people have been programmed to believed that potatoes and apples have to be peeled. I haven’t peeled a potato in years.
I also like to eat baked potato including the peel.
If you need to remove the peel, you don’t need to use a potato peeler. Just boil the potatoes, then rinse them under the tap, and the peel easily slides off in one piece.
I don’t know why people bother using potato peelers on raw potatoes. It’s a lot of unnecessary work.
The peels have all the nutrients and fiber. I agree using a peeler is unnecessary work.
The gravy:
If making brown, “scorch” your flour when making the roux, at least to the desired “browness.” Use turkey or chicken drippings to make the roux and add whatever seasonings at this point (salt, pepper, turmeric,…). Use water, not milk. Add until the right consistency is reached. Simmer accordingly.
I don’t cook, but I greatly enjoy your food creation commentaries and instructions. Moreover, all of your postings add a large measure of positivity, prayerful reflection, and overall goodness to my life. Thank you very, very much for all you do to add highly meaningful content to this site.
I will give your recipe for the sweet potato casserole to my residence cook and to the kitchen master at the ranch. I and many others will thoroughly enjoy the dish, and a Thanksgiving day toast to your and SD’s good health and happiness will be made at both locations.
Thank you, and God bless you and SD.
For those who haven’t tried this method, we cut up da bird and cook. Takes 1/2 the time and comes out beautifully. We’ll smoke the bird for 2-3 hrs first cause that makes the best gravy. Brining is a must.
For added flavor, I melt butter and brown sugar then add some spiced rum, then pour it over my yams with walnuts mixed in. It’s delicious. The alcohol burns off in case you’re concerned.
I too have gone to the cut up the bird first method. I do that the day before Thanksgiving, cutting the turkey into essentially five pieces – two drumstick/thighs, two wings, and one entire breast. Then dry brine in the fridge overnight. If you want to make carving even easier, you can remove the breast bone too. Then you can cook the breast to a proper temperature (I take it out when it’s 152F, carry-over will take it up a few more degrees) and the thighs you can easily go to 190F and they will be fine. The wings are going to get done first, no big deal. I just judge their doneness if they are fairly easily bendable at the joint but temp wise I’d say 165-170. I always temp poultry when cooking. Also don’t forget to rotate your whole turkey or pieces a time or two because you really need to do that to ensure even cooking.
Oh, and don’t forget to use the removed backbone, neck, and wing tips for stock. You can either roast those pieces in the oven for a darker stock, or toss them into the stock pot unroasted for a very light colored stock (technically a broth.) I always roast my onions and meat/bones when making a stock.
This was going to be my next suggestion.
I’ve de-boned the whole turkey, they spread it all out, I pound a few areas if I need to to fix the shape up some because then I spread the stuffing all on it, about an inch or so thick and roll the whole thing up like a jelly roll.
You tie it all up with string.
I tuck sprigs of thyme, sage and rosemary under the string and put some bacon slices over it all.
When it’s done, you let it sit for about 30 minutes and then slice it up.
Doing it this way is some work up front.. but once it’s done it sure is faster, easier and impressive in a different way from the traditional way of cooking the bird.
Back to the cranberries! Here’s a recipe for fermented cranberries. Take a look around this website. Lots of great information on fermented foods, why you should eat them, and how to make them. I used to make kefir and kombucha, and have occasionally fermented some vegetables and pickles. I’d like to do more.
https://www.culturedfoodlife.com/recipe/fermented-cranberry-sauce/
A post on the benefits of cranberries.
https://www.culturedfoodlife.com/cranberries-have-many-healing-powers/
And a note to all who asked about the cookies and Chex mix. It’ll have to be typed up, I don’t have it online. This will probably appear in a Christmas treats post, next month when I’m less involved with homeschool tasks, and holiday season preparations.
Menagerie
You have mentioned you are home schooling in a few of your posts. Over the last couple of years I have begun to do the same. There are so many options–websites, curriculums, methods– it can be overwhelming to sift through them and many end up not being very useful in practice. I know we have several educators on this site. Perhaps we could have a thread like the recipe thread to share useful sources for information, ask questions.
I think I tried that before I began, I can’t remember. I do know that we had discussions about it a lot. I would like to do that, very much, but I don’t think it will be a good idea.
There are too many people who hijack a post like that and make it angry and political, not helpful. And one of my biggest pet peeves, one that really angers me, is the holier than thou declaration that parents should all homeschool, and the blame throwing at those who don’t.
I happen to disagree vehemently on that, and by golly, I have very good, very logical reasons why. It’s personal to me, and I’m not going to hicjack my own thread going down that hole.
So, sadly, at least for now, I don’t think it would be good for me to do a post on homeschooling.
I will say this. I’ve had a number of educators who were so encouraging and supportive, and who helped me immensely. I don’t think I’d have made the final choice to do it without the wise advice and encouragement of Ad rem, who is a teacher by training and experience. However, there are a number of teachers who aren’t supportive, and will outright criticize your choice. Ignore them.
If you haven’t already, find a co-op and join. Other parents there are super resources. There are homeschool fairs with so many curriculum choices and products. Those I didn’t like. I chose curriculum based on advice from parents at our church and who were members of the co-op there. Finally, I am not on Facebook, but you’ll find resources and co-ops there, with tons of advice.
If I can answer any other questions, email me at the Tree email.
Menagerie and tyshab,
I love this conversation. This topic is so big and so wide and so juicy it definitely deserves some more space. Menagerie you are spot on about folks who take a topic around the bend, through the woods and the mud and mess up the dialogue (which I won’t do here 🤣 by talking about homeschooling on a Thanksgiving recipe thread 😑, please forgive me). However I would like to suggest that discourse, on topic, is fruitful and edifying. As a homeschooling Dad I also would like to participate. I could email regarding that.
Thank you, Menagerie! Wow, what fantastic benefits from cranberries. I’ve visited this site before but I’ve fermented with salt only. Now considering getting the starter cultures, sounds like it’s much healthier to use the starter when fermenting. I have cabbage and was planning on making kraut in quart jars for Christmas gifts, but now I think I should get the starter cultures and try Thanks or Christmas kraut — maybe both. Will definitely make the honey fermented cranberry sauce too!
Since this thread is showing so much love to cranberries, I thought I should add a very unusual recipe for cranberry candies that are similar to Applets. This recipe won a blue ribbon at the Oregon State Fair and it’s a great addition to a Thanksgiving or Christmas goodie tray. Plan ahead, it needs 3 days to firm up and develop flavor.
Cranlets — makes about 80 pieces
1 can (16 oz.) jellied cranberry sauce
1 cup sugar
2 boxes (3 oz. each) lemon Jello
1 box (3 oz.) orange Jello
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup sugar
In a medium saucepan, melt cranberry sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in 1 cup sugar and all Jello powders. Return to heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in walnuts. Pour into 8″ square metal pan. (I line pan with foil.) Refrigerate overnight on a level surface. Line a box or large pan with waxed paper. Cut candy in 1″ square pieces. (Easier to pull candy and foil out of pan, lay a 1″ wide ruler on candy, cut along edge of ruler and repeat until all candies are cut.) Roll pieces in 3/4 cup sugar. Arrange candy pieces in box, using waxed paper between layers. Cover and store at room temperature at least 3 days before serving. Candy will keep for several weeks.
Look up Erica Arndt. She has a large source of home school topics. I follow her for quilting, but she also has other things on her site. I found her on YouTube.
We understand – and will look forward to those recipes.
CHEX MIX:
We make Chex mix with a mix of butter and corn oil instead of all butter and use Old Bay seasoning and salt (to taste) instead of garlic and celery salt and we love it. I fell in love with Old Bay seasoning when our children lived in Baltimore…home of the McCormick spice company.
In the mix – we use LOTS of Cherrios, Corn/Rice/Wheat Chex, Snyder’s Itty bitty pretzels and a mix of all our favorite nuts. It’s addictive and good fuel for all the extra work during the holidays!
Similar in the cereals and pretzels and nuts. I may make a small batch using the Old Bay, I love it too. But I confess to loving celery salt, and I always up the content a little in my Chex mix. I also really like celery seed in a lot of soups and stews.
And now I smoke my Chex mix instead of do it in the oven. Or, at least I smoke ours. I saw someone say they stopped using the baking trays and now use the big roaster pans. That’s me! I make two full roasting pans at a time, so one goes in the oven, the other on the smoker. There is a certain size disposable roaster pan I can fit two of on the smoker.
Sadly, this monumental amount of mix does not last long. I only make it between Thanksgiving and Christmas because it’s one of those things I just love too much.
I have also gotten addicted to sourdough crackers. And smoked cheezits and Alabama fire crackers, which I also smoke.
Smoked mix – Great idea. No smoker, but I do have liquid Smoke.
I have used that before, it works great. A dab will do ya.
I like using the extra sharp cheddar cheese goldfish crackers.
Montreal Seasoning by McCormick is another great go-to sprinkle for just about everything.
Chopped tomatoes, small curd cottage cheese and a nice sprinkle of Montreal Seasonings – when tomatoes are still coming out of your summer garden.
Whaaat? jk. I just know you would be dear to us even more if we could all meet you, and each other for that matter, Menagerie. I sense that your heart is a precious one. May the Lord be with you.
Fermented cranberries?
Just cut the time… and make a Cosmopolitan.
Now, not much for us guys, but for you ladies, a good Cosmo seems to please the palate. My wife loves it.
Kambucha… interesting. My daughter used to make her own, but I doubt she used cranberries. I’ll ask her.
Ah, but try a G&T with a healthy splash of cranberry juice. So good! I like Bombay Sapphire or Aviation but I gave my sister a bottle of Empress 1908 Indigo Gin. It’s infused with butterfly pea blossoms and changes color depending on which acidic ingredient you add. She was visiting from out of state and we didn’t have an opportunity to play around with it before she had to leave so I think I’d better get a bottle for myself. I saw in reviews that Fever Tree tonic is the best brand to use to complement the botanicals. The cocktails made with it are beautiful so check out the recipes and pics if you look at the site.
https://empressgin.com
For gin fans, recommending TheGinIsIn.com for reviews and recommendations. Also, check out Members Mark gin – award winning and incredibly priced.
Thanks for the info. I’ve bought MM spiced rum (rum cakes for Christmas) and their Irish cream and both are really good quality. Good to know their gin is too. That gin site is great and I like that they have tonic recommendations as well. I really want to try the raspberry rhubarb tonic.
Boodles for martinis, Beefeater’s for G & T’s, Hendricks for French 75’s.
Wow, my mistake — I was shopping at Costco, cruised the booze section and picked up Kirkland brand rum and Irish cream. They are really good and the price was right. I’m so used to shopping at Sam’s and rarely go to Costco that I forgot I bought liquor there. I was actually there for vanilla, the vanilla is excellent and a great price.
Kirkland brand products are quite good.
I always get their American Vodka with sells for 14 bucks in California. Plus OC tax it’s less than 16 bucks out the door.
Their Kirkland french champagne is outstanding… you can not get anything like that for the price.
I don’t bother with Sam’s Club…. there are five Costco’s within 12 miles of my house!
I had an encounter with a bottle of Tanqueray back in the late 80s.
Ever since, any type of gin and my gut just don’t get along… the “oily gin” gag reflex is deeply ingrained in my esophagus…
Umm, no. I want the good bacteria from the fermentation process. I think you missed the point altogether here.
No, I didn’t miss the point… I just made another.
As I noted -kambucha comment-, we do fermentation in my house. For many years, my daughter was making kambucha in our dining room… and before it got kicked out to the garage, the kim chi barrel lived in the kitchen.
I admit I need to try making a cranberry jam…
Oh, off and on, since ’94 or so, I’ve made my own vinegar. I started when I got the starter from the food writer at the LA Times. She “smuggled” her vinegar mother from her homeland in the UK. Nowaday, however, the quality and availability of vinegars in SoCal has improved tremendously, so I don’t bother, I just buy the Cider vinegar with the mother.
We will be waiting and looking forward to them…..
I ferment stuff, usually chili peppers with other ingredients for hot sauce, and it’s so easy and interesting to do. If you are new to it, get yourself some Star-San and use it to sanitize everything you use to ferment with (not the food of course, but the vessel and any other objects that will touch your ferment. I mix it up 1.5 ml per liter of water and keep it in a foaming spray bottle. Lasts indefinitely, Star-San is just concentrated phosphoric acid and is safe for consumption in the proper dilution strength (it’s in Coca-Cola and other type drinks) so you just get everything clean with soap and water then spray it all down and dump out any excess but no need to wipe any off. You can also mix up a larger batch in a clean food safe 5-gallon bucket and just soak your stuff in there, and then reuse the solution a few times as long as you can seal it up. Very commonly used by brewers, it will help make your fermentations successful. Also leave more head-space in the fermentation vessel than you’d think you need. The only times I’ve had ferments fail (got moldy) was when the ferment reached to top of the container and touched the lid/vent. Ideally you’ll ensure that there is a layer of salt water in the top of your jar if you are fermenting with 2-4% saltwater like I usually do. For chili peppers I’ve found a 3.5% salt solution is ideal. Fermentation weights and cabbage leaves can help you keep the stuff from floating to the surface of your brine while it ferments.
Thank you! I saved your tips.
We will be looking forward to it ma’am!
A favorite fall (or all year) cocktail in our home.
~Redneck Pear-Ginger Cocktail~
(serves 2)
4oz – Redneck Riviera Whiskey (or choose your favorite mixing bourbon/whiskey)
4oz – Pear juice
2oz – Ginger Honey Syrup*
1oz – lemon juice
Ginger ale – to taste
*Ginger Honey Syrup
In a small sauce pot, bring equal parts Monin Ginger Syrup and local honey to a gentle simmer (do not boil). Remove from heat and set aside for 20 minutes to cool. Place into a container, cover and refrigerate until chilled.
Alternate method of making syrup, enough for 2 cocktails:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup honey
1 1-inch piece of Ginger
1/4 cup
In a small sauce pot, combine water, honey and ginger. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring until honey dissolves into the water.
Remove from heat and set aside for 20 minutes to steep. Discard ginger, strain into a container, cover and refrigerate until chilled.
For the cocktail:
Combine whiskey, pear juice, lemon juice and honey ginger syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Vigorously shake until chilled.
Pour over glass of ice and top with ginger ale. Garnish with pear slices or lemon wedge.
Another fall favorite conversation in our home. ~Apple and Gin Autumn Cocktail~
(serves 2)
4oz – Gin
4oz – Apple Cider
2oz – Ginger Honey Syrup*
1oz – lime juice
Dash cinnamon
Optional garnishes:
2 thyme sprigs
Wedge of apple
*Ginger Honey Syrup
In a small sauce pot, bring equal parts Monin Ginger Syrup and local honey to a gentle simmer (do not boil). Remove from heat and set aside for 20 minutes to cool. Place into a container, cover and refrigerate until chilled.
Alternate method of making syrup, enough for 2 cocktails:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup honey
1 1-inch piece of Ginger
1/4 cup
In a small sauce pot, combine water, honey and ginger. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring until honey dissolves into the water.
Remove from heat and set aside for 20 minutes to steep. Discard ginger, strain into a container, cover and refrigerate until chilled.
For the cocktail:
Combine gin, cider, lime juice, cinnamon, and honey ginger syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Vigorously shake until chilled.
Pour over glass of ice. Garnish with apple slice or thyme sprig.
—-Canned small onions, one can of Campbell’s Cheddar Cheese soup (do not dilute) and 1/2 cup grated good Gruyere cheese, season to taste – bake 1/2 hour. This will please even those who can’t stand “creamed onions”. Add a bit of dry sherry, sprinkle with paprika to taste.
—Shoe peg corn, canned, (tiny white corn kernels) – cream cheese and butter softened and melted together with one small tin of chopped jalepeño peppers. Season to taste. Bake 1/2 hour
—Swiss culinary secret for all savory dishes – light dustings of Knorr Aromat seasoning to enhance all flavors.
Whenever I spend a few weeks with my youngest and her excellent husband, my blood pressure normalizes, I lose weight and start to feel younger. It could be the canine therapy of the sweet old black labrador dog, then again it might be the way I eat when I am with them.
Daughter orders boxes from “Purple Carrot”, a vegetarian/vegan meal kit company. All of the recipes I have cooked for her (and she runs out of time and asks me to cook for them) are surprisingly well spiced and nice textures.
Here is the one I did today: “Thanksgiving Sandwiches”. It has a filling of roasted Brussels sprouts, sage mayonnaise, cranberry, shallot/garlic gravy, and a vinegar slaw with granny smith apples. Surprisingly tasty and digestible too
https://www.purplecarrot.com/plant-based-recipes/thanksgiving-sandwich-with-sage-roasted-brussels-classic-gravy
Thanks for the yummy turkey recipe, but where is the Stella’s Place blog? Would like to see more yumminess!!
Here’s a link to her recent post. She also has more recent ones, including a dessert post, and some historical ones, like the second link
https://stellasplace1.com/2023/11/09/planning-for-thanksgiving-2023/
https://stellasplace1.com/2023/11/15/a-military-thanksgiving-during-world-war-2/
The best turkey I’ve ever had for taste, moisture and texture is brined and then slowly roasted over a grill.
I have done the ostrich egg in the cavity, Canadian Bacon and Bacon bikini lines on a smoked turkey, fried turkey (leftovers suck), Cornish hen in the cavity, Alaskan King crab meat stuffed cavity (turkey has crabs loaded with butter), stuffed oysters, scallops, cooked bacon wrapped scallops, and lobster meat. The favorite is the orange juice brine with sweet onion, celery, sweet peppers, and mushroom cavity fill that is thrown away once the turkey is done.
Over the years this salad has had a million variations based on what folks like, decades ago it was a trend to put it in a trifle bowl. I remember when it became a fade, it does look pretty on a table. It is a darn good salad. It makes for a great meal in itself along w/a toasted baguette slices.
The Original Seven Layer Salad
Layer the following in a shallow dish or trifle bowl.
1 head of iceberg lettuce. Washed, dried well, and coarsely torn into bite size pieces.
1 can thoroughly drained water chestnuts (chopped or sliced)
4-6 scallions chopped including the tops
1 package 10 oz frozen green petite peas
3/4 cup mayo and 1/4 cup sour cream mixed together w/a dash of black pepper
Grated parmesan cheese
5-6 slices of bacon crisply cooked and crumbled
Grated cheddar cheese
Chill for at least six hours before serving.
***I am not a fan of iceberg lettuce, but it does work the best for this salad. The key is to make sure it is really dry so the salad doesn’t get watery, same w/the chestnuts, drain them well. You eyeball the cheeses based on dish size. Do not thaw the peas, layer them frozen.
I am under the weather, as they say, again, at Thanksgiving time. I was horribly ill last year starting the afternoon of Thanksgiving Eve and lasting at least 4 days, where I could not eat anything and just slept it off. I had most of the meal done and at the time I began feeling sick I was making the desert, which I finished, and never ate one drop of. Or pretty much any of the Thanksgiving leftovers.
I’m sorry, I am just not feeling it this year. It makes me feel sick just thinking of it.
BUT, I got this juicy morsel in my In box this AM and tho’t it would be fun to share instead. Find a Grave has a blog and they put out at least a monthly communique. This one is about recipes on headstones. Perfect right?!
Heirloom Recipes
16 Nov 2023
By Find a Grave Team
https://news.findagrave.com/2023/11/16/heirloom-recipes
I think it’s perfect because Thanksgiving is also the time to thank those who came before us with fabulous meals. And BTW, Find a Grave is a great place to do that, find your ancestors and share their stories with the young ‘uns. Maybe start a new tradition over the dinner table or afterwards.
Ancestry is no different. They came up with a great articles on the same subject:
Savoring the Past: Ancestral Connections Through Thanksgiving Recipes
By Ancestry Team
17 Nov 2023
https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/savoring-the-past-ancestral-connections-through-thanksgiving-recipes
It is a great time to do family interviews, oral or written. If you don’t do it now, you may never have the chance again.
Enjoy!
I didn’t know Find A Grave had a blog, nice that recipes are shared that way too. My sister sent me the pic of the gravestone with Mom’s Christmas Cookies with (supposedly) the story behind it. Seems that whenever Mom was asked to share her Christmas cookie recipe she’d reply, “over my dead body”. So the family took her at her word and had it inscribed on the stone.
Sorry you’re under the weather, hope things turn around for you soon.
I am ill also. I think it is a flu/cold thing seems to be going around here. I haven’t been able to eat much the past 3 days. So, if I can’t eat I will postpone my Thanksgiving until I can
1
Yep..i have the ‘croup’ as well…haven’t been sick in years so this is really disappointing…I had to order the Thanksgiving meal from Cracker Barrel..but since its just me and my husband thats ok..if I feel better I may make my cornbread dressing and cranberry relish…we’ll see…
I am just over it, I didn’t realize so many other people had it.
I love roasted turkey and I enjoy bacon for breakfast with eggs, but to me bacon does not go with turkey. The flavor of turkey is too mild to be swamped with the salty, smoky taste of bacon. Bacon is delicious in it’s time and place, but clashes with turkey, and to me would destroy a lovely roasted turkey. It would also destroy the delicious but often mild flavors of the stuffing, such as sage and onion, chestnuts, some put fruit in their stuffing, . Imagine that with bacon, Ugh!
These bacon wrapped stuffing bites might change your mind.
https://keepingonpoint.com/2022/11/09/bacon-wrapped-stuffing-bites/
Thank you Menagerie for this wonderful tradition.
I do not have family in the area, so I will be going out to a very nice Thanksgiving buffet with friends. The downside is that there are no leftovers. Since I like the side dishes more than I do the turkey, I have decided to cook my own side dishes using some of the recipes contributed here. I generally do not cook and have never made a Thanksgiving dinner so this will be a new adventure and hopefully a new tradition. In addition to trying my hand at sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, cornbread dressing, and a couple of fresh vegetables, I will be making my annual Pumpkin Ice Cream pie (two Keebler graham cracker crusts, a quart of vanilla ice cream, one can of Libby’s pumpkin, and traditional pumpkin spices). I will probably make a simple fall salad of greens, thinly sliced red apples, sliced almonds, chopped green onion, and champagne dressing, although the familiar layered salad (a staple of all pot luck dinners) sounds so good.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
That all sounds great. I sometimes make Thanksgiving sides to go with a rotisserie chicken from the store.
Rotisserie chicken w sides –what a super idea for when the whole turkey prep feels overwhelming or just a few people at the table . Better than going out to eat or ordering in which I’ve heard has become a Thanksgiving trend.
Going out for Chinese food is very popular on Thanksgiving for some folks that don’t want to do the big meal.
Our family tradition was doing Thanksgiving at home and for Christmas we went out for dinner. We usually went to a hotel restaurant that overlooked Monterey Bay. Wonderful views, great buffet and I didn’t have to cook.
One year I found a recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole, baked and served in a pumpkin. The recipe called for some shredded coconut in the topping and it was the best SP casserole we had ever eaten. Not everyone likes coconut, but it was disguised with the other ingredients.
Somewhere along the way and a couple of moves later, I can’t find it. I think I got rid of several cookbooks in my huge collection. It was in either a Southern Living or Gooseberry Patch book. I have looked and looked, and can’t find it or a similar one.
https://tinyurl.com/ycx3nv38
Greetings …
This recipe came up in a Google search and has nice reviews (especially for the topping). [K]
It isn’t the exact one I found but looks like it could be just as wonderful. Thank you so much!
finally found the originator of the Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe; we did this last year and it really came out great!
https://juliasalbum.com/sausage-stuffed-acorn-squash/
I have a middle eastern friend who co-hosted my family Thanksgiving with me one year in the 80s and we did individual stuffed acorn squash for everyone. My first time using it. It was a hit. Haven’t stopped since.
I took a similar recipe; and sort of deconstructed it.
Peel and dice the squash. Saute in butter and a (medium) white wine.
Cook the stuffing concurrently in a different pan. Then add the stuffing to the squash saute pan; saute for a few minutes. Throw some cheese on top, serve.
This sounds good!
This turkey wrapped with bacon looks fantastic! I’m going to do it. Any hints? Do you use toothpicks to secure the bacon? Wow!
WARNING About Bacon Covered Turkey!
If you are going to cover your turkey in bacon, as the picture shows, Get High Quality LOW Sodium Bacon!!
I cannot express the importance of this strong enough.. I’ve essentially ruined two Thanksgivings over this.
Regular, off the shelf, so to speak, store bacon is so loaded with salt and to make the turkey look at the picture does, it requires an entire package of bacon.
Your drippings with be so full of sodium that you cannot use them for gravy AT ALL.
See my shocked face when I tasted the gravy for the first time and it was so loaded with sodium that it tasted like poison!
And there sat 22 people waiting for the “Grave-uhh” to dump all over their entire meal…
Lawdy, I thought I’d never live it down and no, the meal is not nearly as good with no gravy at all.
So this story gets worse.
The following year is spent a fortune on the good bacon made at a local place where they raise the pigs, and guess what, the same thing happened.
I thought that since this was such a high end bacon, I assumed it would not be so filled with sodium -and it was.
So we had a repeat of the same problem the following year.
No “Grave-Uhh” for the Dinn-Uhh (as we say in N’Hampsha Speak)
If it was not for my stuffing and the chocolate cream pie, I really was damned near fired from doing the Thanksgiving meal that year after two epic flops in the gravy department.
So now, I’ve gone back to just putting about 5 slices in total on the bird.
Three over the bird and one on each drumstick.
No, it does not look like that picture, but the Gravy is perfection and the crowd is pleased.
Thanks for the warning!
Every year I buy two jars of Turkey gravy … just in case the gravy doesn’t turn out for whatever reason..
Every year (so far) I have give those two jars to the food bank after Thanksgiving.
It gives me great peace of mind.
Sugar cured bacon is not near as salty
This is not a family recipe, but it is very suitably delicious for Christmas. which is fast approaching or any special occasion.. The chef has cooked or the Royal family. I did post this earlier on the open thread. But I thought it belonged here too. Enjoy.
English Trifle.
I love trifle, especially at Christmas!
I was gonna skip the turkey… but my brother got a free one from work. Sooooo, I came across this this recipe today & we decided we’re gonna try it! 😁
I attended a T-Day pot luck event years back, the woman in charge purchased a whole deli hunk (what is it called?) of turkey and had the deli slice it into thick slices. She heated the turkey in the crock pot w/several jars of turkey gravy. It was delish, everyone raved thinking it was something special, and everyone was shocked at what she had done. Everyone agreed it was some of the best turkey and gravy they ever had.
So if anyone wants a short cut, there ya go.
Two of us for Thanksgiving dinner. Stuff a shank ham with peeled, cut to a point garlic in all the fatty places possible.
Rub a brown paper sack with solid Crisco in the flat places doesn’t have to cover it all. Place ham in and seal it up with a couple of big paper clips. Place in a pan . Oven to 350. Cook 15 to 20 minutes a pound. Having that with baked big sweet potato and a pan of cornbread dressing. Yummy.
This isn’t my recipe but I make it every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. From America’s Test Kitchen
Turkey Pot Pie With Stuffing Crust
Serves 6 to 8
30 minutes
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose
flour
2 cups
low-sodium chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
mix, thawed
4 cups shredded cooked turkey
3 cups prepared stuffing (see
note)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Melt butter in large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and celery until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour and cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in broth and cream and simmer until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add peas and carrots mix and turkey and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, combine stuffing and egg in large bowl. Place stuffing mixture between pieces of parchment paper and roll into 11-inch circle. Remove top layer of parchment and cut into 6 wedges. Arrange wedges evenly over filling and bake until stuffing is golden brown and crisp, about 12 minutes. Serve.
One thing my family started doing after decades of my mom saving all kinds of containers just for holiday leftovers to send home w/everyone, I got the brilliant idea of bringing my own. Ya had to be there, the light bulb was turned on in everyone’s faces when I whipped out my own containers. LOL! It sure saved lots of time and wrangling around. Now we all do it.
So if you think about it, put a few containers or Zip-loc’s in your car if you are going to be a guest and you know you will be sent home w/doggie bags of food. It saves the host/hostess from doing the doggie bag shuffle.
Best turkey recipe EVER. Hands down and I’ve had them all.
https://altonbrown.com/recipes/good-eats-roast-thanksgiving-turkey/
OK, I broke down… yesterday I found the next to last roast boneless ribeye roast at Costco. It’s at the end ( flatter ) but it’s fine, pretty good actually at almost 7 lbs and it’s right now in the sous vide at 132F…
Speaking of availability, I got codeine for next week’s wisdom molar extraction. As it turns out, CVS has been out of Vikoden for five weeks and they got no clue when they’ll get more.
I have never in my life heard of a pharmacy being out of Vikoden.
Way to go Bidenomics. I sure hope it doesn’t hurt… I’m a baby.
FJB.