Thanksgiving Dinner

For several years now my mom and I have gathered our favorite recipes and juggled a few ideas and I do believe we have perfected the Thanksgiving feast. (the way we like it at least) We have had the same menu for 4 years now. Haven't changed a thing. We look forward to it every year. Especially the left overs.

I thought I could share some recipes with you so you too can enjoy what we like.

Menu:
Turkey & gravy (of course)
apple cranberry relish
Dressing
Mashed potatoes
Sweet Potatoe Puff
Green Beans
Rolls
Cranberry Fluff or
Raspberry pretzel salad
relish tray

Desserts:
pumpkin pie
apple pie
banana cream pie
lemon merangue pie
pecan pie
chocolate pie (sometimes)

all with fresh whipped cream lightly sweetened

sounds ordinary enough right. Yup. nothing special, but here's how we do it. I'll probably only post 4-5 recipes tonight, then the rest in the next few days. Enjoy!


Potatoes

10 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 cup sour cream
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons butter (divided)
2 tablespoons dried minced onion (cuz my dad hates real ones)
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
paprika

Boil potatoes for 20-25 min. or until tender. Drain and place in a bowl; mash. Add sour cream, cream cheese, 4 TBL butter, onion, and salt; stir until smooth and the cream cheese and butter are melted. Spread in 13X9 pan. Melt remaining butter; drizzle over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika. Regrigerate or bake immediately, covered, at 350* for 40 minutes; uncover and bake 20 minutes longer. If potatoes are made ahead and refrigerated, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking. These are sooooo good, you don't even need gravy! (this is from the Taste of Home 1999 cookbook)


Thanksgiving Dressing (Stuffing)

This is a basic recipe but just how we like it. We make it in the crock pot to save room in the oven for the turkey/rolls.

preseasoned dressing (Pepperige Farms crumbled not cubed) Not stove top
1 pkg sage sausage (Jimmy Dean) fried and crumbled
3 carrots
2 stalks celery
onions
poultry seasoning & sage to taste (~1tsp?)
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 cup butter melted

Chop carrots, celery and onion with food chopper or in blender/processer with a little water.
Mix veggies, sausage, bread crumbs together. Combine butter, broth, and seasoning. Pour over crumbs and veggiews til moist. You may not need all the liquid--don't make it too soggy. Don't stir too much or it will make a paste. Spray bottom of crock pot with Pam. Put dressing in and cook on low for 4-6 hours stirring occasionally. Can make up to 1 day ahead.



Sweet Potato Puff



I never really liked sweet potatoes until about 10 years ago. This really should be classified as a dessert it is so good.

3 cups cold mashed sweet potatoes (without added milk or butter)
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter melted
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup coconut

Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
2 TBL butter, melted
¼ cup flour

In a mixing bowl, beat sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla until fluffy. Stir in coconut. Spoon into a greased 2 ½ qt. baking dish. Combine topping ingredients until well blended; sprinkle over sweet potatoes. Bake, uncovered, at 350* for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.




Apple Pie In a Brown Bag



My Grandma Burdett found this recipe in the newspaper about 35 years ago. This pie is great because it always turns out perfect and you don't have to roll out the pie crust. It is baked in a brown paper bag...No don't worry it won't burn. mmmmm perfect with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

1 ½ cup flour
1 ½ tsp. sugar
1 tsp salt
½ cup oil
2 Tbl. Cold milk

4-6 cups peeled, sliced apples
½ cup sugar
2 TBl. Flour
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ teaspoons sugar, salt, oil and milk. Pat into pie plate. Do not roll out.

Combine sliced apples, sugar, flour, and spices. Stir together until the apples are coated. Put into pie shell. Sprinkle with topping.

Toppping:

¼ cup flour
¼ cup butter
½ cup sugar

Combine and mix until crumbly like pie crust. Sprinkle on top of pie. Place in a brown paper bag. Seal with staples or paper clips. Place on cookie sheet to bake. Do not peek! Bake at 350˚ for 1 ½ hours. Let cool slightly before attempting to cut.




Rolls


For rolls when we remember, we usually go to Neighborhood Bakery (now at Gardner Village) and get their frozen dough balls. The butterflakes are delicious and the orange butterflake are to die for!! when we don't get rolls from here, I have been making Jen Monson's sunbeam rolls. Here's her recipe (I hope it's ok to share--I think everyone in the ward has it anyway)


3/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cup milk
5 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
6 cups flour (divided) I ususally use about 7
1/2 cup melted butter

Dissolve yeast and 1 1/2 TBL sugar in warm water & set aside. Scald together butter and milk (I put in microwave til really hot and it gets a little skin on the top). Mix together eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, and 3 cups flour together. then add milk/butter, then add yeast. Add 3 more cups of flour (I add another cup usually so it's not so sticky). Let rise until double in size. Divide into 4 pieces. Using a floured surface, roll each piece into a large circle. Brush with melted butter. With pizza cutter, cut like pizza into 16 pieces. Roll up into crescent shapes starting with wide end. place on cookie sheet, brush with butter and let rise again for about 10 minutes. Bake at 375* for 10-12 minutes or until light brown.

This whole process takes about 3 hours--so start early! Rolls are much better if made the same day.




Whew! I'm tired. I'll post more tomorrow.