Tag: Thanksgiving

Sweet Potato Casserole

I’m not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, but my daughter loved them when she was a baby, so I looked up something to use them for Thanksgiving. And wow, this is amazing! I guess technically it’s a side dish, but it’s more of a sweet dessert, with all the butter and brown sugar. Grandma Alice had a similar recipe, so I combined a few elements of hers with the one from Food Network.

If you’re making it gluten free, just replace the regular flour with gluten free flour like Bob’s Red Mill.

Make it a meal with:

Sweet Potato Casserole

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Whether side dish or dessert, it’s perfect for fall and Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1 3/4 lb. Sweet Potatoes (about 2-3 large), peeled and cubed (or 2 cans, about 3 c.)

  • 1/4 c. Melted Butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

  • 1/2 c. Brown Sugar

  • 1/2 c. Milk or Evaporated Milk
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla
  • 2 Eggs

Topping

  • 1/4 c. Melted Butter
  • 1/2 c. Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 c. Flour (or 1/2 c. gluten free flour with xanthan gum)
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt
  • 3/4 c. Chopped Pecans

Directions

For the sweet potatoes: Add 1 3/4 pounds peeled and cubed sweet potatoes to a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil , then lower to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are very tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool, then mash.

For the filling: Preheat to 350° and butter a 2-quart baking dish (11×7). Whisk together the butter, mashed sweet potatoes, brown sugar, milk, salt, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

For the topping: Combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, and salt in a medium bowl until moist and the mixture clumps together. Stir in the pecans. Spread the mixture over the top of the sweet potatoes in an even layer. Bake until mostly set in the center and golden on top, 25-30 minutes. Serve hot.


 

Pumpkin Dessert

This recipe comes from my friend Heidi Pitkin who doesn’t like pumpkin pie, but she loves to have this for Thanksgiving dessert. I LOVE the sweet topping with nuts, and it’s amazing when served warm.

I’ll always remember that Thanksgiving with her, when we were serving a mission in Vienna and trying to put together a traditional Thanksgiving for all the missionaries during our few hours off during the week. Haha, the funniest was special ordering a giant turkey that looked like the size of a toddler, wrapped in a big white bag, and seeing it carried through the busy Ubahn (subway).

I haven’t tried making this gluten free yet, but you’ll just want to use yellow cake mix. Hopefully it turns out better than when I tried to make a dump cake with gluten free cake mix–that was terrible.

Pumpkin Dessert

  • Servings: 12?
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


The perfect Thanksgiving dessert for people who don’t want pumpkin pie.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1 large can Pumpkin
  • 1 c. Sugar
  • 1 tsp. Nutmeg
  • 1 ½ tsp. Cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. Ginger
  • ½ tsp. Ground Cloves
  • 1 can Evaporated Milk
  • 3 Eggs
  • ½ tsp. Salt

Topping

  • 1 Yellow Cake Mix (or gluten free cake mix)
  • 1 c. Walnuts, chopped
  • ¾ c. Butter, melted

Directions

Mix together all filling ingredients and pour into a greased oblong cake pan. Then sprinkle cake mix and nuts on top. Pour melted butter over all. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until set. *Most delicious when warm.


 

Aunt Twila’s Pecan Pie

I’m not a snob when it comes to lots of foods. Give me almost any ice cream or milk chocolate, and I’ll probably love it. But after having eaten my great-great Aunt Twila’s pecan pie, almost all other pecan pies pale in comparison. They always seem to be mostly goo with a sparse sprinkling of chopped pecans on the top. Haha, I love me some sweet goo, but I want a nice rich filling with big pecan halves on top. And that’s what this pie is. I love this pie so much that I even made it for my birthday cake one year.

I will say the hardest part of this pie is getting the middle done enough without going overboard. It’s much easier to underbake it than overbake it, though. In all my years of making this pie, I’ve underbaked it a handful of times and only overbaked it once. Just make sure that when you shake the pie, that it only has a slight jiggle and that the filling on top is golden brown (if it’s just yellow, it’s probably not done). Most years it seems that I bake it around 1 hour, but sometimes even up to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

If you’re making this gluten free, all the ingredients for the filling are naturally gluten free. Just make sure to use a gluten free pie crust.

Aunt Twila's Pecan Pie

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Very rich, amazing, and worthy of any Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

  • 1 c. White Karo Syrup
  • ¾ c. Sugar
  • ½ c. melted Butter
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla
  • 1 ½ c. Pecan Halves
  • 1 unbaked deep dish 9″ pie crust (or gluten free pie crust)

Directions

Mix together syrup and sugar. Add melted butter, then mix in eggs and vanilla. Let stand 1 hour. Place ¾ c. pecan halves in bottom of unbaked pie shell. Pour in filling and cover with remaining pecan halves. Bake at 325° for at least 50 minutes or until set. (Generally around an hour.)


Banana Cream Pie

When the summer sun is blazing, a cool cream pie is calling your name. Of course you can use a box of vanilla pudding instead of making it from scratch. But if, like me, you wish you had one more pie for Thanksgiving and realize you’re very limited on ingredients, banana cream pie can shine through. If you have the bananas and either whipping cream or Cool Whip, you probably have the rest of the ingredients already.

I even just like to keep this recipe around if I want to make vanilla pudding or whipped cream and can’t remember the ingredients.

If you’re making this gluten free, all the ingredients for the filling are naturally gluten free. Just make sure to use a gluten free pie crust.

Banana Cream Pie

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Simple, yet creamy and delicious.

Ingredients

Pie

  • Vanilla Pudding (homemade or from large box–preferably cook and serve)
  • 2-3 Bananas
  • Whipped Cream (Cool Whip or homemade)
  • 1 Baked Pie Shell (or gluten free pie crust)

Vanilla Pudding

  • ¾ c. Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
  • ¼ tsp. Salt
  • 2 c. Milk
  • 2 slightly beaten Egg Yolks or 1 well-beaten Egg
  • 2 Tbsp. Butter
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla

Whipped Cream

  • 1 c. Whipping Cream
  • ½ c. Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla

Directions

For pie, prepare vanilla pudding (box or homemade) and chill with plastic wrap covering the surface. In baked pie shell, slice 2 bananas. Cover with pudding. Pipe on whipped cream (spreading with spoon pushes pudding over sides) and top with banana slices (optional).

For homemade vanilla pudding, blend sugar, cornstarch, and salt; add milk. Cook over medium heat till thick and bubbly. Cook/stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir a little hot mixture into yolks; return to hot mixture; cook/stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat; add butter and vanilla. Pour into glass bowl. Place Saran wrap on surface to prevent scum. Cool in fridge. (FYI: For chocolate pudding, increase sugar to 1 c. and add 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares with milk.)

For homemade whipped cream, beat all until cream forms soft peak when whisk is removed. (FYI, you can reduce the sugar if you prefer a little less sweet, but I always do the 1/2 c.)

 


 

Apple Crumb Pie

It isn’t Thanksgiving without apple pie. And for those of us who prefer their pie topped with sweet crumbles instead of dry pie crust, this is the winner. We make this every year the night before Thanksgiving, sometimes even making two pies. Just make sure to test your apples so they’re done to your level of preferred softness. This recipe is adapted from the famous Better Homes and Gardens red checked cookbook. That thing is full of lots of great recipes!

Also, of course apples vary in size. So I like to cut apples one at a time and place them in the pie crust before mixing with anything, just so I can make sure it’ll fit. It seems like a waste of apples if you cut them all only to find that they won’t all fit.

I haven’t made this one gluten free yet, but it should be easy enough to switch out gluten free flour (and make sure you use a gluten free pie crust). Or if you don’t want to bother with a gluten free pie crust, you can always opt to make gluten free apple crisp.

Apple Crumb Pie

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Sweet and perfect for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 c. Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. Flour (or gluten free flour)
  • ¾ tsp. Cinnamon
  • 6 to 8 tart Apples, pared, cored, and sliced (6 cups)
  • 1 9-inch unbaked Pie Crust (or gluten free pie crust)
  • ½ c. Flour (or gluten free flour)
  • ¼ c. Sugar
  • ¼ c. Butter (usually use 6 Tbsp. butter for larger crumbles)

Directions

Combine first three ingredients; stir into apples. Then place in pie crust. Combine remaining flour and sugar; cut in butter till crumbly. Sprinkle the mixture over apples. Bake at 400° for 45-50 minutes or till done. If pie browns too quickly, cover edge with foil.


 

Turkey

Before I went off to college, I wanted to make sure I knew how to do everything for Thanksgiving. Of course a turkey is pretty easy–it may seem intimidating, but mostly you just put it in the oven and cook until you reach the appropriate temperature.

If you’re making this gluten free, of course turkey is naturally gluten free–but be sure either not to stuff it, or just stuff it with a gluten free stuffing. Sometimes turkeys can have sauce mixes or weird basting that might have gluten, but most are just fine–just check the ingredients.

Make it a meal with:

Turkey

  • Servings: varies
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Just cook until the internal temperature barely reaches 165° to keep it juicy.

Ingredients

  • 18-22 lb. Turkey (for Thanksgiving of course)
  • Small skewer for neck flap (if stuffing)
  • Bread heel (if stuffing)
  • Cooking Spray
  • Large disposable roaster pan (if large turkey)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Onion and garlic powder (optional)
  • Celery and Carrots

Directions

For thawing a giant turkey, take it out of the freezer and put it in your fridge about a week before. When it’s thawed, wash turkey and take out innards. Look on bag to see how many pounds and how long to cook–the manufacturers are the experts. For an 18-20 lb. turkey, it often takes about 4 hours to cook.

Use broiler pan with rack for smaller birds or a large disposable pan for Thanksgiving-sized birds. Put foil in bottom of the broiler pan and spray the rack. OR for the large disposable pan, place the pan on a cookie sheet for added stability, then spray the pan and place celery and carrots under the turkey so it won’t stick.

If stuffing: Stuff the neck first–flip the bird on its breast, then hold the neck flap out while you gently spoon in the stuffing. Skewer the neck flap closed, attaching it to the main body. Then flip it on its back to stuff the large cavity. Optional: You can salt and pepper the large cavity before stuffing (or just before baking without stuffing). Gently spoon stuffing into the large cavity, not compacting it too much. Place a piece of bread in to cover the stuffing before putting the legs back in the holders.

If NOT stuffing or if you’ve already stuffed the turkey: Preheat the oven to 325°. Spray with Pam before putting in oven so it won’t dry out. Then lightly sprinkle skin with salt and pepper–and garlic and onion powder if you’re using them. Pull wingtips behind so they won’t burn–like it looks like the turkey is lounging and putting its wings behind its head while sunbathing. Haha. Place turkey breast-side up, then place the pan in the oven. [For small turkey, pour about 2 c. water in bottom of pan so the drippings won’t burn.] Cook 1 hour at 325° before covering. Place a tent of foil loosely around the turkey, not tucked around the turkey. Fold in the middle so the turkey won’t overbrown.

If not brown enough near the end, take off foil at last half hour. To check doneness, breast should be 165° and thigh should be 185°. After removing from oven, cover turkey with foil to keep heat and let turkey sit 15-30 minutes before carving so juices can sink back into meat.

For more gravy juice, in water, simmer neck and gizzard with carrot, celery, onion, bay leaf, 2 bouillon cubes (or 2 tsp. Members Mark Chicken Base) for about an hour. Then strain and use juice for gravy (about 1 qt. + water).


Stuffing

Stuffing is great in general, and when you add sausage, it’s amazing. This recipe is for stuffing a Thanksgiving turkey. We always get the red bag of Pepperidge Farm–the cubes. If that’s not available, we’ve used Mrs. Cubbison’s as a substitute.

If you’re making this gluten free, you’ll want to use a gluten free stuffing mix or try making stuffing rice instead.

Make it a meal with:

Stuffing

  • Servings: 12?
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print


Sausage is the key to an amazing stuffing.

Ingredients

  • Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Cubes (the red bags–2 packages for a big turkey) (or gluten free stuffing mix)
  • 4 c. boiling Water or Chicken Broth
  • 1 lb. Jimmy Dean Sausage
  • ½ c. Butter
  • 1 – 1 ½ c. Celery (small chop)
  • 1 – 1 ½ c. Onion (chop a little finer than for spaghetti)

Directions

Brown the sausage and add cube of butter to melt. Add celery and onion (usually chopped in food processor), and cook a little. Add all this to stuffing cubes, then add boiling water. Stir well but gently, being careful not to mash the stuffing. Make sure not to make too wet because turkey has juice. See turkey recipe for instructions on stuffing the bird. With leftover that won’t fit in turkey, place in microwave dish for later and refrigerate. When ready to heat the stuffing from the smaller dish, add chicken broth or water and microwave for 10 minutes.


Raspberry Pretzel Jell-O

This Jell-O is more like a dessert than a side dish, but we always have it as a sweet side for Thanksgiving or special Sunday dinners. It takes a bit of time to make, but it’s deliciously like a cheesecake. And oddly enough, the best part of it is the buttery pretzel crust.

Usually for Thanksgiving, we make the crust the night before and the rest of it on Thanksgiving morning (so the crust doesn’t get soggy and the Jell-O doesn’t soak down into the filling).

If you’re making this gluten free, make sure to use gluten free pretzels.

Make it a meal with:

Raspberry Pretzel Jell-O

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


A sweet, cheesecakey side for special occasions.

Ingredients

Crust

  • 2 c. crushed Pretzels (or crushed gluten free pretzels)
  • 3 Tbsp. Sugar
  • 3/4 c. melted Butter

Filling

  • 8 oz. Cool Whip
  • 1 c. Sugar (powdered sugar makes less grainy)
  • 8 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature

Top Layer

  • 2 c. boiling Water
  • Large box of Raspberry Jell-O
  • 20 oz. frozen Raspberries

Directions

Crust: Mix all ingredients and press into a 9×13 pan, and bake for 8 minutes at 400°. Allow to cool.

Filling: Whip together all ingredients and gently spread over cooled crust, being careful not to incorporate crumbs into filling.

Top Layer: Pour boiling water into Jell-O powder and whisk until dissolved. Mix in frozen raspberries, then let thicken slightly in fridge (just a few minutes or it will set completely). Pour over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until completely set.


Mashed Potatoes

Jeff is the mashed potato king. Whenever he makes them, they’re so buttery and creamy and amazing. The secret is adding sour cream or cream cheese, in addition to all the regular delicious stuff. If you don’t have sour cream, we generally do two sticks of butter instead of one. The measurements below aren’t precise yet, but we’ll measure more carefully next time we make mashed potatoes. And usually we’re too lazy to peel the potatoes–we just wash the potatoes and then cut them–but frankly it’s nice having the extra texture and fiber from the peels.

Of course this one is naturally gluten free–just make sure that your sour cream hasn’t been contaminated by previously spooning onto flour tortillas or anything else with gluten.

Make it a meal with:

Mashed Potatoes

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print


The secret ingredient is sour cream.

Ingredients

  • 5 lb. bag Potatoes (peeled or not)
  • About 2 tsp. Salt in water
  • 1/2 c. Butter (or 1 c. Butter if not using any sour cream)
  • About ¼ c. Milk (or canned milk)
  • About 1 c. Sour Cream (optional, but delicious)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Peel and cut potatoes into about 1” cubes. Boil in salted water till tender but not mushy (about 15 minutes) OR bring to boil, turn off heat, cover, and let stand 2-3 hours. Drain. Add butter, milk, and sour cream and mash till smooth. For creamiest potatoes, use a hand mixer to mash. Add salt and pepper to taste, and more milk if you want a creamier consistency.

(For gravy, take drippings from pan and combine with about ¼ – ½ c. flour or corn starch and 1 – 2 c. water. Whisk smooth and bring to a boil–add more salt, flour, or water as needed.)


Green Beans & Bacon

We have this every year at Thanksgiving. The house is already full of delicious smells of turkey and hot rolls, then you add the beauty of bacon, and it’s glorious.

There are two ways you can make these beans. The first way is to do everything in the microwave–just put everything in a microwave-safe container with a lid and microwave for 20 minutes. The bacon does turn out floppy this way. We always used to use fresh green beans and then use the microwave method, either frying the bacon beforehand and then microwaving with beans or just putting the bacon in uncooked.

But lately we’ve been doing the stovetop method with frozen green beans. If you’re running low on time or want crispy bacon, you can cook the bacon in a pan on the stove until crispy, then add everything else and heat through. Either way is delicious. It can tend to be greasy, though.

And good news, this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Green Beans & Bacon

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print


Haha, a deliciously unhealthy take on a healthy vegetable.

Ingredients

  • 6 c. fresh Green Beans (about) or 2 pkgs. frozen Green Beans
  • ¼ c. Water
  • 1 pkg. Bacon
  • 1 Onion, chopped
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

For microwave method, wash and trim full-length fresh green beans and place in microwave dish with lid, pouring water in bottom. Cut bacon with scissors and fry on the stove, then pour bacon and onion over beans in microwave-safe dish (or cut up uncooked bacon and place on top of beans with onions); but don’t mix because of water in bottom. Microwave about 20 minutes or until done.

For stovetop method, cut up bacon and fry on the stovetop, drain a little grease, then add onion and green beans to pan (omit water), and cook until it reaches the desired tenderness. You may want to put on a lid and let it steam for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.