thanksgiving.

This was my Thanksgiving growing up - the same delicious meal every year!

Grandma’s thanksgiving Stuffing

Directions:

  • Make broth and let cool completely

  • Melt butter & crisco. Add onions and celery - Sauté until softened but not burned. Let cool.

  • Toast bread to light brown. Tear into bite sized pieces.

  • In mixing bowl add bread + 2 cups of broth. Mix and squish with hands to combine. Add in onions and celery & mix thoroughly.

  • Sprinkle evenly thyme, poultry seasoning, salt & pepper. Mix well.

  • Taste! If it is too dry add more broth until desired consistency (should be moist and sticky but not sopping wet.

If stuffed in turkey - cook until stuffing temp is 160F or

Bake for 25 minutes in 325F oven safe dish.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. White Bread - toasted and cubed

  • 2 cups Chopped Onion

  • 1 cup Chopped Celery

  • 6 tbsp Butter

  • 1 tbsp Crisco

  • 1 tsp Poultry Seasoning

  • 1 tsp Ground Thyme

  • 1 tsp Salt

  • 1 tsp Pepper

  • Broth (4 Cups water, 3 Chicken Bouillon Cubes, 1 Beef Bouillon Cube)

Serves: 12-15 lb Turkey

Notes from Mom: Make 1-2 days in advance

Grandma’s Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

These are made to remind us of Grammy every year. You only need a few bites to get all of your sugar for the day!

Directions:

  • In a heavy dutch oven add sugar, water, butter and cloves. Mix to combine and bring to simmer or low boil.

  • Add potatoes and cook uncovered until done. NEVER cover the potatoes.

  • Turn potatoes once in awhile

Notes:

  • Can cook ahead of time and reheat.

  • Can use more or less potatoes as needed.

  • Make sure the sweet potato or yam is orange inside (not yellow)

Ingredients:

  • 4 Sweet Potatoes (peeled and sliced about 1 inch thick)

  • 1 box of light brown sugar

  • 1 T butter

  • 6 whole cloves

Serves: 8-10

Cook Time: 30-45 min

Thanksgiving Green Beans

Directions:

  • Add green beans to pot - as ad many cans as you need.

  • Make sure to keep 1 inch of liquid from the can in the pot.

  • Once hot - strain them and add to serving platter and top with Thanksgiving gravy.

**Note** Set aside and save all leftover liquid from cans to add to gravy

Ingredients:

  • French Style Canned Green Beans

Cauliflower with white sauce

Directions:

  • Steam cauliflower, until fork tender not mushy

  • Place cauliflower in serving dish and top with white sauce.

White Sauce:

  • Make a traditional roux - Melt butter and then add flour over a low flame. Mix thoroughly and stir continuously until the roux thickens and flour taste is completely gone. Should be a blonde color.

  • Once thickened, begin to add milk gradually - 1 cup at a time. Bring to simmer and continuously stirring until incorporated and sauce is thick.

  • Add 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. white pepper to taste. Add more if desired.

*White sauce can be made in advance and set aside. When heating if it is too thick you can add more milk as needed.

Ingredients:

  • 1 head of cauliflower cut into florets (with stem) cleaned.

    For White Sauce:

    • 4 tbsp. butter

    • 4 tbsp. flour

    • 4 cups whole milk, room temperature

    • White Pepper

    • Salt

  • Makes 4 cups of white sauce for 1 head of cauliflower

    Moms Note: Cut and clean cauliflower day in advance - can even make white sauce in advance. Use non stick pan.

Mashed Potatoes

Directions:

  • Fill pot with water. Peel and rinse potatoes. Chop into 1.5 inch cubes, should all be similar in size for even cooking.

  • Put potatoes in cold water and add salt to water. Bring potatoes to a boil, do not cover. Cook potatoes until fork goes in easily, approx. 20-25 minutes.

  • Completely drain water from pot and leave potatoes in. Put the potatoes back on the burner, medium heat, continuously move potatoes around with fork to dry them out and remove all water.

  • Remove pot from stove. Lightly mash potatoes then add 1/2 cup milk and 2 tbsp. butter - keep mashing. Do not over mash - just remove large lumps. Once mashed to the right consistency continue alternately mixing in small amounts butter and milk with a fork until you reach desired taste and consistency. At the end taste and add a little salt if necessary.

Ingredients:

  • Idaho/Baking Potatoes, medium size - approximately 1 per person always buy 1 or 2 extra.

  • Whole Milk, room temperature

  • Butter, room temperature

  • Salt

thanksgiving Turnips

Directions:

  • Peel turnip skins and cut off end with a chef’s knife. It is waxy and strong skin. Be careful!

  • Cut into uniform size, approx. 2 inch cubes, for even cooking.

  • Place turnips into salted cold water and bring to a boil.

  • Boil turnips until fork tender, approx. 40-50 minutes.

  • Set aside 3 cups of liquid for Gravy! Drain water from pot, keep turnips in pot.

  • Lightly mash to break down turnips a little bit. Start adding room temperature butter little by little and mash in. Start with 2 tbsp butter and 1 tsp. salt.

  • Mash turnips to desired consistency, do not over mash and make mushy. Mash to remove all large lumps.

  • Continue adding butter to taste and mix work fork. When done tase and add more salt if desired.

Ingredients:

  • Turnips, depending on size

  • Butter, room temperature

  • Salt

*Mom’s Note* Can be made in advance and warm up to serve. Use non stick pot when rehearing as they can stick to the bottom. Continuously stir! Do not forget to save the turnip water to add to gravy.

thanksgiving Accompaniments

Serve with:

  • Cranberry Sauce - right from the can! Slice in advance and keep in fridge!

  • Rolls with Butter, let butter come to room temperature before serving

Appetizers - assorted cheese and salami, shrimp cocktail, olives, crackers, dips and spreads.

Desserts: Mom’s Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie with ice cream, Pecan Tart or Pecan Pie

Thanksgiving Turkey

Directions:

Turkey Pre-Preparation:

  • Turkey is not frozen but keep in the coldest part of you refrigerator until prep, place in large aluminum pan in case of leaks. . If it happens to be a frozen turkey you need to let it defrost in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

  • Name the turkey Tom. Take all wrapping off and remove all internal stuffings (in neck and cavity). Save the directions that are inside for cooking time. Wash well with cold water, use hands. Under the wings, in between legs, rinse the cavities. Then stand turkey up in sink and let drain well.

  • Clean turkey the day before Thanksgiving: Put paper towels on the bottom of the aluminum pan. Place turkey in pan breast side up. Dry turkey and inside cavities (both) very well with paper towels. Throw wet paper towels out. With dry paper towels stuff the cavities, place between legs, wings and neck area and cover the whole outside of the turkey. Place plastic wrap over the paper towels, then cover with foil. Put Tom back in the fridge.

Day of Prep:

  • Early Thanksgiving morning remove all paper towels, plastic wrap and aluminum foil and let the turkey sit naked in the fridge for a bit before you get him ready to be cooked.

  • Take turkey out of the fridge for 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to room temperature. Also take the stuffing out at the same time, flatten it and let it get to room temp.

  • Cover large cutting board with aluminum foil where you can place the turkey to prepare him. Place turkey on top of foil. Ensure there are no leftover paper towels in Turkey.

  • Put salt in hand and rub under breast inside cavity. Place 1 bay leaves on each side of the cavity (2 total). Place stuffing inside cavity as much as you can but don’t compact it, (any extra stuffing put in pyrex dish and cook in oven).

  • Clip off extra skin hanging from the neck. Cut a slit on the inside of both legs - stick 1 medium to large bay leave in each area. Place trussing needles through the skin to close cavity, tie it closed in a zigzag direction and close as tight as you can. Take the end of each leg and stick it in the extra skin at bottom of the turkey.

  • Salt the turkey well, it is a large piece of meat. Take crisco lard in hand and run large pieces all over breast, wings, legs, underneath.

  • Truss the rest of the turkey, take one piece under the bottom and tie wings as close and tight as they can be to the cavity. Take another piece of string and go around the thighs and legs and tie as tight as you can in a double knot, have it as tight as you can to the turkey.

Cooking the Turkey:

  • Preheat oven to 425-450F

  • Put turkey in oven, do not cover. Let it cook for 45 min - 1 hour. (check at 45 min)

  • Lower the temperature to 350F.

  • At 1 hour start basting turkey with butter and continue every 20 minutes. Each time you baste I rotate the turkey. Once butter is gone based turkey with drippings in the pan. Once breast and legs are a nice color brown loosely cover with aluminum foil to avoid burning.

  • Cook time according to directions based off of turkey weight. Check temperature with instant thermometer, in deepest part of thigh.

  • When turkey is done, remove from oven and sit on cutting board, loosely covered with foil. Let turkey sit for 1.5- 2 hours before it is carved.

  • Place pan with drippings on the stove make the gravy! Before carving the turkey, remove stuffing (and throw away bay leaves).

Ingredients:

  • Butterball Turkey, Whole Turkey Fresh All Natural

  • Average size for 8 ppl - 17-18 lb. turkey. Usually 1/2 lb. per person.

  • Usually not available any earlier than 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. I usually ask the butcher when they will arrive or place on hold.

  • Trussing needles and cooking twine, to tie up turkey.

  • Bay Leaves

  • Roasting Pan, can be from grocery store (Mom always uses one like this)

  • Salt

  • Cristo, lard

  • Butter, melted - to baste turkey. Usually 1-1.5 sticks

  • Basting brush

Thanksgiving Gravy

Directions:

  • Start with drippings and pan from turkey. Pour off approx. half of the fat level from the drippings (save on side in case you need extra fat).

  • Turn the heat on low under pan. Add heaping tablespoons of flour to the drippings, incorporate and mix in. Add a little of water and keep mixing. Continue to add flour until reached proper consistency - you don’t want it to look greasy, if it does you need a little more flour. Go easy you do not want too much flour or water. The goal is to soak up the fat mostly and get to the consistency of a roux, make sure you ensure the flour taste is gone before moving to next step. If it gets too thick you add a little water. Keep cooking and sometimes let it sit - sometimes stir to give it time to cook. You have now made the base of your gravy.

  • Now, add 1 cup turnip juice and 1 cup of green bean juice. Stir around so that everything gets incorporated. Turn heat to medium-low, you want it to be simmering and warm enough to get thicker. Once it gets thicker - add max 1/2 cup more each of turnip juice and green bean juice, a little at a time. Let it cook and thicken. Add gravy master, 1T to start off with, stir in completely and then add in a tsp at a time to get to your desired color. Taste and add salt if needed.

  • If you have enough gravy - you are done! If not you can add more water a little at a time, you do not want it to get too watery. Then let it cook down and get a bit thicker.

  • Transfer gravy to nonstick pan and clean roasting pan. When reheating before dinner, only if necessary add a little water to loosen it.

Ingredients:

  • All Purpose Flour

  • Water

  • Turnip Juice

  • Green Bean Juice

  • Gravy Master

  • Wooden spoon and whisk

*Mom’s note* - Gravy is always the last thing to put on the table so it is hot!