A Thanksgiving Menu

Here in the United States we are approaching one of the biggest holidays in our nation. Honestly though in this day and age I think it is just an excuse to overeat and fight with family but you know what? I'm cool with that. Fighting with family just lets you know how much you love them. How? Because you speak with them again, that's how. :P

I was going to make this post on my other site but frankly I like this one better and enjoy posting to it more, so you just gotta deal! Mwhahahah!!! 

I will start you off with a basic Thanksgiving Menu that is one I remember eating many holidays and provide you with various links if I have them to some good recipes. I will also be providing you with 2 recipes. Well 1 recipe and 1 how to as it were. I reposted my mothers cornbread dressing recipe and since then I have been asked several times for just a cornbread recipe as well as how to cook a turkey. So will cover both those here today. 

Let's get started. First thing is first - The Menu. For me the menu comes from what my Grandmother Jewell would have at her home every year. It was a combination of her recipes and a lot family brought with them. Now this will be a long menu because Jewell always cooked enough for an army and then some. There were many times we had over 20 people in the house as well as her preparing some for my uncles firehouse and taking some down there. So needless to say you will probably not need this much unless you are feeding a military base or just don't want to have to worry about cooking again until 2012. 

The Menu

• Roast Turkey <--recipe below
• Honeybaked Ham
• Cornbread Dressing <-recipe for cornbread part below
• Cranberry Sauce
• Greenbean Casserole <--Up mushroom soup by 1/2 and double crunchy onions. Trust me. 
• Deviled Eggs
• Stuffed Mushrooms
• Dinner Rolls
• Mashed Potatoes
• Scalloped Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Gravy
• Pumpkin Pie
• Chocolate Pie
• Peanut Butter Pie
• Pecan Pie/ Pecan Pie Bars <-- I personally like the bars better. 

I am sure I probably left something out of that menu but hey, the woman cooked a lot! Some of the recipes link to recipes of my own or families, others link to various websites I have used before and trust the recipes of.

Now onto some other things. First thing is first. The Turkey. I mean come on, what is Thanksgiving without that big gobbler on a platter? ^_^ So, gonna tell you real fast how to roast a turkey. It is really very simple.

What you will need:

• Turkey - Duh
• 1 Roasting Pan
• 2-4 of each of the following - Carrots, Celery, Onion - All large rough chop
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper (Black is fine but I use white due to an allergy.)
• 1/2 Cup Butter - Softened (Most will say unsalted, I prefer salted for this. Irish or New Zealand if you can get it.)
• About a quart of Turkey/Chicken Stock if you are planning to want a lot of drippings for gravy.
• Turkey timer/Meat Thermometer
• Foil
• An Oven, lol

Seriously, that is really all you need. 

1. Make sure you defrost your turkey and it is ready to go. 
2. Open the bag it is in and remove the neck and giblets. Toss them if you don't use them, keep them if you do. (I toss, lol) 
3. Preheat the oven to 325F and move your rack to the lowest in your oven.
4. Rinse the turkey inside and out. 
5. Drain out the water and pat it down with some paper towels.
6. Place the turkey breast side up on a rack in your roasting pan. (If you don't have a rack that is okay. Most years I used those cheap foil pans and never had one.)
7. Make sure your legs and wings for the turkey are all tucked. If they aren't and you haven't done this, check some videos on youtube.com 
8. Toss the onions, celery and carrots into the cavity of the turkey. 
9. Rub the outside of the turkey down with the butter
10. Sprinkle the top with the salt and pepper.
11. Pour a couple cups of stock into the bottom of the roasting pan.
12. Stick the turkey in the oven uncovered.
13. Now, here comes the fun part. Depending on how large your turkey is will depend on when you do the following steps. Follow the chart here for UNSTUFFED birds on the following website - Let's Talk Turkey - to get a general idea.
14. Check on the turkey about every 30 minutes to an hour and add more stock if you are using it to the bottom of the pan.
15. Now some will want to baste the turkey, honestly I never have. If you want, do it about every 30-60 minutes. If not, it is okay. At most I will rub down with a cold butter stick from time to time.
16. Once the Turkey is the level of brown you want, cover it with foil. 
17. Cook until your turkey time pops or until your meat thermometer reads 180F when stuck in the thickest part of the thigh and away from the bone. 
18. When it is done remove it from the oven and carefully transfer it to a serving platter.
19. Let it rest at least 30 minutes before carving. This let's it cool enough to handle and helps the turkey stay moist. 
20. Carve, enjoy and get ready to make a lot of left over Turkey Sandwiches over the next week.

See, not hard! Now, only recipe number 2. Cornbread. This is a classic recipe I use each year as a base to my mother Cornbread Dressing, (link above) This recipe is an revised version of one I found online a while ago. Now, the way I am telling you to make it...DO NOT EAT JUST AS IS! It is altered to work with the Cornbread Dressing recipe and does not taste the best on its own!

Egg Cornbread For Cornbread Dressing:

• 2/3 Cups Salted butter Softened
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 6 Eggs
• 1 2/3 Cup Milk
• 2 1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Cornmeal
• 4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Table Salt

1. Preheat your own to 400F
2. Grease a large cast iron skillet. (If you do not have one, use a 13x9 baking dish)
3. In a large bowl cream together your butter and sugar.
4. Add in your eggs and milk.
5. Sift together the rest and then add to the bowl.
6. Mix until smooth.
7. Pour into the skillet.
8. Put into the oven
9. Bake 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes on rack.
11. Remove from pan, rest on rack until fully cool.
12. Use for Cornbread Dressing!

And that is that. I hope this helps you with your Thanksgiving Meal Planning! Now! Go! Give Thanks! Over Eat! Pass out while watching Football! And don't forget, enjoy your family and friends this Thanksgiving.

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Happy Thanksgiving

Well it is that time of the year here in the US. A time for gathering with all your family and friends, cooking for 18 hours straight, yelling at each other till you want to throw the turkey out the window, eating the meal in 12 minutes, blaming your tummy ache on someone else for not stopping you on your 15th helping and them falling into a food induced coma....All in the name of being grateful.

 That's right, it's Thanksgiving! The air is cool and crisp in most of the US. Some of us are still dealing with a summer heat while others are plowing snow to get to their in-laws. Today you will feast on not only Turkey but dressing, stuffing, casseroles and ham. Not to mention all the sweets!

 Oh the sweets, those glorious sweets! It is the time of years when Granny and Auntie pull out their most prized recipes to make. Those treasures of the family that are such a pain in the butt to make they only get made once, maybe twice a year. Everything from cakes to pies to cookies will all contribute to the clogging of many an artery today.

 But let us not forget those that are so far away from now. Soldiers are still holding the front line. Police are still on the beat. Doctors and nurses are still in the hospitals. Not to mention the firefighters and EMT that are on call today to run over to your house because you forgot to thaw the turkey before you deep fried it. Yeah, I'm looking at you.

 So, give thanks today. For your family, all those crazed relatives that contributed to the mess you are today. You know you love them. For your friends, the ones that helped you through all the crazed messes your family drove you to. For our soldiers, police, doctors, nurse, firefights and emt. For healing us and protecting us time and time again.

 Just be thankful because remember, no matter how bad it is, it can get worse and we should all...In every country, every where....Take a moment here and there to give thanks, for all we have had, for all we have and all we will have.

 Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Maple Sugar Cookies:

• 2.5 Cups Unsalted Butter, room temp
• 2 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 2 Large Egg
• 5 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2.5 Teaspoon Maple Extract
• 5 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 3 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder

1. In a bowl sift together the flour and salt. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl combine the butter and sugar on slow speed until just creamed. 
3. Add in the eggs and extracts.
4. Mix until just combined.
5. Fold in the flour mixture until everything comes together. Be careful not to over mix the dough or get too much air into it. You don't want these to rise or lose shape.
6. Take the dough, sprinkle it with the cocoa powder and roll it out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until .75-1 cm thick. I use dowel rods on each side to rest my rolling pin on. This gives me the perfect equal thickness for each cookie. 
7. Place the rolled out dough into your refrigerator for 3 hours. 
8. Remove and cut out shapes. Arrange on cookie sheet 1-2 inches apart. Return to refrigerator for another hour. 
9. Repeat steps 6-8 till all the scraps are used up and chilling.
10. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Make sure oven is to temp before baking.
11. Remove each cookie sheet from the refrigerator 1 at a time and bake for 12 minutes. 
12. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for 2 minutes before placing on wire rack to cool fully.
13. Decorate!
14. Serve and Enjoy!

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Turkey Time

Been a little bit since the last post and sorry about that. It has been one heck of a long week that I personally cannot wait to be over. Thankfully it ends tomorrow evening for this family, lol. I have been working all week on a Star Wars Birthday Cake as well as a little side project for my sons 1st grade class.

They are having their Thanksgiving Feast today instead of the last day of school before holiday due to some scheduling conflicts. Needless to say that threw me off a little since I thought I would have all weekend and half the week to do their treat and could just focus on the cake but hey, things happen. This is an example of why I am the queen of multitasking.

Finished up the treat for the kids last night, have most of the cake done minus the figures. I will be working on those all day today. Got some of of the base done but still gotta long way to go. Thankfully that is pretty much all I have to worry about today.

Anywho, it is still very early and my coffee has yet to kick in. So, enjoy the pictures because it is Turkey Time!

Cookies: Maple Butter Cookie Pops
Icing: Vanilla Royal
Beak: Candy Corn
Body: Rice Krispy Treat with Chocolate Fondant

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Fall is here

With the temperatures dropping quickly around the US, there is one thing that is certain...Fall is here. For some it hit us months ago when the first cold snap hit, for others it is just now settling in. The leaves are falling from the trees and people are having to grab a coat as they run out the door in the mornings. Depending on where you are you might just need that hat and gloves as well, or even need to let the car warm up in the mornings. I know a few of you are having to deal with the snow already, it looks to be a crazy end of year for all those around. More so than normal!

Halloween has come and gone, leaving us with tons of candy to help fuel those days out raking the leaves and preparing for Thanksgiving. It is only a couple weeks away but families and friends are already sending out invites and dividing up who will be cooking what this year. Are you bringing your grandmothers cranberry sauce? Who is taking care of the pumpkin pie! Does anyone know how long to cook a 20lb turkey! And the list goes on and on.

Sadly, for us out here, we are far away from our friends and family this holiday season. The Hubby and I are used to him working on Thanksgiving but then having one heck of a gathering later on for all our friends. We end up cooking for days straight and having everyone over to just stuff their faces.

Honestly, I don't know if we know how to cook for just us, LOL. But we are gonna try! Looks like this year the hubby might actually be off for Thanksgiving! YAY! Though I do wish we had all our friends around us like we have had in the past. Holidays just aren't the same without the crew flopped on our couch eating everything they can and then some......I really miss it.

Anywho, here is the first batch of Fall Cookies! Nothing spectacular or spritacious! But I do love them. They look all warm and inviting. There will be many more cookies to come for fall and Thanksgiving before I start on the ~insert holiday here~ cookies, LOL. (Yes I am still refusing to say that word till Black Friday.)

See you later!

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