Our Thanksgiving Menu

Wow did November pass right by!! I can't believe Thanksgiving is done and Christmas is almost here.  Thankfully I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done!

I've looked back at the last month and realized that I didn't get much out on the blog.  Craziness was happening around here with a birthday and a holiday and just the busy-ness of the season. I do still want to get some yummy fall recipes out so that maybe you will still be able to use them.
I want to share for this weeks recipe what we had for Thanksgiving dinner.  This year we were blessed with a 40 lb Turkey from my father-in-law who raises turkeys on his farm in Central New York state.  It was more than we could handle, so we only did a portion: 1 breast.

Our menu:

• 8.5 lb Lemon herb Turkey Breast
• Green Bean Casserole
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Stuffing
• Homemade Cranberry sauce
• Homemade Pumpkin Pie
• Homemade Sweet Potato Pie

Sorry I didn't have one with the pies.

Lemon Herb Turkey Breast

As I said above, we had only a turkey breast.  It was different, I'm sure, than the ones you get at the store.  We left a lot of the skin and what not on so that it wouldn't get dried out.

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I use my garlic press)
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp each dried sage and marjoram
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 bone-in skin-on whole turkey breast (5 to 5.5 lbs) thawed if frozen

1. Heat oven to 325 deg.  Spray baking pan and 16x12 sheet of foil with cooking spray (we just used the lid to our roasting pan).
2. Grate peel from lemon. Cut lemon into wedges; set aside.
3. In a small bowl mix lemon peel, garlic, parsley, salt, sage, marjoram, pepper and oil.
4. Loosen skin covering turkey breast and gently pull away from breast meat, leaving skin attached at neck.
5. Rub herb mixture evenly over turkey breast meat. Replace skin over breast, tucking under bottom of breast.
6. Place turkey, skin side up, in pan.  Place lemon wedges in neck opening.
7. Cover pan.  Roast 1.5 hrs. (we cooked for a total of 3.5 hours because our breast was larger)
8. Uncover pan.  Roast uncovered another hour or until meat thermometer reads 170 deg F.
9. Let stand 5 min. for easier carving. Remove and discard lemon from neck opening before cutting turkey into slices.

Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 cans cut green beans, drained (I use home canned)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup Milk
• dash of pepper
• Fried Onions

1. Combine everything in a baking dish.  Use only about 1/2 cup of Fried Onions when mixing everything together.
2. Bake uncovered at 350 deg for 25 minutes.
3. Sprinkle with fried onions and bake another 5 minutes.
That's it!!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 Large sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs)
• 2.5 cups granulated sugar
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) butter, softened
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and grate coarsely to yield 6 cups (I used my food processor).
3. Combine granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set at high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Combine sweet potatoes, buttermilk, milk, pecans, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well.  Add butter mixture to sweet potato mixture and mix well.
5. Pour sweet potato mixture into prepared baking dish.  Bake for 1.5 hours. Serve immediately.

Stuffing

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 2 medium stalks celery (1 cup)
• 8 cups dry bread cubes (about 11 slices bread)
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 Tbsp each of poultry seasoning and dried sage
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• about 1/2-3/4 cup chicken broth or water

1. In skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender.
2. In large bowl, mix bread, parsley, seasonings, salt and pepper.  Add broth and butter-onion-celery mixture, stirring until desired moistness.
3. Bake in baking dish for 35-40 min at 350 deg F or until heated through.

Homemade Cherry-Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries
• 1/3 cup dried cherries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp orange marmalade

1. In saucepan, mix first 4 ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered 10-12 min, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have popped open.
2. Stir in marmalade.  Cool 1 hr.
3. Spoon sauce into serving dish. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• Pie pastry (I used Pillsbury Pie crust)
• 2 cups cooked, pureed pumpkin
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp each ground nutmeg and ground cloves
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1.5 cups half and half
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 deg F.  Place pie pastry in pie dish. Trim pastry around outer edge of pie dish. Flute edges (if you don't know how to flute, look at my apple hand pies recipe).
2. Combine pumpkin and brown sugar in large bowl; mix until well blended.
3. Stir in the cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves.  Stir in eggs until blended.
4. Gradually stir in half-and-half and vanilla extract, mixing until well combined.  Mixture will be very thin, but don't worry it will set once baked.
5. Pour pumpkin mixture into pie shell.  Bake until knife inserted near center comes out clean, about 45-50 min; let cool.

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 can evaporated milk
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 9" pie shell

Topping:

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/5 cups pecans, chopped

Steps for Topping:
1. Melt butter.
2. Add brown sugar and pecans.
3. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Cool.

Steps for Filling:
1.Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
2. Peel sweet potatoes, cut up and boil until soft. Drain and mash potatoes. Add butter and sugar while hot.
3. Slightly beat eggs. Mix with evaporated milk.
4. Combine with potatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
5. Pour into pie shell. Sprinkle topping over pie.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
VERY RICH!!

I hope this post gives you some ideas for dinners this season or helps fill in holes you might have or maybe you just want to try some of it!! Everything was absolutely delicious and I hope you enjoy the recipes as much as my family does.

Happy Cooking!!

Amanda