American Thanksgiving is upon us. Anybody willing to swap recipes and traditions (no matter when or where you celebrate)?
Thanksgiving Dinner at Our House
Roast Turkey
Cornbread Stuffing
Gravy
Green Bean Casserole
Honey Baked Squash
Mrs. Yeaman's Refrigerator Rolls
Cranberry Jelly
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
I don't have a special recipe for roasting my turkey, nor for my gravy. For the turkey though, I have the best results with a roasting bag. Also, my cranberry jelly is commercial canned (though I did find organic). Hopefully that will change, because I'm going to be planting two American cranberry bushes this fall. Here are the recipes that are special to me however:
Cornbread Stuffing
I grew up in the North, where bread stuffing is the norm. It didn't take too many Thanksgivings in the South however, to quickly become a cornbread stuffing convert.
1, 8" pan of your favorite cornbread (skillet preferred, can make ahead)
3/4 cup onion, minced
1 & 1/2 cup celery with leaves, chopped
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 tsp dried sage leaves, crushed
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
cooked giblets & their cooking water
Break cornbread into fine crumbs & place in large mixing bowl. In frying pan, melt butter and saute onion & celery. Stir onions, celery, and seasonings into cornbread crumbs, mix well. In a blender, liquefy the cooked giblets and about 2 cups or so of their cooking water (this is to disguise them from the fussiest eaters). Stir in enough of this liquid to make a sticky paste. This makes a moist, tasty, stuffing. Save leftover liquid for gravy or soup. Stuff turkey and cook according to directions.
Green Bean Casserole
This is a classic recipe, with personal modifications noted.
1 quart home canned green beans (may substitute frozen or 2, 15 oz. cans)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I like Annie's Organic semi-condensed)
1/2 can milk (I often substitute unsweetened almond milk)
1 & 1/3 cup crispy canned onion rings (organic, non-trans fat preferred)
salt & pepper to taste
Mix soup, milk and pepper in a casserole dish (I use a 2 quart round). Stir in beans and 2/3 cup of the onions. Bake about 25 minutes or so, at 350 degrees F. Top with the remaining 2/3 cup fried onions and bake another 5 minutes or until the onions are toasted.
Honey Baked Squash
I'm going to be trying this with my buttercup squash this year.
Halve winter squash of choice. Scoop out seeds. Put a huge blop of butter in the hollow. Fill with honey. Place squash in baking dish with about a half inch of water in bottom. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg if desired. Cover with foil. Bake at 400F for about 30 mins. One squash = 2 servings
Mrs. Yeaman's Refrigerator Rolls
We always ate Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents' house. This is the recipe my Gramma Wilson used for holidays, and I have no clue as to who Mrs. Yeaman was. This is a plan ahead recipe, as you will need one cup of leftover mashed potatoes. It's good for a company meal because the dough is also made ahead, and rises in the refrigerator. It makes the best ever rolls.
1 yeast cake (or 1 packet yeast, or 2 tsp dry bulk yeast)
1/2 cup warm water
2/3 cup shortening (best with organic palm)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup mashed potatoes (from fresh makes the tastiest rolls)
1 cup scalded* milk
2 eggs, well beaten
flour to make stiff dough (I use unbleached all-purpose)
*
A note about the milk. This is a very old recipe and probably used raw milk. Heated would do if pasteurized milk is used. It needs to be warm enough to soften &/or melt the shortening.
Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water; set aside. To scaled milk add shortening, salt, sugar and mashed potatoes. When cool, add yeast mixture. Mix thoroughly and add eggs. Stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto floured board and knead well. Put into bowl large enough to allow for rising. Cover with damp cloth, put a tight lid on the bowl, and refrigerate. When ready to use, shape and let rise till double in bulk. Bake at 425 F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Pumpkin Pie
I'll have to refer you to another post,
here. I use my recipe for
Sweet Potato Honey Pie, substituting my homegrown pumpkin for the sweet potatoes. Serve with organic whipped cream.
Apple Pie
This one too, is on another post,
here.
Thanksgiving Traditions at Our House
Traditional foods, of course. :)
At our house this is a sit-down, family style, no TV, no football (gasp) meal. We use good dishes, serving dishes, cloth table cloth, candles, centerpiece, and even bread and butter plates. I think these are part of what make a meal special.
When the kids were little, I would tape a huge sheet of drawing paper to the refrigerator door, around the first of November. All month long, everyone would write or draw things they were thankful for. Guests were encouraged to participate too. By Thanksgiving, we had quite a work of art, and we were reminded to be thankful everyday, rather than just one.
This one from my childhood. My grandmother's family was from Cape Cod. One tradition I remember as a wee girl (this was both Thanksgiving and Christmas), was that of serving orange sherbet in special crystal cups at the beginning of dinner. My mother told me it was to
cleanse the pallet, which was over my head at the time. This formal dinner tradition is long lost in this country. To a little girl, it was
very special and I liked it because it meant two "desserts".
Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Holiday Season at our house. It is followed by DD's birthday (which falls on Thanksgiving day on occasion), Advent, Christmas, DS's birthday, and ends with New Year's. Since we don't have a TV service, we can't participate in the traditional New Year's Day parade and football games. Instead, we pop in a tape of the 1995
Mummer's Parade (DH is from South Jersey) and watch football movies. Not the same as the real things, but it's the tradition at our house.
That's it for our Thanksgiving (and more) traditions and recipes. I'd love to hear about yours.
Thanksgiving At Our House © November 2010 by
Leigh at
http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/