Thanksgiving Dinner

At Thanksgiving, I like to serve a similar meal as the previous years. I may change a couple of side dishes but normally our guest knows what to expect. Every year, I look for my Thanksgiving menu and it takes me a while to locate it. I always feel like I'm missing something. So, this year I'm posting it here so next year I will save some time. My favorite Thanksgiving dish is the Sweet Potato Casserole. What is yours?

My Thanksgiving menu:

Roasted Herb Turkey
Apple Cider Gravy
Sausage Stuffing
Stove Top Stuffing (for my sister)
Variety of Rolls: (Brotchen, Seven Cheese Bread, Cloverleaf Rolls, Honey yeast rolls, Butterflake Herb Loaf)
Cranberry sauce
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Bean/ Broccoli/Squash Casserole
Mashed/ Roasted Potatoes
Carrots/Corn
Squash/Turnips/Rutabaga
Beets
Creamed Pearl Onions
Brussel Sprouts/Asparagus
Macaroni and Cheese
Dulce de Leche Rice Pudding 
Pumpkin pie/pumpkin custard/ pumpkin cake
Blueberry/Strawberry/Cherry/ Chocolate Pie
Other desserts: blueberry pie bars

On Thanksgiving, our grocery stores are closed. If I run out of something, well I better make it from scratch, improvise, or order Chinese. So, I figured I would post homemade butter recipe. I will admit I had the children shake,shake, shake, the mason jar. They thought it was cool.

Homemade Herb Butter:
1 cup cold heavy cream
1/4 tsp garlic
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme

Directions:

1. Place the heavy cream in a mason jar.
2. Place the lid on the mason jar and close well.
3. Shake the heavy cream until it comes together.
4. Drain off the excess buttermilk liquid.
5. Gently, run the butter under water. 
6. Mix in the garlic, parsley, salt, and thyme if herb butter is desired.

Recipe adapted from Chef John.

One year ago...........................I made Smothered Pork Chops.
Two years ago.........................I made Cheesy Potato Gratin.

Did you already know..............
-150 years ago, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be a national day of Thanksgiving.
-In 2013, Minnesota raised more turkeys than any other states.
-Wisconsin grew harvested more cranberries than Massachusetts. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Homemade Stove Top Stuffing

My sister loves Stove Top Stuffing. I mean love as in (why can't the stuffing by itself be my meal) love. I would say it is one of her favorite foods. Now, I make homemade stuffing like my Mom did for Thanksgiving. When my sister comes for Thanksgiving, I will make homemade stuffing plus Stove Top Stuffing just for her. Yes, I love her that much. Well, she told me how her mother-in-law makes a homemade version that tastes a lot like Stove Top. I had to give it a try. It is good. My youngest son loved it. The best part about this stuffing is it is made on the stove top. 

Homemade Stove Top Herb Stuffing
6 slices of bread
1/4 cup dried parsley
1 Tbsp onion, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken broth

Directions:

1. Toast the bread and then cube.
2. In a medium bowl, place the toasted bread with the parsley, onion, salt, sage, thyme, and rosemary. Toss gently.
3. In a medium pan, melt the butter in the chicken broth.
4. Once the butter is melted, gently stir the herb bread to the pan.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and cover.
6. Allow the pan to rest for 5 minutes. 
7. Fluff the stuffing with a fork before serving.

Recipe adapted from Gail.

One year ago................................I made Turkey Pot Pie.
Two years ago..............................I made Poultry Seasoning.

Did you already know..................
-In 1972, General Foods introduced Stove Top Stuffing Mix.
-In 1990, General Foods merged with Kraft.
-At Thanksgiving, Kraft sells more than 60 million boxes of Stove Top Stuffing.

Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies

I love Heath Bars. My husband loves Heath Bars. So when I decided to make him some peanut butter cookies, I thought I really should add some Heath Bar bits to the mix. I can't believe I haven't combined Heath Bar with my peanut butter cookies before. I really liked these cookies. My husband loved these cookies. My youngest daughter will not stop asking me to bake more of these cookies. I highly recommend these cookies. 

Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped toffee pieces (I used Heath Bits of Brickle Toffee bits)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter until smooth.
3. Slowly, add the sugar and beat until incorporated.
4. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.
5. Slowly, stir in the flour mixture and the toffee pieces. Mix until incorporated.
6. Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic.
7. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours or overnight.
8. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
10. Form the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. 
11. Place the dough onto the parchment paper spaced 2 inches apart.
12. Lightly flatten the balls before using a fork to form crisscross patterns on top.
13. Bake the cookies for 7 minutes before rotating the baking sheet.
14. Bake the cookies for another 7 to 8 minutes and the cookies are lightly browned.
15. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from myrecipes.com.

One year ago..............................I made Pumpkin Cream Cheese Scones.
Two years ago...........................I made Pancakes.

Did you already know.................
-In 1928, the Heath brothers began to market their their Toffee Bar.
-The Heath brother had obtained a toffee recipe from a Greek confectioner salesman. The brothers adapted the recipe.
-Currently, the Heath bar is a product of Hersey.

Roasted Squash

Squash, squash, squash! What to do with my overabundance of squash? Yes, I should be more adventures with squash but I haven't been. I like it roasted. I have tried to make it pureed but the kids sure didn't like it that way. Maybe they were having flashbacks of their baby food? Maybe they remember squash in their hair and all over their little faces? Maybe they just remember the photos I took of them with squash everywhere and are afraid I'll take more? I would.

Roasted Squash
2 small delicata squash, cut into 1 inch slices
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. On a baking sheet, spread out the squash. 
3. Sprinkle the olive oil, salt, and pepper over the squash.
4. Toss gently to coat the squash.
5. Roast the squash for about 30 minutes or until the squash is cooked to desired tenderness.

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

One year ago..............................I made Green Beans with bacon.
Two years ago............................I made Chocolate PB Whoppie Pies.

Did you already know................
-The skin is edible on the delicata squash.
- The delicata squash taste a lot like sweet potato.
-The delicata squash is also called sweet potato squash and peanut squash.

Crab Cakes

I will admit I have never had crab cakes until now. When crab cakes are competing with mozzarella sticks on a menu, the cheese will always win. Now, I do like seafood. My son loves seafood so when I heard crab cakes were one of my Mother-in-laws favorite food, I had to make them. I was surprised how easy they were to make. I did research several recipes which called for some condiments which I would have never imagined combining with seafood. I wanted my crab cakes to taste like crab so I kept these crab cakes pretty simple. I liked them but my son, well he loved them.

Crab Cakes
1 lb. crab meat
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1 Tbsp fresh Parsley, chopped
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
32 Town House crackers, crushed
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl, combine the crab meat, mayonnaise, seasoning, parsley, egg, and fresh lemon juice. Mix well.
2. Add half of the crushed crackers to the mixture and mix until incorporated.
3. On a plate, evenly spread out the remaining crushed crackers.
4. Form the crab meat mixture into patties.
5. Press the crab meat patties into the crushed crackers. Coat both sides.
6. In a large pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat.
7. Once the oil is hot, carefully add the crab cakes into the pan.
8. Cook the crab cake until golden for about 4 minutes.
9. Carefully, turn the patty over and cook the other side of the crab cake until golden brown.
10. Removed from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate.
11. Serve immediately.

Recipe Jen of Sweet Morris.

Two years ago.........................I made Asparagus with Lemon and Thyme.

Did you already know............
-Crabs have ten legs.
-Crabs can regrow a lost leg.
-Crab's teeth are located in their stomach.