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Thanksgiving Dinner 2008

Caramel Apple Cider
Turkey and Gravy
Wild Rice Stuffing**
Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes**
Baked Cranberry Relish**
Cranberry Sauce
Broccoli Casserole
Green Bean Casserole**
Dinner Rolls

Thanksgiving Dessert

French Silk Pie**
Easy Refrigerator Pumpkin Pie**

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Dinner Recipes

Notes:

This menu should serve 8-12 adults plus smaller children comfortably. If you have growing teens, big appetites, or more people, I suggest doubling several of the side dishes and cooking a larger turkey. You may wish to add some homemade mashed potatoes as well.
Several of these dishes can be made ahead and refrigerated until time to bake. They are marked with **.
Be absolutely sure to give your turkey enough time in the refrigerator to thaw!! Nothing is worse than finding a frozen turkey on Thanksgiving morning. Allow at least one day of refrigerator thawing for every 4 lbs. of turkey. Source: Butterball.com
The size of the turkey you buy will depend on the number of guests you are having and how many leftovers you want to have. I am including a 12-lb. turkey on the list, but adjust this according to your needs.
If you have a turkey dilemma, call the experts at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line at 1-800-323-4848. Specially trained home economists will be ready and waiting to take America's calls beginning November 1 at 8 a.m. CST.
Next week's menu includes a couple of dishes to use your leftover turkey, so don't feel the need to polish off all of your leftovers.
Don't forget to open and slice your cranberry sauce and put it on the table. It is easy to forget something that takes virtually no preparation.

Caramel Apple Cider

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 cups apple cider
1 cup water

Bring cream and brown sugar to a boil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in cider and water. Raise heat to medium high and heat until cider begins to steam. Divide cider into 8 mugs and top each with 2 tbsp Caramel Whipped Topping (see below for recipe).

Caramel Whipped Topping

1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp brown sugar

In a small chilled bowl, whip the cream with the brown sugar until soft peaks form.

Recipe adapted from Family Fun Magazine

Turkey with Gravy

Below you will find instructions for how to roast a wonderfully moist and flavorful turkey as well as some sites with alternate methods such as smoking or grilling a turkey. You may choose the method that you like the best. I don’t use a 12 lb. turkey; as beautiful as a large roasted turkey is, much of it goes to waste in my house. I use 2 turkey breasts instead of 1 whole turkey because my family prefers white meat.

If a turkey is small enough, it can be cooked in the crockpot which makes the best turkey and frees up your oven for other dishes. If you need to roast it in the oven, use a cooking bag according to the bag instructions. It will keep the meat as very moist. I use the Reynold’s Turkey Size cooking bags.

I am a big fan of McCormick's Turkey Rub. It is not on the shopping list but if you try it, I think you will be pleased. It is available at most US grocery stores. It is flavorful and when combined with slow roasting makes the most succulent turkey you have ever had.

To prepare your thawed turkey, remove the giblets (if any) and rub the skin with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. If you are using Turkey Rub, use ¼ to ¹/3 cup and rub it all over the skin. Following the directions that came with your cooking bag, place the turkey in the bag and cook it at 325ºF according to the following guidelines. Times should be approximately the same for turkeys cooked in the crockpot, but I will warn you that a turkey cooked in the crockpot is not going to make the typical centerpiece turkey. It will be so tender that the meat will fall off of the bone and you will be lucky to get it out of the crockpot in one piece.

You can count on cooking an unstuffed turkey for 15 minutes per pound at 325ºF. Stuffed turkeys take slightly longer; about 18 minutes per pound at the same temperature. You should not stuff a turkey larger than 24 lbs. for safety reasons. The turkey is done when it reaches an all over internal temperature of 165 ºF (revised down from 180 ºF, which some people still prefer as the safest temperature). If you have any questions about safe handling of your turkey you may contact the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at (888) 674-6854 M-F from 10am-4pm EST.

For other options for cooking a turkey, check out these alternative methods:

Smoked turkey

Grilled turkey

Clemson Extension Office's guide to cooking a turkey includes roasting, smoking, microwaving, and deep frying as well as safety considerations.

Gravy preparation

When the turkey is done, transfer the juices from the baking bag or pan to a saucepan through a strainer. In a glass jar (with a tight-fitting lid available) put 1/2 cup warm water and 2 Tbsp. flour. Tighten the lid and shake vigorously until the flour is dissolved. If your turkey came with a gravy packet, you can use that instead of the flour and water. Heat, stirring frequently, until gravy is thickened. If you need to stretch your gravy, add all or part of a can of chicken broth. Pour the gravy through a strainer into a gravy boat to remove any lumps.

Wild Rice Stuffing**

For easier preparation, cook your bacon ahead of time and then chop and saute your onion and celery in 2 tbsp of reserved drippings the day before and refrigerate until needed.

1 box (6 oz.) wild rice
1 cup brown rice (Texmati)
5 1/4 cups water
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp salt
1 lb. bacon
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup green onion, minced
4 cups bread cubes (French bread works great)
2 cups apples, chopped (I used Granny Smith)
2 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small pkg. Craisins (6 oz.)
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp pepper

In a large saucepan, bring rices, water, butter, and salt to a boil over med-high heat. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for about 10 minutes. While rice mixture is simmering, if you haven't already cooked your bacon, celery and onions (see notes above), go ahead and cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and reserve 2 tbsp of drippings. Crumble bacon and set aside. Again, if you haven't already sauteed your celery and onion, do so now in the reserved bacon drippings for 5 minutes or until tender. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine rice, bacon and celery mixture, bread cubes, and remaining ingredients. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until set.

If you wish to stuff your turkey, follow the safety guidelines found in Butterball's Top Turkey FAQs .

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes**

6 medium sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cans (about 9 oz. total) unsweetened pineapple juice
3/4 cup golden raisins, (optional)
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup almonds, sliced

Preheat oven to 350°F. Wash and pierce potatoes and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Let cool. When potatoes have cooled, cut each potato in half, lengthwise and scoop out pulp. In a small bowl, mix potato pulp, pineapple juice, raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon. Place potato mixture back into potato shells. Sprinkle with almonds. Place in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

Baked Cranberry Relish**

8 cups fresh* or frozen cranberries
3 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups orange marmalade
2 cups chopped walnuts, toasted
6 tbsp lemon juice

Combine cranberries and sugar in an ungreased 9x13 inch baking dish and bake, covered, at 350° F for 1 hour. Combine the marmalade, nuts and lemon juice in a large bowl. Stir cranberry mixture into marmalade mixture. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Serve over turkey.

Cranberry Sauce

Broccoli Casserole

1 cup mayo
2 eggs
1 (32 oz.) package frozen chopped broccoli
1 cup cubed Velveeta Cheese
1 onion, finely chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 sleeve ritz cracker, crumbled
2 tbsp butter, melted

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Steam broccoli in 1 tbsp water, covered, in the microwave on high for about 6 minutes, drain well. Combine mayonnaise, eggs, cheese, onion and soup and add this mixture to the drained broccoli. Pour into a lightly greased pan or baking dish. Mix crumbled ritz crackers and butter. Sprinkle moist cracker crumbs on top of broccoli mixture. Bake about 45 minutes.

Green Bean Casserole**

4 cans French cut green beans
1 can of French onions
2 cups of whole milk
2 teaspoons ground pepper (or to your liking)
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

Mix green beans, milk, pepper, soup and 3/4 can of onions. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes stirring frequently. Add the remainder of onions and bake 5 minutes.

Dinner Rolls

Homemade or frozen.

Dessert Recipes

French Silk Pie**

1/2 cup butter/margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 sq Baker's unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1/2 container (about 4.5 oz.) cool whip, thawed
1 baked 9 in. pie shell, cooled

Melt chocolate:

on range - place over very low heat and stir until melted or in microwave - place 1 square in wrapper seam side up, or unwrapped in microwave safe dish. Heat 1-2 minutes to melt. Add 10 seconds for each additional square.

Cream butter; blend in sugar beating until light and fluffy. Stir in cooled chocolate. Add eggs, one at a time, beating at high speed for 5 minutes after each addition. Fold in cool whip. Spoon into pie shell. Chill until firm (about 4 hours) or freeze until firm (about 2 hours). Garnish with additional cool whip if desired. Store in cool place. At high temperatures, chocolate grays in color; cocoa butter has risen to surface - neither flavor nor quality is impaired.

Easy Refrigerator Pumpkin Pie (makes 2)**

2 prepared graham cracker pie crusts
3 cups cold milk
2 pkg (6 serving size) vanilla pudding
12 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
8 oz. pecan halves
5 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 Tbsp. butter

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Add pecan halves and stir until coated. Cool.

In a large bowl, combine milk and dry pudding mixes. Beat 2 minutes. Add pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice and mix until well blended. Gently fold in 1/3 (4 oz.) of the whipped topping. Spread 1/4 of the pumpkin mixture in each pie plate. Sprinkle with 1/4 of pecans. Top each pie with 1/4 of the pumpkin mixture, then spread 1/2 of the remaining whipped topping on each pie. Sprinkle with remaining nuts and refrigerate until ready to serve.

* Indicates that of the options listed, this item is the one on the grocery list.

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for Thanksgiving , 2008 - PDF

Grocery List for Thanksgiving , 2008 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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