I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I fully expected to continue posting over the holiday weekend and though I remembered my camera battery charger, I totally forgot the little cord that connects the camera to the computer, so I couldn't download any photos. Alas…
So, I'm behind a few posts, but I'll probably just do a bunch over the next day or two to catch up. I also have some posts from a few weeks (or months) ago I need to work on, and I'm hoping to get those up soon, too.
We pulled up to my parents' house last Thursday close to 1PM, and I was fully prepared to spend the rest of the day in the kitchen with my sister. See, my mom is a nurse and works every other Thanksgiving (same deal with Christmas), so she was working on Thanksgiving till around 4PM. Sissy and I planned to cook our Thanksgiving meal, however, when I got to my parents' house, I was informed that the turkey had been prepared by mom that morning, put in the oven by sis at 12:15PM, and that a couple other dishes had already been pre-pared. Oh, and sis had already baked two pumpkin pies and peeled the potatoes – sweet and yukon gold.
We did find a nice sweet potato casserole recipe online, which we decided to try out, click here for recipe, and I actually got to help make it this time.
I especially liked the recipe because it didn't contain cinnamon, which I'm slightly allergic to. I can eat cinnamon, but I only go for it when I really, really want something with it…like those cinnamon rolls at the mall…mmm…haven't had one of those in awhile, actually, now that I think about it. Anywho, this was the BEST sweet potato casserole I've ever had. It's definitely worth trying, if you're interested.
Mom came home in time to get cozy in some PJs and help wrap up dinner.
We had quite the set-up for our Thanksgiving Dinner: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, two kinds of cranberry sauce, corn…
…and this was our first year trying out the ole Green Bean Casserole. I have to say…I was quite impressed with the taste of the casserole. No wonder people make this every year…it's delicious! The French onions on top really make the dish. We used the recipe on the back of the French Onion can, in case you need a recipe. *Update – Just found the recipe online at Frenchs.com (click here) if you want it now.* For some reason, we had diced red onion in our casserole…not sure if the can had a different recipe than the online one or if mom just added those in for fun. They tasted good either way.
We, also, had some delicious challah bread, thanks to my friend June who baked me a loaf. We also had a couple slices of rye bread my sis brought back from Panera…even though I told mom we didn't need any bread since I was bringing the challah with me. I guess it's good to have options, though.
Even Bails got in on the action. We snuck a wee-little piece of turkey in his dog food. He waited very patiently for Mr. Chic to give him the "ok" to eat it.
As seems to be the trend, we ate way too much food, but enjoyed every bite. I'd like to say we saved room for dessert, but we didn't. I had a slice of pumpkin pie a couple hours after dinner when I was able to fully enjoy it. It was the perfectly sweet ending to another amazing Thanksgiving.
What did you eat for Turkey Day?
We had turkey at my husband's relative's house and it was cozy. I made a dish that is traditional in my family. Candied sweet potatoes. You boil yams until a knife can slide through, then rinse them under cold water and peel off the skin. Slice them either lengthwise or in circles and lay them in a baking dish that is sprayed at the bottom with PAM. Then on top of the yams, you squirt pancake syrup all over (as desired) and then put pats of butter all over. I then sprinkle cinnamon all over the yams as well. Finally you (this is optional) open a can of Coca-Cola and pour that all over the yams because this will help make a "syrupy glaze" in the pan. Bake them at 375 degrees until desired darkness. I like the edges crispy and a little burnt. It sounds like a sickeningly sweet recipe but trust me, it is not and some of the ingredients can be substituted for low fat or sugar free versions.