Sweet Potato "Casserole"

I don't know if we can really call this a casserole, but that's the name my husband's family uses for this favorite Thanksgiving side dish.  But let's be honest here people, we should really be calling this sweet potato "crumble", or "pie", or "crisp" - you get the idea.  Mashed sweet potatoes are combined with eggs, milk, butter, and sugar and then topped with a delicious crumble topping (you know - brown sugar, pecans, more butter, etc.) and baked until browned and oh-so-sweet-smelling.  Everyone I've ever shared this with has fallen in love.  It's sure to be a hit!  I'll let you decide whether it should be served with the turkey or the pies...

Homemade Chicken Stock

If you roast your own chicken, or even if you buy a rotisserie chicken, making chicken stock is a great way to make that chicken go even further!  Some people make stock using the meat and bones, but I find I can get a great stock from just the carcass.  I just remove most of the meat (without being too fastidious about getting every last piece), and throw it in a pot with some onions, celery, carrots and water, and let it simmer away.  I usually get about 2 quarts of stock, saving me big bucks!  I use the stock for soups, gravy, sauces, cooking quinoa or rice, or anything else I can think up.  It's delicious!

Turkey/Chicken Tetrazzini

This is one I've been meaning to put up for a long time, but now is the perfect time!  This is a great way to use up leftover turkey - if you still have any.  It uses turkey, mushrooms, onions, white bread (all of which you may have leftovers of from making stuffing), turkey or chicken broth (homemade is great!), spaghetti noodles, and a few other things.  It's not exactly low-carb, which may be something you're looking for after feasting all weekend, but it certainly is delicious.  And you can make it any time you have leftover turkey or chicken, any time of the year.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Turkey, pt. 2 - Roast Turkey

Now to roasting the turkey!  There are lots of different methods out there.  Low and slow, basting every 1/2 hour, etc, etc, but this is the one I tried and loved and this is what I'm using this year.  I love that it starts at such a high heat to get the beautiful brown color, then the heat is lowered to finish roasting.

Thanksgiving Turkey, pt. 1 - Brine

Iiiiiiiiittttttttt's Turkey Time!!!  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I always feel silly admitting that.  I mean - it's right up there with Christmas and some days Christmas is my favorite, but I love Thanksgiving.  It's usually spent with good friends or family, delicious food is involved, and there is no stress of buying gifts.  Win-win-win!  We are hosting Thanksgiving this year and I'm very excited.  My little sister and her husband and driving 12 hours to come see us and we feel very privileged and grateful.  Of course it's a little scary to take on the task of making such a big meal, but it's also fun.

Cranberry Orange Sauce

I don't know how, but Thanksgiving is next week.  It really snuck up on me this year, and I completely forgot about some recipes I tried last year but never posted.  Well...here's one of them!  I made cranberry sauce from scratch last year and it was really tasty!  I was amazed at how easy it was.  It can be made a couple days in advance and it tastes great on a leftover turkey sandwich too.  Yum!

Pumpkin Bread

There seem to be two types of pumpkin bread - the very cake-like kind that often contains chocolate chips, and the denser spice-bread-like one with nuts. Both are delicious and I have a hard time deciding which I like better. I guess it depends on my mood. This is pumpkin bread of the denser variety and I think it is delicious! It doesn't have a ton of ingredients - which is great, it makes 2 loaves - so you can take one to a friend, and it seriously takes about 6 minutes to whip together. This would be great to include on holiday goodie plates or to serve at a holiday party or just to make for your long drive to California you have coming up - that would be my reason :). It will be delicious no matter what!

Spinach Gratin

This picture does NOT do this dish justice, but trust me, this is the way you want to eat your spinach. :) My sister Wendy introduced this recipe to our family last year by giving it to another sister of mine. We ate it at Thanksgiving last year and then I made it this year as well. It's always a hit and really dresses up the spinach. I know it seems like there is a lot of cheese and cream/milk, but really, the star of the dish is the spinach. You can't tell from the top (my picture) but once you break into it, it's very green and spinachy. :) Try this at your next dinner party or holiday gathering. Everyone will love it!

Thanksgiving Recap

Success! I don't have much time, but I wanted to get some pictures up from our tasty Thanksgiving. I have several recipes I'm excited to share next year for Thanksgiving and I'm glad they all turned out! We had a wonderful time visiting with family and enjoying the holiday.

Hors d'oeuvres prepared by my mother-in-law:

Thanksgiving

As I mentioned the other day, we are hosting our first Thanksgiving this year! Jeremy and I have always had assignments for Thanksgiving dinner (mashed potatoes, 1-2 pies, etc.) but we've never done it all and never had it at our house, so we're excited! Unfortunately, since this is our first time, I don't have a ton of Thanksgiving recipes to share, but I plan on taking lots of pictures this year so I have plenty to add next year.

Old-fashioned Apple Pie

I realize it has been awhile since I have posted, but we have been so busy lately! Among many other things, we have been busy preparing for our first time hosting Thanksgiving! My in-laws are coming into town and we are super excited (and a little nervous) to take on the big job of preparing the Thanksgiving feast. In planning what pies to make, we decided to nix poor Apple Pie. I felt bad for the pie, so I decided we'd just have to make one before Thanksgiving! So Sunday my sister came up, which gave me an excuse to bake a pie, and we tried Martha Stewart's "Old-fashioned Apple Pie". This is your traditional, double-crust, heaping apple pie and it was delicious! If you've decided to keep on Apple Pie for Thanksgiving, give this one a try!

Pie Crust

If you prefer pie crusts with butter as your fat of choice, this is the recipe for you! Make sure your butter is COLD!

Sweet Cherry Pie

Oh my. Cherry Pie.

I was never a huge fan of cherry pie as a kid because of the yucky canned filling. My life changed on Saturday, however, when I went to the Farmer's Market in Salt Lake and bought four pounds of the most delectable looking cherries you've ever seen. I thought, hmm, maybe I should give a fresh cherry pie a chance. And boy am I glad I did!!! This was so tasty. Thanks to Martha Stewart, everything turned out delicious. If you were like me and wrote off cherry pie because of a can, give it another shot this summer with fresh cherries! You won't regret it.

Herbed Roast Turkey

I am well aware that Thanksgiving was 3 months ago, but I just made this turkey last night and it was amazing. If we ever host Thanksgiving at our house, we will definitely be using this recipe. We brined the turkey over night and then let it air dry in the fridge for hours and then rubbed this amazing herb paste all over and under and in, and then roasted it in the oven. It was SO moist and flavorful with a crisp crust and it really was amazing. Jeremy swears this is the best turkey he's ever tasted, but he's been known to exaggerate, so who knows. :) Either way, it really was delicious. We felt so guilty that we didn't invite anyone over to enjoy it with us, but now we have a lot leftover! Put this one in your file and try it out next Thanksgiving or be crazy like us and try it now! You won't be disappointed.

Great-Grandma Hiatt's Rolls

(Parkerhouse Method)

I was about to write that these are my mom's rolls, but then I remembered that the recipe I have is written in a recipe binder my Grandma gave me (my mom's mom) and in it, it says "My Mother's Rolls". I love these rolls! I also think it's neat that I learned to make them from my mom, and she learned from hers, and so on. I'll be sure to pass these on to my children too. They are fluffy, flavorful, and amazing. I think of the movie "Julie and Julia" when I make and eat these, because I believe what makes them so amazing is an abundance of a certain lovely ingredient: BUTTER. Mmmm. They are buttery and amazing. It may take some time to get the hang of roll-making if you haven't done it before, but it is worth the time and effort. I made these on Christmas Eve at my in-law's and I made them again yesterday, and I'm happy to say that I have now mastered them. I'll try to include lots of tips. By the way, at Christmas I used my mother-in-law's KitchenAid and yesterday I used my Bosch. Both were equally delicious.

Pecan Pie

This pecan pie is a major winner! It is made with real maple syrup instead of corn syrup, but it doesn't taste mapley at all. It just tastes GOOD. Here's the recipe: