Thanksgiving Recipes
They say that as you get older you develop more of a sweet tooth. If my parents are any test of this theory, I would have to say, yes this does indeed seem to be true. When my siblings and...
Every year for the past 6 or 7 years, my father has served this apple cranberry pie at some point over Thanksgiving weekend. He found the recipe years ago in Bon Appétit magazine (Oct, 1998). This year we've modified the...
One of the best things about Thanksgiving season is the availability of fresh or fresh frozen cranberries. We buy bags of them this time of year and freeze them so we can cook with cranberries all year long. Typically grocers...
I never used to like brussels sprouts, until one day I had them when they weren't over-cooked. Still just a little bit crunchy, they had a wonderfully nutty flavor. Who knew brussels sprouts could taste so good? Now I love...
Have you started your holiday meal planning yet? If you have, bravo! If you haven't, don't despair, neither have we. Typically that happens about two days before the event. But if I have anything to do with it this year...
There are two approaches to holiday cooking - fancy and complicated, and simple and easy. (Guess which camp we're in?) Here is a colorful, simple harvest bake, with chopped butternut squash, tart apples, and cranberries. The hardest part is cutting...
If you have only one oven in your kitchen, any Thanksgiving side dishes you prepare generally need to be made on the stovetop, as the turkey is taking central stage in the oven. Here is a simple butternut squash side...
Even though it's 90 degrees here in Sacramento in mid October (are we having weird weather this year or what?) the pumpkins and butternut squash are out in numbers at the market. One of the things I love about winter...
Here is a delicious autumn nut tart that you can make with practically any mixture of nuts. Just make sure you get the freshest nuts possible - from your local farmers market, or from the bins at stores with high...
If you are looking for a special pie for the holidays, this is it - a light pumpkin pie with beaten egg whites folded into the pumpkin custard, spiked with rum, set in a gingersnap cookie crust, and covered with...
The weather has finally decided to cool down around here and the first acorn squash have appeared at our local farmers market. Acorn squash are wonderfully easy to prepare - just cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, add...
Every fall we await the arrival of fresh cranberries in the grocery aisles. "Have you seen them yet?" "Are they in?" We compare notes for cranberry sightings at the local stores. When the cranberries do finally come in, we load...
This is a great cranberry relish for all turkey dishes and turkey sandwiches, and a tasty alternative to a more traditional cranberry sauce. The relish consists of raw cranberries, apples, and an orange, all put through a grinder with sugar...
My father loves cranberry sauce. I think he enjoys turkey during the holiday season just as an excuse to eat more cranberry sauce. He stocks up on fresh cranberries when they are in season in the fall, and freezes them...
Looking for a special soup to serve over the Thanksgiving holiday? Consider this creamy sweet potato soup seasoned with nutmeg and maple syrup. We found this recipe in an old issue of Bon Appetit and made it this weekend. I...
My love affair with giblets started probably around age 5. That's when my mom would cook the gizzard with her chicken soup, and then fish it out just for me. It was so chewy and good. I loved it. I...
Green beans are the labradors of the vegetable world, they just seem to get along with everyone. Which is why you will usually find some incarnation of green beans on a holiday dinner menu. This simple preparation of green beans...
It doesn't take much to dress up green beans for a holiday meal. In this recipe the beans first blanched and then sautéed with pancetta and shallots, with some salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning. You can use...
A Narragansett Turkey Photo copyright American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Republished by permission. Photo by Frank Reese, Jr. The turkeys my parents remember eating when they were young were a lot different that the turkeys we now eat for Thanksgiving. Over...
We almost always have puréed sweet potatoes or garnet yams with our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Usually we just bake them, scrape out the insides and mash them with a little butter and brown sugar. My father found a wonderful...
My first encounter with Indian Pudding was over 20 years ago at Durgin Park, a landmark restaurant in Faneuil Hall, Boston, famous for its home-style Yankee cooking and, at the time, its cranky, octogenarian waitresses. Few desserts look so completely...
Have you started your holiday meal planning yet? We are just now getting around to it. If you like glazed carrots, here's a way to dress them up for a feast. Sauté the carrot rounds in butter, and then cook...
Updated, from the recipe archive. Originally posted in 2005. A typical holiday feast around here is a rather colorful affair. Lots of browns, yellows, reds, and greens. And then there is orange. I can't remember a Thanksgiving without a vibrant...
Guest author Garrett and I made these mashed potatoes the other day. So good! ~Elise The story of my first Thanksgiving away from home is one I tell with pride. Sure, we all have epic disasters in the kitchen and...
From the recipe archive, originally posted November, 2003. Turkey ready to go in the oven My mom's turkey is unlike others. The breast meat isn't dried out, requiring cupfuls of gravy to taste good, but moist and flavorful. I've been...
From the recipe archive. Happy Thanksgiving! ~Elise Every Thanksgiving my mother takes what's left of the turkey carcass and makes a delicious turkey soup that we enjoy for days. The first step is to make the stock, which you can...
This is my grandmother's recipe, which my mother has been using to make our Thanksgiving turkey stuffing for more than 40 years. I've never tasted any turkey stuffing that has come close to as good as mom's. Although years ago...
It's that time of year again, apple season. Our trees are practically raining Granny Smiths. In anticipation of a long apple season we have begun to experiment with apple pies; this recipe is our current favorite. What makes it special...
Recipe updated March 3, 2011 With cheese, onions, and potatoes, how can one go wrong? Unless of course you are on a diet, in which case you should probably stay away from this one. This recipe is easy to make...
Every year, for as long as I can remember, my parents have prepared a huge (18-20 pound or more) turkey for our family on Thanksgiving Day. And every year, without fail, my mother or father prepares open-faced sandwiches with leftover...
Most pecan pie recipes I've found call for 2 cups of sugar - one cup of corn syrup plus one cup of either granulated or brown sugar - which results in pies so sweet they can give you a sugar...
There has been much written on the best way to make mashed potatoes - how long you cook them, with peel or without, reserving some of the cooking liquid, etc. etc. I have discovered that the real trick to creamy...
Reposted from the recipe archive, because it's that time of year again and it was so good the first time round! ~Elise This is one righteous pumpkin cheesecake. (Hmm, now that I think about it, what does that mean? I...
This has to be one of the easiest ways to prepare roasted carrots. The method of preparation comes from my friend Suzanne. She uses the "Nantes" French carrots from Trader Joe's or the bunched baby carrots at Whole Foods, but...
Recently I had the pleasure of attending a fabulous class, taught by and in the home of local cooking maestra Evie Lieb. In the class we covered many dishes, but my favorite was the Roasted Parsnips with Horseradish-Herb Butter. I...
There are many ways to make delicious scalloped potatoes. For this version, I consulted several books - Kitchen Sense, two James Beards, and the Joy of Cooking. Basically you layer thinly sliced potatoes with any number of extras - cheese...
Here is a delightful spin on a fall favorite - cranberry sauce. The cranberries are cooked in Pinot Noir and spiced with curry, ginger, fennel seeds, and other spices. Simple Recipes reader John Klem passed this Epicurious recipe on to...
My father reminded me the other day that Thanksgiving turkey doesn't have to be a whole bird. If your gathering is only few people, and you don't want to have several weeks of turkey leftovers, there's no need to roast...
From the recipe archive, first posted 2006. Enjoy! ~Elise My friend Suzanne performed an experiment with her family and me. She baked two pumpkin pies, one using the purée and recipe from a can, the other using purée she made...
I've had so many friends rave about sweet potato pie that when I found a recipe for one in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine I just had to try it. Given that I completely botched the first pie crust (forgot...
"How many pies should we bake, dad? There are only 5 of us for dinner." "Two." "Two?" "Two. Because there is nothing better on God's green earth than apple pie for breakfast." "Ah yes, of course." We are making...
Thanksgiving is coming upon us. In the last month I've actually twice bought and cooked a whole turkey just to make sure we had the instructions right and some decent photos for my mom's Roast Turkey recipe. (Her method...
In preparation for Thanksgiving, and in anticipation of turkey leftovers, we've been experimenting with various turkey dishes that use cooked turkey. This recipe is an easy one for turkey chili using turkey leftovers. (My mom makes great chili beans if...
Looking for ways to prepare all that leftover turkey from the big day? Here are a few ideas from this site, as well as from other food blogs. Enjoy! Turkey Leftovers Ideas from Simple Recipes Turkey Chili Turkey Soup...
What to do with all those turkey leftovers? We decided to make turkey stroganoff with some of ours. Stroganoff is a classic Russian dish, popularized in America after World War II, which typically has beef and mushrooms served in a...
Tetrazzini is an American pasta dish that includes a cream sauce, mushrooms, and either chicken, turkey, or seafood. It is thought to have been invented in San Francisco and named after the famous opera singer of the early 1900s, Luisa...
I'm guessing that you are either a turnip lover or not. Turnips aren't one of those happy-go-lucky neutral vegetables, like green beans for example, that seem to get along with everyone. No, turnips have a bit more "I dare you...
Where my parents live in Sacramento, their house is surrounded by huge walnut trees. The housing development is in what was formerly a commercial walnut orchard. When I was younger, the trees blanketed the neighborhood with shade in the blazing...
If you love wild rice, check out this wonderful turkey dressing recipe from Hank Shaw. So good! ~Elise I've always been a fan of wild rice, and yes, I know it's not actually a rice, nor, for the most part...
