Leftovers!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family & friends and found something to be thankful for!


XO,
Holly

Turkey Time!

What an AMAZING turkey turn out! This was mine and Jason's very first turkey we both cooked and it was a huge success. It had a really great golden brown crispy skin with the juiciest meat! The flavors from the seasoning went throughout the entire turkey. I HIGHLY recommend slow roasting. Here's what you need below to get started and I'll walk you through the whole process! We used an 11 lb turkey for our group of 7 yesterday.

*First, the night before Thanksgiving, we brinned our turkey. We used a HUGE pot. Place 3 gallons of cold water, 2 cups Kosher salt, 1 cup sugar, 4-5 Thyme sprigs (whole), handful whole peppercorns, several garlic cloves (halved with skin); stir to make sure salt and sugar dissolve. Place turkey in water, cover, and let sit overnight. Do not exceed 12 hours. (We did ours for roughly 9 hours). Doing this will help keep meat moist during cooking, along with another step you will see below. (Don't forget to take the neck and giblets out of the carcass.


Start by preheating your oven to 475 degrees and get the following together:


Roasting Rack













Washed and dice celery and carrots;
Quarter chopped sweet onions;
Placed under turkey rack to mix with drippings!










Room temp. stick of salted butter;
Fresh Thyme & Sage;
Garlic Powder;
Oregano;
Mash together in butter









Separate skin from meat without tearing;
Gently go as far as your hand will fit;
May need to gently slice cartilage with knife to get it started.










Take a big "gob" of butter mixture onto fork and place between the skin and meat. Then take your finger and spread butter underneath by pressing top of skin and "smooshing" the butter towards the neck. Don't worry if you can't get the butter close to neck or all the way down the breast of the bird because during cooking it will melt down throughout the bird. Doing this will also help keep your meat extra moist and not to dry out!








Place your turkey on the roasting rack above the vegetables. Generously sprinkle bird with pepper. (Since we used salted butter instead of unsalted, we didn't put extra salt on the outside). Doing this will help "crisp" up the skin. Once done and your oven is preheated to 475 degrees, place turkey in oven an cook for 20 minutes only. Yep, 20 minutes. This will "seal" the turkey's moisture and you won't have to bast it for the remaining cooking process - no joke.


Take turkey out of oven after 1st 20 mins;
The string you see here is not "trussing" it;
This string came with the turkey and helped with lifting it off the rack onto a plate when it was finished.









See how the very tips of the wings got really brown?
I covered just the tips with a little foil for the remaining cooking time.

While bird is resting, lower oven to 250 degrees.
You want to slow cook your bird so it doesn't cook to fast because this will dry it out.

Your turkey should start looking golden brown like this after the first 20 minutes on high temperature.








When oven is at 250 degrees, put turkey back in and cook for about 3 hours, 40 mins. (for 11 lb) or until breast reads 170 degrees, thighs read 180 degrees and juices run clear. Here's times for other lbs. Regardless of pounds - make sure internal temperate is at these degrees.

10 lbs - 3 hours. 20 mins.
12 lbs - 4 hours
13 lbs - 4 hours 20 mins.
14 lbs - 4 hours 40 mins.
15 lbs - 5 hours
16 lbs - 5 hours 20 mins.
17 lbs - 5 hours 40 mins.
18 lbs - 6 hours
19 lbs - 6 hours 20 mins.
20 lbs - 6 hours 40 mins.

Once complete, lift turkey out of roasting pan and place on platter. (We forgot a big turkey platter at home, so we had to use the biggest plate we could find.) Start carving by taking the legs off first, then starting in the middle of the bird, at the top, slice the breast thin.

Hope you enjoy as much as we enjoyed making this turkey!

~Made by: Holly & Jason

Roasted Veggies

At Thanksgiving, people always seem to have too many starches and not enough veggies...so I made some roasted vegatables to make me feel a little better about not being healthy on this holiday. I thought I had a big enough pan for all of them, but I ended up having to divide them into 2 separate dishes. And when I'm packing everything up in the car yesterday, I noticed I forgot to put my pearl onions in the mix! Oh well. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

1 lb Zuchinni

1 lb Yellow Squash

1 lb Broccoli Florets

1 Red Bell Pepper

3 Shallots

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Make it:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees;

Wash all veggies;

Chop/slice zuchinni, squash, shallots in quarter sizes; place in casserole dish;

Slice red pepper in thin strips, place in casserole dish with broccoli;

Sprinkle salt and pepper over all veggies;

Drizzle EVOO over all veggies and toss;

Bake in oven for 10 minutes;

Remove and toss again;

Bake additional 20 minutes;

Voila!

~Made by: Holly

Potatoes Au Gratin

Jason really wanted to make some type of scalloped/potatoes au gratin this Thanksgiving. They turned out really good. However, he realized he forgot to get some green onions from the store to put into it and garnish it with, but it's included in the recipe below and we think would really add to this dish!

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup gruyère cheese, shredded
4 sprigs of Thyme, off stem, chopped
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp. chives, in mixture, some for garnish
2 lbs. Russet Potatoes, sliced thin
1-1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Make It:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Wash, peel, and slice potatoes thin;

Combine all ingredients in bowl, mix well;

Pour mixture into casserole dish and flatten in dish with spatula;

Sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese on top (also garnish with some green onions)

Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly and potatoes are tender.

Enjoy!
~Made by: Jason

Deviled Eggs

Gotta have some deviled eggs to snack on while you are creating your Thanksgiving feast.
Here's the typical recipe:

Ingredients:
12 eggs, hard boiled
4 Tbsp. Mayo
2 Tsp. Spicy brown mustard
2 Tsp. Sweet pickle relish
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Paprika, for looks

Make It:

1~ Boil dozen eggs in water for 12 minutes; cool in fridge; crack shells, peel, rinse off.
2~ Cut hard boiled eggs in half & separate yolk; turn egg over and yolk will fall out into bowl; place whites onto separate plate; repeat for all eggs.
3~ Add mayo, mustard, relish, salt & pepper to taste to yolk & mash all together until creamy and smooth. You may want to add more mayo, mustard and/or relish per your taste.
4~Spoon in yolk mixture back into whites of egg halves
5~Dust top of eggs with paprika
6~Refrigerate and serve cold.

~Made by: Holly

Candied-Bacon Sweet Potato Souffle

It may not look like much in this photo, but this is truly an amazing and different dish. I am a huge sweet potato fan. I lived out in Arkansas for about 4 1/2 years and 3 of those years, I lived with my grandmother who was also a big sweet potato fan. She made them often with dinner for us and I learned a lot about different ways to cook them. There's the traditional sweet potato casserole topped with marshmellows that most people have at Thanksgiving. However, Jason decided we needed bacon somewhere on the menu. I came across a recipe for a candied-bacon sweet potato casserole, but when it came down to this Thanksgiving week, I could not find the recipe anywhere! So, I have made it up. I'm combining a sweet potato souffle and putting the candied-bacon in it, on top of it, and even in between the souffle and topping itself. I hope you enjoy it and make it too one day because it sure is amazing! The candied-bacon alone is super easy and addicting - so be careful if you want to watch your waist-line! :) The recipe:

Ingredients for the Souffle:

4-5 medium cooked & mashed sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1/2 Tsp. light salt

4 strips of candied-bacon, chopped

4 strips of candied-bacon, whole

Ingredients for Topping:

1 cup Splenda brown sugar

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1/2 stick) cubed at room temperature

1/2 cup self-rise cake flour

4 strips of candied-bacon, chopped

Ingredients for Candied-Bacon:

12 strips of Center Cut Bacon

Splenda Brown Sugar

Make it:

1~ Preheat oven to 400 degrees while you prepare the bacon; (I like to use center cut) and cook the sweet potatoes to prepare them to mash.

Peel and cut in half each sweet potato;

Cover in salted water and bring to a boil until soft; drain and mash;

Place wire rack on cookie sheet; make sure to spray rack well with Buttery Pam Spray

Roll/smear brown splenda sugar on both sides of 12 strips of bacon;

Place strips of bacon on wire rack;

Cook for 8 mins.;

Remove from oven and completely cool;

2~ Keeping oven at 400 degrees; lightly grease 8 inch baking dish;

In a large bowl combine mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, egg, milk, butter, vanilla extract, and salt; once combined, chop 4 strips of candied bacon and put into mixture. Pour into the baking dish;

3~Place 4 whole strips of candied- bacon across top of souffle;

4~In a separate bowl combine all ingredients for the topping and pour over sweet potato souffle and whole strips of candied-bacon in baking dish.

5~ Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Enjoy!

~Created and Made by: Holly

Corn Casserole

I think this is the easiest recipe anyone could ever make for a casserole. If you love corn, then you'll love this tasty, easy recipe for a casserole! So without any further chit-chat, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 (8.5oz) pkg. dry corn bread mix

1 (15oz) can of whole kernel corn, drained

1 (14.75oz) can of cream corn

1 cup of sour cream

Make it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees;

Lightly grease 9x9 inch dish;

Combine all ingredients above;

Bake 45 minutes or till golden brown on top.

See, now wasn't that easy?!

~Made by: Holly

Cranberry Sauce

I LOVE cranberry sauce. It's an obsession almost. I can't live without it at Thanksgiving. I'm big on just buying the sauce that comes out shaped like the can, but this year I'm making it from scratch. I like that this is another dish I can make ahead of time. I'm never been a big fan of the berries in the sauce so I always got the smooth stuff in the can, but WOW! I will NEVER buy the canned stuff again! DE-LIC-OUS! Thanks Fiona for sharing your wisdom! So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Bag of cranberries

3 Cinnamon Sticks

1 large orange

Make it:

In sauce pan, dissolve over medium heat, 1 cup sugar in 1 cup of water;

Bring to boil to make a simple syrup;

Add bag of cranberries;

Cook till they "pop" (about 8-10 minutes);

While it's boiling down squeeze half of fresh orange juices into sauce;

Cut up rest of orange and place whole slices into the sauce along with cinnamon sticks;

Once it's boiled down (additional 5 mins. after cranberries "popped" and look soft, remove from

heat; Remove orange slices and cinnamon sticks with tongs.

Then you can transfer cranberry sauce into your container of choice, cool completely before covering and placing in refrigerator.

The cranberry sauce will gel up in fridge over night - and/or - for a couple of days.

~Made by: Holly

~Recipe from: Fiona Bowden

Swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake

I decided to start with dessert for the Thanksgiving preparation! This cheesecake you can make up to 2 days in advance if you would like. So it's completely ideal that I made it tonight and it to be firming up in the fridge until it's time to indulge tomorrow afternoon! I'm pretty excited about this new dessert. Some people call me crazy because I just don't care for the taste of regular pumpkin pie. At first I thought it was because I just hadn't tried a good one, but after trying them for years now, I just don't like them. HOWEVER, combined in a cheesecake?! Now that sounds like something I could handle! And boy, oh boy am I excited because it taste AMAZING!!! Apparently, I didn't have a 9 inch. pie plate because I had some filling left over, but I made a crust-less cheesecake in a mini meatloaf foil pan!

If the mini version taste as good as the main one I created tonight....I don't even know what to say besides YUM-O. I can not wait to try it with the home-made gingersnap crust. So here we go - recipe time!

Ingredients for crust:

24 Gingersnap Cookies (you can also add 1/2 cup pecans, but I just forgot to get some)

2 Tbsp. sugar

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients for filling:

3/4 cup sugar

2 pkg (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

2 Tbsp. flour

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling), from 15-oz. can

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Make It:

1~ Crust: Heat Oven 350 degrees

If you don't have a food processor, a regular mixer works fine.

Pulse gingersnap cookies (and pecans if you like) until finely ground;

Add sugar;

Add butter and pulse to combine;

Press mixture evenly into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.

*I found if you just pour your crust mixture into your pie plate, shake plate and then push buttery crumbs up around the sides of the pie plate to create thick border of crust around sides, then flatten the rest of the crust to the bottom of the pan is the best way.

Bake crust for 10-12 minutes

2 ~ Filling:

Pulse together sugar and cream cheese until combined;

Scrape down sides and add eggs, milk, flour, and salt; process until smooth;

Save 1/3 cup of filling off to side;

Add pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to rest of the filling until fully incorporated;

Scrape mixture into the baked crust (no need to cool crust);

Spoon the reserved cream cheese mixture over top and use a knife to swirl.

3~ Bake until the center is set but still trembles, 30-35 minutes.

4~ Let cool completely, then refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

~Made by: Holly

Thanksgiving 2010 Has Arrived!

I am VERY excited about Thanksgiving tomorrow. It's one of my favorite holidays that I look forward to participating in some way each year. This year I will be spending it with my husband, Jason, and his family: mom, dad, and brother along with my mom and sister. Jason, his mom, and I are all splitting up cooking duties this year. I just put in my first pie of the night and the cooking continues....so stay tuned for more deliciousness coming your way! I will be taking photos and posting recipes of things Jason and I make this evening before the big day and will take more photos tomorrow. To get your mouth's watering - here's what's on the menu:

Appetizers:
Deviled Eggs
Shrimp Cocktail
Sausage Balls

Main Course & Sides:
Turkey
Giblet Gravy
Dressing
Cranberry Sauce
Ham
Ham Sauce
Baked Beans
Green Bean Casserole
Corn Casserole
Candied-Bacon Sweet Potato Souffle
Potatoes Au Gratin
Roasted Veggies
Potato Cheddar Chive Rolls

Desserts:
Swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake
Lemon Meringue Pie
Pecan Pie
Apple Crisp

Stay tuned!
~Holly