Simple Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
Onions and Breadcrumbs Top a Green Bean Casserole
The green bean casserole seems to make nearly every Thanksgiving dinner menu I’ve ever seen, except perhaps the one my mom makes. She makes her green beans in a bacon and vinegar sauce and to this day I am not certain how to make it like that. But I can do the more generally-familiar green bean casserole, and it tastes great even without canned French fried onions. This recipe makes enough to fill a 9 x 13 casserole, Read more »
Pumpkin Pie and Easy Variations
Pumpkin Pie in a Tart-Type Crust
Face it–pies are not that hard, but they have a way of going all wrong when you are under stress or distracted or the ingredients for the filling are unpredictable, such as peaches and other fruit being too juicy or going too soft before the crust is done baking.
Pumpkin pie filling, however, is pretty reliable, especially if you start with regular canned pumpkin and don’t try to get fancy with it. It’s easier than pudding. Here’s the recipe that never fails for homemade pumpkin pie filling: Read more »
The Easiest Cranberry Sauce Ever
Beautiful Cranberries
Here’s a simple, easy, cranberry sauce that’s not only good on Turkey Day, but keeps for a couple of weeks in the fridge, so you can enjoy the leftovers on waffles, or on toast or bagels with cream cheese. I’ve been making it this way for 25 years and Mom still counts on me to bring it along for our family Thanksgivings.
Ingredients:
- 2 12-oz bags of fresh whole cranberries
- 1 cup honey, more or less to taste
Roasting a Frozen Turkey and Homemade Dressing
The Goal is Within Reach
Roasting a turkey is like roasting anything else: simple. The key is allowing enough time for it to roast to the proper done temperature, which is 165F in the breast meat and 180F in the thigh meat. The best turkey is a fresh one grown in healthy conditions and not pumped up with whaddever. Where I live they are expensive and somewhat scarce–an 11 pound frozen turkey (pumped up with whaddever) was $5.50, but the fresh Amish one was $30, which is a deal breaker for most of us.
A frozen turkey presents the problem of thawing a giant chunk of poultry without contaminating the fridge or the kitchen with raw juices. The larger the bird, the longer the thawing time, and the more difficult it is to maneuver in a safe and sanitary manner. So it’s not the roasting of a turkey that’s complicated–it’s the thawing.
Solution: roast your turkey while it is frozen. Read more »
Thanksgiving Dinner Shopping and Ingredient List
A-Well-a Brrrrd Brrrrd Brrrrd, Well the Brrrrd is the Word
Here’s what you need to have on hand to make everything on the menu in my previous post, A Simple One-Day Thanksgiving Dinner Timeline. Everything can be purchased well ahead of time, even this weekend if it suits you, providing the fresh ingredients are stored with a bit of care. To recap, here’s the menu, which serves 6-8 people:
- Roast turkey
- Homemade dressing
- Cranberry sauce
- Baked sweet potatoes
- Green bean casserole
- Cornbread or brown and serve rolls
- Pickle and raw veggie tray
- Pumpkin pie
- Apple crisp
The menu is easily adjusted. For instance, if you know there are guests who cannot abide sweet potatoes, bake some regular potatoes as well. The green bean casserole recipe makes a big 9 x 13 dish–cut the recipe in half if there are folks who would greatly prefer a plain veggie like steamed Brussels sprouts or green peas. Read more »
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