Thanksgiving Supper

I am a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving. So, our Thanksgiving supper was not so adventurous. However, I did use several CSA ingredients and had one adventurous dish that turned out great, so I figured you folks would want to read about it.

Thanksgiving Menu:
Turkey
Sausage Apple Sage Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Green Bean Casserole
Caramelized Sweet Potatoes with Collards, Kale, Pecans and Goat Cheese
Deviled Eggs
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie

Before we got to the actual Thanksgiving menu, I decided to make some radish chips to munch on until the full dinner was ready.

If some of you don't know, I am with child and in my last trimester. So, swollen feet and ankles are becoming more of an issue every day. As such, I decided to just order the Turkey. I ordered a 10 pound cooked Turkey from Publix. I picked it up yesterday, and it was cooked, but cold and shrink wrapped. Today, I put it on a roaster and stuck it in the oven for 2 hours to heat it (it came with a bag to keep it in so it stayed moist). Here is what it looked like when we pulled the bag off and took it out of the oven:

Pretty right? And no work. Plus, plenty of juices to set aside for the gravy later. I tasked my husband with learning to carve the turkey. 3 internet videos later, he did a fantastic job:

I will use the leftovers this weekend to make soup and will let y'all know how that goes.

Yesterday, I did all the prep for the sausage apple sage dressing. I cut up two small bunches of scallions from the CSA and 2 large sweet onions. I put them in a saute pan with 1 package of Jimmy Dean sausage. I cooked this mixture until the sausage was cooked through and the onions were soft. Then I turned the heat down. I cut up 3 stalks of celery and 4 granny smith apples, and added them to the pan. I cooked it for another 5 minutes or so. I added a few shakes each of rosemary, thyme, and sage. Meanwhile, I cooked 2 packages of pepperidge farm cornbread dressing according to directions in chicken stock. Then I mixed the stuffing with the sausage/onion/apple/celery mixture well. I put it all in a big non-stick bake pan, covered it, and stuck it in the fridge. Today all I had to do was put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350. When it came out, I cut it into squares and served on a platter. I also had about half of this recipe leftover, so I froze it in 2 separate portions.

This is one of my favorite recipes, and one that makes me look forward to Thanksgiving the most.

The mashed potatoes were straight forward. I peeled the potatoes, boiled them for 25 minutes, then mashed them with salt, butter, and sour cream.

I made the gravy using drippings from the pan when I re-heated the Turkey. I also added some chicken stock and used flour and water at room temperature to thicken it. I had to bring it to a boil and back down 4 times to get the consistency right.

The Green Bean Casserole I make is straight off the back of the French's Fried Onions box. Delicious:

The sweet potato and greens dish was my adventurous one. I originally did not plan to have a sweet potato dish in this Thanksgiving meal. However, when I went to the grocery store, they were on sale for 39 cents. That is just too good not to pass up. So, I caramelized one inch chunks from 3 large sweet potatoes. I washed and cut into one inch strips both the collards and the kale from the CSA bag. I blanched them in salted water for 15 minutes. Then I drained them and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and a little grape seed oil. Then I mixed the greens in with the sweet potato chunks, and mixed in pecans and crumbles of goat cheese.

 Not only was this dish beautiful, but the mix of flavors were delicious. My husband declared that it would have to become part of our Thanksgiving tradition. It is also the only only dish for which he found room for seconds.

I made the deviled eggs yesterday. I can not give you the exact recipe for 2 reasons: 1) it is the only family "secret" recipe I have 2) it is not written down and the portions are by taste.  I will tell you I devil the eggs with mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, sugar, lemon juice or vinegar, and occasionally one other mystery ingredient.

I made both of the pies yesterday. The pumpkin pie recipe is from the back of the Libby's pumpkin can.

I am not sure why it cracked. It still tasted perfect.

The pecan pie is from the back of the Karo bottle. Also perfection, no need to fix what aint broken.

I could not decide which to eat first, so I fixed a plate with a slice of each. I also made the whipped cream with heavy whipping cream, a splash of vanilla, and a little sugar. Making your own whipped cream is SO worth it, it only takes a minute.

Here are a few more shots of our beautiful and delicious Thanksgiving Supper:

This weekend I will post about what I do with some of these leftovers and the rest of this week's CSA ingredients!