Thanksgiving Recipes!

I know I just posted a whole long deal about the Mind-Body-Spirit challenge I'm doing.
I know that I also promised I'd post my Thanksgiving Recipes.
I know that my recipes contain huge amounts of butter, sugar, and cream.
I know that those ingredients are not in line with my challenge.

Please don't judge me.

Because I also know that once you try these recipes (which do not have pictures, so sorry!) your life will change and your Thanksgiving and/or Christmas dinners will never be the same.

Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Casserole 

(a.k.a. sugar, butter, and pecans with a little bit of sweet potatoes)

3 c. cooked sweet potatoes, mashed

1/2 cube, or 1/4 cup, melted butter (it's okay to add extra, promise)

2 eggs

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir and mash until mostly smooth with a few bumps. Unless you like baby food and then you can puree in a blender.

Add:

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. sugar

Mix again. Or be like me and add everything before mixing it. Pour into a greased, glass casserole dish.

Topping:

1/2 stick, or 1/4 c. melted butter

1/3 c. flour

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. chopped pecans

Sprinkle the topping on the potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

Cranberry Salad 

(a.k.a. sugar, marshmallows, and cream, with a little fruit, salad)

1, 12-16 oz. bag of cranberries, washed and chopped (food processor)

2 c. grated apples (peeled or unpeeled)

1, 20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

1 pkg. small marshmallows

1 c. sugar

2 c. heavy cream, divided in half and whipped.

Let cranberries sit in the sugar in a big mixing bowl until super juicy. Add all the ingredients except the cream. Whip 1 cup of cream. Fold in. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Just before serving whip the 2nd cup of cream and gently fold in. 

p.s. I won't tell you how many grams of fat is in 1 tbl of cream. :-)

Dinner Rolls

1 1/2 c. very hot tap water

1/2 c. sugar

2 T. yeast (quick-rise)

4 c. flour + 1 3/4 c. flour

3 eggs

1 T salt (yes, tablespoon)

1/2 c. butter, softened

Stir all dry ingredients together until well mixed. Add hot tap water and beat well. Add butter and eggs, mixing well. Stir in additional flour, mixing with a dough hook or kneading with hands. Cover and allow to rise once. Punch down. Roll out 1/3 of dough into a circle. Spread with melted butter. Cut with a pizza cutter into wedges. Roll into crescents. Dip rolls in butter or brush with melted butter and lay on greased baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise again. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes. 

Note: This dough is very forgiving. 

This dough is actually SO forgiving, that when I made it last Thanksgiving, I didn't see the part about adding extra flour, and thus I failed to add in nearly half of the flour. Somehow the rolls still turned out amazing! If I didn't ruin them that way, I have no idea how you could possibly ruin them!

Pies.

I still haven't found pies that I would die for, but mister man is very partial to Lemon Meringue. Especially his mom's recipe. Which, I must admit, is quite amazing. My mom makes some killer Buttermilk pies, but I don't have a recipe to pass along. My sister in law also made an amazing banana cream pie this year, but I don't have that recipe either. So sorry. You'll just have to love me anyway and try this Lemon Meringue. Yum!

Lemon Meringue

Filling:

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. cornstarch

1 1/2 c. water

3 egg yolks (save the whites!)

2 T. butter

4 T. lemon juice (real lemons)

1 1/3 T. grated lemon rind

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan. Gradually add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil 1 minute. Slowly stir half of hot mixture into slight beaten egg yolks, return the mixture back to pan. Stir and boil 1 minute longer. Remove from heat and continue stirring until smooth. Blend (beat) in butter, lemon juice, and lemon rind. Pour into a baked pastry shell. Cover with meringue. Bake at 400 degrees until delicate golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

6 T. sugar

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Whip the egg whites in a deep, small bowl, and gradually add the sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla (at the end). The whites should form stiff peaks and be glossy. Make sure to seal the meringue around the edges of the crust before baking.

Now, I purposefully left out the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. 

Why?

Well, I've never made a turkey and I don't really ever aspire to do so.

I fail at mashed potatoes, so I assign those to other people.

I could maybe make the gravy, but haven't.

And Stovetop stuffing is a comfort food. None of that made from scratch stuff for me. (although if you make it, I'll eat it, smile, and say it's wonderful. Which it probably is. But is not nearly as easy as stovetop. Which really adds to the deliciousness of it I think.)

Okay. There ya go. My promise fulfilled. If you have green bean casserole, just make the recipe on the back of the French's Fried Onions can. Don't be afraid to add extra onions.

Now I must clean my apartment. My dear sweet child has blown through it like a tornado and I've never seen it so messy.

Except after he was born.
Or when we moved in.
Or the time our storage closet was moldy.
Or when we had a bunch of visitors.
Or last week actually.

oy.

Happy Tuesday!