Thanksgiving Day Meal Planning

Nevermind that Thanksgiving is a reminder of a terrible time, of the beginning of terrible treatment of Native Americans.

I love food.
And I love family.

So we're going to feast. And treat each other much better than the europeans treated their hosts. I hope, especially since I'm hosting.

Here're the recipes I'll be using.

The main star, the turkey: Roast Turkey with Herb Butter, thanks to Martha Stewart.

Stuffing: recipe pending. Awaiting response to request sent to my Nana.

Salad: basic tossed salad with red leaf lettuce, tomatoes.

Twice Baked Potatoes: never the same way twice.
This feast will involve: 10 or so largish scrubbed potatoes, 1 lb cooked and chopped bacon, 1-3 homegrown chopped onion tops and bottoms (they didn't bulb up much), about 1 pint of sour cream, 1/2 a cup of butter, and maybe two cups of shredded cheddar cheese. The potatoes get cooked for about 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Then they cool. Then they're cut in half, their insides are scooped out and placed in a large bowl, then all the other stuff is mixed in and gently blended. Then the mixture is gently spooned back into the potato shells and topped with the shredded cheddar. Then, you relax because you're making these the day before or the day before the day before. Then on The Big Day of The Turkey, bring to room temp (or bake a bit longer), then cook in a 375 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes.

Cranberry Sauce: from the infamous Martha Stewart

Some kind of green vegetable: compliments of my brother.

Bread rolls: also compliments of my brother.

Hot Apple Cider: (apple juice, 2-3 cinnamon sticks, a couple cloves, maybe a few peeled apple slices, a bit of ginger) heated in a crock pot. Will leave out the whiskey/bourbon spike this year.

Pies: lovingly handmade by my cousin.

Pumpkin Roll: recipe also available inside label of Libby's canned pumpkin. But I'll be using my own baked and pureed pumpkin for the recipe. Next year, I'll even have grown the pumpkin in the garden!

This is a pretty handy page with calculators to help you figure out how many pounds of turkey you need and how long to cook what you end up with. Thank you, Butterball! (Although I must advocate for happy free range birds, which is not Butterball).