A New Dish for Thanksgiving

Cranberry orange sauce

2/3 cup orange zest
2 cups water
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon brandy
3 cups cranberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2/3 cup orange juice

1. In a small over medium heat, combine the orange zest adn water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving zest and 1/3 cup liquid.

2. To the reserved liquid, add sugar, orange juice and lemon juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat andsimmer for 3 minutes uncovered, stirring often.

3. Add cranberries; increase heat to high anf boil for about 5 minutes or until the cranberries have popped and the sauce sets on a cold plate.

4. Remove from heat and add brandy.

I have two "go to" recipes when I want to wow someone and they are both very easy to make.

Sweet potato bites.

Preheat oven to 375.
Cut up 5-6 large sweet potatos into small bite size pieces.
Put 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and the follwoing spices into a large ziploc
Oregano
Salt
pepper
garlic powder or even crushed real garlic.
onion powder

shake it all together in the ziplock with the cut up pieces and then put on a baking sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes. Eyeball the spices, and even add others that you may like. You can't really mess it up.

Bake until a little crunchy on the outside. Yummy and a nice change from the really sweet type of sweet potatoes.

Another good one is spinach brownie. Sounds gross but it's sooooo good!
1 (10 ounce) package spinach, rinsed and chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 onion, chopped
1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Place spinach in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook until spinach is limp, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in eggs, milk and butter. Mix in spinach, onion and mozzarella cheese.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before serving.

Good luck! Get creative, the Holidays are perfect for tryin new things.

I have a great recipe for a Sweet Potato Souffle. It is pretty easy to make and so good. It has become a family favorite for us and even people who won't eat sweet potatoes otherwise, love this dish. Hope you enjoy!!

Sweet Potato Souffle

2 - 3 lbs sweet potatoes, scrubbed
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

In a large saucepan boil sweet potatoes, covered until tender. Drain and cool slightly. Peel and quarter potatoes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-quart baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine and mix with a mixer sweet potatoes, butter/margarine, sugars, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, eggs, and milk. . Pour into prepared baking dish.

Topping: Combine brown sugar, pecans, flour, and butter/margarine in a small ball. Mix until crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over potato mixture.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and slightly firm.

I've made this a few times and everyone seems to like it alot. The ingredients seem strange together, but everything gets really creamy and delicious! It makes 6, but I've doubled it a few times and it turns out with the same results.

CREAMY VEGGIE CASSEROLE serves 6

-1 16 oz. package frozen broccoli,carrots and cauliflower
-1 10 3/4 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
-1 carton (8 oz) spreadable garden vegetable cream cheese
-1/2 to 1 cup seasoned croutons

Prepare vegetables according to package direction; drain and place in a large bowl. Stir in soup and cream cheese. Transfer to a greased 1 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with croutons. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy!!

I usually make roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes with rosemary for every gathering we have and people love it.

Just cut up different kinds of potatoes and sweet potatoes in chunks, mix them with some olive oil, kosher salt and fresh rosemary, and put them in a baking dish. Bake for about an hour at 350o or until they look done.

ok heres something diffrent but quit easy and an a great side dish its kinda like baked beans with a kick
1 large chopped onion
2 cans butter beans (drained)
2 cans baked beans
2 cans light red kidney beans (drained)
1 bottle K&C masterpiece BBQ
1/2cp packed brown suger
1 tsp vinger
1pnd hamburger cooked and drained
1 pd bacon sliced chopped and fried
salt and pepper
add all ingrediants in a big crockpot and cook on high about 4 hours and then on low 4 about 2. this is agreat side dish for any occasion i always get compliments on how great this is.

This is delicious and very kid friendly too!
JIFFY CORN CASSEROLE

1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
2 eggs, beaten
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 stick butter, melted (or 1/2 c. oil)
1 c. sour cream
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (opt.)
Shredded cheese (opt.)

Mix all ingredients except cheese. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, if desired. Bake in casserole dish or 9"x13" baking dish for 30 to 45 minutes or until fully cooked in center.

Tyler Florence made this on his Ultimate Thanksgiving. It sounds wonderful. I am going to make it without the honey so my 8 month old can enjoy it too.

Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Bananas with Honey
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

You can roast the potatoes and bananas ahead of time, then put it all together just before serving. Then heat it up in the oven.

5 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
4 bananas, unpeeled
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
Kosher salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, put them in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes. Toss the bananas into the pan and continue roasting for 10 to 15 minutes, until both the bananas and potatoes are very soft. Remove the pan from the oven but don't turn the oven off.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl. Peel the bananas and add them to the bowl along with 1 stick of the butter, and the honey. Season with salt and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until everything's well combined and the mixture is fluffy. Spoon into an oven-proof serving bowl and smooth the top.

In a separate mixing bowl, use your fingers to rub together the remaining stick of butter, the brown sugar, flour, and pecans until the mixture is the consistency of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the sweet potatoes and return to the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the crumbs are golden. Serve hot.

The corn casserole another person posted has been a holiday staple in my family for 3 generations (it just got easier when we started using the jiffy mix instead of regular corn meal and associated ingredients to make cornbread from that). It's easy to mix ahead of time and freeze... then just thaw overnight and put in oven for an hour. So it's nice for busy weeknights or holiday meals when you're busy enough cooking that day.

Another staple in our family (for 4 generations) is candied sweet potatoes. Just cut up sweet potatoes into 3-4 inch chunks and steam until almost tender. Put a couple tablespoons each of butter and honey in an electric skillet and melt/mix them. Add the sweet potatoes, spoon liquid over them, and cook covered on 300 for about 45-60 minutes. Open it up and baste every 10-15 minutes and add more honey/butter about halfway through. You can also add a bit of water... not much, just enough to keep things from drying out. Sorry I don't have a 'real' recipe... I learned to cook this when I was about 5 years old since it's one of the easier dishes grandma made.

Here are 2 dishes that we added to our Thanksgiving menu several years ago and absolutely LOVE. The first is "Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish". Susan Stamberg on National Public Radio broadcasts this recipe every year. It sounds weird - it has cranberries and horseradish and sour cream. We finally decided to try it a few years ago and we're completely hooked. It's REALLY good. You can find the recipe at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4176014

The other is a sweet potato dish with maple and chipotle peppers. It's just a little sweet and spicy and smoky and it's really great. I can't remember the exact proportions but it has about 2 lbs of sweet potatoes peeled, cooked and mashed. Maybe 1 cup sour cream, 2 Tbs minced chipotle peppers (the canned kind, in adobo sauce), and maybe 1/4 c maple syrup.

Email me if you want the exact recipe and I'll grab it for you.

I love, love, love this recipe below. (You can also substitute fresh fruit for the veggies and switch the veggie spread to a sweetened cream cheese--also very tasty!!)

Cool Veggie Pizza

1 package (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls (Pillsbury brand works best)
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 teaspoon All-Purpose Dill Mix or dried dill weed
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 cups assorted fresh vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, green or red bell pepper, green onions, tomato, mushrooms, carrot, yellow summer squash or zucchini

Preheat oven to 350F. Unroll crescent dough; separate into eight triangles. On Large Round Stone, arrange triangles in a circle with points in the center and wide ends toward the outside. Using lightly floured Baker’s Roller, roll dough to a 12-inch circle, pressing seams together to seal. Bake 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven; cool completely.

In Classic Batter Bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, garlic pressed with Garlic Press and dill weed. Season with salt and black pepper; mix well with Small Mix N’ Scrape. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over crust.

To prepare veggies, coarsely chop broccoli or cauliflower with Food Chopper. Slice cucumber, bell pepper or tomato using Ultimate Mandolin. (Can also be diced with Utility Knife, as can the green onions.) Slice mushrooms using Egg Slicer Plus. Grate carrot using Deluxe Cheese Grater or Ultimate Mandolin with grater blade. Crinkle cut yellow squash or zucchini using Ultimate Mandolin with crinkle cut blade.

Cut crust with cream cheese spread with pizza cutter. Smooth out cream cheese spread. Sprinkle veggies over pizza. Serve using the Mini-Serving Spatula.

Hi
I don't know if you've ever had cucumber salad but it's really good. I'm making it this year for Thanksgivingas well. All you need is:

3 or 4 cucumbers depending on how much you wanna make
1 medium onion
2 container of sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

you slice the cucumber as thinly or as thickly as u want
the you cut those slices in half

you cut the onions in to thin strips like u would for fajitas

put all of he ingredients in a large bowwl mix add salt and pepper to taste and refridgerate for about an hour.

I wouldn't suggest making it the day before because it gets a little watery overnight but let me tell u it's always a hit around here and very easy. enjoy! And Happy Holidays.

Banana Pudding

INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 bananas, sliced
1/2 (12 ounce) package vanilla wafers

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in condensed milk, pudding mix, cold milk and vanilla until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of the whipped topping.
Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish with vanilla wafers. Arrange sliced bananas evenly over wafers. Spread with pudding mixture. Top with remaining whipped topping. Chill.

Jello Pistachio Pudding

Jello Pistachio Pudding Box
Large can crushed pineapple
16 oz. sour cream
8 oz. cool whip

Mix pudding and pineapple. Blend in sour cream and blend in cool whip. Use a 13x9inch pan sprinkle nuts on top (optional)

I don't know how your family feels about Broccoli, but my family absolutely loves this broccoli salad that I make.
1 bunch of broccoli
8 to 10 slices of bacon fried and crumbled
1/2 to 1 cup sunflower kernels salted
1 small onion diced

Dressing:
1 cup Hellmans mayo (reg or light)
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. vinegar

Wash and cut broccoli into small pieces. Mix broccoli, onions,bacon, and sunflower kernels. Pour dressing on when you are ready to serve and mix well.
Some people like to add raisins to this as well and that is also good!
It is so easy and so delicious. Whenever I take this anywhere, I never have any left over. It is easy to adjust the recipe for more or less depending on the number of people you are planning on serving.
Enjoy!!!!