Thanksgiving

[Ali]

Here is our menu:

Appetizers

• Fruit tray
• Veggie tray
• Cheese ball
• Spinach dip

Main:

• Turkey
• Ham
• Mashed potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Stuffing
• Green bean casserole
• Cranberry Relish
• One or two more vegetable dishes

Dessert:

• Some sort of pumpkin dessert (yuck)
• Apple pie
• one additional pie

[Ali]

One of my favorites is turkey salad sandwiches. We put in mayo, tart apple, onion, celery, and curry powder. I feel like I am forgetting something. It is so good!

[Lynn18]

This: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pineapple-casserole-recipe.html

It's sweet, almost a dessert.

My mom used to make a pineapple "salad". Rather like a jello salad, it had pineapple, marshmallows. and I recall that you cooked the custard like sauce. She always made it at Christmas and Easter as it went well with ham. Mr. didn't care for it and so I never made it. I think I still have the recipe somewhere....*ponders*. I should probably find it or try and ask mom if she remembers how to make it. Might be hard with her dementia. *sighing for lost things*

[PennySycamore]

My mom always made ambrosia for Christmas and maybe for Thanksgiving, too.  It was mandarin oranges, coconut (the sweetened, flaked kind that came in cans), chopped apples and maybe pineapple.  It didn't have any kind of dressing that I can recall.  Mom is gone now, but I think that my sister or my oldest brother can remember how to make it.  It would nicely balance out the rich food.

[Arete]

"Chicken" broth made from the turkey carcass.  Just put the carcass in a stock pot with 4-5 quarts of water and a carrot and some celery stalks.  Simmer gently for about 4 hours and strain.  Fantastic soup stock.  I put leftover cranberry sauce over peanut butter on toasted bread.  If there are leftover rolls, dry them out and make bread crumbs.

[Lynn18]

I thought this sounded intriguing.  Sorry the formatting is wonky.

Servings:8

Preparation Time:40 minutes

Cook Time:30 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups turkey, diced

4 cups leftover Thanksgiving stuffing

1 cup cashew milk

6 eggs

1 Tbs dijon mustard

2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided

1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped

 

 

Directions

1. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Layer stuffing and turkey in pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine cashew milk, eggs, dijon mustard, spinach and 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese. Pour egg mixture over turkey and stuffing. Top with remaining parmesan cheese.

3. Cover pan with aluminum foil and let rest for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400º. Place covered dish in oven for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Serve.

Note: Strata can be chilled for 1 day. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature before baking.

Nutrition: Calories 347.0, Total Fat 15.5 g, Saturated Fat 4.9 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 3.8 g, Monounsaturated Fat 5.6 g, Cholesterol 182.6 mg, Sodium 731.2 mg, Potassium 320.4 mg, Total Carbohydrate 22.3 g, Dietary Fiber 3.0 g, Sugars 2.3 g, Protein 26.5 g

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

My mom always made ambrosia for Christmas and maybe for Thanksgiving, too.  It was mandarin oranges, coconut (the sweetened, flaked kind that came in cans), chopped apples and maybe pineapple.  It didn't have any kind of dressing that I can recall.  Mom is gone now, but I think that my sister or my oldest brother can remember how to make it.  It would nicely balance out the rich food.

We make ambrosia for picnics and the 4th of July - I love anything that should be a desert but is called a salad and served as a side dish.  

I do it with mini-marshmallows, coconut flakes (I've only seen them in bags), pineapple chunks, maraschino cherries (smushed and checked to make sure no accidental insides were left), mandirin oranges, and sour cream.  I take some of the juice from the oranges and cut the sour cream for a lighter toss.

spoiler for weird food aversion and subject matter not appetizing.

I'm sad that I'm off this stuff for a while.  My husband bought a discount brand of mandarin oranges last summer and when I opened it up there were some seeds in there...I have a weird food aversion to seeds like that and promptly got sick and now even thinking of the salad is making me gag a little.  I posted anyway because it's not the ambrosia's fault that I'm weird.  

 

[Grimalkin]

We make ambrosia for picnics and the 4th of July - I love anything that should be a desert but is called a salad and served as a side dish.  

I do it with mini-marshmallows, coconut flakes (I've only seen them in bags), pineapple chunks, maraschino cherries (smushed and checked to make sure no accidental insides were left), mandirin oranges, and sour cream.  I take some of the juice from the oranges and cut the sour cream for a lighter toss.

spoiler for weird food aversion and subject matter not appetizing.

Hidden Content

 

reminds me of this "salad" I had as a kid. I think it had green jello whipped with cool whip possibly sour cream and marshmallows? My mom would never make something like that but it was heaven.

 

we are pretty basic. No appetizers, turkey sage and onion stuffing( I flove that, have tried other stuffing too) green beans almondine, gravy from scratch, mash potatoes, salad, Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce homemade, I will make cranberry salsa just to try it. Pecan pie, and I am going to try maple cream pie this year too.

[Palimpsest]

Culinary EMERGENCY!  HELP!

We need to serve a gluten-free Thanksgiving Day dinner this year and accommodate a couple of allergies/food sensitivities too.

It's mostly under control.  I have a source for Gluten-free turkey and most of it is common sense. Veggies are gluten-free and I can thicken gravy with corn starch.

However:

1.  does anyone have a fool-proof recipe for not sickeningly sweet corn bread for the stuffing?  Why is cornbread so sweet?

2. does anyone have a fool-proof recipe for a gluten-free, dairy free, as preservative free as possible, make in advance, really luscious dessert? Chocolate and sugar are fine.

I can cook but I cannot bake so these have to be very simple as well as made from scratch.  We may end up having fruit salad or Eton Mess for dessert. 

Thanks in advance!

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Culinary EMERGENCY!  HELP!

We need to serve a gluten-free Thanksgiving Day dinner this year and accommodate a couple of allergies/food sensitivities too.

It's mostly under control.  I have a source for Gluten-free turkey and most of it is common sense. Veggies are gluten-free and I can thicken gravy with corn starch.

However:

1.  does anyone have a fool-proof recipe for not sickeningly sweet corn bread for the stuffing?  Why is cornbread so sweet?

2. does anyone have a fool-proof recipe for a gluten-free, dairy free, as preservative free as possible, make in advance, really luscious dessert? Chocolate and sugar are fine.

I can cook but I cannot bake so these have to be very simple as well as made from scratch.  We may end up having fruit salad or Eton Mess for dessert. 

Thanks in advance!

Yes - and I got it here in one of the Maxwell threads...stole it from another FJer @Handmaiden of Dog who posted about it.  It's called a pumpkin bake and my husband is off sugar and this is made with splenda so i gave it a shot a couple of weeks ago (maybe last weekend - all days run together now) and I made it with the artificial sweetener and another version with regular sugar.  The regular sugar one didn't come out right - too mushy so it must be a different conversion ratio.  Since sugar is fine for you I'd wonder if anyone else has ideas of how this converts or if one has to change temp or time?

I am not a fan of pumpkin, but I licked the spoon on the sugar version and was a very happy girl.

Anyway - the headship raved about his version and it looked really pretty and smelled great.  SO simple - non-bakers can knock this out.

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/pumpkin_bake.html

Yeah - I'm just going to keep editing this post until it's time to go home - I've hit a mental wall.  My grams recipe for cornbread is very similar to this - http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/11/southern-unsweetened-cornbread-recipe.html no sugar - I'm not a fan as i like mine sweet...but it's authentic.   My grams said cornbread with sugar was a desert, which is what the author below said so I'm thinking they come from the same school.

and here's an interesting read on the history of cornbread...http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/08/why-southern-cornbread-shouldnt-have-sugar.html  

If you make your own cornbread (and i know you say you cannot bake but trust me - there is no difference between this and a box...just make sure you measure carefully and you'll be fine) and you can do the cornbread way in advance as it freezes really well.  some good recipes in the stuffing thread if i recall.  I'm too hungry to go there now.

Seriously, I haven't eaten all day (except for 2 starbursts) and I'm so hungry.

 

 

 

 

[Palimpsest]

Thanks!  That looks really good.  I think Splenda is OK because it is natural but I'll have to check.  This person swears that all sweeteners other than honey and sugar are toxic to her.  Actually, that wasn't meant to sound sarcastic.  She is obviously not well so I believe how careful she has to be.

Shit.  Stevia is OK.  Not Splenda.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Thanks!  That looks really good.  I think Splenda is OK because it is natural but I'll have to check.  This person swears that all sweeteners other than honey and sugar are toxic to her.  Actually, that wasn't meant to sound sarcastic.  She is obviously not well so I believe how careful she has to be.

Didn't sound sarcastic - I just can't vouch for the consistency of the sugar version because I messed up the timing but that batter was delicious.

I bet it would be cute in these little mini loaf pans i have...I just suck at getting the timing right the first few times when i go rouge on the baking vessel.

[Palimpsest]

I might give the sugar version a trial run tomorrow.  I have these little ramekin things.  Perhaps it will work in those?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

I might give the sugar version a trial run tomorrow.  I have these little ramekin things.  Perhaps it will work in those?

sounds cute - love raminkins.  Maybe someone knows a good site for converting baking time for different sized cooking vessels.  And I edited my last post to toss in a cornbread with no sugar recipe - not sure if you'd see it since we started a new page.  

[Ali]

@Palimpsest We made a gluten free apple crisp recently. We had some gluten free pretzels. We made them into crumbs in the food processor and made a streusel topping with it. We substituted the pretzel crumbs for flour. It was really good. You could also make an apple crisp with gluten free oatmeal. You have to make sure it states it is gluten free because not all oatmeal is gluten free.

[RabbitKM]

What about flourless chocolate cake?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

I make homemade tetrazinni type recipe using the base (with riffs on it) of Ina Garten's wild mushroom soup.  I almost always have some in the freezer and so I save some of the turkey to go in there.  Then on a work day I put it in the fridge to defrost - then when the head sheep gets home he just makes some pasta, baked it up and some salad and garlic bread - voila ...like we actually cooked.  I'll post the recipe when I get home.

Best left over ever, though, and it's way better than thanksgiving day...turkey sammich on toasted white bread and miracle whip with a slice of cranberry on the side and there is nothing better.

Left over american stuffing is good fried up to give it some texture.

If we do a ham I make split pea soup from the bone (making sure none of the glaze gets in there - just the meat and bone)  (the only way that vegetable enters my house is split) and I always make stock from the turkey carcass and neck, carrots, onions, celery.  You can never have enough homemade stock on hand.  

Any left over mashed potatoes headship will make potato pancakes if the girl child doesn't eat them straight first.  Left over sweet potatoes sliced and fried are yummy.  Left over german dressing I will eat until it's gone, yell at anyone who gives it to the dogs (they have other treats) and get up in the middle of the night when it calls my name.  Something about having something you love so much only a few times a year to make it special.  

 

I thought this sounded intriguing.  Sorry the formatting is wonky.

Servings:8

Preparation Time:40 minutes

Cook Time:30 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups turkey, diced

4 cups leftover Thanksgiving stuffing

1 cup cashew milk

6 eggs

1 Tbs dijon mustard

2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided

1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped

 

 

Directions

1. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Layer stuffing and turkey in pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine cashew milk, eggs, dijon mustard, spinach and 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese. Pour egg mixture over turkey and stuffing. Top with remaining parmesan cheese.

3. Cover pan with aluminum foil and let rest for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400º. Place covered dish in oven for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Serve.

Note: Strata can be chilled for 1 day. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature before baking.

Nutrition: Calories 347.0, Total Fat 15.5 g, Saturated Fat 4.9 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 3.8 g, Monounsaturated Fat 5.6 g, Cholesterol 182.6 mg, Sodium 731.2 mg, Potassium 320.4 mg, Total Carbohydrate 22.3 g, Dietary Fiber 3.0 g, Sugars 2.3 g, Protein 26.5 g

 

 

Whats cashew milk - flavor wise is it very different than almond milk?  which i love.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

What about flourless chocolate cake?

OMG I had my first piece of that last month...I would leave my husband and disown my children if I could live on flourless chocolate cake.  I fantasize about that bite of cake way more often than i will admit.

[Arete]

Palimpsest,

for or a really pretty fruit salad this time of year you can supreme orange and grapefruit sections.   Add about a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice and sugar to your taste. Add the seeds of 1 pomegranate and it takes on a really festive look.

 

take equal volume blanched almonds and powdered sugar.  Whiz it around in your food processor until you get a smooth "dough".  Roll  truffle size balls out of the dough.  Roll each ball in powdered sugar or cocoa.

[Palimpsest]

‌@HerNameIsBuffy  That cornbread recipe looks great (and the history).  Thanks so much. I am going to try the pumpkin recipe tomorrow.  Mr P will be in hog heaven.  If it is a total failure the dogs might eat the left-overs.  Did I say that?  The dogs are on strict diets.

‌@Ali That apple crisp sounds really good too.  I might try that on the side instead of my usual apple pie.  It could kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak, for both gluten and non gluten eaters.  You are right about the oatmeal.

‌@RabbitKM  I'm googling flourless chocolate cake in 5-4-3-2-1.

I can bake a few things, but my repertoire is very limited because *I* am not a big dessert eater.  I can bake select cookies, apple pie, meringues, and Lemon Dainty.  That last is a tried and true recipe from the 1930s.  It sort of turns into lemon soufflé in the oven.

[Palimpsest]

Palimpsest,

for or a really pretty fruit salad this time of year you can supreme orange and grapefruit sections.   Add about a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice and sugar to your taste. Add the seeds of 1 pomegranate and it takes on a really festive look.

 

take equal volume blanched almonds and powdered sugar.  Whiz it around in your food processor until you get a smooth "dough".  Roll  truffle size balls out of the dough.  Roll each ball in powdered sugar or cocoa.

One thing I do well is fruit salad.  I love, love, love pomegranate.  And kiwi.

I like the sound of the truffle size almond balls too.  Oh, wow.  My dessert options are getting so much better for the future.    Unfortunately, I forgot to mention that we have a tree nut allergy person for T Day dinner too.

Remind me to post our usual T Day dinner menu sometime!

[Arete]

Would coconut be safe for your tree nut allergic person?  If it is, I have a great recipe for coconut macaroons.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Would coconut be safe for your tree nut allergic person?  If it is, I have a great recipe for coconut macaroons.

could you post, please?  Never met a coconut desert I didn't want to make.

[RabbitKM]

Flourless chocolate cake is heavenly.  I've never made it before, so I don't know if its easy or difficult to make, but I'm all for getting it at the bakery.

[Arete]

Here you go, Buffy.  I have never dipped the macaroons in chocolate because the person I make them for can't have chocolate.  The  plain macaroons are still divine.  Note that you can substitute an equal amount of corn starch for the potato starch in the recipe.   I've made these 5 times, and they always turn out wonderfully.

http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2013/03/dark-chocolate-dipped-macaroons/