Thursday, October 22, 2009

The First Holiday Recipe Ideas From Readers Are In!

JENNY'S CRANBERRY RELISH

Here's my favorite EASY dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I like cranberry sauce, but it always looked kind of gross to me. So here's what I do now.

1 can jellied cranberry sauce
1 can mandarin orange slices, drained & chopped up a bit
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Mash up the cranberry sauce and then stir in oranges & pecans.
VOILA! A pretty & tasty side dish. Enjoy! --Jenny

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TIPS FOR PRE-COOKING AN "EASY TO CLEAN UP" THANKSGIVING MEAL
(Which is especially good info for the Smiths since we'll be in the middle of a move!)

Keep your crockpot out and buy a turkey breast from your grocery store.
Pour a can of jellied cranberry sauce over it with half to 3/4 can of frozen orange juice and add a packet of lipton onion soup mix.
If thawed, cook for four hours or so.
Then buy the aluminum foil pans for green bean casserole and cheesy hashbrown potatoes.
You can get these all ready the day or two before and cook Thanksgiving day.
Use paper plates and the only thing to wash will be the crockpot. --Rachel


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EASY WAY TO COOK A TURKEY

I have always had great success with Thanksgiving turkeys cooked in the plastic cooking bags.

Grease them up or butter them up to your liking
Stuff the cavity with slices of bread and chunks of veggies (including onion)
Shake the bag with flour
Slip in the bird (sometimes "slip" is not the right term - wrestle comes to mind)
Tie it up with the twist tie that comes in the package with the bag
Follow the directions for temp and time and taa daa! You really have a beautiful turkey with no peaking or basting. There is plenty, plenty of juice to make the gravy - which is easily made with corn starch NOT flour - no lumps and blends great!

Also, stores sell the entire Thanksgiving dinner already prepared - that could be a thought - or a turkey breast is an easy (however more costly) alternative.

SIDE DISH IDEAS

I always make my mom's cranberries - they are from fresh cranberries - so it is not like the cranberry sauce - they are a little tart but can be made to your sweetness level - just add more sugar - recipe is on the bag of fresh cranberries.

I also smash (with a spoon) a few of the cranberries as they are boiling so there is a little bit of "sauce" texture. Always have to have the candied sweet potatoes AND mashed potatoes for the gravy and then I do dressing (stuffing) outside of the bird in a casserole - my family likes it a little more baked and not as moist as when it is stuffed in the turkey.

Then I just add a salad and or some soup and a veggie or two - because no one can agree on a veggie but it has to be green.

So that sums it up - seriously, the cooking bags are great for turkeys, roasts, pork roasts - check them out! --Mary H.
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HELPFUL TIMETABLES FOR COOKING A TURKEY

Turkey Timetables

Guerrina says, "This timetable and use of meat thermometer have produced some wonderful stuffed turkeys over the years!

3 Had Something To Say (Just click here!):

Angie said...

To go along with the crock pot suggestion, there are crock pot "liners" you can buy...basically just a thick plastic bag that fits inside the pot. When the meal comes out, you can just throw the bag away and not even have the crock pot to clean up!

I always look up recipes on allrecipes.com. You can search by ingredients you want to use OR ingredients you don't want.

I have also used http://www.supercook.com/ to put in what ingredients I have on hand and then it will pull up recipes based on your ingredients.

The most important thing to remember (I think) is it's not about the meal being grandiose, it's about celebrating what you are thankful for. You can do that with a PB&J on a paper plate. :)

Praying that this new transition goes smoothly.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for including my recipe. I think I found it on allrecipes.com as a previous poster mentioned. I've only made it once, but my husband was shocked how good the turkey turned out. And other posters are right just enjoy the time with your whole family and hopefully you can have a big Christmas dinner in your new house in Manteo.

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