There’ll be lots of cooking going on at the Blind Pig House this week. With Thanksgiving only a few days away the preparations have already started. There’s several dishes that show up on our table every year. Of course there’s the turkey. I think I was an adult before I realized you could eat turkey anytime you wanted to. We only had turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Actually, we still only have it at those times of the year!
The Deer Hunter used to always cook the turkey, but for the last few years I’ve taken over the task and I use this method. It makes for a very tasty turkey.
Here’s a few other must have recipes for our Thanksgiving table. Click on each for the recipe.
Now that I’ve shared some of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes with you, I hope you’ll leave a comment and share yours too.
Tipper
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Its just the best times when family gets together. So special for all. I wish my mom and dad were here to enjoy these times with us. I know they are in spirit. When i was back home on Thanksgiving it would always come a big snow and every year we would go rabbit hunting. I looked forward to that. It don’t even snow now. Thats what reminds me of my dad. And my mom, it was her 7 up salad. Gosh, it was so good. God Bless Tipper!
We’re going to my son’s house for Thanksgiving. I’m taking dressing, rolls, deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole and pecan (or hikory nut) pie.
As I type this my prep has already begun also .I am usin,g a roaster for the first time this year for my turkey , also soaking the turkey in a brine the day before cooking. On the day slathering it with a rosemary butter, salt and pepper coating and filling the cavity with all sorts of goodies, butter , rosemary, an orange and more .. All my Growing up we cooked the turkey in the oven.. ( loved the crispy skin, and snuck a piece when ever possible , before time to eat:). My Mama always made the dressing it was her specialty … we all miss our parents and grandparents .I’m still working on getting my dressing to taste near as good as Mama’s did ,consisting of crumbled corn bread and white bread, cooked celery and onions, sage some raw eggs, some boiled eggs , and a good broth ..She liked it moist so it was a pretty wet mixture… In our family everyone had a speciality to bring… fruit salad , homemade rolls, sweet potato casserole ,one Mama.. sweetened buttered mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows melted on top the other Mama. Also have mashed potatoes and Mama’s pumpkin pie recipe… she made hers with sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice…lots of cool whip to go on top 🙂 . We have gravy, and one other favorite …Banana Pudding .. yum !!! , I’m so thankful to be able to cook something for my family ,and be together. And aren’t leftovers great the next day, and leftover turkey for later fixings.Thanksgiving morning is so fun steaming up every window near the kitchen with joy, playing Christmas music, ( I have already been listening to it),… so much to truly be thankful for.
It all sounds delicious! My dressing is similar but with less white bread and more cornbread. Also I add the eggs raw. The last time I made it, I used leftover sourdough bread and it was really good that way. Nobody can make it as good as Mama’s–it always looked awful but was so good. There have almost been fights over it.
TMC you make me smile. How right you are. Helps explain the 37 years this month. Congratulations. Hope you are passing on your wisdom.
Gee, just reading Tipper’s post and these first four comments makes me feel full; but also thankful. I keep thinking about what in the Old Testament is called “the feast of ingathering”
EX 23:16b “the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.”
Sounds like Thanksgiving to me. I like that word “ingathering”. It covers the gathering of family and the gathering and preparing of food, especially wild edibles.
Hope each and all of the BP&A have a blessed Thanksgiving and make priceless memories. For those of you who will have an empty chair, I pray good memories and present family will console you again.
I could eat turkey seven days a week. When the turkey breast go on sale, I stock up for some slow cooker meals that can’t be beat. My daughter is cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year. I tried your recipe for Oatmeal Rolls last year and the kids loved them. That’s the only thing I will be responsible for taking to dinner.
Tipper–I reckon I’ll have to argue a bit with “The Best Thanksgiving Dressing.” My choice for that would be the Chestnut Dressing Momma made. The chestnut meats came from a huge Chinese chestnut which grew in our yard in Bryson City and then later from trees I planted at my home and which still provide nuts.
By the time I was born, the dominant tree of the eastern forests was already long gone. Most of the trees in the Smokies of my boyhood died in the late 1920s, but the family kept up a long-established tradition by substituting Chinese chestnuts for the real thing in dressing. Here’s the recipe used by Grandma Minnie and Mom; the one my wife prepares. Incidentally, if you don’t have access to chestnuts just substitute pecans.
6-8 cups cornbread crumbs (homemade cornbread is infinitely preferable to using purchased crumbs, and that is doubly so if it is made with stone-ground meal). Using buttermilk to make the cornbread makes it much lighter.
½ cup butter
Place the butter in a skillet and add:
1 cup cooked, chopped chestnuts
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely chopped onion
Cook slowly over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir frequently as it burns easily. Add this to cornbread crumbs and mix well. Add 2 eggs well beaten and 2 cups turkey or chicken broth (or stock). Add more liquid if necessary as the mixture must be very moist. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, sage (if you like it—I don’t and it is a dominant taste), Montreal Chicken Seasoning, or whatever you prefer).
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
I have used a turkey roaster for quite sometime, and it is delicious and less labor intensive. It also frees up the much needed oven. One of the best Thanksgiving dinners I ever had was cooked by a patient’s family in the middle of the summer. I suppose they chose a turkey because so many family members gathered at the home. Those dear people did not ask, but instead handed me a wonderful boxed dinner when I left. Instead of McDonald’s on the toad , I was able to enjoy one of the best meals in my memory.
We always have an awesome sweet potato casserole and the best dressing you’ve ever had, with three different kinds of breads, apples, sage sausage, and pecans! At noon I put on the old song “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie. This tune is about 25 minutes long, and I know that if my dressing isn’t in the oven by the end of the song, I’m running behind. This year I’m also making a Neapolitan cheesecake, with a chocolate layer, strawberry layer, and vanilla layer. Pumpkin and raisin pies too. We do like to eat.
We have my wife’s family here the Sunday before Thanksgiving each year. Yesterday 35 people demolished 2 turkeys, 2 hams and many bowls of side dishes. Actually 34 did that that. the 2 week old one didn’t partake. We cooked the turkeys in the crockpot and the hams in the oven. When I was able to get around better I always enjoyed smoking the turkeys on the grill.
Since I have always made the turkey I will just lidt the dishes.
Cheesy squasj casserole green bean casserole, candied yams, mashed potatoes, parsnips, mac and cheese, gravy, pies, pumpkin mince. Apple. Pumpkin cake or pumpkin cheese cake. Ob so much of it alk and we usually invite a few that otherwise would be on theur own
Got a lot to be Thankful for. My Wife informed me we were having an Italian flavored Thanksgiving dinner, we’re having spaghetti. If you want to stay Thankful, don’t argue with the Cook, been married 37yrs this month, didn’t take me that long figure that one out, I’m still learning on the others tho.