Thanksgiving is looming and you have stocked your kitchen with everything that you need to make the big dinner a success. You have a plan and you’re ready to head into the big day worry-free. Sounds good, doesn’t it? The reality for most of us is that we spend the day before Thanksgiving looking up recipes because we want to double check that we have everything we need. We also want to make sure that we know we’ve got the best turkey cooking method in mind, and want to ensure that we know exactly how long it needs to cook. We are going to make a few extra trips to the grocery store and will probably forget something anyway. But everything will be delicious and the meal will be a huge success no matter what.
The Turkey
When it comes to roasting a turkey, my two favorite methods are the High Heat Turkey and the Mayonnaise Turkey. Both methods produce moist, tender birds. The mayonnaise recipe makes a really great gravy, while the high heat method produces an extra crisp and delicious skin.
If you don’t want to make a whole bird, you can’t beat my Turkey Pot Pie.
Sides
- I love brussel sprouts and I love Roasted Brussel Sprouts even more. The crisp and tender sprouts are caramelized perfectly, and they’ll win over people who don’t think they like sprouts in the first place.
- You can’t go wrong with mashed potatoes and these Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes are always a crowd-pleaser.
- You always need cranberry sauce on the table and my Vanilla Cranberry Sauce and Blood Orange Cranberry Sauce both offer flavorful options that can be made up in about five minutes. And they taste better than anything that comes out of a jar.
Breads
- Homemade Pumpkin Cornbread uses just enough pumpkin puree to give this cornbread a moist, tender texture, though most of the flavor comes from the coarse cornmeal in the batter.
- Browned Butter Pumpkin Dinner Rolls are moist and fluffy, with a delicious nutty note from the browned butter in the recipe.
- You will love these Secret Ingredient Biscuits. They are buttery, fluffy and could not be any easier to make. What’s the secret? You’ll have to look at the recipe to find out!
Stuffing
- This Pumpkin Cornbread Stuffing is made using my homemade Pumpkin Cornbread recipe (above), allowing you to get two great uses out of one delicious bread.
- Cranberry Apple and Sage Stuffing has both sweet and savory elements, so it goes with just about everything else you might be serving.
- Cranberry Pancetta and Butternut Squash Stuffing is a little bit heartier than some stuffings and has a rich, savory note from crisp pancetta that is added to the mix. Make a big batch of this one because it is addictive!
Dessert
- My Cherry Cranberry Pie will be the star of my dessert table this year. This fruity pie has a great blend of sweet and tart flavors because the filling is made with both sweet cherries and fresh, tart cranberries. It is delicious on its own and amazing with vanilla ice cream.
- Every Thanksgiving needs some pumpkin pie and this Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie will appeal to just about everyone who sits down at your table. It uses a homemade gluten free crust that is a great base for the creamy pumpkin filling.
- This Maple Pecan Pie is a lovely finish to a Thanksgiving meal. It uses pure maple syrup instead of corn syrup, so the pie has a wonderfully sweet flavor without any artificial ingredients.
- Instead of serving up a sweet potato casserole, try my Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Marshmallow Topping. It is a delicious dessert and can be made well ahead of time.
What do you think?