Thanksgiving Reflections

 The turkey!  I actually made two turkeys this year.  I had fifteen people at my house for Thanksgiving, and it takes a lot of turkey to feed that many people.  I tried something new this year, I cooked the turkey the day before Thanksgiving.  I was concerned that it would be dry when I reheated to the 165 degrees that is required to keep from making everyone sick.  So...I asked the foods teacher at school what she suggested.  She said she always had to do this with her classes when they prepared their Thanksgiving meal at school.  She suggested I take the meat off the bone and place it in a casserole dish.  After it is in the dish, cover it with some of the drippings and some chicken stock.  So that is exactly what I did.  It was wonderful.  The moistest turkey we ever had.  I cooked the turkeys in Reynolds baking bags and stuffed them with lemons, onions, and bay leaves.  They were delicious!!

 This is the dish I am most proud of, my Gingersnap Pumpkin Cheesecake.  Isn't it beautiful?  I thought it looked pretty enough to have come from a fancy bakery.  You can find the recipe here if you would like to make one for your holiday.

This was one of my brother's favorites, the sweet potato casserole.  I used a recipe that I found on Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman blog.  I have it pinned on my recipes to try board on Pinterest if you would like the recipe.  I changed one thing.  I didn't have time to bake the sweet potatoes so I used canned ones.  Plus I had a coupon for $1 off of Bruce's Canned Sweet Potatoes.  I used two cans.  I also used evaporated milk instead of regular milk.

This is my favorite part of Thanksgiving, the dressing.  I love it simple, no fruit, no meat, and no nuts.  I simple use one package of Pepperidge Farms Herbed dressing, two cakes of cornbread I make in advance using Jiffy Cornbread Mix (the best!!), celery and onions sauteed in butter, chicken stock, poultry seasoning, and celery seeds.  Here in the South we like our cornbread dressing, and in the mountains where we go for simpler things we don't mess it up with all the things you can add to it.  It is the best!!

We enjoyed the day with our family and give thanks to the Lord Jesus for his blessings this year.

Praise b 2 Him!