Thanksgiving!

The holidays will be upon us soon, I had been hoping my husband would be home by then but it's looking like it won't happen, so I will be spending Thanksgiving with some of my friends, and while I won't be cooking a full meal like I usually do, thought I would share some recipes that I usually do when I would be cooking a full meal. We're a turkey family, I'm not a huge fan of ham, so every year since we've been married I've done a full turkey along with the traditional mashed potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie, stuffing, etc. I have yet to have a turkey flop, and I usually do those for Christmas and once for Easter as well! Mine always turn out flavorful, moist and deliciously brown. I thought I would go ahead and share that recipe, and then the one I'm making this year, which is my sweet potato recipe. I was never a huge fan of sweet potatoes growing up, but I decided to try to do it last year, and instead of using marshmallows on top I did a sort of pecan crumble and I actually loved it! So if you've never liked it before but want to make it, maybe try this version and see what you think :)

Turkey

Butter
Favorite herbs (I use rosemary, thyme, oregano, garlic)
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
Aluminum foil
Onions
Optional: Celery, Shallots, Garlic, Lemons, etc.

I don't have exact measurements, because quite frankly it depends how big the turkey is that you've bought! So what I do is I put a good amount of butter in a bowl and mix all of the herbs in with it, more herbs more flavor, so don't be afraid to go a bit overboard with it! Once that is done, rinse your turkey off and put it in your roasting pan, and separate the skin from the breasts so you can fit your hand under there. Carefully take hand fulls of the butter and herb mixture and put it under the skin until it's all gone, pushing it to cover the entire breasts and even back onto the top of the legs if you can get it back there.
Once that is done, drizzle the top of the turkey with the olive oil and rub it in so it covers the entire bird and then sprinkle it with a good dose of salt and pepper. For the inside of the bird try to get some salt and pepper along the inside of it, and then cut up one of the onions and whatever other vegetables/fruits you decide to have and put inside the cavity of the bird. Roughly chop the other onion and any of the other vegetables or fruit that you want and put it in the pan under the bird. The more you put in the more flavorful the pan juices for the gravy will be and the more flavorful the bird will be. Once thats done, tent some foil over the bird, making sure to cover the wing tips as those will burn the quickest. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes per pound of bird, taking the foil off when you have a half hour left so you can get a good brown on it.


Sweet Potato Casserole 

• 4 cups sweet potato, cubed (or same amount of canned yams)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 
  
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish. In medium bowl, mix the brown sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season with friends and family, safe travels to those of you travelling and happy cooking!!! :)