Linda - Could you elaborate on the pretzel rolls?

This new recipe was a hit with all six diners:

Green Bean and Cranberry Side Dish from Whole Foods' web site.

I tried the Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes. I made sure to hide the package of cream cheese and I never left the recipe on the lap top. They loved it! I just have to make it when no one is looking.

I also tried Marilyn's stuffing. That is a keeper too.

The funny thing for me was that I did the make-ahead gravy, make-ahead mashed potatoes, stuffing and sweet potato casserole all in advance. I got up Thursday morning and didn't have to do anything other than put the turkey in the oven. Sweet! My back wasn't killing me by 6pm. I like this cooking smart stuff.

The pumpkin angel food cake was also a hit.

Linda, please post how to make the pretzel rolls. Those things are my favorite.

So far all I know is you mix them up, rise, shape, and boil for 30 seconds in a vat of 4 cups of water and 1/2 tsp of baking soda.....which foams up and spatters all over the stove.
But I'll get the official recipe before I leave here it's grandson's recipe....lots of brown sugar I think...shape, rise, boil, slash and bake....sprinkle with flake salt.....

I've got more green beans so I'm going to give those a try tomorrow.

A big hit with my DH who is not a huge cranberry fan was the Cranberries in Port Sauce. Found it on Ann T's blog. I added a bit more sugar and made it 24 hours in advance and it is awesome!

12 oz cranberries rinsed and picked over
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup golden rasins
1 cup Port - I used Tawny Port
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup water
1 Tbsp white sugar

Combine all ingredients but white sugar in medium pan and simmer until berries burst and mixture has gelled. Remove from heat and stir in white sugar. Let cool then refrigerate.

I made the Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes and also her cornbread stuffing. Both were amazing and I have approx 10 pounds of leftovers for myself, haha.

I tried the green bean casserole too and it was good but way too rich. I think I prefer my veggies simply prepared.

I tried her pumpkin cream pie too and it was amazing with a couple shots of Southern Comfort folded in.

I guess I had a Pioneer Woman Thanksgiving, lol. I didn't intend it that way but it worked out well.

The loser for sure was our organic Diestel turkey. It was cooked until 170 (I was sure it was over cooked, but I was talking to guests and saw it had zoomed past 165) but it was filled with BLOOD!
Thankfully I had made two half turkey breasts as well. We ate part of the white meat from the Diestel and the rest from the turkey breasts.
The kicker is that when I returned the bloody carcass to the supermarket mgr, he asked if I had called earlier in th day to complain. No, that wasn't me, so I assume there were others with a similar problem. A friend told me that her little Diestel was so young there was no fat on it and the meat was very dry. She's an awesome cook, it must have been the turkey. From here on out, back to Zacky birds for this cook!

The biggest winner were the mashed potatoes with cream, bacon, leeks and cheese. EVERYONE loved them! DD said I sent her the recipe, I've asked her to email it back so I can post it here. I'm fairly certain it came from the CF.

Other winners included a delicious surprise was from Trader Joe's-- Butternut squash with creamed spinach and bechamel sauce. YUMMMMMM!
Another clear winner was the persimmon chutney that Jessy posted. One of our guests left with her very own jar to treasure!
Finally we had a big hit with my cousin's carmel apple cheesecake. I'll get the recipe and post it. Truly nirvana!

Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes. I made sure to hide the package of cream cheese

LOL - Me too! My husband and daughter walked into the kitchen when the potatoes were on the stove and it was time to add the cream cheese. I quickly hid the package under a towel and snapped at them to get out of my kitchen! I felt bad snapping, but the potatoes were cooling off and they looked as though they were going to stay a while. :-)

Trader Joe's - Butternut squash with creamed spinach and bechamel sauce.

DH and I both really love this dish too. Oh! Try their Cauliflower Au Gratin - it's delicious. It's sold in the same case as the Butternut and creamed spinach dish.

I have to say our winner this year was the smoked turkey. We had a 20 lb bird and smoked it for 2 hours. I covered the bird with a butter soaked cheese cloth. Then we finished it in the oven at 350 until a thermometer in the breast read 160. We let it rest for about an hour (breast side down) and it was perfect - perfect amount of smoke and a beautiful golden, crispy skin.

The Bourbon Red Turkey was a disappointment. In part, due to the brine recipe we tried which made it brown too much with the oven on convection roast. The flavor was good and the meat juicy but for the cost of the turkey, not worth it. There just was not that much meat for the high cost.

Here's a picture of all the food setting on the island, just before we sat down to eat.

A new recipe that I tried for a green bean casserole was a clear winner. Everyone commented on it. Everything else was as good as always...all T+T favorites.
I forgot to change the setting on the camera...so this picture is a little fuzzy... but you can get the idea

Nancy

I, too made Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes and they were perfect! I did not reheat them in the oven though. I made them the day before and put them into a pot on Thanksgiving Day to reheat. I will definitely do this again. It took a lot of stress off Thanksgiving morning not to have to peel and mash all those potatoes - 10 lbs! I also snuck in the cream cheese when no one was in the kitchen.

My other new recipe to try was Bob's magic mushrooms as an appetizer. They were so so good and to quote a family member "These are definitely a keeper!"

I am grateful for this forum for all the great ideas and helpful members!

Our grill roasted turkey, Mom's dressing and giblet gravy, my sister's candied sweet potatoes, and my homemade rolls were all perennial must-haves at our Thanksgiving Dinner. I made the fresh broccoli salad with bacon, red onion, and raisins because I know everyone likes that. I set aside a portion of the salad w/o bacon for our two vegetarians.

The Brussels sprouts, apple, blue cheese and walnut salad, a new recipe tried by my sister, was definitely a loser. No one liked it much. I love all the ingredients, but the sprouts and blue cheese just seemed to fight with each other, and not in a good way.....no winner here.

My mom made an orange cake recipe recently viewed on Giada's show on the Food Network. Mom thought the cake was very crumbly when cut, but it was quite good and we polished it off. Our crowd is not all that into desserts anymore.

I was glad I made the acorn squash with couscous stuffing from the link below for our two vegetarians. I omitted the cumin and added some dried herb stuffing mix and poultry herb seasonings that allowed them the taste of a Thanksgiving stuffing in a vegetarian dish. They really seemed to like it and I would definitely make it again, but use butternut squash next time. Of course, I used vegetable broth in the recipe.

Teresa

Here is a link that might be useful: Acorn Squash with Couscous Stuffing

I also made Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes the day before Thanksgiving...when there was no one home to see the cream cheese going in!!

Delicious. Thanksgiving morning I put them on to heat through in the crock pot. Took about 2 1/2 - 3 hrs on low.

Made barnmoms recipe for the cranberry/orange relish and forgot to put it out. It's still in the fridge.

I Made some really delicious dinner rolls but made them too small. On my first practice attempt in making them, they turned into hamburger buns. So this time I rolled them into smaller balls and you could pop one right into your mouth. D'OH! Still good though.

Also made Irish Cream - I'm pretty sure I got the recipe somewhere on the GardenWeb can't recall if it was here or Recipe Exchange or where... But that stuff it really really delicious. What a treat for the holidays. I will be making more of that for Christmas and doubling or tripling the recipe - that's for sure.

The Big Green Egg turkey (22 lbs, Foster Farms, spatchcocked, smoked for five hours) was a HIT, Cranberry Jezebel was cleaned out, potatoes (smashed with garlic, olive oil and green onions) also were demolished. A friend brought three sides which took up too much room on my buffet and 'competed' with my stuff, LOL, serves me right for telling her 'bring whatever you want!'. Misses: I made too much green veggies (green beans with mushrooms, plain steamed broccoli for the picky kids).

Winner: Wild rice salad with apples, currants and toasted pecans
Loser: Lemon and balsamic kale - didn't taste too bad but looked like something dredged up from the bottom of a swamp.

Shaun - would you mind posting the Irish Cream recipe? :-)

Sure Jenn!

IRISH CREAM

14 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk --Eagle Brand
1-Cup Irish Whisky
1 Tablespoon Chocolate Syrup
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Instant Coffee Crystals
Mix above in blender for 2 minutes

ADD:
1 Cup Whipping Cream
1 Tablespoon Canned Sweetened Cream Of Coconut (Coco Lopez)
Blend above for 1 minute, keep in fridge.
Serve over ice in small glasses

Winners:
Make Ahead Turkey (The Bitten Word)
Using Crockpot to cook dressing!
Braised Brussesl Sprouts with Bacon (Tom Colicchio)
Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots (epicurious)
Sweet Potatoes with brown sugar/pecan topping (T&T recipe)

Losers:
Make Ahead Gravy (The Bitten Word)I am not accustomed to turkey gravy with a "honey-brown" roux.

I must have picked up Pioneer Woman's cream cheese idea for the mashed potatoes because I added it too! Best taters ever!

Another winner, believe it or not, was a jello mold that my mom used to make, but I coud never get it right. Well, it finally worked and it was wonderful!

The big loser, unfortunately, was the bird. I cooked it in my Nesco roaster and it was my first time using the thing. The bird finished cooking very, very early and I put the roaster on warm until the guests arrived. I think that even on warm it continued to cook and the bird turned out a little tough. It also didn't help that the bird was 23 lbs and a little too big for the roaster.

Oh well, it still was good, but not my best bird. I'll have to try it again.

For me, the winner was one of the appetizers that Maartje made, which consisted of smoked salmon wrapped around a filling of Neufchatel cheese seasoned with fresh dill and some other ingredients that she will tell me about later. These were then put on cucumber slices instead of toast or crackers, and I really loved them. I like lox this way so much better than with bagels, but then I'm not fond of bagels.

Maartje thought her turkey was a loser, but I won't go into the problems she had with it. I had trouble with my apple pie because it started to run over and drip onto my pizza stone and the oven floor. I had to take it out of the oven 10 minutes early, and it really needed the extra 10 minutes. Unfortunately, Maartje served it without reheating it, and so the crust was not fully done. Maartje does not like American apple pie anyway (only Dutch apple pie), and so she ate the apples out of the crust and left her entire crust. The next time I bake an apple pie (which will be this week), I will put a pan under it and perhaps make the edge crust a bit higher and more secure.

Lars

Thank you, Shaun! That sounds incredibly yummy but YIKES I guess I won't be drinking that very often, LOL! Sounds like a spoonful would be wonderful in a cup of coffee. How long do you think it would keep in the fridge?

My sister's work supplied her food, so I can't comment on it, but I made Cranberry/apple turnovers with the leftover cranberry relish to which I'd added apples. Frozen then thawed puff pastry and drizzled with powdered sugar glaze. Winner!

Totally will make that on purpose next time. Seems like it'll be good for Christmas too.

dawnp wrote:

My other new recipe to try was Bob's magic mushrooms as an appetizer. They were so so good and to quote a family member "These are definitely a keeper!"

Thanks! Reading this comment made my day!

I originally devised the recipe back in the early 90's when I was just learning to cook, and was assigned to bring a hot appetizer to an office potluck. I tried to emulate from memory an appetizer that I had at a restaurant a week or so earlier, and came up with that recipe, which was a big hit and one that I've continued to make ever since.

Jenn I don't know. We haven't ever had any leftovers!!

Bob or Dawn - My google skills fail me. Can't find the mushroom recipe but you've got me intrigued. Can one of you post it?

LindaC - Any word on those pretzel rolls? There's a bar near me that serves bratwurst on pretzel rolls with cider kraut and mustard. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately they don't do a good job of it though. Maybe I could do better, if I had a good roll to start off with.

I'll send an SOS request.....meant to copy before I left...

Thanks... And while we're at it, perhaps Larssize> will send an SOS to Maartje? Loved the sound of the salmon app!!!

Oh Bob - I'm so glad it made you feel good! I had 24 people at my house for dinner and as they were nibbling on the appetizers I was thinking how grateful I was for that recipe! They were completely gone. Good job inventing that and for sharing it with us! We are lucky!

Foodonastump, Here's the recipe. They were sooo good!

One of my oldest T&T recipes is for stuffed-mushroom caps. The are relatively easy to make a day or so ahead, and then you merely pop them in the oven for 10 minutes or so and serve them.
Bob's Magical Mushrooms
1 lb white mushrooms
12 oz cream cheese
3 Tbsp butter
1 tsp minced garlic
4 slices of provolone cheese
3 green onions (chopped fine)
Remove stem and cut away the lower half of the mushroom exposing the gills
Soften cream cheese in microwave, mix garlic and green onions into cream cheese.
Melt butter in small dish.
For each mushroom, spoon the cream cheese mixture into the mushroom, then dip the top into the butter, and place in a glass baking pan. Then cover the top of the cream cheese with provolone cheese.
The above amount should fill a 13x9 baking pan.
At this point you can refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 deg F
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the provolone is melted and the mushrooms are cooked.
Serve immediately.

I had to find the mushroom recipe too! My husband, that's really picky, loves stuffed mushrooms so this will be a huge hit I'm positive! Sounds exactly like the ones he loves! NEATO!

Gravy was a winner, and the caramel cheesecake and pumpkin fudge went over well. I liked the speculoo crist for the pumpkin pie, too. Deciding to melt the butter for the pate brisee because I was too lazy to grate it in was definely a loser. That crust had all the flakiness of a dinner plate, and boy did if shrink.I always worry about cracks and such using cold butter, but I've had luck rolling inside a ziploc bag- if you roll it right to the edge of the bag, the bag pushes back against the crust and seals the cracks. Then chill and cut open the bag, and the plastic will peel off nicely.

Winner was the surprise hit from last year--a very simple dish of fresh green beans in brown butter, topped with toasted almond pieces. Everyone went nuts over them last year, so I did it again this year and made an extra pound. Also a winner was the bird. It came out beautifully brown and crispy and the meat was moist and very sweet. Whew!!

Loser was the dressing--I must have mis measured the broth or the butter in it, because it was dry. Everyone ate it anyway, though!! :-)

Cj

Winners were the turkey, made ahead gravy, stuffing in a casserole in lieu of the bird (first time I haven't cooked it in the turkey), and the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake DD made. Losers were the crockpot mashed potatoes (I think my crockpot runs too hot), roasted Brussels Sprouts (I over roasted them.)

Lars - does this sound like the lox and cream cheese appetizer? I found this at ifoodtv and it sounds similar except these were served on melba rounds:

Smoked Salmon Appetizers Recipe

This Smoked Salmon Appetizers recipe is from family cookbook and you can be rest assured that it works. Indulge yourself in this Smoked Salmon Appetizers as Main Dish. The marriage of the incredible flavors of salmon with other ingredients is the secret to this Smoked Salmon Appetizers recipe.

Ingredients
1/4 cup reduced-fat or fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon or lox
24 melba toast rounds or other low-fat crackers

Directions:
Combine cream cheese, dill and pepper in small bowl; stir to blend.
Spread evenly over each slice of salmon.
Starting with short side, roll up salmon slices jelly-roll fashion.
Place on plate; cover with plastic wrap.
Chill at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours before serving.
Using a sharp knife, cut salmon rolls crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces.
Place pieces, cut side down, on melba rounds. Garnish each piece with dill sprig, if desired.