I serve or bring this every year.

Sweet Potato Puree with Bananas and Buttered Pecans

6 pounds (about 6) sweet potatoes
4 ripe bananas, skins on
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup pure maple syrup
½ cup Brandy
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound pecans
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork and bake until tender, about 1 hour. Roast the bananas, with the skins on, for the last 15 minutes of cooking time. When cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes and bananas, and transfer to a food processor. Pulse until the potatoes are chunky.
Add the butter and maple syrup, puree until smooth. Add the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt; puree to combine. Transfer to a shallow baking pan and smooth out the surface with a spatula.

In a skillet, cook the pecans in butter over low heat and sprinkle with salt. Sauté until well-coated, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Transfer the pecans to paper towels to drain. Arrange pecans on top of puree and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 300 degrees F until heated through, about 20 minutes.

I found "Woody's Make Ahead Gravy" here a couple Thanksgivings ago. It is wonderful and saved us from a lot of last minute stress.

These are my absolute must haves. Anything else is up in the air and not etched in stone. Oh, except for the Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce which I cut into little leaf shapes with a mini cookie cutter :) None of that homemade stuff for me! (Glad you enjoy that gravy, AMCK, I don't like last minute stress either.)

BREAD AND SAUSAGE STUFFING (Marilyn)

2 pounds white bread
2 pounds pork sausage
6 stalks celery; chopped
2 onions; chopped
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic; minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 eggs
6 cups chicken stock

Cut bread into cubes and lay out to dry. In a large skillet, cook sausage until well browned; place in a large mixing bowl along with drippings. Cook onions and celery in butter until tender but not brown. Add all ingredients to the large bowl along with the sausage. Stir together well and pour into a greased 9X13X2-inch baking dish and bake at 350° for 30 to 45 minutes until puffed and golden but not too dry.

COOKS COUNTRY - MAKE AHEAD GRAVY
Makes about 2 quarts
For more flavor, after roasting the turkey you can skim the drippings from the pan and add them to the gravy just before serving. It's best to discard the strong-tasting liver before using the giblets. This recipe makes enough to accompany a large turkey and still have plenty for leftovers.

6 turkey drumsticks, thighs, or wings
reserved turkey giblets
reserved turkey neck
2 carrots , chopped coarse
1 head garlic , halved
2 ribs celery , chopped coarse
2 onions , chopped coarse
Vegetable oil spray
10cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups dry white wine
12 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Table salt and ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place giblets, neck, drumsticks, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in roasting pan, spray with vegetable oil, and toss well. Roast, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
2. Transfer contents of roasting pan to Dutch oven. Add broth, wine, and thyme and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by half, about 1 1/2 hours. Pour through fine-mesh strainer into large container (discard solids), cover stock with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until fat congeals, at least 2 hours.
3. Using soup spoon, skim fat and reserve. Heat 1/2 cup fat in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until bubbling. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until honey colored, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in stock, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Gravy can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.) Reheat gravy in saucepan over medium heat until bubbling.

amck - Would you be willing to post that gravy recipe? I tried searching and nothing came up. Thanks.

Thanks for the recipe, woodie-- looks like we posted at the same time

We're having the usual turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes dinner. Nothing too out there or unusual. In the past I've made most of the sides on Wednesday to eat on Thursday, but I decided this year that I would just leave it until Thursday. Since I'll be in the kitchen all day anyway I figured I might as well limit it to that one day instead of stretching it out to two LOL. Normally I wouldn't mind, but this year my daughter and her family are coming for the long weekend, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to coook lots of meals for lots of people for several days :-)

Lately I've been hooked on cranberry walnut relish - I made another batch this week and froze most of it for Thanksgiving. And this year I'm going to try a new recipe for roasted onions with rosemary and cream that sounds divine - both recipes follow.

Mark Bittman has a nice article with 101 side dishes to prepare in advance for Thanksgiving - I'm linking to it below.

Now, having said all that, are you really going to eat two turkey dinners back to back? If it were me I'd go for something different, but still festive. Maybe an Italian or Mexican feast. Just a thought - whatever you do, I hope you enjoy your time with family :-)

Becky

* Exported from MasterCook *

Onions Baked with Rosemary and Cream

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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6 medium yellow onions -- with peel
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
3 sprigs fresh rosemary -- chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Slice about 1/4 inch off of the tops and bottoms of the onions. Cut in half crosswise leaving the skin on, and arrange cut side up in a shallow baking dish. Pour the chicken stock over and around the onion halves, then drizzle with olive oil. Season liberally with salt, pepper and rosemary. Place on top of a cookie sheet to catch any splatters that may occur.
3. Bake uncovered for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until onion is easily pierced with a knife and liquid has reduced by 1/2. Remove the dish from the oven, and pour the cream over the onions. Return to the oven, and continue to bake uncovered until the pan juices have thickened slightly and onions are browned, up to 30 minutes

www.allrecipes.com

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* Exported from MasterCook *

Cranberry Walnut Relish

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup white sugar
1 jar orange marmalade -- (12 ounce)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place cranberries in a shallow 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
2. Remove from oven and sprinkle with walnuts. Re-cover and bake for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and stir in marmalade and lemon juice. Mix well. Cool to room temperature. Cover tightly and refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving

www.allrecipes.com

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NOTES : Made 10-20-10 Increased sugar to 12 ounces (by weight).

Here is a link that might be useful: Mark Bittman's 101 Head Starts on the Day

And of course Cranberry Jezebel, a forum staple LOL

From Cooking Light, posted long ago by LindaC. Accept no imposters!

Cranberry Jezebel

12 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup water (or fresh squeezed orange juice)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons horseradish
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

Wash and pick over the berries. Put water and sugars in saucepan (large enough to prevent boil over) and bring to a boil, add berries and return to a boil, cook on medium for about 10 minutes from the time it returns to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cool to lukewarm then stir in horseradish and Dijon mustard. Refrigerate for a few hours at least.

Oh my! Such treasures! I only had time for a quick glance; I’ll be back later to pour over every suggestion and recipe.

Thanks everyone!

Jeri

Alice and I are invited to a friend's house for Thanksgiving so I won't be making the turkey. While I love my friend dearly and she a brilliant woman, she is not much of a cook! Last Christmas she invited Alice and I to drop by for a little bit to visit. We arrived to find places set for both of us at the table. Dear friend pulled a turkey out of the oven and informed us that she had poured a bottle of beer over the bird and roasted it. Her stuffing was made from Ritz crackers. I think my eyes grew very wide but I said nothing. Yep, the bird had no other seasoning, not even salt! I can't remark on the stuffing as I don't think I had any. Stuffing in my world is a major production!

I haven't yet broken the news to Alice that we will have Thanksgiving there but I hope to save the day for her (she told me later that the turkey wasn't to her liking!) by taking the stuffing (I use the Grand Marnier Apricot Stuffing from "Silver Palate Good Times" with a few tweaks.), the mashed potatoes and gravy, and homemade pies. There will be other cooks there with offerings as well.

Grand Marnier Apricot Stuffing

Ingredients

o 1 cup diced dried apricots
o 1 1/2 cups Grand Marnier
o turkey liver ( extremely optional)
o turkey heart ( extremely optional)
o 1 cup unsalted butter
o 2 cups coarsely chopped celery
o 1 large onions, chopped
o 1 lb bulk pork sausage
o 1 lb herb stuffing mix
o 1 cup slivered almonds
o 2 cups rich chicken broth
o 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
o salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place the apricots and 1 cup of the Grand Marnier in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling. Remove from heat and set aside. (If you simply must, simmer the giblets in a small saucepan covered with water for 5 minutes. When cool, remove and finely dice, discarding the liquid.).
2. Melt ½ cup of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and saute for 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
   3. In the same skillet, cook the sausage, crumbling it with a fork, until it’s no longer pink. Remove from heat and add to the celery & onion mixture.
   4. Add the stuffing mix, apricots with the liquid, the almonds (and the optional giblets.) Stir to combine.
   5. Heat the remaining 1/2 cup butter and chicken stock just until the butter melts. Pour over the stuffing mixture and add the remaining 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier. Stir well to moisten the stuffing, adding the thyme, salt and pepper to taste.
   6. Bake stuffing in a large buttered casserole at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
   7. You’ll have enough to stuff a 21-24 pound bird with a small extra casserole on the side.

This recipe may be slightly paraphrased as I copied it from a webpage, not from the book itself. I can't find my copy, it must be boxed up as I am painting. The ingredients are correct.

I never use giblets in my stuffing. (Yuck, pah-tooey.) And I also do not use herbed stuffing mix. I use artisan sourdough and regular bread which I Melba toast and hand crumble. I also use fresh sage and fresh thyme. I use homemade turkey stock instead of chicken stock and I will substitute walnuts for the almonds this year as I have several pounds in my freezer and no almonds.

I will add that I made this stuffing ahead and froze it. I baked it on Thanksgiving Day.

My family can't have thanksgiving without Macaroni and Cheese and Broccoli Cheese and Rice Cassarole

MACARONI AND CHEESE

Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups Macaroni Noodles
3 Tbs Butter
2 Tbs Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
Dash Pepper
2 Cups Milk
8 oz. Cheese (Cubed velveeta, I've also made this with real cheese and came out good... Sharp cheddar, mozzarella)

Directions
Boil macaroni according to directions on bag. In a sauce pan, melt butter on medium/medium-low heat, add flour, stir until bubbling. Add milk slowly bring to a boil, let thicken a little making a gravy mixture. Add cubed velveeta to gravy mixture, add salt and pepper, simmer until Velveeta is melted. Add cheese mixture to cooked and drained macaroni noodles. Put in 8x8 casserole dish. cook for 30 minutes on 350 degrees covered with aluminum foil

BROCCOLI CHEESE AND RICE

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
6 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped
1 head of fresh broccoli, steamed or sauteed
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 (16 ounce) jar processed cheese sauce, or velveet, or real cheese

directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a saucepan bring 2 cup water to a boil (Or chicken broth if you want). Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Saute onions in bacon drippings over medium heat.
In a 9x13 inch baking dish combine cooked rice, bacon, onions, broccoli, soup, milk and cheese sauce.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

I would plan to make a couple of make ahead salads such as the 24 Hour Salad, a pea salad or the broccoli/bacon/raisin salad. Here are some recipes:

24 Hour Salad or Layered Salad

Use any of the following ingredients layered in a large glass bowl or casserole, layered in this order:

chopped iceberg lettuce
chopped fresh spinach leaves
1/2 package frozen green peas, thawed
1 small thinly sliced red onion
1/2 lb. crumbled, cooked bacon
2 chopped hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup grated sharp or medium cheddar cheese

Topping/dresssing: Combine

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
opt. 1 TB sugar
opt. 2 TB finely grated Parmesan cheese

Spread over top evenly to seal in salad ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Optional: top the creamy dressing with a sprinkle of paprika for some color.

note: this salad is not meant to be tossed before serving; you simply scoop down through the dressing to get some of all the layers.

Carmel's Crunchy Pea Salad

8 slices bacon
1 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas, thawed and drained
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped cashews
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine peas, celery, scallions and sour cream. Toss gently to mix.
3. Just before serving, stir in cashews and bacon into salad. Season with salt and pepper.

Broccoli Salad

1 pound bacon
4 cups broccoli florets
5 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1. Place bacon in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly browned. Cool, crumble, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, toss together broccoli, green onions, sunflower seeds, raisins, and bacon.
3. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Toss with vegetables to coat. Cover, and chill until serving.

Barnmom - I was just looking at that recipe yesterday! I think it is from the Silver palate cookbook..... it looks fantastic!

I know I will be making Cranberry Jezebel, Cranberry&Rosemary biscuits, and I found an intriguing recipe for a cranberry tart that uses cranberry curd that I may try for the first time. Everything else is up for discussion since we are going to my cousins house and I'm not sure what else I will be assigned.

Alexa

If you are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, it may to helpful to send them a letter letting them know how they can help out. Such as the following:

The Thanksgiving Letter

Some of the comments there are the best part. I'm not sure though whether my casserole dishes are "regulation sized".

I will add that Dear Friend's sweet potatoes were excellent. And so was the company.

We're sorta un-American here when it comes to Thanksgiving. We don't like turkey. :( But, we like all the traditional fixings other than the bean casserole thing. So, we substitute roast chicken for the turkey & everybody's happy.

It was really funny when my DMIL was still alive. Every year she asked about our turkey dinner. Every year we told her we didn't cook a turkey. She would always respond with, "Oh, don't be silly. Of COURSE you like turkey!" lol Years when we could be home for holiday dinners she would keep adding sliced turkey to our plates during dinner oblivious to the ever growing untouched pile she'd already created on our plates. I 'think' it's one of the reasons DH married me. I also don't like turkey.

/tricia

OK - Getting really excited now :-) But I do have some questions for all of you...

We are going to be 9 adults (this may become 11) and 4 kids. So please let me know if I need to increase the recipe sizes - OK? I’m planning on purchasing a pre-brined Turkey from Trader Joes - do you think a 12 lb would be about right?

Grand Marnier Apricot Stuffing - Do you think I can prepare this the day before and cook it in a Slow Cooker the day of? If so, how long and on what temp?

Sweet Potato Puree with Bananas and Buttered Pecans: Can I assemble this through spreading in the pan the day before and then add the pre-cooked pecans and brown sugar right before cooking the day of? Would this fit into a half steam tray for cooking and serving?

Make ahead gravy - Perfect!
Cranberry Walnut Relish - sounds Great.

Cranberry Jezebel - Sounds very intriguing. I saw someone recommend putting this over room temperature cream cheese and serving with crackers. I don’t know whether to do this or just serve it with the Turkey? Or both?

Thanks everyone!

Jeri

Jeri - another really delishh make-ahead dish is the following potatoes. I did not invent this, but it is wonderful and is my "go to"

Make Ahead Mashed Potato Casserole
5 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
8 oz brick of cream cheese
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of milk, heated
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
put the potatoes and enough water to cover + 2 inches in a large stock pot. Salt the water until it tastes slightly salty. Cover tightly and bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a moderate boil and set the lid askew and continue to boil until potatoes are tender (15-20 minutes, be careful not to overcook).
Drain the potatoes and return to the warm pot. With an electric mixer, beat in the cream cheese (cubed). When potatoes are smooth and cream cheese is incorporated, beat in sour cream, milk, salt and pepper. Pour into a buttered baking dish and cool completely before refridgerating overnight.
The next day, pop the covered dish into a 325 oven for 40 minutes or until heated through. The potatoes will be as light and fluffy as if you had just mashed them 5 minutes ago, but will also have a little extra "zip" from the cream cheese. These are always a huge hit and everyone is always dying for my "fresh mashed potatoes" recipe when I make them.

* Note - I often mash them by hand rather than the mixer.... it gives a slightly chunkier result, but it is just as good.

Serve the cranberry Jezebel with the turkey....or over cream cheese but not both...that's overkill on the Jezebel...
Don't cook the stuffing in a crock pot, it needs to be baked or it will just be a pile of muck and I am afraid you wouldn't like it.
Will you have enough oven room for the dressing and the sweet potatoes, and the turkey?
Good luck!!
Linda C

Grand Marnier Apricot Stuffing - Do you think I can prepare this the day before and cook it in a Slow Cooker the day of? If so, how long and on what temp?

jeri, I am going to prepare my dressing in a crockpot this year. I have looked at dozens and dozens of recipes and all of them include this: Pack lightly into a greased slow cooker. cover and cook on HIGH 45 minutes; reduce to LOW and continue to cook for 4 to 8 hours longer.

So that is what I am going to do with my traditional cornbread dressing.

woodie2, thank you for providing your gravy recipe. I was running late when I posted & didn't have it at hand to pass on.

Also, I apologize for misspelling your username.

I would bake it according to directions and then keep warm it in a crock pot on low but not for hours and hours. It doesn't take that long to cook. I think 4-8 hours in a crock pot would make a wet mush out of most stuffing.

I use sturdy artisan bread bread which is then dried and Melba toasted in a slow oven for a long tim. So it is able to handle being moistened and then held for a while before baking, as I did last year. I would make it ahead with no problem but the crock method would worry me unless I did a trial run first. I'd like to hear from someone who had success with this before doing it this way for company.

That is exactly what I have always thought, barnmom. However, the descriptions I have read indicate otherwise. One or two even stated that the outside gets deliciously, slightly crispy.

Anyway, if I can find this topic again, I will let you know how it turned out.

jeri, for the big day I usually make one cranberry bag of Jezebel and then 1-2 bags of the regular stuff (I use concentrated frozen OJ, a bag of frozen raspberries, and a good dose of Grand Marnier). I serve them next to each other - clearly labeled!

I just made the Grand Marnier and Apricot Stuffing for Thanksgiving and it is now in the freezer.

I made 1 1/2 times the original recipe. This has not cooked yet, but when I gave it a taste it had such a strong alcohol presence! I’m hoping to hear that this is to be expected and will be great once it is cooked. :-)

Thanks!

Am finally getting back to this message to report about cooking the dressing in the crockpot.

I was actually surprised by how great it turned out. I did not put the crockpot on high at any time. The dressing had just the right amount of moistness, did have a brown crispy crust, and was not a "wet mush" at all. I will definitely prepare dressing this way again.

WalnutCreek - This was so nice of you to come back and share your trial with us! I've read such great things about stuffing in the CrockPot, but I didn't have the nerve to try it. :-) I did put the mashed potatoes into the CrockPot and that worked excellent too!