Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in North America as a way of giving thanks at the end of the harvest season. In the US, this holiday is celebrated over a four-day weekend, with schools and colleges getting an off during this period. Families as well as friends get together to mark the day with a festive meal and to give thanks for all they have received over the year.

Traditionally, Thanksgiving meals are family events wherein special types of food is prepared and served. One of the main items that features in a Thanksgiving feast is Turkey, which is the reason Thanksgiving sometimes is even jokingly called ‘Turkey Day’. Some of the other traditional foods associated with the Thanksgiving dinner are pumpkin pie, yams, turnips, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, and stuffing. Usually, guests either bring along items of food or help out in the kitchen, making it a happy meal where everybody bonds together.

So here are a few Thanksgiving recipes for you to make at home to make these holidays festive, filling and unforgettable:

Glazed Roast Turkey

1 turkey
1 liter of ginger ale
2 cups honey
1 cup brown sugar, dark
1 small can of crushed pineapple, not drained
3 onions, cut into quarters
2 apples, chopped
2 oranges, peeled and chopped
pepper
salt

Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees F. Wash the turkey and apply the salt and pepper to it, both inside and outside. Mix the remaining ingredients together, and pour it inside and outside the turkey. Cover it and roast for 30 minutes. Then, lower the temperature to 225 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes more for each pound of turkey. Bake uncovered for the last 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow to sit for about 15 minutes. Then, remove the turkey and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

Baked Pumpkin Pie

2-3 kg (4-6 lb) pumpkin
6 eggs
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp molasses
1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger, powdered
2 tbsp butter

Slice off the pumpkin’s top and scrape out the membranes and seeds. Excepting the butter, mix all the ingredients together and put into the pumpkin. Then, topping with the butter, place the pumpkin’s lid back in place, and put it on a large sized baking dish, and bake for about 1½ hours at 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F, until the mixture inside sets.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups of sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
1/4 cup flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup of evaporated milk
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup of pecan halves
1/4 tsp salt

Combine the sweet potatoes, ¼ cup butter, granulated sugar, evaporated milk, and salt, and blend them all together until you get a creamy consistency. Put this in a buttered baking dish. Next, combine the flour, pecan halves, brown sugar, ¼ cup of butter and sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Blue Cheese Lettuce Salad

6 cups of shredded lettuce
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 medium sized green apples or pears, sliced
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 tbsp butter, melted

For the Lemon Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup of olive oil

Combine the pine nuts with the butter, spread them on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for about 4-5 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Take care to stir the nuts at least once during the baking process. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack. Then, combine the lettuce and blue cheese in a salad bowl, and add the pine nuts and apples. Next, combine the garlic, brown sugar, lemon juice, pepper and salt in a blender or a food processor and process, adding the oil gradually, until it becomes smooth. Drizzle this over the salad, tossing to coat all the ingredients. This should be served immediately.

Creamy Cranberry Pie

2 ½ cups of whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 9-inch pastry shell, baked
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten lightly
3 tbsp flour, all-purpose
1 tsp vanilla extract

Begin by spreading the cranberry sauce on the pastry shell’s bottom. Then put the sugar and cream cheese in a mixing bowl and beat them together until smooth. Then beat in the flour, vanilla and eggs at a low speed until they just combine. Pour this over the cranberry sauce layer. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove and allow it to cool on a wire rack, then cover it and refrigerate for about 4 hours.