Pre-Thanksgiving 2011

 I get to have Thanksgiving at my house this year. I love hosting Thanksgiving. I've only done it a couple of times but I actually love all the planning and shopping and decorating that goes into it. This year my parents, Isaac and Jenn, Beth, Erik, and Daniel's parents are coming. That's 10 adults and 2 kids. A perfect number. I am going to try a couple of new recipes this time around. Here's the menu:

Turkey-Alton Brown from the Food Network has a recipe for turkey that people are raving about. I figure I'll give it a try. He brine's it over night then stuffs it with an apple, cinnamon sticks and herbs. Looks amazing. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html



Stuffing- My mom make this for us every year. I really like her recipe. It's a basic stuffing recipe but I love it.

Mashed Potatoes-A couple of years ago, I had everything ready for the big Thanksgiving meal and I forgot to do the potatoes. That memory haunts me. So this year I am going to try a crock pot mashed potato recipe. I made it a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-mashed-potatoes/

Sweet Potatoes-Years past I've has a recipe with brown sugar and pecans but I think I'm going to wing it this year. I love them just peeled and cubed with butter and brown sugar topped with marshmallows.

Green Beans-Steamed with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Jello-Every year we make the jello salad that my grandma used to make and it is yummy. But this year I'm going to make a jello that my friend Holly made for a relief society activity a while back. It has a sweet pretzel crust, cream cheese center and raspberry jello top. It really is the best.

Cranberry Sauce-I grew up on the canned stuff so anything homemade is great to me. I made a Martha Stewart recipe with orange and ginger a couple of years ago. It was really tasty but a bit strong on the ginger for me. This year I'm going to try a recipe I found on Our Best Bites blog. It has cinnamon and cloves in it and you bake it so you don't have to watch it on the stove.  http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/11/cranberry-sauce/


Rolls-Harold and Darlene have a terrific roll recipe. They are going to bring the rolls so I don't have to worry about that.

Apple Pie-Darlene is making this one. She makes a beautiful apple pie.

Pecan Pie-I tried to make a chocolate pecan pie a couple of years ago and wished I had just made the plain old pecan pie that everyone loves.

Pumpkin Pie- I love making pumpkin pie. My recipe has cream cheese and half and half so it is creamy and delicious. Topped with fresh sweet cream is heaven in my book.

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake-I saw this recipe on Our Best Bites and thought it might be fun to try. Looks amazing. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/11/layered-pumpkin-pie-toffee-cheesecake/




So I think that about covers it. I'll keep you posted on how things turn out.