Thanksgiving favorites 2009

[SheWoff]

I know this is kind of early, but I wanted to give everyone enough time to think about it and dust off the old recipe books! Please, if you would, post one of your families favorite recipes for Thanksgiving and maybe a bit of background on it. Like this is the cranberry sauce we make every year because great granny used to make it for us all, or something similar. I thought it would be so neat to get a little story along with the recipe. Just to reflect back on our families and things we are greatful and thankful this year. I know it is going to take me a couple of days to find the recipe I am looking for, so no rush folks.

She

[Trinity]

Sometimes we go camping for Thanksgiving. One year we had fajitas. We have been trying non-traditional Thanksgivings for a couple years. We will probably do the whole family thing this year.

[SheWoff]

When I moved to TN about 10 years ago, I had NO idea what cornbread dressing was. All I knew was that hubby was expecting this to be on the table with the turkey. I was panicked about 3 or 4 days before Thanksgiving not having a recipe and no idea how to make this. I had read recipes on line and there were tons of them But which one was the good one? So I got ahold of a friend on line who also lived in TN. She saved the day by giving me her families "secret recipe" for the dressing and now I make it every year just as a reminder to be thankful for good friends!


Anita's Cornbread Dressing

1 can cream of celery soup
2 - 3 cans chicken broth
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped fine
salt
pepper
sage to taste
1 whole stick butter
6 slices of white bread
1 skillet of cornbread ( No. 8 skillet)

In a large sauce pan add broth, soup, onion, celery and butter. Add salt and pepper. Slow simmer for 20 minutes. Add sage about half way.

In a large bowl crumble 1 pan of cornbread, cooled off. Crumble in the white bread slices. Mix. Add hot mixture to the bread and stir well. Put into well greased casserole dish. Cook in oven at 350 for 1/2 hour or until top crust turns golden brown. Don't let it dry out. If looks like it is, pour a little bit of chicken broth over the top and cover with aluminum foil.

She

[SheWoff]

This is a pie that I first made when I lived in FL and the boys were teens. And picky eaters lol. I never told them it was sweet potato pie until after they had finished it off with two things of cool whip hehehe. Now, one of the boys will drive 500 miles just to get this pie made for him LOL...and mom sure will make it too if he comes that far for it. I fix this pie every year as a reminder to be thankful for my children.

Justin Wilson's Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

1 1/2 cup sweet potatoes boiled and mashed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350. Mix potatoes, honey, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. In separate bowl, beat eggs. Gradually beat in sugar and vanilla. Pour egg mixture into the potato mixture and stir together well. Add pecans and stir. Pour into pie shell. Bake for 1 hour or until a knife inserted into the middle of the pie comes out clean.

She

[Animal Lover]

My favorite was my mother's banana walnut bread. There is no recipe that I can find. I had all my recipe's stolen from a woman that I took in "free room and board" and not work...only had to look after my children from the school bus in the afternoon for two hours. She robbed me blind from a lot of my precious (to me) things when she went to live with her DIL. I had a tendency to trust everyone.....I kind of still do....I know it is not good to be such a noodle. AL

[Animal Lover]

Also, may not be the place to say it, but "She, you sound like a wonderful Mom and woman to me." I am so thankful that the world has so many loving, kind, generous Moms out there. We need lots and lots more of them. AL

[SheWoff]

Also, may not be the place to say it, but "She, you sound like a wonderful Mom and woman to me." I am so thankful that the world has so many loving, kind, generous Moms out there. We need lots and lots more of them. AL

Thanks AL you are gonna make me . I have noticed there seem to be a bunch of us here on the Tree. It isn't just me lol.

She

[AngelDance]

Thanksgiving is a real time of food traditions for us. Each of my kids has a dish that to them thanksgiving would not be Thanksgiving without.

My oldest (28 yo) daughter's is green bean casserole (my home made, not the soup one), which is funny because when she was very young, she said it "scared her". No idea why, just one of those silly kid things.

My oldest (23 yo) son's is his paternal great-grandmother's brown sugar pie. She was a formidable woman, from all accounts; President of the WCTU back in the day. She ran a boarding house during the depression and later ran a hotel dining room and her brown sugar pie was locally famous. The recipe has never been published and I have the only know copy to exist, written in her own hand. I have bequeathed it to my son.

My youngest (14 yo) son has two: succotash ( an older Southern Living recipe using corn, butterbeans, onions, butter and cream) and my poached garlic soup.

Youngest (11 yo) daughter's is Coca Cola salad, a recipe which came down through my mother's family. It is so old, it originally called for plain gelatin, but has been adapted over the years to use Jell-o. It has dark sweet cherries, pineapple and pecans in it and is served with a dressing of cream cheese, mayo and cream on the side.

My husband's "essential" dish is sweet roasted sweet potatoes, apples and onions. His uncle was a sweet potato farmer in South Carolina.

Of course, there is always roast turkey (wild, when I can get it LOL), mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, and another veg or two (squash, carrots or some kind of leafy green like kale or collards).

In the middle of the day, football or frisbee in the yard is always played by everyone but me, who watches and encourages from the front porch between forays into the kitchen to check on things before dinner, which we always eat later in the afternoon rather than the middle of the day. We all hold hands around the table for giving our thanks to God in a group Blessing as well as each individual tells what they are most grateful for. Cleanup is cooperative followed by sitting around the firepit, reminiscing about loved ones who are no longer with us, memories we all share, and much jocularity and laughter. We are FUNNY people, I tell ya!

I love Thanksgiving..........

Angel

[grower]

Here is a favorite of our family:

KAREN'S BANANA BREAD

Preheat oven to 350.

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 c. melted butter
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 tbsp. flaxseed meal
1 c. chopped pecans (optional)

Mix ingredients in order listed, pour in greased loaf pan. Bake 1 hour. Cool, remove from pan, slice and serve. Makes 1 loaf.

This makes a really moist, delicious banana bread. A couple of tips I'd give include:

• When you have some bananas that are getting over-ripe, just throw them in a baggy and freeze. When you want to make this recipe, take the bananas out of the freezer and set them in your measuring cup or a bowl. After about 15 minutes, you can peal them easily enough, and after another 15 minutes, you can mash them up to put in the batter.
• You can make "knowledgeable subsititutions" for some of the ingredients. By that I mean, if you are an experienced cook, you know what to substitute with what. For instance, the last time I made this (yesterday), I did not have enough brown sugar, so I measured out a cup of white sugar and added a tablespoon of molasses. DO NOT, however, substitute margarine for butter. Julia Child always called margarine "the M-word," and I have to agree. 'Nuff said.

I'll have to look around for some other recipes. You've got me thinking, She!!

[Midnight Blue]

We have discussed so far having turkey, ham, green bean casserole, corn, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, double layer pumpkin pie and apple pie. I am thinking of kicking off that morning with pumpkin pancakes and a pumpkin shake.