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Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

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Mashed potatoes and gravy are a must in our house for any and every holiday! I’ve made chunky mashed potatoes and creamy, I’ve made watery mashed potatoes, and I’ve made airy mashed potatoes. I always use white or yellow potatoes. I find them easier to work with and the aren’t nearly as starchy as russets. Next, how chunky or smooth your potatoes are is based on how long you let them cook. If they cook until they are fully tender, you are more likely to get smooth mashed potatoes, if you strain them early, you will get a chunky mashed potatoes that will take longer to come together with a mixer. You want to avoid adding too much liquid of they will be runny, and if you want them airy, you can bake them for 10-15 minutes in a casserole dish. If you bake them too much longer, they will turn very starchy and heavy. Less cooking time for airy mashed is better.

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As for gravy, I used the last of the turkey stock I had made last year. If you don’t have a turkey stock, you can make some the day of, by boiling the neck submerged in water for about 4 hours, but you can always use a chicken stock. You’ll want to season as you desire, salt, maybe some butter, sage, rosemary, or thyme. You also want to start by mixing the corn starch with a small amount of broth before adding it to the gravy. Corn starch doesn’t create clumps as much as flour, but it can still happen, so it’s good practice. This recipe makes 8 adult sized servings of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes and Gravy Recipe CardDownload
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What You Will Need

  • 7 lbs White Potatoes, Peeled and Cubed
  • 1/2 Cup Butter (1 Stick)
  • 1-2 Cups Milk (As Desired)
  • Large Dutch Oven
  • Mixing Bowl
  • 2 Cups Turkey Stock/Chicken Broth
  • 1/2 Cup Turkey Drippings
  • 1/2 Cup Corn Starch
  • Small Saucepan

Directions

1. Place your cubed potatoes into the dutch oven. Rinse several times, then cover potatoes with 1-2 inches of water. Place over medium heat, cook for 30 minutes or until a potato falls apart when stabbed with a fork.

2. Strain your potatoes, then transfer to a mixing bowl. Add butter and slowly add milk and begin smashing potatoes with a mixer or a hand masher. Taste and add salt as desired.

3. Add broth to a small sauce pan, reserving 1/2 cup. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Mix corn starch with reserved broth. Once fully combined, add to heated broth. Bring to a boil and serve once thick.

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Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Casserole and Honey Roasted Beets

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These two sides are easy to make and add so muck variety to the meal. The sweet and savory sweet potatoes adds a new flavor and texture to the meal. The beets offer a warm earthy flavor that tastes great with the sweet and natural honey, and once roasted, you can taste the natural sweetness in the beet too. Both these dishes can be made from jarred products and, in my opinion, taste just as good as homemade. If you choose to buy canned sweet potatoes, you can either buy sweet potatoes or yams. Yams are very uncommon in the U.S., so a container labeled yams contains sweet potatoes.

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes and Roasted Beets Recipe CardDownload

What You Will Need

  • 1 Jar Pickled Beets, Strained
  • 1/3 Cup Honey
  • Small Sided Baking Dish
  • 1 Can Diced Sweet Potatoes (Or Yams), Strained
  • 2 Cups Marshmallows (Regular or Mini)
  • Bread Pan

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Add your pickled beets into your small dish. Top with honey and coating each beet. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, or just until warm. Serve immediately.

2. Add your strained sweet potatoes to your bread pan. Top with marshmallows. Bake for 15 minutes or until marshmallows begin to melt. Serve immediately.

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Thanksgiving Turkey and Stuffing

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This year Thanksgiving wasn’t normal, however though we didn’t have any family over, we still did our full spread. Every year Josh gets a free turkey from work. Last year, he got a 20 pound turkey, and this year we got a 21 pound turkey. This year, I also made doubled the stuffing I made last year, because I love stuffing and it goes very fast, so the recipe below is how to make double stuffing, and how to cook the turkey once you are done. I always start with the stuffing to season my roasting pan, then I work on the bird. This was also my first year of not stuffing my turkey, and I have no regrets about that! Stuffing in the bird gets way too moist and almost a weird flavor from all the turkey drippings. Some people also use a roasting rack for their turkey. I don’t find that necessary or helpful. Without the rack, my dark meat always gets done, and with basting, my white meat always stays juicy, and by the time I was done, the wings had already begun to fall apart they were so tender.

Thanksgiving Turkey and Stuffing Recipe CardDownload

What You Will Need

  • 1 1/2 loaf of 3 day old white bread, cubed
  • 3 Onions Diced
  • 8 Celery Stalks, Diced
  • 1 1/2 cup Salted Butter, 3 sticks
  • 2 Tbsp Ground Sage
  • 3 Tbsp Ground Thyme
  • Dutch Oven
  • Thawed Turkey
  • 4 Tbsp Butter
  • Roasting Pan
  • Aluminum Foil
  • Turkey Baster

Directions

1. Place dutch oven over medium heat. Add butter, celery, and onion, and cook until onion is translucent.

2. Add cubed bread to roasting pan. Sprinkle sage and thyme over the top of the bread. Pour butter mixture over bread. Stir together until everything is moistened and coated in seasoning. Transfer stuffing to casserole dishes. Cover and place in the fridge, or enjoy a bowl.

3. Heat oven to 350 F. Clean out your turkey, removing giblets, neck, and make sure you can go straight through the turkey. Rinse gently under cool water, then transfer to roasting pan. Stuff with 1 cup stuffing, or with 1/2 an onion, cut celery stalks, and a sprinkle of sage and thyme. Top turkey with 4 Tbsp butter. Cover with foil then add to oven.

4. Cook Turkey for the first hour without basting. Baste, then cook for remaining time, but basting every 45 minutes. Cook your turkey about 10 minutes per pound of turkey. Make sure internal temperature of the thigh and several other places is over 165 F.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers! Thank you for subscribing to my blog and for your visits. Thanksgiving is a very special holiday to me. I began this blog a little over a year ago and Thanksgiving was the first big set of posts I was able to upload. Thank you for allowing me to do what I enjoy to do. I love cooking and I’m very glad to be able to cook for my family, and I’m glad I can share my recipes and experiences with each one of you. Let’s make this new year a better one, and I hope you get the opportunities and/or motivations to accomplish some of the things you’ve always desired too! Have a great day and happy thanksgiving!

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Ham Hock Baked Beans

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I made these baked beans with a smoked ham hock. Though this recipe seems easy, the flavor is absolutely fantastic. After about 5 hours cooking on high, you can remove the meat from the ham hock. This meat is tender and full of flavor. It comes apart like pulled pork, and after cooking for so long, the fats of the meat make a delicious baked beans. Ham hocks also have some skin on them, and after cooking for so long, the skin and fat melt away in your mouth. I made these beans as the recipe below is written. I will say, I had a very big ham hock, but my beans were almost more pulled pork than baked beans. Finally, the sauce was delicious, with a good balance between sweet and savory. It’s a really good barbecue recipe, that’s for sure! This recipe made 8 large side servings.

Ham Hock Baked Beans Recipe CardDownload

What You Will Need

  • 12 Oz Northern Beans
  • 1/2 cup Brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
  • 1/2 cup Ketchup
  • 2 Cups Water
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Mustard
  • 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 Tbsp Black pepper
  • 1 ham hock
  • Medium seal-able Container
  • Slow Cooker

Directions

1. Place your beans in your seal-able container, and cover with an inch of water. Let sit out at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Strain and rinse your soaked beans. To your slow cooker, add your beans and the rest of your ingredients and stir together.

2. Let it cook on high for 6 hours stirring about every hour. If too much liquid boils off, add water 1/2 cup at a time. After 6 hours on high, reduce your heat to low. Cook for another hour on low before serving.

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