As many of you know, our family has experienced many changes this year, one of which has been that our family is growing!! We now have two adult children who are married, so naturally, our holidays are going to be somewhat different in order for them to be able to share the holidays with their new families and us! When trying to figure out how to plan for this change, I decided before they even married that I would just plan a day near the actual holiday and celebrate earlier or later than the "real day". Like many of you, our usual plans consist of traveling from our house to one Mother's house for lunch and then to the other Mother's house for dinner on the actual holiday. Anthony, Austin and I will still be able to do this and we are excited that we still can!! <3 Since all my kiddos couldn't do that this year, I planned a small Thanksgiving Dinner this past weekend just for us and the kids here at home so we could all celebrate together!
I was in "Heaven" all day long!!!
We started our day by having our pictures made for our 2014 Christmas Card!
I just love my little family!! <3
Then, we returned home so I could get our dinner finished up and we could enjoy our special day together.
I want to share a few of my favorite Thanksgiving tips and recipes with you...
I like to start off my holiday cooking by "setting the mood", so to speak!
Here's a recipe I use that will make your house smell so "Thanksgivingy" :)
You will need:
1 Apple
1 Orange
2 Tablespoons of Cloves
About 1/4 of a bag of Fresh Cranberries
1 Lemon
6 or so Cinnamon Sticks
4 Cups of Water
Combine all of your ingredients together and place in a small crock pot or a medium sized pot on the stove top. Simmer all day and enjoy the wonderful smells of the holiday!!
After making my potpourri, I got busy setting my table!
I just set a very simple table using fresh cranberries, tea lights and an old wreath I had from years back for my centerpiece. Because the cranberries are red, I also choose red cloth napkins this time.
Now, it was time to get started on the dinner!
Let's talk Turkey!!
Be sure that you thaw your turkey according to the package directions days before you start cooking. You will also need to remove the organs... from your bird right before you begin the brine. Rinse your turkey through and pat dry with a paper towel.
Now you are ready to begin the next step, preparing a brine for your turkey! I actually did this for the first time last year when I saw it on The Pioneer Woman's website and then watched her do it on her show. Trust me, this makes a very moist bird!! It is worth the work!!
Here's what I used for a 16 pound turkey:
Orange Peels off of 3 Oranges
2 cups of Apple Cider
1 and 1/2 gallons of Water
1/4 cup of Salt
1 and 1/2 cups of Brown Sugar
3 Bay Leaves
2 tablespoons of Fresh Rosemary
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of Peppercorns
1 teaspoon of fresh Garlic
Now, I will warn you that the Pioneer Woman suggests that you only use a brine for a Fresh Turkey (not a frozen one) because of the sodium content in a frozen bird, but I used a frozen one both years and they turned out great! I just decreased the salt in my recipe to 1/4 cup in order for my bird not to be too salty.
Bring all of your brine ingredients to a boil and then turn off the heat and cover. Let the brine cool to room temperature.
Once my brine was at room temperature, I put my thawed turkey into a large turkey sized browning bag and poured the entire brine solution over my bird and sealed my bag. I then placed my soaking bag of brine and turkey in a large pan and placed it into the refrigerator for 12 hours!! I also flipped my bird within the sealed bag so that the entire bird was covered at some point during the soaking stage.
Now, the next step happens right before it's time to cook your bird...
Carefully take your pan with the turkey/brine bag over to your kitchen sink and remove the turkey from the bag and rinse the bird through under cold water. Then, fill a clean, empty sink with cold water and soak your brined turkey under the cold water for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 275 degrees .
Speaking of all of this turkey talk, take a look at these sweet little "turkeys"!
I'm so glad that I saved things like this! My sweet boy's hands! Avery was 8 and Austin was 6! <3
Okay, okay, back to preparing our turkey!
Once you have your bird all rinsed, pat it dry with paper towels and place it in your roasting pan, breast side up.
*Notice that I cut little slits for the wing tips to go into the outside skin so that the tips of the wings won't burn. I showed you this technique when I shared my recipe for roasting a chicken earlier this season. I also tied the turkey's legs together to hold him all together.
Cover with foil and place in the 275 degree oven for 10 minutes per pound.
This will be stage 1 of your turkey roasting!
When your bird has completed the first stage of roasting, remove your bird from the oven to prepare him for stage 2.
I softened 3 sticks of butter and mixed it with rosemary, salt and pepper and rubbed it all over my roasted bird.
Now, he is all ready to put back into the oven for his second stage of cooking. Turn up the oven to 350 degrees and return the turkey to the oven. I covered him with foil for most of the cooking time,
but removed the foil toward the end of my cooking time so that the turkey would be nice and brown. Your turkey's temperature should be 165 degrees.
Yum!!!! Be sure you baste your turkey with his own juices throughout your cooking time as you go. Baste your turkey about every 20 minutes during the 2nd stage of cooking.
Remove your turkey from the oven when he's done and allow him to rest, covered for at least 20 minutes.
Then, when it's time to eat, your turkey will be glorious!!
Here's a few pictures of our special dinner...
I also wanted to share my recipe for Dressing...
You will need:
About 2 cups of cooked and deboned chicken
chopped onion
1 and 1/2 sticks of melted butter
1 large skillet of cornbread, crumbled
chicken broth
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
sage to taste
1 boiled egg, chopped
Saute your butter and onion. Crumble your cornbread in a large bowl. Add the butter and onion mix to the cornbread. Sprinkle in your salt, pepper and sage to taste into the bread mixture. Add the chopped, boiled egg, broth and beaten egg and stir until smooth. Add the chicken last. If your dressing is too dry, add more broth. If it's too wet, add cubed loaf bread. This dressing is VERY MOIST, so you do want a wet consistency. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 until it seems a bit firm.
* If you need step by step pictures, you can browse my previous posts on my blog. I have shared this recipe with you before.
Enjoy!!
Wishing You All A Very Happy Thanksgiving From My Family To Yours!
1 Timothy 4:4
"For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving."KJV
Psalms 95:2
"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms." KJV
~ <3 ~ <3 ~ <3 ~
