Thanksgiving is always a time of year that people put pride into their cooking. They may use recipes passed down the generations from their great-grandmother, or they might just use recipes they find online or in recipe books. You have to have a turkey and grandma's famous stuffing, and the family favorite green bean casserole. Of course, no Thanksgiving is complete without the pumpkin pie and the cranberry sauce either. We're pleased to give you the top 5 Thanksgiving recipes of this year.
Stuffing
Your grandma probably made her stuffing from homemade bread. Your mom probably made hers with store-bought bread, croutons, or with store-bought mix. They both tasted just as good. You can make a delicious stuffing using day-old bread, cornbread, butter, finely chopped celery and onion, and seasonings. Stovetop stuffing is very easy to make and very good, but you will need proper pots, such as the set you can find here, . Melt the butter over the stovetop and sauté the onions and celery. You then chop up the breads into cubes and toast it in the oven, and mix the bread with the sautéed onions and celery and seasonings; moisten with chicken broth as necessary. Put this into a baking pan and bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes.
Turkey
The turkey is usually a big deal. Some people will take a whole week to prepare their turkey. Most people do not care for turkey and just throw it in the oven, but if you prepare your turkey right, you will have a very delicious juicy bird. You should start by soaking your turkey in brine overnight. This will help to make it more tender by absorbing salt and break proteins down. To make great brine, rub down the turkey in a cup of salt, place in a big pot, and cover with a gallon and a half of cold water. Add a lemon, an orange, and an onion, all cut into wedges. To this, add three cloves garlic, four bay leaves, a tablespoon of dried thyme, and tablespoon of ground black pepper. Let this sit in the refrigerator overnight. On the big day, take the turkey out, rinse it, and throw away the brine. Place in a roasting pan, such as the one you can find here here, brush with 1/4 cup of butter, and stuff with the stuffing.
Casserole and Cranberries
Two of the most overlooked dishes at a Thanksgiving dinner are often the best. These two dishes are the green bean casserole and the cranberry sauce. Green bean casserole is very simple to make, you just have to decide whether you want to use fresh green beans or canned beans. It is simply mixing a can of cream of mushroom soup with green beans, a little bit of onion, some milk, a dash of soy sauce, and some French’s French fried onions. Cranberry sauce can either be bought in a can, or you can make a traditional homemade sauce. This is a simple sauce made from 4 cups of cranberries, one cup of sugar, and 1 cup of water. You dissolve the sugar in the water, and then add the cranberries, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Some people add pecans, orange zest, cinnamon or blueberries. It is up to your preferences what you add. You will probably want a casserole dish though, and one that will look good on your table, such as this gorgeous white Corningware dish.
Pumpkin Pie
The best part of the dinner is the dessert. Of course, this is what pumpkin pie fanatics would say. Pumpkin pie a simple to make, whether you make it from a can or you make it from scratch. A simple delicious pumpkin pie can be made using a 15 ounce can of pumpkin, three fourths of a cup white sugar, 1-12 ounce can of evaporated milk, two eggs, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a half a teaspoon of salt and ground ginger each, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves. Don’t forget the whipped cream on top!
So this thanksgiving, cook up, eat up, get fat and be happy! Then it's off to the gym again. But you won't regret it with these delicious recipes.