My contribution is typically the mashed potatoes, which I steep horseradish into the heavy cream on the stovetop before mashing it all together with the potatoes, butter, and salt. No real recipe, just try adding 3 tbsp of horseradish (it’s in a jar by the refrigerated pickles in my grocery store). I promise you’ll never go back to plain potatoes.
I make this at Thanksgiving, and I make it in February when everything is grey and drippy and freezing and sad. It’s remarkably easy and if you serve the whole pumpkin at the table it’s TOTALLY dramatic and a marthastewarty moment.
It’s TUESDAY and there are so few responses…and then I thought - thanksgiving is an eat/memory holiday for many of us, and there aren’t written recipes so much as guidelines and taste memories. A long time ago,in the first thanksgiving of a marriage that sadly is over - we invited everyone we knew who had no place to go. We asked each guest to bring the dish that “made” Thanksgiving for them…if they didn’t have it - then it wouldn’t be the holiday. This was the year (30 years ago) that we invented smoked roasted Turkey on the covered grill- because we knew oven space would be a premium). It was the most amazing feast ever - And all the expat non Americans brought wonderful contributions. I will never forget our friend Dillon - a New Englander. For whom creamed onions were “the thing”. But he didn’t know that you get unexpected results when you substitute full size white onions for Pearl onions….
My mom found a cranberry sauce recipe in a magazine about 15 years ago that has become a family favorite. I eat it as dessert because I'm not into mixing sweet and savory. I also prefer the caramelized sweet potato dish my mother-in-law makes as a finisher. Here are both recipes:
Clementine Cranberry Sauce:
- 2 clementines
- 2 packages (12 oz. each) fresh cranberries
- 2 cups sugar
Cut clementines in half and, leaving on the skin, slice as thinly as possible. Place in a pot with the cranberries, sugar and 1½ cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool before serving.
Thanksgiving Caramelized Sweet Potato:
- Sweet potatoes or yams (4-5, enough to fill a casserole dish)
- brown sugar (1/3-1/2 bag, enough to sprinkle over potatoes)
- 1-2 sticks of butter
Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1-1.5 thick rounds. Boil the sweet potatoes until they can be pierced by a fork but not falling apart. Drain and place in lightly buttered casserole dish. Let cool, then add pats of butter to each round. Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake when the turkey comes out of the oven for as long as it takes to get everything on the table.
Your Oma’s cranberry sauce sounds like my dad’s! I think it was his mom’s cranberry sauce, he didn’t talk about her much but I do know her people were from Germany. I love it. My brother always passes it over for the canned, jellied cranberry “sauce”. To each their own I suppose.
We’re going to friends for the second year in a row and I requested that I bring my daughter’s favorite Brussels sprouts dish. She says without it, it’s not Thanksgiving.
I love a good feast holiday. I’ll be back with my recipes.
My contribution is typically the mashed potatoes, which I steep horseradish into the heavy cream on the stovetop before mashing it all together with the potatoes, butter, and salt. No real recipe, just try adding 3 tbsp of horseradish (it’s in a jar by the refrigerated pickles in my grocery store). I promise you’ll never go back to plain potatoes.
I make this at Thanksgiving, and I make it in February when everything is grey and drippy and freezing and sad. It’s remarkably easy and if you serve the whole pumpkin at the table it’s TOTALLY dramatic and a marthastewarty moment.
https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/pumpkin-stuffed-with-everything-good
It’s TUESDAY and there are so few responses…and then I thought - thanksgiving is an eat/memory holiday for many of us, and there aren’t written recipes so much as guidelines and taste memories. A long time ago,in the first thanksgiving of a marriage that sadly is over - we invited everyone we knew who had no place to go. We asked each guest to bring the dish that “made” Thanksgiving for them…if they didn’t have it - then it wouldn’t be the holiday. This was the year (30 years ago) that we invented smoked roasted Turkey on the covered grill- because we knew oven space would be a premium). It was the most amazing feast ever - And all the expat non Americans brought wonderful contributions. I will never forget our friend Dillon - a New Englander. For whom creamed onions were “the thing”. But he didn’t know that you get unexpected results when you substitute full size white onions for Pearl onions….
My mom found a cranberry sauce recipe in a magazine about 15 years ago that has become a family favorite. I eat it as dessert because I'm not into mixing sweet and savory. I also prefer the caramelized sweet potato dish my mother-in-law makes as a finisher. Here are both recipes:
Clementine Cranberry Sauce:
- 2 clementines
- 2 packages (12 oz. each) fresh cranberries
- 2 cups sugar
Cut clementines in half and, leaving on the skin, slice as thinly as possible. Place in a pot with the cranberries, sugar and 1½ cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool before serving.
Thanksgiving Caramelized Sweet Potato:
- Sweet potatoes or yams (4-5, enough to fill a casserole dish)
- brown sugar (1/3-1/2 bag, enough to sprinkle over potatoes)
- 1-2 sticks of butter
Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1-1.5 thick rounds. Boil the sweet potatoes until they can be pierced by a fork but not falling apart. Drain and place in lightly buttered casserole dish. Let cool, then add pats of butter to each round. Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake when the turkey comes out of the oven for as long as it takes to get everything on the table.
Your Oma’s cranberry sauce sounds like my dad’s! I think it was his mom’s cranberry sauce, he didn’t talk about her much but I do know her people were from Germany. I love it. My brother always passes it over for the canned, jellied cranberry “sauce”. To each their own I suppose.
We’re going to friends for the second year in a row and I requested that I bring my daughter’s favorite Brussels sprouts dish. She says without it, it’s not Thanksgiving.
I love a good feast holiday. I’ll be back with my recipes.
I want to hear more about your crafting, too!