For me, Thanksgiving dinner varies by the year, since sometimes I eat with others, and sometimes alone. I usually cook an entire holiday meal regardless, even if I eat elsewhere, so that I can eat leftovers for days. Sometimes I will buy a whole turkey and cook it, and other times I will cook just a turkey breast, but turkey is always on the menu. This year, I purchased a turkey breast. I've got that and a squash. I'll be making stuffing and already have the cranberry sauce, which I never made from scratch. I do use Craisins in other things, but I've never cooked cranberries from scratch. I'm also going to make some sort of rolls and mashed potatoes and gravy, but I'll wait to make the gravy until after the meat is cooked, because I'll be making it from scratch. Is there a particular menu you prepare every year? Do you cook the meal yourself? If so, do you have help? Does someone else do the cooking? It doesn't feel like the holidays if I don't do at least some of the cooking and have leftovers to enjoy in the ensuing days.
Well, I caught a nice sale, so I splurged and purchased two turkey breasts, one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. I've cooked whole turkeys and also boneless turkey breasts, but when I was talking to a friend recently, he asked if the turkey breasts have bones in them. The ones I have cooked in the past didn't, and that put him off, so when I went shopping yesterday, I decided to look around a bit. I found one brand that is bone in that was a good price, so I decided to pick it up for Christmas dinner. I already had a boneless one in the freezer for Thanksgiving. After the holidays, I'll decide which I prefer, and might stick with that in the future, but I like trying new things and love a good deal, so this will be a fun experiment.
I have a turkey that I will be cooking after Thanksgiving, I am going to families house this year for Thanksgiving and taking some sides, like my homemade cranberry sauce, it is literally my must have, I love cranberry sauce, and a lot of people don't but homemade is so easy to make (3 ingredients) and delicious. I am thinking about making deviled eggs and a sweet potato pie ( I have TONS of Sweet Potatoes I need to use up). I really don't want to make anything that has to stay to hot due to the fact that we are traveling over 50 miles to the dinner.
Wow, that's a long way to go for dinner. I hope y'all will be staying in the area for a night or two? If not, load up on the coffee for the ride home, because I'm sure you're aware that turkey can make you tired. What are the ingredients for your homemade cranberry sauce? I've never made it from scratch, and never paid that much attention when my mom did, and I don't have her recipe. I have several cans of it, but I might like to try making my own in the future, so if you'd like to share your recipe, I'd love to have it. I just pulled the boneless turkey breast out of the oven to thaw. I tend to cook ahead of time, then heat everything up on the day itself. I have Craisins, and I think I'm going to look around for a recipe to use them in. I usually make Craisin Banana bread, but I don't have any bananas, and don't feel like going to the store.
It is far but we are use to driving, my husband drives 40 miles to work one way everyday, and we live far for most places (stores, etc) So we are use to it, we actually are going to do some shopping after dinner and since we will be in town and head home that night for we can have Friday together and work on our house. Anyways I will gladly share the recipe I use for cranberry sauce. 1 Cup of Orange Juice, 1 Cup of Sugar and a Bag (12 oz) of Cranberries. Heat the orange juice an sugar together on the stove (medium heat) until the sugar is dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved put the cranberries in and cook them till they are popping ( 10- 15 mins they make a literal pop sound) Remove from heat put in a serving dish and it will thicken up as it cools down.
I already did most of my Thanksgiving shopping, since around here if you snooze, you lose. We waited for turkeys to go on sale last year, and by the time they did, there weren't any left that were the size we wanted. We ended up with a smaller one than what we usually make, so we didn't have much for leftovers. We like Thanksgiving leftovers. This year, we bought turkeys at Aldi (they were already cheaper than at other stores). They are now on sale even cheaper, so we figured we should buy now for Christmas. We'll get in on the sale one way or another.
I got a great sale on a turkey breast this year. It was only 3.99 for a Butterball. It was enough for 4 of us to eat, as well as having a few leftovers. I liked that so much, I don't think I am going to deal with a whole turkey again...unless I happen to have a large group over. I had all the traditional sides..potatoes pumpkin pie, veggies, sweet potatoes, cranberry, mashed potatoes..although my son complained there was no gravy...Anyway, I shopped around and got the best prices, Aldi's was a winner!
We ended up making two turkeys, so we had lots of leftovers (and plenty of gravy ). I like the way the stores around here put various items on sale in the weeks before a major holiday. You can get baking supplies and other non-perishables in the early weeks, and the fresh stuff goes on sale right before the big day. I took advantage of all those sales, and I saved quite a bit of money that way. I also saved by doing some of my shopping at Aldi. Cream cheese was only 89 cents, for example. My family likes their holiday cheesecake.
In country we do observe a Thanksgiving Week which every family has to be involved in our Church activities. The Church has prepared a series of week-long activities and for the culmination day, we all gather to the Church for Family Lunch for every respective family with their, of course, members of the family. In such family lunch not as a dinner, we don't any turkey for food but instead we are using roasted chicken. That is already an institution or a tradition among our Church members.
I really like that green bean casserole that you can make with the French's fried onions a lot-which people in the family really request if eating at my house. This goes great with your turkey or ham and this green bean casserole is made up of mushroom soup and milk -with the green beans and fried onions added, which are a favorite here. Also we have a turkey or two-and a glazed-honey ham-that we get at Target every year for a really good price. Also we have the other usual sides as well, like mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce,with some stove-top stuffing.
I am one not fond of turkey at all and if I have any, I'll only eat white breast part with gravy. This is a sad year for the last of the family elder member has passed, my Mom, so it's just me. I got myself fajita meat from Walmart, fresh green bell peppers and onion that I'll stir fry, bake up the 5 grand biscuits and steak fries. I'm still debating whether I'd cook up some rice or stick with my steak fries. I got myself a custard pie today, that's on sale at Foodland 2/$10 that I've already started on, lol. I love it. I'm sad and going to have a Thanksgiving of past memories. Everyone is gone now, the family has lost the party giver a few years back, and earlier we've lost the other party giver...both were excellent home chefs too. The family now goes to their in-laws so I'm alone, but in my heart I'll be celebrating with my TV programs, and my fajita stir fry and some pictures. As we get older we start loosing our loved ones, but we keep the memories forever!
