Thanksgiving 2009

It is that time of year again and I am so excited. Is there something wrong with me? I love planning our Thanksgiving Dinner Menu! Do you? I think planning ahead really helps me out. I try to make a menu and then write down what I need for each item I am making. I like to make a few different things each year but of course most want the traditional Thanksgiving food. This is what I am planning so far. Stay tuned for changes and updates.




Turkey-I am going to brine it this year
Dressing
Ham
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Grandma Minnie's Sweet Potato Casserole
Some green veggie type casserole
Homemade Rolls
Cranberry Sauce-I am changing this a little this year but here is last year's recipe
7 Layer Salad
5 Cup Salad
Deviled Eggs
Pineapple Casserole
Granny West's Corn Casserole
Pumpkin Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Pecan Pie
Chocolate Chip Pie
Double Layer Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Cheesecake-I have never made one but thought I would give it a try

Crock Pot Orange Chicken

I came up with this recipe out of sheer desperation. I wanted me some ORANGE CHICKEN!! Living in a rural area is great until you want something that is an hour drive away. I thought to myself, "how hard could this be? " Self answered, "not that hard!" Give this a try the next time you have to be gone all day. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

6 boneless chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1 T pepper

6 cups orange juice

3/4 cup sugar

1 T soy sauce

4 T cornstarch

2 cups mandarin oranges

Steamed Rice

Put chicken, ginger, salt, pepper and orange juice in slow-cooking crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours. The last hour or so I add in 4 T cornstarch to 1/8 cup of the cool orange juice just to thicken up the sauce. Serve chicken over hot steamed rice on platter. Top with mandarin orange segments .

Pumpkin Pancakes

I have made pumpkin pancakes each Fall since there have been little ones in our home. Raven and Raine just love them, this was actually Raine's first year to eat them. Maybe they are a girl thing because Sean and Ransome just want plain pancakes with no pumpkin, no blueberries, nothing else added. This is a great Fall recipe idea and is perfect for this time of year. Give it a try this weekend. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:

1 cups all purpose flour

1/2 t salt

2 t baking powder-I use Rumsford

1/2 cup sugar

2 t cinnamon

2 eggs

1 cup milk

2 T oil

1/2 cup pumpkin

Mix all of the dry ingredients together. Now add the wet. Stir just until all comes together. I measure out 1/4 cup of the batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear and then flip. I cook mine over medium heat on a caste iron griddle. Butter and a good dose of syrup and you are ready to go.

Apple Dumplings

I have made way too many pans of this dessert. I first tried this type of apple dumpling at Silver Dollar City a few years ago. I liked them enough that I came up with this recipe so I could have them at home. These are good with ice-cream or whip cream or just straight out of the oven. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup Crisco-cold
1 egg-I use free range
1 1/2 T rice vinegar
1 t salt
6 T ice water
4 apples-peeled and cut into 8 pieces
1 T cinnamon-optional

Mix flour, salt, and shortening until it looks like cornmeal. Mix in egg, water and vinegar. Now add flour one cup at a time. When dough comes together, roll out and cut into squares. My squares were about 4" X 4" in size. This proved to be the easiest size to roll my apples pieces in and to seal up. Cover dumplings with sauce.(Recipe follows)

For sauce
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups water
2 t vanilla
Mix all the sauce ingredients together and cook on stove over medium heat until sugar melts. Pour over dumplings and bake at 350' for 40 minutes.

Potato Chowder

I really wanted some potato soup but the kiddos wanted no part of my dinner suggestion. So I decided on the next best thing, Potato Chowder. It is creamy, potatoey, sausagey, this last ingredient sold them. We ate our chowder with crackers but a good crusty bread or cornbread would be great too. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek. I promise that soup is not all we have been eating, love it on cool days though...

Needed:
5 pounds of red potatoes-peeled and chopped
5 celery stalks-peeled and chopped
4 carrots-peeled and chopped
2 pounds skinless polish sausage-sliced into 1/4 thick pieces
1 yellow onion-peeled and chopped
Enough water to cover veggies
3 cups whole milk or soy milk
2 T Cornstarch mixed into 1 cup of milk from above 3 cups
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large soup pot add enough oil to coat bottom, then add your onion, celery, and sausage. Cook until sausage is slightly brown and onions soften. Now add in your carrots and potatoes and cover with water. I add my salt and pepper now. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Add your milk and bring almost to a boil, now add in the milk in which you have added your cornstarch and stir. Chowder will begin to thicken up, serve.

Taco Soup

After a few days of some of the family not quite feeling up to snuff, this soup just sounded tasty. This one goes together pretty fast and can be made with beef, chicken, soy, or no "meat" at all. We are having ours with sweet cornbread. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

3 pounds hamburger, turkey, chicken or soy-browned
2 cans Rotel
2 cans whole kernel corn
2 cans black beans-drained and rinsed
1 can hominy
1 can red beans-drained and rinsed
1 can tomato sauce
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 t garlic powder




Brown meat of choice and then add, Rotel, corn, black beans, red beans, hominy, tomato sauce, taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix. I add about 3 cups of water to this, salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat for 1 hour. Serve with shredded cheese and sweet cornbread.

Mustard Greens

Mustard greens top my favorite list of Fall veggies. I love to eat these greens along with fried cornbread, nothing else is really needed. This year Ransome decided he likes them also and actually asked for seconds... He was sick earlier in the week, maybe still hallucinating, not sure. I will, however, need to pick lots more to meet our ever growing mustard green need. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

2 Walmart bags full of fresh cut mustard greens-cleaned
Water
Canola Oil
Salt to taste

I wash my greens 3 times. I fill my sink with greens and then cover them with water, dip and then remove from sink and repeat this process 2 more times. I hate grit in my greens so I wash them extremely well. I then cover them in a pot with water and cook them for 30 minutes. Next drain the greens of most of their water and add about 1/2 cup oil and salt to taste. Continue to cook for 30 minutes. I cut mine greens with a metal spatula as they soften. Eat with fried cornbread.