Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day Meal

Appetizers:

Stuffed Artichokes

Ingredients:

6 medium to large artichokes

2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs
1 cup of parmasean grated cheese
1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper

Olive Oil

Directions:

With serated knife cut off the prickly ends at the top of the artichoke
Then cut the stem off the bottom.

Take the artichoke and give it a pound on the counter to open up the leaves

Take 2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs
        1 cup of parmasean grated cheese
        1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper
Mix together.

Now take the artichoke and spread open the artichoke and with your hands fill in the leaves, just keep spreading the leaves until full.

Now put them all in a large pot, big enough to hold all 6.

Fill the pot with water, LEAVE ABOUT 2 TO 3 inches of the artichoke out of the water.

Pour Olive Oil over the top of the artichokes. (Go around the artichokes about three times with the oil.   Probably will use 3/4 cups of oil)

Now cover the pot and bring pot to a boil, then right away turn it down to a slow simmer.

6 artichokes will take about 3 to 4 hours to simmer, so that the leaves with the breadcrumbs get soft.

HOW DO YOU EAT ARTICHOKES? With your fingers! I served these in big bowls, ones large enough for leftover leaves. Starting from the outside, pull off a leaf and scrape the fleshy part at the leaf's bottom between your teeth, discard the rest. After all the leaves are gone, you'll find the artichoke heart at the bottom, a cylinder of meaty flesh (just watch out for the "needles"!)

Enjoy!

Super Simple Home-Made Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Water

4 Cups Fresh or Frozen Cranberries (Fresh are a lot better!!)

Directions:

Wash and pick through the cranberries making sure there are no spoiled ones

In a saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil (stirring to dissolve sugar).

Add cranberries, return to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.

The Original French's Fried Onions Green Bean Casserole

This recipe, first created by the Campbell Soup Company in 1955, is a classic Thanksgiving day side dish, and if you're anything like me your looking forward to it for months leading up to the last Thursday in November.  

Ingredients:
Directions:
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 cup milk
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 (9 oz. each) packages. frozen cut green beans, thawed
1 1/3 cups FRENCH'S® Original French Fried Onions

Mix the soup, milk and pepper in a 1 1/2 -qt. baking dish. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French Fried Onions.

Bake at 350°F for 30 min. or until hot.

Stir the mixture. Top with remaining 2/3 cup onions. Bake 5 min. until onions are golden. Enjoy!

That's it! Now you have some wonderful home-made cranberry sauce!


Dessert:

Pumpkin Bar

Ingredients:

1 Bag of Pumpkin Bar Mix

1 Stick of Butter

1 Egg

Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)

1. Heat oven to 325°F for dark or nonstick pan.

2. Stir pumpkin bar mix, melted butter, and egg in a medium bowl until dough forms. Dough will be stiff. Press dough evenly into a 9" x 9" pan.

3. Bake for 23-26 minutes.

4. Add cream cheese frosting on top. Enjoy!

Turkey

We used an 11lb organic Turkey bought from Whole Foods. It's not stuffed (somebody scared us by saying that causes bacteria). We put Chicken broth on the bottom of the pan (to keep the bird moist). We pasted "herbs de provence" which are spices and herbs on top. The oven is set at 375 for about 2-3 hours. When we took the bird out, we basted it in the broth.