Thanksgiving Feast

We stayed at 309 East Main for Thanksgiving.  It was so relaxing!  

I made my menu and headed to WalMart on Tuesday night to do my shopping.   I went ahead and made the Mashed Potatoes on Tuesday night.  Wednesday night I made the brine, the dessert, and mixed the cornbread casserole.  That way all I had to cook on Thursday was the stuffing (which wasn't good so I didn't even include the recipe), the turkey, and the cornbread casserole.  

Here are my recipes:


Pioneer Woman's Turkey

Ingredients

• 2 gallons water
• 2 cups apple juice
• 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 5 bay leaves
• 4 tablespoons black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 3 oranges, peeled, white pith removed, skin roughly chopped
• 1 (20-pound) fresh turkey
• 1 1/2 sticks softened butter
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped orange zest
• Directions
• Combine the water, apple juice, salt, sugar, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, dried rosemary, and orange peel in a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat immediately, cover, and allow mixture to come to room temperature. Cool mixture in the fridge until you're ready.
• To brine the turkey, remove the turkey from wrapper, remove interior bags (set aside; refrigerate), and rinse turkey thoroughly under cool water.
• Place the turkey into a plastic brining bag or a very large pot.
• Pour the cooled brine mixture over the top, adding extra cold water if you need more to completely cover the turkey. Seal the bag or cover the pot and allow the turkey to brine in the refrigerator for 16 to 24 hours before roasting.
• Before roasting, remove the turkey from brine and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Then soak in a sink full of fresh water for 15 to 20 minutes. Pat dry. Discard brine. (This soaking process will decrease the likelihood of too-salty gravy).
• Preheat the oven 275 degrees F.
• Truss the bird and place it breast side up on a rack in a large roasting pan. Cover the turkey tightly with heavy-duty foil. Make sure it's entirely covered (cover over the bottom edges of the pan). Place in the oven and roast for about 10 minutes per pound (a 20 pound turkey will roast for about 3 1/2 hours).
• Remove the turkey from the oven and increase the temperature to 375 degrees F. Remove the aluminum foil and set aside. Mix the softened butter with the rosemary and orange peel and rub all over the skin of the turkey, covering every single inch of the skin. Insert a meat thermometer into the thigh, near the hip joint. Place the turkey, uncovered, back into the oven. Continue roasting the turkey, basting with butter every 30 minutes, until the thermometer registers 170 degrees F and until the juices are no longer pink.
• Remove from the oven and cover with foil until you are ready to carve and serve. Reserve pan juices to make gravy.
• 
  
• Cornbread Casserole

1/4 pound butter, melted

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn

1 ounce sour cream

1 (8.5 ounce) package corn bread mix

Preparation Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

• In a mixing bowl, combine butter, whole corn, cream corn, corn muffin mix and sour cream. Fold all
• ingredients together, pour into 2 quart casserole dish. Bake for 1 hour.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C)

Ingredients 

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

1/2 cup pumpkin puree 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 pinch ground cloves 1 pinch ground nutmeg 1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.




Pumpkin Pie Drink

Fulton's Harvest Pumpkin Pie Cream Liqueur
Absolut Vanilla Vodka
Kahula
Mix equal parts of three liquors, serve over ice.  ENJOY!

Green Beans

BAKED MASHED POTATOES

5 lbs. potatoes, boiled & mashed
1 stick butter
4 tsp. onion powder
1 c. sour cream
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 sm. jar chives
Salt and pepper

Mix together. May be kept in refrigerator up to 3 weeks. Dish out as needed, dot with butter and bake at 350 degrees about 25 minutes or until hot.

Yum!!!!!!!