Great Thanksgiving Ideas & Recipees

Create Lasting Family Traditions for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time of family. We create traditions are passed down from one generation to the next. It's never too late to create new traditions. It doesn't even have to be something spectacular We have a silly tradition of transforming our decorative pumpkin that we get in October for a Halloween into our Tom the turkey decoration that will greet you at our front door from November first until the day after Thanksgiving. The kids and their friends have so much fun with it. On Thanksgiving day we look forward to watching the Thanksgiving parade as the aroma of the turkey roasting comes from the kitchen. Sometimes the smallest things can be the fondest memories.

It is fun to get the entire family involved in the preparation of the Thanksgiving feast, I have assembled some ideas for inspiration for your own family's feast:




* For the Kids Table *Religious Thanksgiving Craft



*Thanksgiving Coloring Sheets *Paper Pilgrim Hat and Bonnet Templates

This is an awesome recipe, I had it a Thanksgiving family celebration a couple of years ago, and now I can't imagine Thanksgiving without it!!!


CORN CASSEROLE - Yum!!!

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,191,151181-254205,00.html
Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

1 can whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can cream style corn
1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream
1 stick butter, melted
1 egg
1 pkg. Jiffy corn bread mix

Mix together. Bake in casserole 1 hour at 350 degrees.


This is what I will be bringing to the family feast along with my pumpkin rolls:

Swiss Cheese (or Cheddar) California Vegetable Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen california vegetables, thawed
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 onion chopped
  
• 4 Tblsp. butter
• 1 1/2 c croutons
  

Directions

1. Saute vegetables and onion in 3 T butter.
   
2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine soup, 3/4 cup Swiss cheese, sour cream and 1 C croutons, then mix into the vegetables. Pour ingredients into a 2 quart casserole dish.
3. Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle reserved cheese and croutons on top of the casserole and bake additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

Although we go over my cousins house for Thanksgiving, I always like to make a turkey for my own home to nibble on. I love to make this sausage stuffing every year:


Homemade Sausage Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 pound breakfast sausage
• 3/4 cup finely diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 3/4 cup margarine, melted
• 8 cups soft bread cubes
• 3 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove the sausage from the skillet and let drain on paper towels. Combine melted margarine with the sausage drippings until there is 1 cup of drippings and margarine combined.
2. Saute onions and celery in the margarine/dripping mixture until onion is tender but not browned. Stir in about 1/3 of the bread cubes. Pour onion mixture into a large bowl and stir in remaining bread cubes, sausage, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Watch your hands, it's hot. Mix well. This stuffing is ready for baking.

Candy Corn Cookies

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Yellow and orange food coloring

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
• Divide dough in half. Tint one portion yellow. Divide remaining dough into two-thirds and one-third portions. Color the larger portion orange; leave smaller portion white.
• Shape each portion of dough into two 8-in. logs. Flatten top and push sides in at a slight angle. Place orange logs on yellow logs; push the sides in at a slight angle. Top with white logs; form a rounded top. An easy way to form your cookies is to line a loaf pan with parchment paper then put your color layers in one by one, flattening them as you put them in. Cover or wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 4 hours or until firm.
• Unwrap and cut into 1/2-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool. Makes about 5 dozen.

One the dough has hardened, cut your dough into slices, then into triangles. If you wish, you can sprinkle with colored sugar before you bake them!

Recipe Perfect for Fall, Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Not only is Pumpkin Roll guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser, but this is a recipe that you can make ahead early in the fall and throw in the freezer for future use (I wrap mine first in wax paper, then in aluminum foil). When I buy the bigger can of pumpkin, I have enough to make a couple rolls at a time. I like having them on hand, so then with the craziness level picks up and I need a dessert to bring along to a back sale or get-together, I can just simply pull one out of the freezer, thaw it out, and sprinkle some powered sugar on it.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup canned Pumpkin
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:)

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan, I use a deep cookie sheet; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
4. Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Re-roll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Amish Friendship Bread

This is so much more than a recipe is is a way of life and thinking that escapes the modern way-of-life today. In our hi-tech world almost everything comes prepackaged and designed for instant gratification. So where does a recipe that takes ten days to make fit in? Maybe it's a touch stone to our past - to those days not so very long ago when everything we did took time and where a bread that took 10 days to make was not as extraordinary as it seems today.

When you've made your bread, you can give your friends a sample and the starter that made it! Then your friends can make their own and pass it along to their friends. This is why the bread is called "friendship bread". When you pass the starter on to a friend, make sure they understand that they will need to follow the instructions beginning at day one then will use the Amish Friendship Bread Recipe (with the oil, eggs, vanilla, etc.) on Day 10.


Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Day 1 - receive the starter (the recipe for the starter is below)

Day 2 - 4 stir

Day 5 - Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk.

Day 6 - 9 - stir

Day 10 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Divide into 4 containers, with 1 cup each for three of your friends and 1 cup for your own loaves. Give friends the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10 and the following recipe for baking the bread.

After removing the 3 cups of batter, combine the remaining cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter with the following ingredients in a large bowl:

2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Using a fork beat by hand until well blended. You can add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nuts (optional).

Grease two loaf pans with butter, sprinkle with sugar instead of flour.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour (individual oven temperatures vary). Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Makes two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you will need to make the Amish Friendship Bread (above). It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110°F)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.

2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.

3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions above for Amish Friendship Bread.

Other Variations:

One thing that is terrific about Amish Friendship Bread is that there is so many variations of the final bread, you can keep on reinventing it every 10 days! Here are some options you may want to choose:

Lemon Amish Friendship Bread

Supstitue Lemon Extract for the vanilla. To the basic recipe and 1 box of lemon puding and an additinal 1/2 cup of milk. Omit the cinnamon and nuts.


Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Amish Friendship Bread

Omit the cinnamon from the basic recipe and add 1 (5.1 oz) box of instand chocolate pudding, and additional 1/2 cup milk, 3 tsp. cocoa and 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Bake for 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 hours.

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Did anyone try out a new recipe this Superbowl Sunday that they deemed a success? We would love to hear from you! This year we made Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts, and they were unbelievable!! Sweet and crunchy, in the beginning I thought I made too much but we actually ran out! Here is the recipe:

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

2 cans whole chestnuts
1 pound bacon

Sauce

3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 mayonnaise
1/2 cup Chile sauce

Wrap 1/2 piece of bacon around a chestnut, secure it with a toothpick. Place the on a cookie sheet, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. At this points, add the sauce and bake 20 more minutes. I kept mine in a crock pot afterwords. Delicious!