2 Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes
My sister originally made her Thanksgiving mashed potatoes using this recipe and it has become a family favorite in both parts of the country. We typically spend Thanksgiving with one of my adult children and their families. I am almost always asked to bring this recipe for Do Ahead Mashed Potatoes. You can obviously make a smaller quantity, but we all like to have some to take home as leftovers to go with the turkey.
5 lbs. of peeled potatoes, cut in chunks
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup green onions (scallions), chopped fine including some of the green tops
1/2 cup minced celery
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. As the potatoes are cooking, saute green onions, celery and parsley in the butter in a medium skillet until tender. Drain potatoes and return pan to low heat. Mash potatoes and add the cream cheese and sour cream. Add butter and cooked vegetables. If you want the potatoes especially fluffy, use an electric mixer to finish combining all the ingredients. Spoon into a large buttered casserole. Dot with the remaining butter and sprinkle with paprika. Bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or until heated through and the top is golden.
You can also make them the day before and reheat before serving. They will need to be heated for a longer period of time at 350 degrees.
Adapted from Miriam B. Loo's Holiday Cookbook (Current)
Another family favorite is Edith's Cranberry Apple Pie or as my daughter-in-law, Jenny, says her second most favorite pie (her first is cherry).
Pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie. This is one that I like a lot. This recipe is taken from an online article by by Jean Sutherland with Lynn Siprelle, entitled Making the Perfect Pie Crust. http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/piecrust. It is worth reading the entire article, but I'm going to enter the recipe here just in case the article ever disappears.
Deluxe Butter Double Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water
Chill your fat and water!
Cut your fat into small pieces and add to your measured flour, salt and sugar. Cut the fat in quickly, either with a pastry cutter or by pulsing in a food processor. Your mixture should resemble coarse meal. They should be no larger than pea-sized.
Slowly add the water--just drizzle it in--and watch closely as you work it in with the edge of a spatula or continue pulsing. It should still look dry. Grab some with your hand and squeeze. Did it hold together? Than you have enough water. If it didn't, or you're not sure, add a little more and mix quickly. Test again.
Divide the dough in half to make single crust amounts. Wrap the dough up by placing a portion of it on a piece of plastic wrap. Using the wrap, instead of your hands, push the dough into a flat disk. Refrigerate this for an hour or more.
By making a flat disk at this point you make it a little easier to roll out. Sometimes dough gets too hard in the refrigerator. If this happens, let it warm up a little (15 or 20 minutes) on the counter before you roll it out.
Pie Filling
4 cups of tart apples, pared, cored and sliced
2 cups fresh whole cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon apple pie spice (or cinnamon & nutmeg)
2 tablespoons butter
Note you can use a couple of pears in with the apples. I tried this and it works well.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare pasty. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour and spice. Add apples and cranberries, mix well to coat the fruit. Turn into pastry lined pie pan. I use a 9" deep dish Pyrex pan. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Cut slits in crust, seal and flute edges; or prepare lattice crust. (I make the lattice crust but it isn't necessary.) Brush the top crust with either beaten egg or cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar (if available). I also use a pie shield so I don' t have to worry about the edges of the crust getting overdone. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees on the lowest shelf of the oven. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Put the pie on middle shelf and continue baking until apples are tender--about 40-45 minutes. Cool before slicing.
5 lbs. of peeled potatoes, cut in chunks
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup green onions (scallions), chopped fine including some of the green tops
1/2 cup minced celery
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. As the potatoes are cooking, saute green onions, celery and parsley in the butter in a medium skillet until tender. Drain potatoes and return pan to low heat. Mash potatoes and add the cream cheese and sour cream. Add butter and cooked vegetables. If you want the potatoes especially fluffy, use an electric mixer to finish combining all the ingredients. Spoon into a large buttered casserole. Dot with the remaining butter and sprinkle with paprika. Bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or until heated through and the top is golden.
You can also make them the day before and reheat before serving. They will need to be heated for a longer period of time at 350 degrees.
Adapted from Miriam B. Loo's Holiday Cookbook (Current)
Another family favorite is Edith's Cranberry Apple Pie or as my daughter-in-law, Jenny, says her second most favorite pie (her first is cherry).
Pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie. This is one that I like a lot. This recipe is taken from an online article by by Jean Sutherland with Lynn Siprelle, entitled Making the Perfect Pie Crust. http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/piecrust. It is worth reading the entire article, but I'm going to enter the recipe here just in case the article ever disappears.
Deluxe Butter Double Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water
Chill your fat and water!
Cut your fat into small pieces and add to your measured flour, salt and sugar. Cut the fat in quickly, either with a pastry cutter or by pulsing in a food processor. Your mixture should resemble coarse meal. They should be no larger than pea-sized.
Slowly add the water--just drizzle it in--and watch closely as you work it in with the edge of a spatula or continue pulsing. It should still look dry. Grab some with your hand and squeeze. Did it hold together? Than you have enough water. If it didn't, or you're not sure, add a little more and mix quickly. Test again.
Divide the dough in half to make single crust amounts. Wrap the dough up by placing a portion of it on a piece of plastic wrap. Using the wrap, instead of your hands, push the dough into a flat disk. Refrigerate this for an hour or more.
By making a flat disk at this point you make it a little easier to roll out. Sometimes dough gets too hard in the refrigerator. If this happens, let it warm up a little (15 or 20 minutes) on the counter before you roll it out.
Pie Filling
4 cups of tart apples, pared, cored and sliced
2 cups fresh whole cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon apple pie spice (or cinnamon & nutmeg)
2 tablespoons butter
Note you can use a couple of pears in with the apples. I tried this and it works well.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare pasty. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour and spice. Add apples and cranberries, mix well to coat the fruit. Turn into pastry lined pie pan. I use a 9" deep dish Pyrex pan. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Cut slits in crust, seal and flute edges; or prepare lattice crust. (I make the lattice crust but it isn't necessary.) Brush the top crust with either beaten egg or cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar (if available). I also use a pie shield so I don' t have to worry about the edges of the crust getting overdone. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees on the lowest shelf of the oven. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Put the pie on middle shelf and continue baking until apples are tender--about 40-45 minutes. Cool before slicing.
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