Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving is the BEST!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

I love it for so many reasons...

1.  There is no gift giving/receiving, unless you count food as a gift.

2.  Eating is my favorite, and my family is filled with good cooks. My momma makes the BEST collard greens ever. My daddy fries a mean turkey. Sally bakes a yummy pumpkin pie.

3.  Cooking is my second favorite, and we do Thanksgiving at our house so I make a large portion of the food for our feast. I love every minute of it.

And finally...
4.  Thanksgiving is all about family, and I have one amazing family.

Speaking of family, here are a few family recipes that I made today for Thanksgiving morning breakfast/dessert.

My grandmother's recipe for Graham Cracker Pralines, Andy's grandmother's recipe for Cranberry-Orange Bread


MaMa's Graham Cracker Pralines

graham crackers
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 400.
Line the bottom of a ridged cookie sheet with a single layer of the graham crackers. Heat sugar and butter over medium-high heat until it boils vigorously. Remove from heat and stir in pecans. Pour immediately over crackers. Bake for 5-10 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

*I baked mine for about 8 minutes and they were perfect.



Andy's Grandmother's Cranberry-Orange Bread

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 egg
juice and zest from one orange
2 tablespoons shortening
boiling water
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup raw firm cranberries, cut in pieces

Preheat to 350.
Sift together twice the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. 
Pour the orange juice and zest into a measuring cup. Add enough boiling water to make 3/4 cup-ful. Add the shortening, and whisk to combine--set aside. Stir the egg into the dry ingredients. Add the orange juice mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Add the cranberries and nuts and mix well.
Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to and hour (until a wooden pick comes out clean).



This pumpkin bread isn't a family recipe, but its one I made based on a recipe I found a while ago. I made some changes, and it turned out yummy. 

Pumpkin Bread
yields 2 loaves

3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 cups canned pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and stir well. Pour into two greased loaf pans, and bake for 1 hour (or until wooden pick comes out clean).

*The recipe calls for 1 full cup oil, instead I substituted applesauce.
*It also called for 4 eggs. I misread the recipe (imagine that) and didn't add any eggs at all. And my bread is moist and dense and lovely.

I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Here is our menu for today

Lunch
She Crab Soup

Appetizers
Cranberry Salsa
Pecan Cheese Ball
Liver Pudding and Cheddar (for my daddy)

Main
Fried Turkey
Asparagus Casserole
Squash Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Collard Greens
Glazed Carrots
Dressing

Dessert
Pumpkin Pie
Graham Cracker Pralines

1 comment:

  1. Ohhh the Mr. made a squash Casserole for the first time this year at Thanksgiving...it was delish!

    ReplyDelete