Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

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I actually don't have any pictures of Thanksgiving food (my ext hard drive died), so here's a blurry phone pic of a plate from Christmas last year in Hawaii. :)
Thanksgiving is coming up next week! I'm super excited. It is my favorite holiday! Thanksgiving, to me, is all about good food, good people, and just being thankful! Back home in Hawaii, my entire extended family would always get together and it was so nice to spend time with them and eat delicious, home-cooked food all day (like my dad's signature baked fish!). It's tough being away from family, but Dallin and I try to make the most of it. We usually host holiday meals or go over to a friend's house. This year, however, it'll just be the two of us. But that's okay! I'm still excited! I love Thanksgiving food! :) Here are my favorite recipes that I personally like to use.


Turkey:
Good Eats Roast Turkey
This recipe was the one that I used to make my first turkey in 2011. It is actually a pretty funny story. Dallin was on duty for actual Thanksgiving, so we had our meal the day after on Friday. But I had realized that my meat thermometer was broken. So, I decided to venture to K-Mart, which was the closest store by our apartment, by myself. On Black Friday. It was a mad house! All for a thermometer! It was the first and only time that I have ever went out shopping on Black Friday. Never again! Anyway, this recipe was perfect. I watched and studied the video beforehand, and I think that the turkey came out perfectly. So tasty and not dry at all. I think it's a good recipe to try for your first bird. :) I think my favorite is smoked turkey (the flavor is out of this world!), but we don't have a smoker. :(

Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast
Since it will just be the two of us this year, we are going to just make a turkey breast and skip the whole bird. I made this in 2012 to supplement my friend's bacon-wrapped turkey. It's pretty good. I like anything rubbed with a bunch of herbs! I am thinking about making this again, or maybe doing a brine again. What do you guys think?

Sides:
Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
This is my favorite stuffing recipe. Thank you, Martha Stewart! I make this every year and it's always a hit. I also love regular stuffing made with bread, but I think cornbread jazzes it up a little. I actually just made this again for Dallin's work potluck this week. I make the cornbread a day before I make the stuffing. This year I used a southern brand that was available in the grocery store, just to try it. And after tasting the mix before baking it, I realized that Southern cornbread is not sweet. I'm not sure why it has taken me this long to realize this because I've definitely had cornbread at Cracker Barrel and other restaurants. Guess it just never registered. Anyway, I had to add some sugar to the stuffing mix because I love the combination of sweet with savory, salty flavors. YUM!

Green Bean Casserole
This is probably super bad for you, but I think it's delicious and Thanksgiving only comes once a year. I personally don't like to use canned green beans because I like the crunch of fresh beans. And I like that this recipe includes fresh mushrooms. However, this still uses canned cream of mushroom. I usually don't like using cream-of-anything because I think that they're usually unhealthy and loaded with fat/salt. However, I totally make an exception for this green bean casserole. Maybe one day I'll try making my own cream of mushroom soup from scratch. :)

Cranberry Chutney
I love cranberry sauce! This one isn't anything fancy. Just a simple recipe. I like flavor that the orange zest gives to the sauce.


I've also been blessed to be able to try totally new (to me) side dishes since I've been here. Food here is completely different than in Hawaii. It's all rich and delicious. My favorites have been oyster casserole, corn pudding, and squash casserole. *droooool* (I would trade it all in for some ahi or tako poke and fresh seaweed though!)

We're also going to have mashed potatoes or scalloped potatoes (duh, Dallin is a total Idaho Potato Boy) and gravy (my favorite!). I'm also thinking about either roasted sweet potatoes or brussels sprouts. Hmm. As for dessert, we're going to have to get those from the store/shop because this girl does not have the time or skill for that (unfortunately). I'm pretty sure we will be able to find pretty good pies around here though. (Hopefully!)

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving? What's your favorite dish? Have any recipes you'd like to share? :)

Also, hope you all have the opportunity to spend time with your families! If not, video chat with them and comfort yourself with food like I will! :)

6 comments

  1. oooh these sound so yummy! id love it if youd comment back http://www.amyelizabethfashion.com/2014/11/baking-gluten-free-brownie-with-udis.html xx

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  2. Stuffing is my favorite Thanksgiving dish. I've only had it made with bread, but I'm interested in the recipe that you posted because I love cornbread.

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    1. It's definitely a different texture! I don't really know how to describe it, but I really like it. The recipe I posted is pretty simple, but I think it's delicious. Sausage + sweet cornbread = YAAASSSSS.

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  3. Yum, gotta have cornbread stuffing! It's not real stuffing any other way. ;) I always use the same recipe, but I really want to try some non-traditional spins in years to come. I hope everyone will forgive me for it! I hope you have an awesome holiday, even if you won't be close to your family.

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    1. We only had bread stuffing at the Thanksgivings that I've been to in Hawaii! But yeah, I do like the cornbread stuffing more. I also use the same recipe over and over again. But it's good to experiment and be adventurous! I really liked the recipes you posted on your blog! :)

      Thank you! Hope you have a great holiday, too! Even if you already had your Thanksgiving dinner :)

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