Potato Bites

I loved this! Potatoes are one of my favorite foods, so I will be making this again, and again!

I couldn't find "bite sized" red potatoes, so I used 5 medium-large. They took about 45-55 minutes to cook, instead of the 30 minute the small ones take. It's a little tricky to get the meat out of the potatoes without breaking the skin, but I managed to get 4 out of the 5. Next time I think I'll use half and half, since we always have that on hand. Also I see no need to slice off the end of one of the potatoes until after they are cooked. I am not sure what the reasoning is to cook them upright, instead of lying on it's side.

Potato Bites
by My Baking Addiction

15 small red skin potatoes (I used 5 medium-large)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher Salt (I used regular table salt)

For the Filling:
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter; softened
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
3 slices of bacon; cooked until crisp and chopped
½ cup of sharp cheddar cheese
4 chives finely chopped

Garnish
sour cream
Finely chopped chives (I added mine to the filling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice off a thin portion from the bottoms of the potatoes so they can sit upright without falling over. Add potatoes to a gallon size bag and pour in your olive oil. Seal and coat all of the potatoes with the olive oil. Remove potatoes from bag and place the potatoes upright on a foil-lined sheet pan; sprinkle with salt. Bake the potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes or until tender.

When the potatoes have cooled enough to be handled, carefully scoop out most of the potato into a bowl. A serrated spoon works well for this process. Take care to leave enough potato in the skin so the shells stay together. Mash the scooped potato lightly with fork, or run through a potato ricer. Add the sour cream, heavy cream, butter, and salt and combine until smooth. Fold in chopped bacon and cheese into the potato mixture. Evenly spoon or pipe the filling into the hollowed potatoes and return to the 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

Garnish with sour cream and finely chopped chives.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Here are 2 different Twice Baked Potato recipes.

Twice Baked Potatoes - Food Network

4 large russet potatoes, each about 3/4 pound each, scrubbed and dried
2 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1 scallion, finely chopped
Freshly grated nutmeg, optional
½ cup shredded sharp cheddar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the potatoes directly on the rack in the center of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Pierce each potato in a couple spots with a fork and continue to bake until tender, about 30 minutes more. Remove potatoes from the oven, and turn the heat down to 375 degrees F.

Hold the potato with an oven-mit or towel, trim off the top of the potatoes to make a canoe-like shape. Reserve the tops. Carefully scoop out most of the potato into a bowl. Take care to leave enough potato in the skin so the shells stay together. Mash the potato lightly with fork along with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the butter and sour cream. Stir in the scallion, nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Season the skins with salt and pepper. Refill the shells with the potato mixture mounding it slightly. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the potato filling. Brush the reserved top with the remaining butter and season with salt and pepper.

Set the potatoes and lids on a baking sheet, and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Twice Baked Potatoes - Daisy Brand Sour Cream

8 medium Russet potatoes

4 strips diced turkey bacon (I used regular bacon)

3 finely chopped scallions

2 ½ cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup Daisy Brand Sour Cream

¼ cup heavy cream

½ cup whole milk

1 heavy pinch salt

1 heavy pinch pepper

1 heavy pinch chili powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thoroughly wash and dry potatoes. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Poke holes in the potatoes and return to oven for another 30 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. Meanwhile, fry and chop the bacon. Chop the scallions. Remove the potatoes and cool for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Slice off the top 1/3 of each potato lengthwise. Holding each with a clean towel, hollow out the potato skins with a spoon leaving about 1/4 inch of the potato on the inside to prevent potato from falling apart during baking. In a large bowl, combine potato interior, butter, sour cream, 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese, heavy cream, milk, salt, and pepper. Mash until smooth. Stir in bacon and scallions. Fill each potato skin with the mixture. Top with remaining 2 cups of cheddar cheese. Sprinkle each with chili powder as desired. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

My Notes: The Daisy Brand potatoes weren't warm enough for me, so either turn the temperature up to 375, cook them longer than 15 minutes (after filled) or warm the cream before adding it to the potatoes.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Here is our traditional Thanksgiving Dinner that my mom has made every year for Thanksgiving. Some of these may not be her original recipes, but the menu is!

Menu

Turkey & Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Green Bean Casserole
Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce
Pearl Onions
Veggie Tray with Spinach Dip
Ritz Crackers with Cheese Ball
Blueberry Muffins (for breakfast!)
Red Jello Salad
Green Jello Salad
Cranberries
Fresh French Bread or Rhodes Rolls
Cream Soda
Pumpkin Pie

Turkey by Alton Brown

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock (16 cups)
1 TBSP black peppercorns
1/2 TBSP allspice berries
1/2 TBSP candied ginger
1 gallon iced water

For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 sage leaves
Canola oil

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey (with insides removed) breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 to 8 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

Stuffing

I use Stovetop

Mashed Potatoes

4 pounds golden creamer potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Put the potatoes into a large pot, add the bay leaf, 2 tablespoons salt, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain them well and remove the bay leaf. Meanwhile, heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan. Put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill into a bowl. Add the hot cream and season with salt and pepper. Mix together with a spoon and add the chives.

Gravy

Turkey drippings
Water
Knorr chicken bullion cubes
Cornstarch

Add 2-4 cups of water and bullion cubes Turkey drippings. Follow guidelines on box to add correct amount of bullion cubes for 2-4 cups of water. Heat to boiling over stove and then slowly add cornstarch and water mixture (see below). Use whisk to beat. Keep stirring and adding cornstarch & water mixture until desired consistency is reached. Makes great no lumps gravy.

Cornstarch Mixture

1/2 cup COLD water
2-3 heaping TBSP cornstarch

Stir with a fork until mixed thoroughly.

Green Bean Casserole

1 can (10 3/4 oz) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp soy sauce
Dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans (or 2 cans)
1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions

Mix soup, milk, soy, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in 1 1/2-qt. casserole. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until hot. Stir, Sprinkle with remaining onions. Bake 5 minutes more.

TIP: Use 1 bag (16 to 20 oz.) frozen green beans, 2 pkg. (9 oz. each) frozen green beans, 2 cans (about 16 oz. each) green beans or about 1 1/2 lb. fresh green beans for this recipe.

Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce

1 medium cauliflower
2 cups milk
8 oz Velveeta cheese
1 TBSP butter

Take off leaves, core cauliflower and wash in cold water. Put in a microwave safe bowl with 1 TBSP water. Cover TIGHTLY with food grade plastic wrap and cook for 5-7 minutes depending on the size of the cauliflower. Let set in microwave for 10 more minutes to finish cooking.

To make the cheese sauce, cook milk, cheese and butter over medium low heat until melted. Add cornstarch mixture (see below) to hot cheese sauce until thickened.

Pour cheese sauce over cauliflower and serve.

Cornstarch Mixture

1/2 cup COLD milk
2-4 heaping TBSP cornstarch

Stir with a fork until mixed thoroughly.

Pearl Onions

Pearl Onions
2 TBSP butter
1/4 cup half & half
salt and pepper to taste

Peel skins off onions, place in pan with 1 inch of water. Cover pan, bring to boil, then let simmer until tender. Drain water, add butter, cream, salt & pepper. Let butter melt, stir & serve warm. For moms only!! Don't share with kids.

Veggie Tray with Spinach Dip

Baby Carrots
Olives
Sliced Celery or Green Bell Pepper

Knorr Spinach Dip

1 (10 oz) pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup Best Foods mayonnaise
1 (4 oz) pkg Knorr vegetable recipe mix
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped

Squeeze spinach until dry. In medium bowl, stir together spinach, sour cream and soup mix. Add finely chopped water chestnuts and green onions. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Great with the veggies or the French Bread!

Snowflake Ritz Crackers with Cheese Ball

Usually I buy these store bought. This year I am planning to try a couple from the Galleria Gourmet Cookbook!

Blueberry Muffins with Butter

Muffins are made from a store bought mix. I add fresh blueberries instead of using the ones from the can. These are eaten for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning!

Red Jello Salad

Jello:
1 (3 oz) pkg strawberry Jello
1 cup boiling water
1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling

Topping:
1 cup sour cream (approximately)
1/2 bag miniature marshmallows

Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Add cherry pie filling. Let set. Mix together sour cream and marshmallows. Spread on top of jello. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Green Jello Salad

1 (6 oz) pkg lime Jello
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups boiling water
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice and water
2 pkgs dream whip
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese
1 lb. 4 oz. can crushed pineapple

Pour boiling water over the jello and sugar. Stir and add lemon juice. Then add the pineapple juice and water mixture. Let soft set (about 2 hours in the fridge). Whip dream whip (according to pkg. directions) and then whip the cream cheese into the dream whip. Add crushed pineapple to the Jello, then fold in the dream whip mixture into the Jello. Refrigerate until set. A little harder to make than the Red Jello, but well worth the effort!

Cranberry-Orange Sauce

2 (8-ounce) packages cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 orange, zest cut into strips and juiced
1/2 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat and simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at room temperature or cool and refrigerate. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.

French Bread or Rhodes Rolls

Store bought

Cream Soda

In bottles of course!

Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
Whipped cream, Cool Whip or Ice Cream for topping

Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell. Bake in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.