<p>Ok - one more side dish we always have. I know it has sugar in it - but it is not sweet, just very good. </p>
<p>2 lb. frozen corn
1 8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick butter
salt and pepper to taste</p>
<p>Cook in crockpot on low for 5 hours.</p>
<p>Sorry - on the cornish hens, you can just buy gravy and heat it up - to serve with the hens.</p>
<p>I’ve done turkey so many ways and the best way for me was having my husband cook it in our Weber grill (you’ll find great instructions on the Weber site). As some of the posters note above, it frees up your oven for other things and the turkey comes out really moist and tender. An added bonus is my husband is really proud of his contribution. I do everything else but he gets all the oohs and ahhs. I also now only buy Butterball turkey. Definitely a difference from all the turkey on sale.</p>
<p>Roasting pans - the disposable ones they sell at the market. Buy two and double them. Nothing to clean if you throw them away.</p>
<p>I am going to try that roasted cauliflower tonite ! I wouldn’t have thought to add curry , but I do love it
We roast a lot of veggies.
One of our favorites it a recipe I got from Williams Sonoma with garlic and a little maple syrup and frsh parsley</p>
<p>Here is a recipe I like to use on Thanksgiving for mashed potatoes. It allows you to make the potatoes ahead of time and they are just right whenever the dinner is ready to serve. It’s quite rich (cream cheese and sour cream) but worth it now and then. Also, the potatoes are so delicious that they are a hit even if the gravy is off that year.
[A</a> Year of Slow Cooking: CrockPot Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese and Sour Cream Recipe](<a href=“http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/11/crockpot-mashed-potatoes-with-cream.html]A”>CrockPot Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese and Sour Cream Recipe - A Year of Slow Cooking)</p>
<p>Those mashed potatoes intrigue me because they can be made ahead…only my fuzzy family/extended family (some of them) would not go for the red potatoes with the skins left on …think they would work with “regular” potatoes???</p>
<p>I’m in need of advice - I was thinking of getting a Trader Joe’s brined turkey. I’ve researched stuffing and learned it’s OK to stuff a brined turkey if you (1) rinse it very thoroughly inside and out and (2) omit the salt in the stuffing recipe. Now I’ve found a recipe that includes a cherry-brandy glaze. Can you glaze, or does the brining interfere? Anybody have experience with that?</p>
<p>I am about to make some of that cranberry mango relish.
This thread has me interested in so many luscious things- so, I am thinking of making a bunch of them- cutting recipes back and serving small portions. (Have lots of small ramekins and will have the time. This may get a mutiny.)</p>
<p>Also, about using the Italian Style Smart Sausage. Some sausage recipes call for taking the sausage out of the casing. My MIL had one that simply said dice the sausage you have. I think the SS won’t lend itself to loose- so just chop.</p>
<p>No, it’s not spicey. It’s pretty close to what’s in a basic sausage and peppers sandwich (oh, if any of you know this delicacy) minus the grease and, yeah, the sausage.</p>
<p>Also, making Paula Deen’s grits pie. Half-size, though.</p>
<p>abasket, I’d try using golden/Yukon potatoes, since that’s another boiling/waxy type potato like the reds. Regular russet-type potatoes are mealier, and that might change the recipe.</p>
<p>We keep kosher so I generally steer clear of T-day recipes that call for a lot of dairy substitutes. On the other hand, Tofutti makes a really good nondairy cream cheese. And I see that they also make nondairy sour cream. Maybe I’ll try it out this week as a test run.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any reason you can’t glaze a brined turkey. The TJ brining is not for flavor, it’s to keep the bird moist. I have not noticed any extra flavor due to brining.</p>
<p>abasket - I’ve even used the russett and it was fine. (I don’t leave skins in.) My family loves these potatoes - of course, very rich. The best part is you can make ahead. I posted a similar recipe earlier in the thread … you can google around and find a lot of similar ones.</p>
<p>I use sweet Italian chicken sausage that is made fresh. Yes, it comes in casings. I omit the casings because I find that slicing fresh sausage makes the pieces too big. (The sausage is a part of the stuffing, not the main event of the stuffing.) I imagine that if one bought premade/precooked stuffing (Jimmy Dean style?) that one would have to slice it in.</p>
<p>Sorry, abasket - meant to mention that I always peeled the potatoes for the crock pot mashed potatoes. They certainly don’t need the peels! What is with that trend anyway?</p>
<p>I always do my mashed potatoes early. We eat between 4:30 and 5. Potatoes are done by 3:30 and in crock pot on low.I don’t use anything special milk,butter,salt and pepper.I do use the crock pot liners which are great. I just add a little more butter on top of potatoes after I put them in the crock pot .Been doing this for years and no complaints.I actually leave them in crock pot during dinner (plugged in) so they stay warm for those that want seconds.No skins left on here.Just cook like regular mashed potatoes.</p>
<p>“They certainly don’t need the peels! What is with that trend anyway?”</p>
<p>I thought healthier, easier, and I don’t leave them all in, but I like the texture of having some of the peel on Yukons and those thin skinned little red ones.Russet skins seem to thick for that.</p>
<p>I like to steam “creamers” (also called fingerlings) with the skins on and then let everyone mash on their plate with the peels.</p>
<p>Yum! I LOVE that! Or " smashed", then “crisped” in EVOO.</p>
<p>I am growing some fingerlings this winter. Hope they survive.</p>
<p>I read in a Cooks Illustrated cookbook that the reason to cook the potatoes with the skin on is that it really helps with the texture and flavor. As to why people leave them on at the mashing step, I think that’s a personal preference. I like a little skin on mine. Love the crock pot mashed potatoes. I’m going to try that sometime!</p>
<p>The other good thing about the do-ahead mashed potatoes - with the cream cheese and sour cream - (besides the fact they are delicious) - is that the leftovers keep well, if you have any.</p>
<p>Favorite day-after-Thanksgiving meal…put a layer each of leftover turkey & stuffing on the bottom of a greased casserole, pour leftover gravy on top, cover with a layer of mashed potatoes, dot with butter and bake…oh YUM.</p>
<p>We’re actually going OUT for t-giving. I might have to make a turkey at some point over the weekend…just to have leftovers.</p>