<p>Sop14’s Mom–those sound really good too–and easier to do last minute. I might make those instead now :D.</p>
<p>Bunsen, I love fennel and am drawn to your roasted veggies recipe but I also like to have deep contrast color in a dish on the table so may try the recipe in this months “Better Homes & Garden” from the guys at Stonewall Kitchen: </p>
<p>Roasted Acorn Squash and Beet Salad</p>
<p>It can be mostly made ahead and refrigerated the day before, then allowed to warm up to room temp for serving.</p>
<p>Dragonmom, I hear ya on the truffle butter. I like a mushroom but so much earthiness with turkey just isn’t working for me. May go back to the Martha Stewart cheesecloth approach but we find it almost too moist and the dressing yuck.</p>
<p>For mashed potatoes, I don’t think you can do better than the very low-brow and caloric crock pot method involving cream cheese and sour cream. I have an old neighbor who still calls me “Mashed Potato Goddess” for serving these:</p>
<p>[Slow</a> Cooker Mashed Potatoes Recipe - Allrecipes.com](<a href=“http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-mashed-potatoes/]Slow”>http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-mashed-potatoes/)</p>
<p>Just made these. Very yummy!!! [Fresh</a> Pumpkin Muffins | Pies and Plots](<a href=“http://piesandplots.net/fresh-pumpkin-muffins/]Fresh”>Fresh Pumpkin Muffins - Pies and Plots)</p>
<p>^ Jym, I’m roasting my pumpkins soon. (DH loves to roast the seeds.) So, are the muffins sweet enough that I could possibly make them a dessert? Doctor them up, maybe add a sauce? It might be just what I’m looking for.</p>
<p>Nice recipe, jym! I liked the one linked to it, and I’m tempted to use my not so sweet for fresh eating strawberries in it:</p>
<p>[Roasted</a> Strawberry Muffins | Pies and Plots](<a href=“http://piesandplots.net/roasted-strawberry-muffins/]Roasted”>Roasted Strawberry Muffins - Pies and Plots)</p>
<p>Oh, boy, with so many yummy and tempting carbs around me, I need to start training for a marathon! :)</p>
<p>sewhappy–I make those potatoes all the time but never in the crock pot. I usually make mashed potatoes the old fashioned way, boiled on the stove and then mix the ingredients together and put in the fridge for a day or two. They taste a lot better after sitting overnight so I make them on the day before. Then you just plop some pats of butter on top, cover and warm in the oven the day of. These are a family favorite of ours. I use chopped green onions vs the garlic though and make them a bit on the soupy side if you let them sit overnight.</p>
<p>SteveMA,</p>
<p>I actually do pretty much the same – make them stove top the day before and then late morning or early afternoon put them on low in the crockpot. Just takes some stress out to know they won’t burn up.</p>
<p>Jym’s pumpking muffins look to be fantastic. We are watching carbs here so I hesitate but my they look good.</p>
<p>For dessert I was thinking of making homemade pumpkin ice cream with this oldie but goodie apple cake recipe:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Teddies-Apple-Cake-362089[/url]”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Teddies-Apple-Cake-362089</a></p>
<p>MommaJ, thank you for linking the gravy recipe. I think I will make the potatoes and gravy ahead and simplify my life.</p>
<p>sewhappy–I don’t think my crock pot is big enough to hold all the potatoes we go through :D.</p>
<p>I think the muffins could easily be a dessert- especially if you made a carrot cake-like topping to drizzle on top, or simply put some fresh fruit around them</p>
<p>I am off to buy more cinnamon as I am going to make 2 more batches. They made more than a dozen, btw.</p>
<p>And also, I used the splenda blend (half sugar half splenda) instead of all sugar.</p>
<p>*** forgot to mention, lookingforward-- we are also roasting the seeds and bringing them to our son for Thanksgiving. They are a tradition.</p>
<p>** and BB-- I didn’t see the strawberry muffin recipe. They look great too!</p>
<p>I accidentally shredded my knuckle when shredding a piece of the pumpkin. Oweee.</p>
<p>I am gaining weight just reading this thread.</p>
<p>Got my grandma’s mirliton dressing recipe from my mom this morning.</p>
<p>If any of you in northern parts are lucky enough to find mirlitons, here goes:</p>
<p>Wash mirlitons, cut in half, and put face down in microwave safe dish (rectangle or square, preferable). Microwave for nine minutes. Take out to cool when done.</p>
<p>While steaming your mirlitons, in a skillet, sautee green onions, garlic, shrimp (cooked or raw), and perhaps seasoning ham, if you wish.</p>
<p>When mirlitons are cool, peel them, chop them up fine, and put in skillet with vegetable and meat mixture. You can also add a dash of worcestershire sauce and a tiny bit, 1/8 tsp, of creole mustard.</p>
<p>In separate bowl, beat an egg with a cup of canned cream (like Pet or Carnation, and can be low fat, if available. Milk from icebox does not work as well as canned milk.)</p>
<p>Add egg/cream mixture to skillet.</p>
<p>Add to skillet, parmesan/romano cheese and flavored bread crumbs. If you just have bread or stuffing cubes, you can season it yourself with parsley, oregano, worcestershire, black pepper, whatever else you want to add. The seasoning ham will have salt, so no need to add salt.</p>
<p>Sautee entire mixture in skillet on low to medium heat. Never on high heat.</p>
<p>Take cooked mixture and put in a casserole dish. </p>
<p>Sprinkle with parmesan/romano cheese and bread crumbs.</p>
<p>Put in oven at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.</p>
<p>Serve hot.</p>
<p>My mom insists that the cooking has to be done in a skillet. I’m a microwave girl, but only steaming the mirlitons in the microwave is allowed. Some people boil them in a big pot, but mom says it’s easier to peel them if you steam them in the microwave.</p>
<p>For the sauteeing, any oil is fine, canola, olive, vegetable, your preference.</p>
<p>Mom and Grandma used to put the stuffing in shells and then bake the shells in the oven. These are to die for. Don’t know how available shells are nowadays.</p>
<p>Now, some people will hollow out the mirlitons and stuff them, like you would a bell pepper. Mom said that was too much trouble. But, the other ladies I was buying produce down in the bayou with were buying a dozen nice size mirlitons to stuff. Some people also use ground meat in addition or instead of shrimp, and some also use sausage.
Again, your preference.</p>
<p>Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!</p>
<p>I give, montegut. What is a mirliton?</p>
<p>And party at my house! We now have more than 3 dozen pumpkin muffins!</p>
<p>I also like the brussel sprouts recipe from Cooking Light. We go to our close family friends for Thanksgiving, a new tradition for the past 5 years or so but since my DH misses the house smelling like Thanksgiving, on another day of the holiday weekend I will make a small turkey or turkey breast and my mom’s stuffing recipe. I always make an orange sweet potato casserole which I have also always done for Rosh Hashonah and Passover but we are all a bit tired of that. Older d’s boyfriend is vegan and so past two years I have been making a nice squash recipe from NYTIMES from the restaurant, Balaboosta, an Isreali/middle eastern restaurant that opened a few years ago, not even sure if still in business downtown.</p>
<p>Butternut Squash, Pecans and Currents</p>
<p>2 small butternut squash (approx 2 lbs each)
7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 thyme sprigs
s and p
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup currants
1/ tsp. chili flakes</p>
<p>Heat oven to 450. Cut the squash in two at the base of the neck, discard the hollow bulb end or reserve for another use. Peel the rest and slice into 1/2 inch disks. Toss in large roasting pan with 2 tabl. olive oil, thyme, s and p to taste and arrange in single layer. Roast the squash until tender and beginning to brown about 30 minutes</p>
<p>Meanwhile in large skillet, combine and 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil. Saute until fragrant and tender about one minute. Add pecans and sugar, and toss until sugar has melted and the pecans lightly browned about two minutes.Whisk the vinegar into the remaining olive oil. Add the pecan mixture, currants and chili flakes. Mix well, season with s and p to taste.</p>
<p>Arrange squash on a warm platter and top with the dressing. </p>
<p>Yield: 6 servings</p>
<p>jym626–I had to look it up because I didn’t now either–its a pear shaped vegetable along the lines of an avocado, sort of . I only know of them in the Nutcracker :D.</p>
<p>I make a shrimp jambalaya instead of stuffing, but I’m toying with using the crockpot instead of the stovetop. From my internet research I learned that I can either use “real” white rice and put in on high for the last 2 hours or instant rice and just add the last 20 minutes. Anyone do rice dishes in a crockpot? I want to avoid epic failure :-).</p>
<p>I would be afraid to mess thinks up. I think I would prepare the rice separately and then add to the jambalaya at the last minute. (i would make the “real” stuff and have a box of instant on hand.</p>
<p>I roasted a small turkey today b/c we’re going out of town for Thanksgiving but want to have our favorite leftovers when we get back.</p>
<p>I tried something different–instead of stuffing, I mixed quartered apples, onions, some celery, sliced lemon, and a few cranberries with rosemary, sage, thyme, & pepper. Baked all that in the bird and it was a great success. The apples were amazingly tasty, and it all looked so pretty arranged on the platter, like something out of Bon Appetit magazine. :)</p>
<p>What sort of apples? - this sounds wonderful.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great thread! I am furiously copying recipes and weighing my ability to execute them.</p>