Thanksgiving Feast

387.  Thanksgiving is a favorite time of year for so many reasons.  The great meal with stuffing, mashed potato, pan gravy, homemade pies and roasted turkey.  Each year I try to make something new or edit a favorite dish but this year I migrated back to our favorites done just as they simply are.

Here are a few photos of our feast...sweet potatoes with pecans, stuffed mushrooms, green beans with almonds and stuffing (in the bird! the only way to do it!)

I make homemade cranberry relish with orange where I take an entire bag of cranberries, a whole orange, rind and all and a cup of sugar.  Place them all in a food processor and chop.  Then spoon it into a serving dish.  Perfect every time!

Each plate was perfect...colorful...but more important, delicious!

And for the finale...apple pie, pumpkin pie and pecan pie.

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”– Henry Ward Beecher

Turkey Tasty Bites

308.  Leftovers can be useful when you have a clever and tasty use for them.   Take turkey for instance, always around after your Thanksgiving feast.  Oh, yes, some will live and die by the turkey sandwich; mayo, cranberry sauce, etc.  But I want to show you an easy and oh so delicious use for those leftovers.  And, this could go for chicken, beef or pork as well.

I use trusty Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough that is quick and easy to handle.

Separate each triangle of dough and place a scoop of stuffing, dot of gravy and several pieces of turkey pulled off the bone.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper then pull the large end over the meat once.  Seal the ends, then pull the long pointed end over the top and press gently to seal.

Poking a hole in the top will aid this morsel of goodness by allowing steam to escape from the top and the sides staying sealed while baking.  Then follow the recipe on the crescent packaging baking at 400∘for 8 to 10 minutes.  Just watch the Turkey Bites till they turn golden brown and flakey.
This is so delicious and could be used as an appetizer, tapas treat, lunch or brunch addition to a light salad and fresh fruit.

"We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown."

~Abraham Lincoln

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

302.  Hi Y'all!  While vacationing in the South, we enjoyed several Southern comfort foods. BBQ Ribs, Southern Fried Chicken and of course Biscuits.  I found a wonderful biscuit flour mix that we fell in love with.

You just add milk and work the dough as usual following the directions.  They were beautiful! And delicious!

Many years ago a dear sweet southern lady taught me the basics of a good sausage gravy.  I have not forgotten. So in Katie Rudisill's honor, Sausage Gravy was on our breakfast menu.

SAUSAGE GRAVY 

2 lbs original pork sausage, Jimmy Dean or Bob Evans (The better the brand the less fat content)

2 - 3 Tablespoons flour

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 - 3 cups whole milk, start with 2 and add more to stretch the recipe or make it thinner

Optional: Original Tabasco sauce couple splashes

Sauté the sausage in a large deep skillet till brown.  Drain the sausage and place in a bowl.  Set aside. In the frying pan of reserved fat drippings heat till sizzling.  Add the flour one tablespoon at a time and whisk the flour to avoid lumps forming.  Continue to simmer till flour begins to lightly brown and bits on the bottom of pan are loosened.  Slowly add the milk and continue to whisk.

Lower heat and whisk till a light boil and beginning to thicken. Then introduce the reserved cooked sausage back into the skillet.

Stir together.  Test for seasoning and continue to cook for 5 more minutes or till gravy has come to just about a boil.  Place in a serving bowl or tureen.

Serve with fresh hot biscuits. 

Break open a hot biscuit. Place open sides up on your plate and pour the sausage gravy over the biscuit.  Now that is good eatin'!

"I'm good at anything that's country - biscuits, gravy, chicken-fried steak. Look at me, for God's sake.  I cook what I like to eat."

~Blake Shelton

" There's nothin' worse than sausage gravy that is white as a sheet and you can barely find a trace of meat, or was that a lump o' flour?"

~Anonymous Southerner