Chocolate Chips by the Handful: Thanksgiving in March

So in December sometime I bought a turkey at an after Thanksgiving sale. It's been in the freezer since and I recently thought to cook it up. This was my first time making the Thanksgiving menu on my own. I ended up making a TON of food, yet I didn’t realize I had made so much until I was setting it all out and completely ran out of room to put bowls and pans of food.

Turkey

For the Turkey I used this recipe with the brine and all. The only exception was I didn't have a 5 gallon bucket like the recipe wanted to soak the bird so I used a turkey oven bag and a garbage bag to let the turkey swim. I also added an orange to the aromatics you put on the inside of the turkey. And on top I put a bunch of random seasonings.

Ingredients for the brine before adding the chicken broth

Stuffing

I had originally bought box stuffing because I had never made or even ever really thought about stuffing. But then when I found this recipe also on Mel's kitchen, I decided I would make the stuffing from scratch. I made it from a whole wheat French bread. It ended up being delicious, probably way better than the box!

Corn Pudding

Kalvin’s favorite so I had to make it.

6 slices bacon, cut into ½ in pieces

1 red or green pepper, diced – I use both

1 clove garlic

¼ diced onion – this is something extra I add in sometimes

1 10oz package frozen corn kernels, thawed and well drained.

2 TBS chopped parsley

2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream or half and half

4 egg yolks

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground coriander

¼ tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cayenne – I probably put more than this.

Preheat oven to 400*. In skillet over medium-high heat cook bacon until crisp. Transfer to paper towels. To skillet drippings add peppers and garlic (I also added onion). Cook until very soft. Remove from heat; stir in corn, parsley, and bacon. Spoon mixture into 6 cup baking dish or a 13x9 dish. Whisk together the next 7 ingredients (egg mixture). Pour over corn mixture. Bake until set and lightly browned, about 45 minutes.

I guess I didn't take many pictures specifically of the corn pudding. Its the one behind the marshmallows.

Mashed Potatoes and gravy

Nothing super special here. Kalvin made the gravy out of the turkey pan drippings.

Boiling potatoes

Gravy

Sweet potatoes

Classic! Another must have.

2 ½ lbs yams (we always called them sweet potatoes at my house, but they are the orange ones) 1 in. cubes

½ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup milk

3 eggs lightly beaten

¼ cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 cup marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350*. Boil potatoes for 10 minutes or until soft. Mash in mixer. Add all ingredients except marshmallows. Pour in 2 quart dish. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and arrange marshmallows on top. Broil in oven until top is golden brown. Watch it!! It goes fast, there have been many ‘almost’ fires in past years because of the marshmallows.

Before cooking

Cooked

Lightly toasted marshmallows

Grandma’s Rolls

Always delicious! Recipe posted here.

Broccoli Salad

My favorite.

4 large broccoli bunches

1 purple onion

1 lb bacon

2 cups cashews

2 cups golden raisins

Cut up broccoli in bite size pieces. Dice onion. Fry bacon and crumble up. Mix all ingredients together. Set aside.

Dressing:

2 TBS red wine vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup mayonnaise

Mix together. Pour into salad no sooner than ½ hour before serving to keep salad crisp. (I usually don’t use all of the dressing this recipe makes. It depends on how much broccoli you ended up with in the bowl.)

Before adding the dressing

24-hour salad

Although good this time, next time I think I’ll add more bacon and a little less mayo. I would have liked it to be a little drier.

1 head lettuce (I usually get 2 bags of ready-to eat iceberg/romaine lettuce, it’s easier)

¾ cup green pepper, diced

¾ cup red onion, diced

¾ cup celery

1 box frozen green peas (since I buy the bag of frozen peas I use about ¾-1 bag.)

Put in layers as listed (with the peas on top). Frost and seal edges with 1 pint (or less) mayonnaise. Sprinkle with 2 TBS sugar. Sprinkle over top with ¾ cup shredded cheese, and 8-10 slices of crumbled bacon. Cover tightly with saran wrap (seal edges). Refrigerate 24 hours (or 16, 18, 21 whatever it turns out to be. I make it the night before around 6pm and eat it the next day around 2-3 pm). Toss before serving.