Thanksgiving Menu again and recipes

I should be doing something else, but I need a little break :) I am posting my menu again, but with recipes this time.

Ok, we found a great deal on ham and turkey. So, we bought two turkeys and 1 spiral sliced ham. I"m just going to use the glaze the ham came with and heat it up.

The turkey- saw this on TV and looks good. (blogger did something weird with my words being in all CAPS, but I don't have time to fix it.)

Herb Roasted Turkey

1 onion
1 head garlic
1 bunch fresh thyme
butter and more herbs (whatever I can find- sage, thyme, rosemary)
White cooking wine

SPRINKLE SALT AND PEPPER INSIDE THE CAVITY OF THE BIRD. CUT ONION INTO QUARTERS AND THE HEAD OF GARLIC IN HALF, then PUT INSIDE THE TURKEY> ALSO STUFF THE THYME IN THERE> TIE UP LEGS>

MIX YOUR CHOPPED HERBS AND BUTTER AND RUB IT ALL UNDERNEATH THE SKIN OF THE TURKEY AND THEN ALL OVER THE OUTSIDE> SPRINKLE WITH SALT AND PEPPER> place in roasting pan and poor the wine in the bottom> Cook at 325 degrees 15 minutes per pound of turkey. Baste every half hour until the last 30 minutes so the skin can get crispy.


Sausage Apple Stuffing

Stale bread
1lb cooked sausage
2 granny smith apples
1 large onion
2-3 stalks celery
dried cranberries
chicken broth
seasonings

Cube the bread and toast in oven till very dry. Cook apples, onion and celery in half a stick of butter till softened. Cook the sausage in another pan, crumbling well. Throw everything together in a bowl and add the broth/stock until desired wetness is achieved. Poor into a baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Jamaican Cranberry Sauce

1 package fresh cranberries
1 orange, juice and zest
1/2 to 1 cup of brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 inches of grated fresh ginger root

Wash cranberries and discard any bad ones. Put in saucepan with all ingredients, adding extra water to cover the berries if needed. Cook on medium-low heat until simmering, then turn down to slow simmer. Cook till berries pop and create a thick sauce. Taste for tartness/sweetness and add more sugar if needed. Chill overnight for flavors to develop.

Homemade Green Bean casserole



Humming Bird Cake



We will also have mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top, pickles and olives, possibly deviled eggs, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and maybe a cranberry raisin one....umm, I think that's it!

I will add that I grew up eating cornbread dressing, not bread stuffing. I am from the south and almost no one uses bread for the 'dressing'- it's cornbread. However, my dear husband is from the north and so are his folks and they prefer the bread kind, so that's what we'll do :) Should be fun to experiment.

I may sound frazzled in my post from yesterday, but I am delighted to host Thanksgiving. I love having 'control' over what food we eat and love preparing it. Yes there is a lot of components and I have small children and YES I get stressed when I've got many things to do with lots of people underfoot. But, I'm not dreading it. I just pray my body will hold up!!!