Stuffed like a Turkey

A day later and I am still recovering. Since Thanksgiving dinner yesterday at 4, I have yet to wear anything without an elastic waist. Yep, that means dinner was a success.

My mom came up and it was a completely low-key holiday for us. No-stress occasions are the perfect time to try new recipes....and try them I did! After a frigid viewing of Miss Ri marching in the Thanksgiving Parade,

we headed home to hit the kitchen.

Our Menu:

Turkey w/ simple stuffing

Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Groovy Gravy (as my mom ALWAYS says)

Green Bean Casserole

Creamed Corn

Butternut Squash with Brown Butter

Sweet Potato Casserole

Brussels Spouts with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Creamed Onions

Hazel Beason Rolls

Okay, so I may have gone a little overboard. When we finished with dinner it looked like we had not ever started. My mom was in charge of the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and gravy....all the staples that are necessary for Thanksgiving. I took on all the "accessories." Here is the low-down on the new recipes.

Sweet Potatoes:

Justin absolutely loved these. My mom said they tasted like candy. They were also super easy, which is a must for any recipe that wants to be added to my repertoire. They have a brown sugar-butter-pecan topping that is fabu. It comes from my absolute favorite site, allrecipes.com, and had five-stars, so I had little doubt that it would be anything but fantastic. If you want to try it, here is the link: p://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yummy-Sweet-Potato-Casserole/Detail.aspx

Creamed Onions:

Sorry, no photos of these. In fact, I made them in advance, so I almost forgot to set them out. I did scour food&wine for their photos, but they didn't have any either....jip! These were also very easy. They are extremely rich (heavy cream base) so they have to be eaten in moderation. I didn't get much feedback on them, but I did see that Justin had packed them as part of his lunch the next day....I will take that as a good sign. I get the Food & Wine magazine and adore Top Chef, so I have been dying to try something from their recipe box, but frankly I have been a bit intimidated. I will probably make these again, but only on special occasions. For the recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/creamed-onions-with-thyme-and-sage

Creamed Corn:

So, I messed up the picture on this one too...its the bottom left. If you think you hate creamed corn, this corn will make you change you mind....and eat the whole pan. These were SO good (which means, of course, that they were an allrecipes.com 4 1/2-star) These were the first of the leftovers to be gone. If you want to try: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cream-Corn-Like-No-Other/Detail.aspx

Brussels Sprouts:

I had never, ever had brussels sprouts. I didn't even know they were brussel"S" sprouts until I typed this. I wish I would have taken a picture of these when we got them at the store. They only came on a stalk, so they looked very bizarre. This was the biggest experiment of all my new recipes which was tough because I had no idea what I was doing. You have to steam the sprout first, then start on the recipe. They had bacon, which makes every thing better, and blue cheese, which can make or break a recipe. All in all they were okay. My mother loved them even though she hates blue cheese. I just asked Justin and he said "I though they were great"...in complete monotone. He is so helpful. If you aren't scared off by blue cheese and want to give them a try: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/brussels-sprouts-with-bacon-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

Squash:

Frankly I picked these because brown butter sounded delish. More specifically, brown butter and brown sugar sounded extra delish. These were the biggest let down. I don't know what I was expecting...but they just weren't....really....anything. They weren't bad, but they weren't memorable enough for me to ever make again. However, I did learn how to brown butter, which I have never had to do before. But should you simply LOVE butternut squash, you should give it a try: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/butternut-squash-with-brown-butter?comments_page=1

Oh, how could I forget....the most unusual (but SO GOOD) dessert. Mountain Dew apple dumplings. No seriously. If you don't try anything else, try these. To put this in Rachel Zoe terms---I die! Click on over and don't be scared: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Country-Apple-Dumplings/Detail.aspx

Now, if you will excuse me....I am off to have some more leftovers....(looks elastic will be making an extended stay in my wardrobe)

Happy Halloween-Turkey Day!