Believe it or not, that's one of our usual dishes that MIL makes. She also makes the cranberry salad someone posted, an orange jello and carrot thing, this other dish we just call green fluff (it's got marshmellows, green fluff of some sort, and.. well... it's a mystery), noodles and gravy, and various other 'oddities.' Of course she also does normal cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey, ham (yes both.. because half won't eat ham and half won't eat turkey. lol), mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserol (with marshmellows), fresh rolls, and on and on. This is why it's hard for me to come up with something "different." She makes just about everything you could think of. lol. At this point I think I might try the cornbread dish and the stuffed mushrooms.
Wow, it sounds to me like she just enjoys cooking. If it were me I'ld let her do it all. Their can come to a point of having too much food. Good Luck. The mushrooms do sound good, I may make them.
Squash Casserole is always good, we make that for the vegetarian's at both of our places to go and even the meat eaters love it. The following recipe is similar to what we do only I can't find our actual recipe and I don't remember measurements. We use Ms. Cubinson's stuffing mix, fix according to pkg. and then line a greased casserole dish with it and bake for about 20 minutes. Then add the filling and top with parmesan cheese. We also don't use cream of mushroom soup we use either cream of celery or asparagus. Cream of chicken can also be used. You don't need the butter unless you want to put it in the stuffing crust, but that's up to you. http://www.recipezaar.com/Zucchini-Stuffing-Casserole-192341
She asked me to bring a side dish and a dessert. It sounds like a lot of food, but we usually have at least 20 people in attendance and she likes to make sure everyone can take home some leftovers.
Brussel sprouts with pecans and cranberies by Alton Brown 1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts, rinsed and trimmed 3 ounces coarsely chopped pecans 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 4 ounces coarsely chopped dried cranberries Slice the Brussels sprouts using the thinnest slicing disk of a food processor. If you do not have a food processor, you may slice thinly with a knife or a mandoline. Set a 10-inch straight-sided saute pan over medium-high heat and add the pecans. Cook, stirring continually, until the pecans darken in color and begin to give off a toasted aroma, approximately 2 minutes. Add the butter to the pan and stir to combine. Once the butter has melted, add the Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper and cook, stirring continually, until the color brightens and the sprouts are just tender, approximately 6 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the cranberries, toss and serve imediatly [/COLOR][/FONT]
Marinated butternut squash Ingredients 2 medium butternut squash, seeded and cut into 1-inch slices Salt and pepper 4 tablespoons plus 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/2 medium red onion, sliced paper thin 1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1 clove garlic, sliced paper-thin 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves Directions Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Season the squash with salt and pepper, drizzle with 4 tablespoons olive oil, and place in a single layer on 1 or 2 cookie sheets. Bake in the oven until just tender, about 18 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together the remaining oil, vinegar, onion, chile flakes, oregano, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Remove the squash from the oven and pour the marinade over. Allow to cool for 20 minutes in the marinade, sprinkle with fresh mint leaves, and serve. This dish can be made earlier in the day but should not be refrigerated.
Garlic Hasselback Potatoes with Herbed Sour Cream 16 ounces red new potatoes 3 to 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 2 tablespoons olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Herbed Sour Cream, recipe follows Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Using a wooden spoon as a cradle, place each potato in the spoon and make several parallel slits into each potato top making sure not to slice completely through. Place 3 garlic slices between slits at the crown of each potato. Toss in a medium bowl with butter and olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake until tops are crispy and potatoes are cooked through, about 1 hour. Transfer to a platter and top with Herbed Sour Cream. Herbed Sour Cream: 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Season, to taste, and refrigerate until use
Curried Fruit 1 stick butter, melted 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon curry powder 1 lemon, juiced 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks, cut into 1-inch pieces 6 small apricot halves, pitted and peeled 2 pears, peeled, cored and quartered 2 peaches, peeled, cored and quartered 20 maraschino cherries 1/2 cup chopped pecans Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Stir 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon curry powder and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Combine all the fruit in a large baking dish and stir together with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle butter mixture over fruit and bake in preheated oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, basting often. my aunt made something like this one year at Easter and she used canned fruit.
curried fruit I think this is more what I had: <LI class=rec-Servings>10-12 Servings<LI class=rec-CTime>Prep: 10 min. Bake: 30 min. Ingredients 2 cans (15 ounces) apricot halves, drained 1 can (29 ounces) pear halves, drained 1 can (29 ounces) peach halves, drained 1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained 3/4 cup golden raisins 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon curry powder Directions In a 2-1/2-qt. casserole, combine fruit and raisins. Melt butter in a small saucepan; stir in brown sugar and curry powder. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour over fruit mixture; mix gently. Cover and bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 10-12 servings.
Sounds like my MIL! I would make enough to feed the number of people who planned on being there, and Carl would complain because there weren't enough leftovers to send home with EVERYONE!
This may be what someone else referred to as "Green Fluff"...I've never heard it called that but it would be an adequate description of this yummy dish. I make this every year for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can prepare it ahead of time and it doesn't require you baking or even cooking it at all. Watergate Salad 1 large can crushed pineapple 1 package Pistachio instant pudding 1 cup chopped pecans 2 cups small marshmallows 9 oz Cool Whip Mix all ingredients together & chill. It's so simple but oh, so yummy!
Yep... that's the stuff. We all just ask for the Green Fluff. lol. I've never heard a name for it. So now I can wow everyone with my new-found knowledge. Ok, maybe not. They likely won't care. lol
My mil makes something similar its cottage cheese, mandarin oranges and orange jello. Probably something else too. My mil always makes the stuff.
For something completely different but ridiculously easy why not do cous cous? Dice some carrots and red onion, toss it with cous cous and then pour on some veg. stock and nuke for a few minutes. Fluff with fork. Done. Allrecipes.com probably has a better recipe but it's certainly not the same old vegetables.
We do a different Sweet Potato recipe. slice the potatoes either in rounds or fries. marinate with orange juice and cinnamon for a few hours. Bake until tender. (the thin ones get crispy and go first.) Nobody here will eat the marshmellow cassarole so we do this instead. For OTHER days fried Sweet Potatos are a huge favorite! But too labor intensive for Thanksgiving. (although they never get to the table, everyone just stands around the stove and eats them as I make em.)
Goodnsimple, I'll try those next week! Sounds great! What temperature do you use, and about how long?
My dd11 made a sweet potato and apple bake last week after finishing a unit on George Washington Carver. It was really good, and we both thought it would be a good Thanksgiving dish. 4 sweet potates, peeled & sliced (about 1/4 in.) 4 large apples, peeled & sliced 3/4 c. hot water 1 stick margarine 1 1/2 c. sugar Layer the potatoes and apples. Pour water over apples and potatoes. Then spread the sugar on top. Place pats of margarine around the dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. *Dd thinks that the recipe should have some cinnamon in it. I agree.
