Five on Friday: Thanksgiving Recipes

I love Thanksgiving Food, and I have favorites from all the different locations in which I have spent Thanksgiving over the years, so I thought I would share my Five Favorite Thanksgiving Dishes/Recipes.

1) Blueberry Goodness - frankly I have no idea what this dish is actually called, I made the Blueberry Goodness up, but its Blueberry and its Good, so no one could die the accuracy of the name.  This is a dish that I first had at Pattie Jo's house (she is my Mom's BFF and my second Mom), and while I haven't had the guts to take the recipe for a spin, I might just have to give it a try this year since the girls seem to be big fans of jello and sour cream and cream cheese.

2) Stuffing (aka Dressing) - this one varies greatly from home to home, some put oysters in it, some include fruit, my favorite is another one from the Pattie Jo Thanksgiving Playbook, my Mom does it justice, its simply divine and I can't get enough... 

1 large bowl of dried white bread cubes (1.5 loaves)
Saute 1 Stick of Margarine with 3 Stalks of Chopped Celery, 2 small Onions chopped
Salt & Pepper
Pour Butter, Celery & Onion mixture over bread cubes
Add 1-2 T of Poultry Seasoning to Bread, Butter, Celery & Onion Mixture
Add 1 Quart Boiling Water and mix together well (don't always need full quart, use judgement so that the bread is moist)
Bake in casserole dish @ 350 for 30 minutes (or can stuff in Turkey, but that grosses me out, so I don't do that)

3) Sweet Potato Casserole - this one is from Brad's Mom. I hadn't really dabbled in Sweet Potato goodness prior to moving to the "south" and I hadn't baked with Sweet Potatoes until just a year or so ago when I gave this casserole a whirl, it was easy-peasy and delicious.

3 Cups Sweet Potatoes
1 c. Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. butter flavoring
1/2 stk margarine
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. evaporated milk

Mix all ingredients together...

Topping: 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. coconut, 2 T melted margarine, 2 T flour, 1/2 chopped pecans (optional)

Melt margarine and add other ingredients - it will be crumbly. Put on top of potato mixture. Bake @ 350 for 45-60 minutes.

4) Pumpkin Cheesecake - this one I procure from Costco, BUT I dug up a recipe that looks fantastic and I might just break down and give it a try one of these days. Heck, I could eat pumpkin flavored masterpieces every month of the year.

 Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

5) Homemade Rolls - this is another Pattie Jo recipe. These balls of yeasty goodness are #1 in my book, nothing compares to these little warm balls of heaven. I will update this post with the recipe as soon as I receive it.