I havent roasted veg much except for parsnips which are delicious done that way,all treacly but yucky when boiled, I think that idea with the sweet Pots, is great and I may do it for the Christmas Meal which I am. cooking ...oh I agree that Farmer foods are great, I was brought up on pies, meat ones mostly ...served with huge chips ,English style chips...They had never heard of Cholesterol I am glad to say ........
Yepper, "Black Friday" will soon be upon us like a slow motion train wreck...when I worked sales, I actually had it off twice over the past 13 years ,-)
I more and more steam my veggies rather than boil or use the crockpot. Been thinking of roasting, though, hmmm...
One good time saver I've found is the restaurant quality stock bases I find at the local food service store. They list the beef, chicken, mushrooms, roasted veggies, and so forth as the first ingredient on the label.
Growing up in western New England, I think the remnant "Anglo-Saxon" culture of the colonial era held on in some ways, especially in the use of "farmer" foods...pot herbs, root vegetables, innards and the like, plus my family on both sides were farm folk to some degree as well as "Joe Six-Packs."
oooh Pip black Friday I had forgotten.spend spend , well better spend it as the dollar going down the tubes so put savings somewhere if you have any left ....You know being brought up in Europe they all use the giblets for gravy, eat liver, and brains, and kidneys, I know its not the way here and I dont eat them anymore , but I do remember mom naking gravy from the inards ...Hey I think that recipe from Trudie for the roasted root veg sounds delicious, I have had parsnips done this way they get all gooey and delicious, but if boiled they are Yuck..I am going to do them with sweet pots , we are invited out so I will have to take a dish with me I could use more ideas for that ..
Make your own cranberry sauce. My son is crazy for cranberries so I play with it a lot and it is so easy to make. One of our favourites is to replace the water with orange juice or apple juice (basic recipe on the fresh or frozen cranberries) and to add a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg and some chopped walnuts or pecans.
We also love roasted root vegetables. Chop up a mixture of sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, parsnips (I used to hate these until I had them this way) or even beets. Toss with a bit of melted butter, olive oil or canola oil and salt & pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at around 350 F for about 45 minutes. Every 15 minutes turn. In the last 15 minutes add a tbsp. real maple syrup and toss. The darker the vegetables get the more flavourful and sweet.
Anita and I most often spend a quiet day at home; I'm resting up for retail Hell on Friday ;-)
We cook our turkey in a smoker; bird prepared with a marinade of white wine, chicken stock and spices injected near the bone.
Our smoker is propane powered with a heat bed of lava rock. We like to use fruit wood chips (usually apple).
A trick we found to get the wood chips nicely prepared for smoldering on the rock bed; place them in a mason jar with warm water. We then draw out the air with a vacuum sealer we have, which has a jar attachment. The air comes out, the water goes in.
This takes as long as a conventional oven, but the dry heat and smoke crisp the skin nicely, sealing in the juices.
We'll boil the giblets and neck to make stock as a base for gravy.
Sides are mashed potatoes, bread "stuffing," baked acorn squash and sweet corn.
We'll wash it down with nut brown ale.
yup I'll take the recipe..I never heard of that before , so you pop it into a brown bag Hummm a bit like you do with an avocado ...you know the first Thankgiving we were here in the US I had never been to a thankgiving Dinner ..ever, my daughter was in the Caribean at the time so we didnt have family to spend it with, some lovely Jewish people we met when we were out shopping asked up would we like to go to their house for dinner, they must have felt sorry for us alone and no one to feed us Thanks giving Dinner. It was so nice I will always remember it and there seemed to be traditional jewish recipes as well ....another first ....
Brown bag Turkey is sure to impress and it cooks the turkey really tender... let me know if you'd like the recipe. It also keeps your oven cleaner...
Also, yams... sliced thin and layered with butter, cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg, raisins and topped with marshmallows.
Stuffing add craisins to it when cooking. It makes it sweeter and smells great cooking.