Mom and Dad came in Tuesday night of that week, and we had sub sandwiches from Krauzer's (best subs EVER). On Wednesday, I took them on a tour of New Haven and Yale, mom and I went grocery shopping (plus she bought me some Christmas decor!), and we started cooking the turkey while preparing the casseroles. Then we all woke up at 3 am on Thanksgiving morning to take a 4 am train out of New Haven into Grand Central for the Macy's Parade! We ended up getting a great spot in Times Square, and even though it was very chilly and a lot of waiting, we had a lot of fun. :) Not sure if I would do it again, but now I can say I've done it once! After the parade, we toured NYC for a couple hours with the folks, then came back and had our feast.
Here was our Thanksgiving menu:
- Turkey
- Mashed Potatoes (a la Mr. G)
- Stuffing
- Broccoli Casserole
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Cranberry Sauce
- Deviled eggs
- Biscuits (a la Pillsbury)
- Pumpkin Pie
- Apple Crisp
Since I obviously can't put all of these recipes up here (let's be honest; you would never read them all), I'll just put up my favorites, starting with my mom's amazing sweet potato casserole recipe.
Mom's Sweet Potato Casserole:
- Ingredients:
- 2 cups sweet potatoes (or yams), cooked and mashed
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- Topping:
- 3/4 cup crushed corn flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- marshmallows (optional, but I recommend them!)
- Directions:
- Bake and mash sweet potatoes.
- Add eggs, butter, and spices. Slowly add enough milk until mixture reaches pudding consistency.
- Pour into greased casserole pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes
- Sprinkle topping mixture and marshmallows on casserole when it comes out of the oven. Return to oven and bake 10 additional minutes.
Mom's Broccoli Casserole:
- Ingredients:
- 2 boxes frozen, chopped broccoli - cooked and drained
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (just buy shredded cheddar)
- Crackers or bread crumbs
- Directions:
- Cook broccoli 5 minutes.
- Add all other ingredients; mix well.
- Pour into a greased casserole dish.
- Sprinkle bread crumbs or crumbled crackers on top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Andrea's Apple Crisp:
- Ingredients:
- 6-8 large apples
- 1/2 box Jiffy yellow cake mix (not sure where to find Jiffy, so we just got Betty Crocker)
- 1/2 cup (or more) cinnamon/sugar mixture
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 stick melted butter
- Directions:
- Peel, core, and slice apples. Place in a lightly buttered baking dish.
- Sprinkle with cake mix, oats, and cinnamon/sugar mixture.
- Layer the apples and dry mix so it makes at least two layers.
- Drizzle melted butter on top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Enjoy! :)
The apple crisp recipe is one I got from a friend of Mr. G's mom who gave me a book of her family recipes as a shower gift. It ended up being delicious and a favorite new dessert of ours.
Here are some photos of the meal:
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Please feel free to comment if you have any crazy family recipes to share. :)
Happy cooking!
- Mrs. G
