Yesterday I took a trek to the mall in Portland Maine because I had 100.00 worth of reward cards to The Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma. I went with a Thanksgiving table in mind, but I ended up coming home with some things to make a delicious Turkey, so they tell me, along with some table decorations.
This year I am going to give brining the big bird a try. This brine blend is a blend of Apple spices and the glaze is a Maple glaze. It sounded so yummy, I gave in and bought it
Thanksgiving is pretty traditional here with the same favorite dishes every year. Some times I think I would like to change out a few of the side dishes to switch it up, but I am never sure what to make, so this is were you guys come in.
I am going to share one of the favorites here with you all and hope that you will share some of your favorite side dishes with me. 🙂
My son would never forgive us if we excluded this particular dish, so when he comes home for Thanksgiving, which he does most years, my Mom always makes this for him. It is scrumptious!
Broccoli Casserole
I head of cooked broccoli
1 can of Creamed Broccoli soup (yes, I hate using canned cream soup now too)
1/2 c. of mayonnaise
diced onion or 1/2 T onion flakes
2 eggs whipped
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
Breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter
If using diced onion, saute them in a little butter first to cook them, then combine all of the ingredients together in your casserole dish of choice and cover it all with the bread crumb mixture.
Cook in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.
Easy Peasy, but SO yummy!!
Nowadays, if I were making it instead of my mother, I would make my own cream of broccoli soup, but she makes it and it is still very yummy in spite of the canned soup.
I look forward to seeing what you make for Thanksgiving!!
(note….this is one of my girls, not one of the dogs in the following story)
On another note, today was a very emotional day for Cavalier breeders and owners.
It's a long story about a one time decent breeder gone bad which resulted in over 100 sweet Cavalier dogs being sent to a puppy mill auction today in Missouri.
Our rescue groups worked tirelessly over the last few weeks raising money to save every single one of them, which was no small feat as these were fairly well bred dogs that went for very high prices.
There were many tears shed over the course of the afternoon as more money was needed to be raised as the day went on and many of us were on pins and needles praying and giving so that not one of these dogs would end up in a Puppy mill. The wonderful news was that every single one of them escaped a life in captivity…so much to be thankful for today!
The next hurdle is getting all of these dogs vetted and spayed, then foster homes and finally forever homes where each one of these sweet babies will be loved as every dog should be. The need for donations will still be there for vet bills and care, so as we move into the holiday season with many things to be thankful for, if you can spare a little extra to help the wonderful people who worked tirelessly to rescue these dogs, you can donate here and if you are interested in giving one of these sweet babies a home you can find more information there as well.
I am so proud of the Cavalier King Charles Community that I belong to on this day…AMAZING!
The Woolen Rabbit 
Here is the recipe for fresh cranberry orange relish one of my families favorites. My Mom will usually make a few days ahead.
Ingredients
1 bag whole fresh cranberries, well washed and patted dry
1 thin skinned, seedless orange, well washed and dried
1 cup sugar
Directions
Make sure there are no seeds in oranges. Cut the oranges into quarters. Leave the rinds on. Use a meat grinder or a food processor chop or ruffly grind the raw cranberries and oranges together. Transfer to glass or ceramic bowl and mix in the sugar. Cover with plastic and let stand for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator it will keep for 2 weeks.
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Thanksgiving dinner is one of those that you just can’t change much. It’s steeped in tradition and everyone has their favorite side dishes that they must have! For me it’s all about the stuffing and mashed potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce.
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Pepperidge Farm stuffing, doctored up with onions and celery. That’s the best I’ve got. 🙂
YAY for that rescue group! That warms my heart what they went through to save those puppies.
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Those poor pups, so glad they escaped such a horrible future.
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I am grateful I don’t need to cook on T-Day. Thank goodness your puppies were saved!
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The broccoli dish sounds great. Thanks for the recipe!
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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Wow, such an emotional roller coaster! YAY, that the pups were saved. Rescue is such a hard thing and I had NO idea there were even such things as dog auction houses, it just seems so unreal and horrible. Our family vow is to rescue and we have three of them, our limit, sad to say.
As for the recipes… My mom wasn’t a good cook but went to a lot of trouble to cook a huge Thanksgiving meal, we ate but it was not super flavorful. Now, my Mother in Law, on the other hand, was an incredible cook and was from Germany. She taught me to make all of their traditional foods that they ate on Thanksgiving here. I make it all now for my family. “Blue” cabbage, dumplings, cucumber salad, extra sagey dressing, roulettes, etc. I’ll give the :blue cabbage recipe since it uses 8 or 9 basic ingredients, not measured but to taste. I usually make it a day ahead and let it rest, then heat it and eat it. yumm.
One head Red cabbage, salt, pepper, sugar, apple, onion, vinegar, water.
slice cabbage very thin, like for kraut. Cover with water, add salt (1 1/2tspn) and pepper (a few shakes), bring to boil, add chopped onion, and sliced, skinned apple, simmer for half an hour, add sugar (1/3 C) and vinegar (1/3 C). Continue to simmer. Taste. It should have a sweet and tart flavor, not overly sweet or tart. My MOL called it “Blue” cabbage but it is a wonderful pink/purple color. I could never get the deep blue color she did with hers. After complaining on my failure to attain the right blue color after so many years my husband told me that his mom added blue food coloring. Mystery solved. meh.
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My sister and I and our husbands often have quiet Thanksgivings innrecent years and we are always changing up the sides, so I’m not being very helpful. Kudos to you and your fellow dog lovers for saving these beautiful dogs from such an awful fate. Something to be truly thankful for.
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I’m going to my cousin’s house for Thanksgiving, and she’s asked me to bring a green vegetable dish. Usually I take a made-from-scratch version of the green bean casserole (the one made usually made with canned cream of mushroom soup and french fried onions on top), but I think this year I’ll try your broccoli casserole. How many people would you say it feeds?
Heh… Alison’s cranberry orange relish is the same one we grew up with. I remember my mom using her meat grinder to grind everything up.
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Kim,
We have a side dish of roasted root vegetables. Turnips, rutabaga, parsnips and throw in mushrooms for good measure.
Clean, peel and cut up veggies, and half or quarter mushrooms. Throw in a roasting dish, add a few pats of butter and a little veggie broth (or water). Bake, covered @ 350 until veggies are tender. About half way through, I uncover so the veggies can brown up a bit.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!
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Wow, excellent work on rescuing those poor pups. People are amazing. Side dishes: nothing interesting, all standards. Still delicious though!
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