Full of Thankfulness n Leftovers

 I hope this finds you all FULL of THANKFULNESS today and always!
We were so blessed to host Thanksgiving this year with Family and Friends this year, who all pitch in and bring some of their speciality foods! I again, tried another new Turkey recipe into my repertoire !
It's from one of my favorite FoodNetwork Chefs, fellow Native Californian, who I was for Halloween with my cute nieces and Sis-in-law, Lisa (who was Rachael Ray). Yeap! I was Giada De Laurentiis! We forgot to take pics thou... But took many pics of the  Fun time with the Girls Trick or Treating and watching the excitement of Jasmine (pro at Trick Treatin) and Minnie Mouse (1st timer, who caught on quickly!)

For Thanksgiving, which I'm so very thankful we had a Friendsgiving again this year! This Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Citrus was delish! Had a gravy that was   delectably savory that even impressed my Mom, who is the master at gravy making! So the pressure was on! Thanks Giada! This  recipe will be a my keeper in my book!

Here's Our Thanksgiving Menu
Appetitizer: Mom's Sausage Cheese Balls
Salad : Mary's Romaine and Spinach with Apple Cider Vingerarette

Mary's Salad will share her recipe SOON!

Vegetables: Mary's Whipped Sweet Potatoes,
 Mom's Green Bean Bake
Burkey Stuffing
Mc Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Citrus
Cranberries: Jellied and Whole Berries
Olive tray
Squaw and Hawaiian Rolls
Wassail and assorted drinks
Desserts: Mom's Pumpkin Pies
Mom's Pecan Pie of course with dolloped whipped cream

  As you'll see... I took some pics but forgot to take some of  THE TURKEY! And forgot to send leftovers with my Parents ... I'm bad. So sorry Mom and Dad.
My Mom brought her yummy Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pies, and her Green Bean Bake. I'm sure many of you have these as your tradition in your Thanksgiving menu also. My friend Mary, brought delicious, yet addicting Green Salad with Apple Cider Vinegarette (Dana and I were appetence on it in later , Mary promised to share the recipe with me!) and her delectable Whipped Sweet Potatoes topped with Mini Marshmallows.
I made another new dish, but  due to a time issue at hand, really I was multi-tasking and busy talking on the phone with my daughter Laura, who made her first pie and Burkey Stuffing, which was a HUGE success! Proud of her! She must take after my Mom in the Pie department, I think she's going to be our next Pie Master in the family!
Thankfully the Ultimate Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes were rescued by my daughter Dana.  I quickly had to make traditional "normal" mashed potatoes.Thankful I bought more potatoes than needed! Yea... even through the rush of getting everything together, I forgot to read through the WHOLE recipe! My sis-in-law tried this recipe that I sent to her last year, and had success!  
So we had plenty of potatoes that's for sure! It was mighty tasty, thanks to Dana for mashing in more ingredients!

McDressing (on left ) and Burkey Stuffing (on right)

Our family favourite is THE STUFFING or on my side of the family, we call it DRESSING. I love them both, so I make both of these. Hey, Thanksgiving only comes once a year! Thankfully, for calories sake.

First, I started making Mc Dressing, which you'll see we use the all american Mrs. Cubberstons recipe but we have adapted by adding an egg, some chopped celery and onion to each batch/bag.

Yummy McDressing is good leftovers too!

Then on to Burkey stuffing, which is now on it's third generation.

Burkey Stuffing in the making

Thankful for my hubby's Grandma Burkey who started the tradition, but had to make tons for her family. It has alot of butter, which you can't go wrong with that!

Burkey Stuffing Recipe by Grandma Burkey

*see Note below

Ingredients:

1 stick Butter (Do Not Subsitute the Butter!)

5-6 slices of white bread, cut into pieces

1 egg

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup milk

Melt 1 stick of butter in Fry pan. Tear 5-6 slices of white bread into pieces, then add to fry pan. 

Brown bread pieces. Cool. Beat in 1 egg, add a little salt and pepper and about 1/4 cup milk, mix together then add to bread mixture. Stuff one 3 lb. Chicken.  Add sliced onions to roasting pan with chicken. Bake at 35o degrees for about 1 1/2 hours.

*Note: this is for a chicken! Grandma Burkey also used this for Turkey but made many batches of this to feed her family. I usually make 7 batches for our crew! That's alot of butter! Through the years, I've adapted  the butter to 1 stick per loaf of bread. And so far my family hasn't complained at all! It's still alot of Butter ! But that's what holidays are for! Love the Butter!

Enjoy being Thankful all throughout the year!

 The Beginning of Stepping Back in Time with My Cherished Cookbooks

Sharon McAndrews Burkey