The Jolly Kitchen

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here are some ideas for what to do with all of the food sitting in your refrigerator.

Turkey Pot Pie

Potato Croquettes

Pumpkin Bars

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Shepherds Pie

Turkey & Mashed Potato Frittata

Mr Breakfast's Holiday Leftover Tips

1. Mix leftover cranberry sauce with cream cheese to make a spread for toast and muffins.
   
   
2. Cranberry sauce makes an excellent topping for pancakes and waffles. Its flavor even blends well with maple syrup.
   
   
3. Shredded turkey can be added to almost any omelet recipe. Take a mushroom and cheese omelet; add some leftover turkey and it becomes a Turkey Tetrazzini Omelet. Here are 122 omelets you can experiment with.
   
   
4. Refrigerate your leftovers as soon as possible. Use leftover turkey within 3 days. Cranberry sauce keeps for about a week.
   
   
5. You know those crispy French Fried Onions on the top of your green bean casserole? Toss a little handful over scrambled eggs or omelets. Trust me.
   
   
6. Instead of hashed browns, fry up some leftover stuffing in a little bit of oil. Pat it down in rounds as its frying and it turns out like little pancakes.

Make Thanksgiving a relaxing day for all by planning and preparing ahead of time. There are many time saving tips that will help lessen the workload on Thanksgiving. This way you can have a relaxing, stress-free holiday as well!

1. Chop any vegetables you will be using to make your stuffing or casseroles. Place them in airtight containers.
2. Bake your pies or desserts the day before. Cover tightly with saran wrap.
3. If you are making mashed potatoes, go ahead and boil them until they are fork tender. Place them in an airtight container. The following day reheat the potatoes in the microwave and follow your recipe from that point.
4. Assemble your green bean casserole the day before. Do not add the french onions though. The next day, add the french onions and heat right before it's time to eat.
5. Wash all of your glasses, plates, polish silver, iron linens, make centerpieces, print place cards, and arrange flowers.
6. Set the table.
7. Remove turkey from packaging. Rinse with cold water and pat dry. Store in the refrigerator tightly covered with foil or saran wrap. Make sure to place a platter underneath to catch any liquid.
8. If you will be serving any cocktails, go ahead and premix and store in decorative decanters or bottles.
9. Tidy up the house if it needs it.
10. Gather anything you know you will need or will be using the next day.

Here are some free Thanksgiving printables that I found online.

Adorable turkey place cards from Martha Stewart




Place Cards











Conversation Starters

All of the senses are involved when you sit down to a meal. This is why having a beautifully set table is so important. Of course, using the perfect recipe creates the perfect taste, but without visual appeal, the meal can seem boring or unattractive. This is especially true at Thanksgiving, which is an important and greatly anticipated holiday. A beautiful table setting is the perfect introduction to a festive dinner like Thanksgiving.



There are Thanksgiving table setting ideas all over the internet. Of course, Martha Stewart, the uber hostess is filled with every type of table setting ranging from elegant to quirky and playful. Here are some adorable place settings from Martha's site.

I have to admit I have a bad sweet tooth! I never buy anything sweet for our home because I will devour it in 1.2 seconds! During the holidays, though, I totally indulge on Thanksgiving Day, the day after, Christmas, and the day after! One of my favorite desserts is pie. Any type of pie. I love pie! Here are some links to recipes from various websites that I have used before and I know are delicious! I do want to note though, that at Thanksgiving I don't bother with making crusts. I just buy the rolled Pillsbury crusts instead. There is way too much to bake and cook to bother with making crusts.

Classic Pumpkin Pie


















French Apple Tart
I make this tart for my family ALL of the time! It is delicious, but a bit time consuming to make. I always cringe a little when I get requests for it at times other than the Holidays.

There's nothing like creamy mashed potatoes. When you make mashed potatoes, never ever use a hand mixer or food processor. You will get glue. Instead, use a potato masher, ricer, or food mill. I like my mashed potatoes lumpy, but if you don't just keep mashing until you reach the consistency you like.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
4 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Coarse salt
1 8oz container of sour cream
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish

Directions
Place potatoes in a large pot; cover with cold water by 1 inch, and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes are tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain; return potatoes to pot.
Stir potatoes over medium heat until dry (a film of starch will form on bottom of pot), about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Add butter to mash potatoes and mash just until smooth. Add sour cream and stir until combined. Stir in parsley and chives; season with salt. Garnish with more herbs.

This is number 2 in The Jolly Kitchen's Thanksgiving Series. Today, I will be offering tips and instructions on how to roast and carve your turkey!

Roasting Your Turkey:
1. Place turkey, breast side up on a shallow roasting pan and brush with melted butter or oil. I suggest that you use an oven proof thermometer. If you do, insert it into the thickest part of the thigh and make sure it is not touching the bone.
2. About 2/3’s of the way through cooking time, make sure to untie the drumsticks so that the inner thighs cook through.
3. Start checking doneness about an hour before the end of recommended roasting time. Your bird will be done when the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees and juices run clear. If you stuffed your bird, then the stuffing should reach 165 degrees. If your turkey is already golden brown, but it is not done yet, then loosely place an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.
4. When the turkey is done, transfer it to a carving board and cover with aluminum foil. Let the bird rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving. This is a very important step in ensuring that your turkey is moist and easily carved.

Roasting Turkey Timetable:



Carving Your Bird:

It’s almost Turkey Time and many of us are starting to prepare our menus for the Big Day. We hosted our first Thanksgiving last year and we were really nervous. It feels so overwhelming and intimidating to host such a special dinner for a lot of people. If you take it a step at a time and plan ahead, it really is not bad. We will be hosting Thanksgiving at our home again this year. I have to admit that I am still nervous about it so I am posting this series to help you and me too! Let’s get started!

The turkey is really the main event at Thanksgiving and deserves and requires the most attention.

Selecting the Perfect Turkey:
To have enough for your Thanksgiving feast and enough for the ever popular leftovers, allow 1 pound of turkey for every person. Make sure that the turkey you choose is plump and meaty with smooth, moist skin. The cut ends of the bone should be pink to red in color. If you decide on buying a fresh turkey, make sure that you will be cooking 1 to 2 days after buying and store it in the refrigerator. If you buy a frozen bird, it will keep for up to 6 months and follow the thawing instructions offered below.

Thawing: There are three safe ways to thaw your turkey.

1. Slowly thaw in the refrigerator. Place your turkey (keep in packaging) on a platter to catch juices. You should allow 24 hours for every 5 pounds of whole turkey. So, an 8-12 pound turkey will take about 2 days to completely thaw.
2. Slowly thaw in cold water. If you need to quickly thaw a turkey, then place the turkey still in its original packaging in your sink or container filled with cold water. Make sure to change out the water often. Allow 30 minutes for every 5 pounds of turkey. So, an 8-12 pound turkey will take about 5 hours to thaw.
3. Microwave. I don’t recommend this method, but it can be done in a pinch if you need to thaw the turkey very quickly. Remove the turkey from its packaging and follow your microwaves thawing directions.

Preparing Your Turkey: If you have decided to stuff your bird, make sure to do it right before cooking to avoid bacterial contamination. Make sure you never prestuff a turkey and then store in the refrigerator or freezer.








1. Take your turkey out of the packaging and make sure to remove the package of giblets. Seriously, make sure to remove the giblets-lol! My mom has forgotten before…not pretty. If you are making gravy from the giblets, then set aside. If not, then discard the giblets.
2. Wash out the neck and cavity of the bird with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the skin and cavity of the bird with salt. However, if you are stuffing the turkey, do not salt the cavity.
3. Stuff turkey if you would like. I honestly prefer not to because it is more difficult to get a juicy bird. If you decide to though, make sure you pack the stuffing lightly since the stuffing will expand as it cooks. Using skewers, attach the neck skin to the back and fold wings across the back with wings touching. Finally, tie the drumsticks together or tuck under the band of skin at tail.
4. If you are not stuffing your turkey, then fill cavities with various fruits like lemons, oranges, or apples or season with herbs. Then, close up the cavities as described in step 3.

I hope that these tips are helpful! Make sure to tune in tomorrow for the second installment in my Thanksgiving Series in which I offer directions and tips on roasting and carving the perfect turkey. See you then!