Tag Archives: thanksgiving

Apple Cranberry Sauce

November 25, 2025 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Cranberry sauce always seems like the dish that gets most forgotten about at the Thanksgiving table. The tart cranberry – who needs that when you’ve got rich gravy, juicy turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, and buttery stuffing?

I agree with Samin Nosrat that cranberry sauce is a necessary part of the Thanksgiving menu as it’s one of the only acidic dishes to make an appearance. It cuts through the buttery, the creamy and the richness. It also is the most beautiful dish to accentuate your holiday table with a ruby-red glow.

You could easily open up a can, slide it out onto a platter and call it a day, but with minimal effort you could have a gorgeous side dish that’s sure to delight your Thanksgiving guests.

I add apple to my recipe because it counterbalances the tartness of the cranberries and it’s my foolproof method to ensure the sauce thickens. The apples become the same color as the cranberries so no one will even realize they are there.

I use foraged lowbush cranberries (also called lingonberries) but you can use the cranberries from the grocery store and it works the same way.

Easy Cranberry Sauce with Apples

Serves 6-8
Prep & Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

12-14 ounces cranberries, fresh or frozen
2 cups finely diced apples (peel the apples first)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
A pinch of salt
1/3 cup apple cider
1 cinnamon stick

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a pot and heat over medium high, stirring all the while. When it comes to a simmer, turn down the heat and cook until the cranberries have popped and the apples are soft, about 15-20 minutes (till it looks like jam). Gently smash the berries with a wooden spoon against the side of the pan as they simmer. At first it’ll seem like it’s never going to look like cranberry sauce and then it transforms and becomes deep red and sort of glossy.

Let cool, remove cinnamon stick, transfer to an airtight container, and store in the fridge till ready to serve.

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My Favorite Thanksgiving Stuffing

November 25, 2025 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

My dad’s stuffing recipe has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. Many years ago I took over making the stuffing and now it’s technically considered dressing because we don’t stuff the turkey anymore and I prepare it in a slow cooker. Not only is this less likely to cause a food-borne illness it also makes the turkey cook faster and frees up oven space. The slow cooker makes the stuffing fluffy and moist – you’d never know it wasn’t resting inside the cavity of a bird for several hours!

If you don’t have a slow cooker, I provided oven instructions at the end of the recipe.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Natasha

Daddy O’s Thanksgiving Stuffing

Serves 8-10
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
6-8 ounces sliced crimini or button mushrooms
1.5 packets of breakfast sausage links
1 cup cup golden raisins
1 can of medium black olives, drained and chopped
14 oz. bag seasoned bread cubes (or two boxes of Mrs. Cubbison’s since there are fewer cubes in the boxes)
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 stick of butter
About 1 cup chicken stock

Directions:

Start making this when you’re ready to eat breakfast. This way you can eat a couple of sausage links with some eggs while the other ones are cooling.

Brown all the sausage links in a big sauté pan. Once they are cooled, chop them into little rounds.

Add 2 tablespoons butter in the sauté pan and heat on medium-high. Add the celery, onion and mushrooms and cook till everything is softened, about 7 minutes.

In a very large mixing bowl, add the breakfast sausage, celery, onion, mushrooms, bread cubes, raisins, olives, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with your hands (they are truly the best tool for this).

Cut the remaining butter into little cubes and mix into the stuffing. Periodically pour in the chicken stock between mixing so everything is well incorporated. You don’t want to overdo it with the stock as it can make everything soggy, so splash some in here and there until the cubes are moistened but not saturated.

Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray and add the stuffing. Dot with a little more butter if you have some.

Cover the slow cooker and turn it to low. Let it cook for 4-5 hours. Don’t remove the lid until you’re good and ready because it takes a long time to reheat a slow cooker.

When dinner is ready, transfer to a pretty serving dish, reserving any extra in the covered slow cooker to keep warm.

Oven method: Follow the same instructions using a large Dutch oven and bake at 275F for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

appetizers, Cooking, Holiday, salad, side dishes

Farro and Arugula Salad with dried Cranberries

November 22, 2019 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

My friend Katelyn is a grain salad person. She’s always serving the tastiest salads with barley or wheat berries mixed together with other delicious morsels.

Last week my sister hosted dinner and served a tasty orzo and arugula salad that I absolutely loved. I decided to adapt her recipe by using farro and it turned out wonderfully. I served it to Katelyn alongside this Chicken Piccata recipe from Homemade Italian Cooking. She asked for the recipe, so here we are. 🙂

The magic ingredient in my salad (that’s completely optional) is reconstituted porcini mushrooms chopped up finely. It adds depth to the dish and the lemon, feta and dried cranberries bring in a brightness that complement the spiciness of the arugula.

This is a wonderful side dish to serve at Thanksgiving as it incorporates cranberries, grains, and has a look of good cheer on your plate.

You can of course replace the farro with any grain such as brown rice or couscous.

Farro and Arugula salad with Feta, Cranberries and Porcini

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (optional)
2.5 cups cooked farro, cooled
A few big handfuls of baby arugula (or baby spinach/arugula mix)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup Craisins
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice from 1/4 of a lemon
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Splash of white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place dried porcini in a small bowl and cover completely with boiling water. Place a plate on top of the bowl and let sit for 20 minutes until mushrooms are soft. Chop finely.

Add all the ingredients to a salad bowl and toss until everything is well coated. Add more olive oil if it needs to be loosened up a little.

Cooking, dessert, Holiday, recipes

Lowbush Cranberry Tart

October 29, 2017 alaskaknitnat 6 Comments

The holidays are nigh and it’s time to get creative in the kitchen! Last year for Thanksgiving I served a cranberry curd tart offered up by The New York Times. It was tangy and sweet but the recipe was burdensome, from the peeling of the hazelnuts to pressing the cranberries through a sieve. I thought I’d do my own version for this year’s Thanksgiving table using my own handpicked lowbush cranberries.

I opted for a vanilla wafer crust and made a couple of other changes. You can of course use store-bought cranberries and this recipe would turn out just as vividly red and delicious. This is a great alternative to the often-overlooked cranberry sauce.

Cranberry Tart

Inspired by The New York Times recipe

Ingredients for the crust:

60 vanilla wafers
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Ingredients for the curd:

12 oz. lowbush cranberries (store bought is fine)
1 cup sugar
1 orange
1 stick of butter
2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

Directions for the crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place wafers in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Place in a bowl with sugar and melted butter and stir till combined. Press the crumbs into a pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes and set aside for later.

Directions for the curd:

Peel the orange with a vegetable peeler and juice the orange. It should be about 1/2 cup of juice. Place juice, peels, cranberries and sugar into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until berries are popped and softened. Press the berries with the back of a wooden spoon now and then.

Remove the peels and place the mixture into a blender. Blend until smooth. You should have about 2 cups. Pour back into the saucepan with the butter and stir until butter is melted.

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup or so of cranberry mixture to the eggs to temper them, then mix the eggs back into the saucepan.

Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened and nearly bubbling, about 10 minutes. Let mixture cool completely. You can place the curd in the fridge overnight, if you’d like.

Spread the cooled cranberry curd into the pie pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Let cool.

appetizers, Cooking, Holiday, recipes, side dishes

Creamed Corn Casserole – A free recipe

November 29, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

It was the evening before Thanksgiving and I was describing the holiday to my son while driving home from preschool. Jack asked if there would be corn at our dinner.

Our family isn’t a corn family. Occasionally when Costco is selling an eight-pack in the summertime my folks will boil it and serve it on the cob. Creamed corn is definitely not a typical dish on our table.

I looked at several recipes online for creamed corn and most called for either canned corn (gross), or fresh corn. Many recipes listed cream cheese, which I didn’t have. I wasn’t about to brave the grocery store on Thanksgiving eve so I took to my freezer and invented my own creamed corn recipe. I think it’s a hybrid of creamed corn and corn casserole. It’s a little thicker than creamed corn because of the egg, but not as custardy as casserole.

Also, my son had fun helping me make it. I put crackers in a ziploc bag and let him stomp to his heart’s content.

Creamed corn casserole is a simple side dish and is perfect for any holiday table. Bacon grease is the base flavor for this tasty, creamy corn dish. — su-lin via Compfight cc

Ingredients;

2 slices of bacon
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons flour
1/2 cup cream
milk
24 oz. frozen corn
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, stomped on by a child (food processor works too)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fry up the bacon in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Set aside to munch on later and reserve the bacon grease. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and sauté the onions until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add flour and stir frequently for about two minutes. Turn heat down to medium. Add cream and stir until thickened. Add milk if mixture is too thick. You want it the consistency of cream sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large mixing bowl combine the corn, béchamel sauce and egg until the corn is well coated. Place in a casserole dish.

Wipe the sauté pan clean with a paper towel and melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the Ritz cracker crumbs and stir frequently for one minute.

Sprinkle casserole with the cracker crumbs and bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Cooking, recipes, side dishes

Our Thanksgiving Plans — A step-by-step guide to avoiding a festive failure

November 20, 2014 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

About nine years ago I had the honor of roasting the turkey for my family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Until that dinner my father was always the main chef during this holiday meal, but that year I had learned a turkey tip from a friend that I really wanted to try, so I took the responsibility from him. I remember his taking a bite of my bird and formally announcing he was passing the turkey scepter on to me; he could not make a better turkey.

This was, of course, before Alton Brown made famous the technique of brining a turkey. Now my father claims it’s the only decent way to prepare a Thanksgiving feast. I tried brining once, but it was too much effort for me. I don’t even like turkey!

So this year my parents are arriving home from Mexico on Thanksgiving Day. What with their being old and tired (no offense mom and dad!) I don’t want them to have to cook anything, so I’m taking on the entire meal, fixings and all. I’m even going to try to decorate — but we’ll see how it goes.

I thought I would share my plans for next week in case you are feeling completely uninspired (which I am currently feeling).

Continue reading Our Thanksgiving Plans — A step-by-step guide to avoiding a festive failure →

side dishes

Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing

October 14, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

My sister just cleared out her garden and gave me a gallon bag of fresh sage. In my pursuit to use some of it before drying it I found a great recipe on Foodnetwork.com for Stuffed Pork Chops.

I decided I didn’t feel much like pork chops for dinner, but that cornbread stuffing sounded pretty good. Plus, I have three gallons of cranberries I need to figure out how to use.

I picked up a Costco rotisserie chicken, made some glazed carrots and I had a mini-Thanksgiving in no time at all.

I reheated the chicken in the oven 20 minutes before taking out the stuffing (or dressing in this case) and it made enough juice for some tasty gravy.

Ingredients:
2.5 cups crumbled cornbread
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1 Tbs. butter
2 celery ribs, chopped fine
1/2 onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbs. chopped parsley
1 Tbs. chopped sage
1 Tbs. chopped rosemary
1/4 cup dried or fresh cranberries
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a heavy skillet, start browning the bacon. Add the celery, onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook till bacon is fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the parsley, sage, rosemary (sorry, no thyme) and cook another couple of minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

In a bowl, toss together the cornbread, cranberries and raisins. Add the rest of the ingredients including the chicken stock and gently toss to combine.

Transfer to a casserole dish and top with little bits of butter.

Cover and bake for 50 minutes.