Thanksgiving Extravaganza

OK...so we made a TON of food for Thanksgiving. We're gonna put the recipes and comments up only for the stuff we made, not for everything we ate. There are a few pictures of the other food though. It's gonna be short and sweet
OK, so here we go.

Carrots with Maple Dill
All recipes.com
Outta 10: As weird as this recipe sounds...it was quite tasty. We are gonna give it 8/10.

Substitutions and Comments:  Nothing really. We used dill paste isntead of fresh dill cause it lasts longer. Again, strange sounding recipe...but really really tasty. We listened to the suggestions to drain the remaining water before putting in the sauce.

Recipe
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/maple-dill-carrots/Detail.aspx

Carrots with dill

Butternut Squash with Onions and Pecans
Allrecipes.com

Outta 10: Good, but we added some stuff to it to make it good. It was a bit bland without the add-ons. With the additions it gets a 7/10.

Substitutions and Comments:  We added about 2 tbsp of honey to this to give it some flavour. Also we added a healthy amount of crasins. Maybe 1/4-1/3 cup. We toasted the pecans just a tad too much, but they were still ok.

Recipe
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Butternut-Squash-with-Onions-and-Pecans-2/Detail.aspx

Squash with onions and pecans

Cranberry Sauce
Allrecipes.com

Outta 10: Very good. It actually tasted very similar to what you get canned. It didn'thave any extra YUM to make it stand out. We will probably make it again next year, cause its nice to have fresh sauce. It was just slightly runnier than the canned stuff. We give it a 8/10.


Substitutions and Comments:  Like I stated above, it was a slight but runnier, so if you like thicker cranberry sauce either cut down on the OJ or cook it a bit longer. It tasted practically the same as canned Ocean spray sauce otherwize, so we were impressed. We were a bit dissapointed it didn't noticably taste better than canned cranberry sauce, but canned cranberry sauce is kickass, so maybe we are being too picky. It's hard to improve on awesome.

Recipe
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cranberry-Sauce/Detail.aspx

Cranberry sauce

Sweet Potatoes with Orange Pecan Butter
Grilled to Perfection

Outta 10: Really unique and interesting recipe. The potatoes came out really nice and tender, and the pecan butter had a nice complimentary flavour. 8/10
Substitutions and Comments:  Nothing much to say.

Recipe
6 small sweet potatoes
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Orange Pecan Butter
1/2 cup unsalted softened butter
2 tsp liquid honey
Juice and zest of 2 oranges
1/4 cup chopped roasted pecans
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp dried
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat BBQ to 220.
2. Scrub sweet potatoes and prick with a fork. Rub with oil and season with salt and pepper, wrap in aluminum foil.
3. Put potatoes on grill and cook for 2 hours or until tender.
4. Meanwhile, prepare Orange pecan butter. Combine all ingredients into a small saucepan and cook over low heat for one minute.
5. Remove foil from potatoes, slice lengthways and drizzle butter over potatoes.

Orange Pecan Butter

Sweet Potato with butter.

Yellow Wax and Green Beans in Shallot and Mustard Vinaigrette
The Bride and Grooms Menu Cookbook

Outta 10: Andria really didn't dig these, cause she didn't think they were Thanksgivingsy enough. They were ok. The sauce didn't really stick to the beans very well, and we had to put extra salt. 6.5/10
Substitutions and Comments:  These beans were not bad. They just weren't good either. They just were. If you like beans in vinaigrette, then chances are you will like these. But there is nothing that makes this recipe stand out from a normal bean salad with oil and vinegar and garlic. We couldn't find any yellow beans so we did all green. Also all the food processor instructions seemed kinda stupid and pointless, so we just whisked by hand.

Recipe
1 pound yellow wax beans, trimmed
1 pound green beans, trimmed
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp whole-grain mustard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

1. Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil over high head. Add beans and lower heat to medium. cook beans, uncovered, until they are crisp to bit, 4 minutes. Drain beans and shock them with cold water, redrain. Reserve at room temperature.
2. Put lemon juice, vinegar, mustard in food processor and process. With food processor motor running, add oil slowly through feed tube until dressing thickens. Stire in shallot and season with salt and pepper.
   Note: Beans are served best a room temperature and can be made the day before.

Beans with Shallot Vinaigrette

WHEW. Thats all. Too end here are some other pics of other dishes we had.

Mr. Turkey

Cauliflower casserole

Stay Hungry :D