Thanksgiving Recipes

How many of you LOVE to cook that turkey? I bet you dread the constant wonder of will it be moist or dry? My sister in law is an amazing cook and she gave some tips that have worked every year.

1. Don't stuff the turkey with stuffing or rice. These dry out the turkey.

2. Do stuff it with apple, orange, & onion all chopped and liberally use salt, pepper, & sage then mix well and stuff both ends of the turkey. These put moisture into the turkey instead of taking it out.

3. Use an oven bag to cook the turkey in. This also helps keep the moisture in the turkey.

4. Cook the turkey upside down. If the breast is up, it will dry out easier. With the breast at the bottom, it will sit in the turkey juices while it cooks! Yes, this means the little timer thing can't pop. Don't worry about it. Use the time recommended by weight on the oven bag instructions and it will come out perfect!

Here's a recipe I'm going to try this year for Pumpkin Pie. It looks really easy!

Turtle Pumpkin Pie

1/4 cup plus 2 TBsp. caramel topping, divided

1 graham Pie crust

1/2 cup plus 2 TBsp. pecan pieces, divided

1 cup cold milk

2 pkg (3.4 oz. each) Jell-o Vanilla Instant Pudding

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed, divided

POUR 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust; sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans

BEAT milk, pudding mixes, pumpkin, and spices with whisk until blended. Stir in 1-1/2 cups Cool Whip. Spread into crust.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour. Top with remaining Cool Whip, caramel topping and pecans just before serving. Makes 10 servings, on slice each.

Yeah! Another quarter finished.

This quarter has been very grueling. Not because the course work was difficult, but because the rest of life won't quit happening. Registration signed me up for the wrong classes to begin with, so it wasn't until week 3 that I was caught up. Then I got sick for three weeks, during which our renters moved and left the house completely trashed. Church_Mouse and I spent a month working on the house and still did not have it done. We found new renters who were willing to continue the work on home repair. Imagine that! By this time I had to start on final papers. Crazy!

Anyway, I now have a week and a half before my next two classes start. I have to finish many incomplete projects around here as well as get ready for Christmas. So little time, so much to do.