Thanksgiving Dinner Roundup

I hope you all had a delicious and memorable Thanksgiving. It was wonderful being able to spend Thanksgiving with my family. It was sort of thrown together at the last minute, so we just had a roasted chicken instead of a turkey this year. Also, forgive me, but the stuffing and mashed potatoes came out of a box. What can I say? For us, that's traditional and nothing else will do.

However, everything else was made from scratch. I pulled out a couple of old recipes and tried a couple of new ones as well. Everything was delicious and they will definitely be a part of my Thanksgiving dinner in years to come. Here's what I made:

The Menu:
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Knot Rolls
Pumpkin Cornbread
Butterscotch Yams
Red Velvet Cream Cheese Swirl Bars

All told, it was a Thanksgiving filled with food, fun, and family. In short, perfect.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce (adapted from Allrecipes)


12 oz. cranberries
1 c. sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
1 c. water

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the water. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 min.). Remove from heat and place in a bowl. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Butterscotch Yams


6 medium yams
1 c. light corn syrup
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. evaporated milk (or heavy cream if desired)
4 Tbsp. margarine
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Parboil the yams until you can pierce the outside with a fork. You don't want the fork to go all the way through, you just want them soft enough so you can peel them easily. Cut the yams into about 6-8 pieces each. Arrange the yams in a single layer in a baking pan.

Combine all the other ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue cooking the mixture until it thickens to the point that it can coat the back of a spoon. Pour it over the yams in the pan and bake at 400F until the yams are tender, about 30-45 min. To finish it off, top with marshmallows and put it back in the oven for a few minutes until the marshmallows are melted.

Pumpkin Knot Rolls (Handle the Heat)


1 c. warm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. honey
1/2 c. canned pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp. olive oil (I used regular canola oil)
1 1/2 tsp. coarse kosher salt
3 1/2 c. unbleached bread flour

Pour the warm water in to a medium bowl and whisk in the yeast (I also added a pinch of sugar). Let sit until frothy, about 10 min. Whisk in the honey, oil, and pumpkin puree.

Whisk together the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour in your wet ingredients.

Using a rubber spatula, pull all the ingredients together. When you can no longer mix, use your hands to start kneading the dough. Knead the dough until it comes together in a smooth and elastic ball, adding flour as necessary to prevent sticking.

Lightly oil another large bowl and put your dough ball inside it -- flipping over once to coat both sides lightly with oil. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise for about 2 hours or until nearly doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 425F and divide the dough into two equal pieces. You can freeze half the dough at this point if you want or store it in the fridge if you plan to use it the next day.

Tear off sections of the dough (2 Tbsp. at a time) and roll them into a long snake shape. Tie that snake into a knot. Set aside and continue with the rest of the dough.

Once you've made all your knots, put them onto your baking pan and let bake until golden brown on the tops, about 10-15 min., depending on the size of the knots.

Makes 24 rolls

This is linked up to:
Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesdays