I have given you some holiday appetizers, desserts and day after recipes but here are my tried and true recipes that I go to each year! I always add or rotate recipes but this will give you some more great ideas.
Citrus Dry Brine
http://momcanyoumake.com/2014/11/citrus-dry-brine-for-turkey/
Sausage Apple Stuffing
http://momcanyoumake.com/2014/11/sausage-and-apple-stuffing/
Mashed Potatoes
http://momcanyoumake.com/2014/11/mashed-potatoes/
Cranberry Sauce
http://momcanyoumake.com/2014/11/cranberry-sauce/
Turkey Gravy
http://momcanyoumake.com/2014/11/easy-turkey-
Caramel Apple Pie
http://momcanyoumake.com/2014/02/welcome-to-mom-can-you-make/
Enjoy!
Hosting a holiday dinner can be overwhelming so I have a few tips and tricks that I use for every holiday.
First thing is to be organized. Know your menu, make a grocery list and make a timeline of what food needs to go in the oven for how long and at what temp. This will help, in having everything warmed through all at the same time.
Clean your fridge!! Space is important when cooking a large dinner! I need all the space I can get in the fridge!
Make sides in advance, I do the bulk of my cooking the day before, making the day of my gathering much easier and organized. Think about your menu and what appliances you are using or could use. I put my toaster oven to work for appetizers as well as my grill! How about your slow cooker? I use my slow cooker to warm my mashed potatoes! I also make my gravy the day before and yup, you guessed it that is heated through in my microwave!
My favorite tip and the one I ALWAYS use is keeping a small pot of turkey stock warm on my stove top. This can help you baste your turkey during cooking times but also after you let your turkey rest and then carve it, adding some hot broth on top of the turkey keeps it moist and warm!!
Turkey Myth – you should always rinse your turkey in cool water…FALSE, no need to do it, this can spread salmonella on your sink, countertop and anywhere else you have the turkey.
Crispy skin – I like a good crispy skin and that is not an easy task. So…you can use just salt or a dry brine mixture as seen on my citrus brine recipe. If you salt your turkey and leave the bird uncovered in your fridge for two days allowing the skin to dry, this will help ensure a crispy skin. Keep the raw bird away from ready to eat items that are not in a sealed package.
POP UP TIMERS – no, just no! Pop up timers will give you an over cooked bird. You want an internal temp of 165 degrees.
DEFROSTING – you will need 24 hours of defrosting time for every 5 pounds of turkey.
LEFTOVERS – left overs should be eaten within 3-4 days .
Enjoy!
Have all my local friends noticed the new pizza place in town? Dover is not in short supply of pizza places, but not all of them deliver. If you have kids or teenagers pizza delivery just has to happen sometimes! Suppa’s is located at 368 Central Ave. in Dover. This review is mixed as there are some good and some could be better things happening here. The first thing was when I pulled up the website for the menu and phone number, the phone number on the website, the 978 number is for their Massachusetts location! The number for Dover is 742-9283. So not a great start as I called the Massachusetts location!
The food! Their menu is huge! I mean really huge, I always worry with a menu that big is the food really any good?! Well with two adults and two hungry teenagers we ordered two large pizzas. We had the meat lover pizzas (small price is $12.75 and the large price is $18.25). This pizza had hamburger, sausage, ham, pepperoni and bacon! This will certainly fill you up! Our second pizza was the Taco pizza ($11.25 for a small and $15.75 for the large). The taco pizza has mozzarella cheese, hamburger, salsa, nacho chips with lettuce and tomato and a side of sour cream. Great flavors happening!
We ordered the pizza for delivery, it was just that kind of day! The delivery driver was prompt and very courteous , this part was going very well until we opened the pizza boxes. Both pizzas had been flipped on their sides dropping all of the toppings to one side of the pizza. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT! But we were all tired and hungry so we dove right in and ate the pizza. I will say that I did not call to let them know this happened but I have a feeling if I did it would have been taken care of as everyone I had interactions with were very friendly and accommodating.
On to the pizza. The meat lover’s pizza had plenty of toppings and the flavor was great. This is a hearty pizza that will fill up any hungry teenager! The taco pizza also had plenty of toppings although it did not fair as well as the meat lover’s pizza. That is why I don’t have a picture, but what we pieced back together was very good! The crunch from the chips were a great addition and the fresh lettuce and tomatoes were very refreshing! Overall excellent pizzas!
The menu, have I mentioned, is gigantic ! I can’t possibly list everything on it but will give you a run down!
The menu has all, of the usual cast of characters, pizza, specialty pizzas some of the speciality pizzas include a breakfast pizza, Hawaiian BBQ pizza, chicken Alfredo and a Greek pizza. Speciality pizzas range in price from $8.75 for a small to $24.25 for a large. They have a number of calzones, salads, and potato skins!
They have a HUGE amount of sides orders with the price ranging from $2.00 to $10.99 some of the sides include fried pickles, jalapeño poppers, spinach artichoke bites, garlic bread, spicy fries and broccoli cheddar bites.
They have hot, cold and speciality subs, sub prices range from $4.50 to $10.00. Some of the speciality subs are philly steak and onion, bacon double cheese and a heart stopping porky revenge that has steak, pepperoni, ham, bacon and sausage! Club sandwiches and pasta is also offered.
WINGS! No pizza place is complete without wings. The wings prices range from $6.99 to a whopping $52.99 for 100 wings! Now that’s a party! They also have a few flavors to choose from buffalo, honey BBQ, BBQ, spicy Asian and sweet teriyaki! Not a bad variety!
Last but not least dinner plates and lots of them! Chicken finger dinner plates, stir fry, ribs, steak tips, cheeseburger hot dogs and hey, how about some seafood?! Haddock, shrimp or seafood platter!!
So although the menu is huge the pizza we ordered was very good overall. Fixing the phone number on the website and pizza not turned on its side would have made this experience better. The service was polite and prompt, the menu is endless and I think wearing your sweatpants is a must, although you could get a salad but a salad at a pizza place?? Nope not for me! Pizza all the way!
Enjoy!
I can’t believe it is that time of year again! Those holidays sneak up every year! With that being said it’s also time for appetizers, small Thanksgiving options and tips and tricks to just name a few things!
I made these appetizers for a small dinner party and we all loved them! Super easy to make and you can mix the tomato part of the recipe in advance to save some time later. I put these in my family favorite as these will be appearing on my table over the holidays this year. Thank you Taste of Home Magazine for another great recipe!
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, minced
1 carton (8 ounces) spreadable chive and onion cream cheese
24 slices French bread (1/4 inch thick)
2 cups (8 ounces) fresh mozzarella cheese
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic powder until blended. Stir in tomatoes, onion and minced basil. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese over each bread slice and place bread slices on a greased baking sheet. Top with tomato mixture and sprinkle with shredded fresh mozzarella cheese. Bake 7-8 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve warm.
Enjoy!
This is a super simple super tasty appetizer recipe from Taste of Home Magazine! I made these when we were watching football one lazy Sunday afternoon! Kids and adults enjoyed these. Great party appetizer with just a handful of ingredients. The panko crumbs give such a great crunch and the Italian dressing bombs the flavor up just a little more! This recipe is a keeper!!
INGREDIENTS
24 refrigerated cheese ravioli
1 Tablespoon Italian salad dressing (I used Wishbone Robusto)
1 Tablespoon Italian Panko bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon grated Parmasean cheese
Marinara sauce, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook ravioli according to package directions, drain and transfer to a greased baking sheet. Brush ravioli with Italian dressing. In a small bowl combine panko and Parmesan cheese, mixing well. Sprinkle panko mixture over the ravioli and bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and serve with warm marinara sauce.
Enjoy!
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