Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy tried and true recipes, with a few new twists. One of my favorite dishes on the Thanksgiving dinner table is cranberry sauce. I always serve the canned jellied cranberry sauce because that’s what Mom always served for the kiddos at her Thanksgiving table. She also served a lovely Clementine Rosemary Cranberry Relish (recipe follows). Her favorite herb was Rosemary and she always said “Rosemary for remembrance”, so I am happy to remember my mother fondly and share her recipe with you:

Mom’s Clementine Rosemary Cranberry Sauce

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Course Condiment

Servings 1.5 cups

Ingredients

  

• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 clementines, segmented and cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Instructions

 

• Place cranberries, sugar and chopped clementines in a saucepan. Stir. Heat over medium heat until sugar is melted and some of the cranberries start to pop.
• Add rosemary to cranberry mixture and stir.
• Continue to cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce starts to thicken (approximately 10 minutes).
• Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Here’s a super easy fancy appetizer to serve on Thanksgiving:

Place jumbo crab meat (picked over to remove any shells) with a little softened cream cheese (just enough to make the crab meat stick together) and some Old Bay seasoning. Place a tablespoon or two of the crab meat mixture in Siljans Croustades (Crispy Tart Shells – available on-line). Put a little cocktail sauce on top of each crab meat shell. Arrange on a decorative plate and garnish with fresh parsley. The crabmeat is the star of this appetizer, so do not overdo the cream cheese and Old Bay seasoning.

And now for the cocktails!

Spiced Apple Maple Ginger Cocktail

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Drinks

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup hard apple cider I like Bold Rock hard apple cider for this recipe.
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 1/2 ounces bourbon
• 6 dashes Dashfire Apple Spice Bitters (or more to taste) available in gourmet stores or Amazon on-line.
• 1/4 cored Honey Crisp apple, sliced thin
• 2 splashes ginger beer

Instructions

 

• Place hard apple cider and maple syrup in a small saucepan, stir to combine.
• Heat the cider mixture to boiling, then reduce heat to a low simmer for 3 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Allow to cool and place in a small bowl.
• Place bourbon and hard apple cider mixture in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins cocktail glass filled with small ice cubes and apple slices.
• Add apple spice bitters and 2 splashes of ginger beer. Mix with a long handled spoon.

Josh Cellars Tipsy Spritz

Autumn flavors of green apple, pear and citrus with the floral notes of St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Course Drinks

Ingredients

  

• 3 ounces Josh Cellars Prosecco, chilled
• 1 ounce St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• Lemon twist garnish

Instructions

 

• Pour prosecco into a champagne flute.
• Top prosecco with St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur.
• Garnish with lemon twist.

Chex Mix with Mixed Nuts

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Servings 12 cups

Ingredients

  

• 9 cups Chex cereal (corn, rice or wheat Chex). I do not use the wheat Chex because they are not my favorite. I double the amount of corn Chex.
• 1 cups Cheese-It crackers or Mini Goldfish crackers
• 1 1/2 cups mini pretzel twists
• 1 cup salted mixed nuts
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons Lawry's seasoned salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place the cereal, cheese crackers, pretzels and nuts in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
• Mix together the melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne pepper.
• Slowly drizzle the butter mixture over the cereal, while tossing gently to coat.
• Transfer the Chex mix onto two baking sheets, spreading it into an even layer. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.