Thanksgiving Menu

What's on your Thanksgiving menu?

We are trying out a couple of new things and keeping some of our tried and true favorites. This year we are foregoing the turkey {again.} We are just not turkey fans in this household! It's too dry, there's too much of it, and the kids hardly peck at it. That leaves a 10lb + bird for Mr. PD and myself to eat. There's only so much you can do with leftovers before you swear off turkey for good. I must say that the best turkey we ever had was a deep fried turkey! {mmmm... drooling just thinking about it! Gotta love the south and it's love for deep frying everything!}

For the last couple of years Mr. PD has been given Honey Baked Ham gift certificates from work and sub contractors. I have not had to cook a holiday meal (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) for a couple of years! Sadly since we are no longer with his previous employer we won't be getting any gift certificates this year. Mr. PD was kind enough to offer to buy Honey Baked for Thanksgiving but I wanted to give this whole holiday cooking another shot {I did tell him I'd take him up on the offer for Christmas.} So this year we are trying duck!

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
at the Petit Debutant household

Appetizer:
Spinach Dip and Crackers {tried and true fave}

Main Course:
Honey Duck {new this year}
Rice Stuffing {tried and true fave}
Lemon Garlic Asparagus {tried and true fave}
Fresh Rolls

Dessert:
Sweet Potato Pie

Drinks:
Water
Sparkling Berry Cider
Cranberry Pomegranate Cider {new this year}

Here are the other recipes I will be using.

Cranberry Pomegranate Cider
1 64 oz cranberry juice
1 64 oz pomegranate juice
3/4 c sugar
1 TBSP whole cloves (tied up in a little scrap of fabric)
1 orange sliced

Combine all ingredients in a large dutch oven/pot. Bring to a simmer over med heat fro 20 minutes, remove cloves. Garnish with orange slices. Serve warm

I recently had this at a Relief Society activity and it was awesome! {if you like the tartness of cranberries and pomegranates, otherwise you won't like it!} I am cheating slightly, I don't need to make such a large batch so I found a 100% juice cran/pom mix tat I will be using as the base. I'll also be using my crock pot for this so as not to take up my large pot.


Rice Stuffing (from an old Betty Crocker cookbook, I think)
2/3 c uncooked regular white rice
1 med stalk celery chopped (about 1/2 c)
1 small onion chopped (about 1/4 c)
2 TBSP margarine/butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/3 c raisins {years ago I substituted Craisins and my entire family has never looked back!}
1/4 tsp paprika
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

Cook rice as directed. Cook celery, onion, margarine, salt and pepper in a 10 inch skillet until celery is tender; remove from heat. In a large bowl combine celery mixture with rice, walnuts, raisins/cranberries, paprika and bacon.

Sweet Potato Pie
3-4 sweet potatoes cooked
1/4 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c butter melted
3 eggs beaten
1 1/2 c sugar
1 small can crushed pineapple (6-8oz)
1 c shredded coconut
1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat until mixed thoroughly. Pour filling into crust and bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Lemon Garlic Asparagus
We have no recipe for this dish. Mr. PD does a great job with this dish. Basically take some fresh asparagus spears and saute in some olive oil. Season with a little bit of garlic salt and sprinkle with lemon juice. You can also add some almond slivers to it.