Every Thanksgiving I make a different cranberry sauce recipes hoping to find a keeper.  I made some recipes that use so many ingredients it didn't taste like cranberries anymore.  This year I found the one and it's simple.  Simple to make and simple in taste as you actually taste the cranberries.  So my search is over, this is a keeper.  The recipe comes from allrecipes.com, Cranberry Sauce.

Ingredients:
12 oz. fresh (or frozen) cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, let cool and place sauce in a bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

      

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Turkey - The best we've ever had!!!

 

I hosted Thanksgiving this year.  This was only the second turkey I've cooked in my life.  I happened to watch a video on allrecipes.com - Chef John recipe - Cooking Turkey for Chickens.  Well, I was chicken but the video gave me courage!  I followed the method and recipe and it turned out amazing!  The breast meat was so tender,moist and flavorful and the dark meat was cooked to perfection.  I have found a keeper and will never look further for a turkey recipe.  My son Michael said this morning, "I never want turkey again unless you make it just like you did yesterday, it was the best."

 Watch Chef John's Video here

Ingredients:

Turkey (I had a 25 lb - Butter Ball)
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp poultry seasoning (fresh, not from 1997)
2 onions
3 ribs celery
2 carrots
3 rosemary sprigs (I don't care for rosemary so I didn't use)
1/2 bunch sage
1 bay leaf
Flavored butter recipe (below) 

Ingredients Flavored butter:

• 1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), room temperature (I used 3/4 cup butter because I had a large turkey)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh sage, minced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed very fine (I used 2 cloves)

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl combine all ingredients and mash with a fork until completely mixed.
   
   
2. Position the turkey so that the cavity is facing you and you are working forward towards the neck. Using a long, thin flexible rubber or silicon spatula, slowly slide the tool between the skin and the flesh of the breasts on both side of the breastbone.
   
   
3. The skin is fairly tough and won't tear if you go slowly and carefully. You can pretty much separate the skin all the way from the cavity, where you started, to the front of the breast, and down toward the wing joint. Do this on both side of the breast, but leave the skin attached along the center of breastbone itself.
   
   
4. Then simple divide the butter mixture in half and stuff it under the skin on both sides and massage it down toward the front of the bird. Spread as evenly as possible, but don't worry about getting it perfect, as it will melt and spread out as the turkey roasts. Before roasting lay a piece of foil loosely over the breasts.
   
   
5. Roast the bird.  (I roasted the turkey at 350 and truned down to 325 after two hours. Took foil off breast about 30 minutes before it was done. When the meat thermometer read 165 (took 5 hours), took turkey out of the oven and covered the whole turkey with foil and left to rest for 30 minutes.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Butternut Squash W/ Spiced Honey Marshmallows (Gaps, Paleo, Primal)

Oh yes! Really, what is better than a warm, sweet potato and marshmallow casserole? Ummm...a butternut squash one, topped with homemade honey sweetened marshmallows! Even better? How about home made honey sweetened 'spiced' marshmallows. Uhhhh, YUM! So let's get to it.







Butternut Squash W/ Spiced Honey Marshmallows



Make your marshmallows a day ahead so they have time to firm

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

French Green Bean Casserole W/Crispy Shallots (Gaps, Paleo & Vegan options)

Living in the south has changed me. I know, I know, I've said stuff like this before! It's true! I used to be all about foods exotic and foreign. Now I find myself making dishes like biscuits and white gravy, pot pies, and chicken fried steak...ok, maybe not the chicken fried steak. And last but not least, there's GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE! When did I start loving this stuff? Probably about

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Joey Tribbiani's Thanksgiving Pants(Revisited)

5 yoga minded tips to feeling better after the...

BIG MEAL!



As Thanksgiving approaches, I am reminded of a scene from an episode of

"FRIENDS"....(IMPORTANT, Please watch before you continue)















































Let's talk DIGESTION! First...let's try NOT to over eat, but in the event that we do(and we all know we will) here are a few tips to help take

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Dairy Free Cashew Cheese (GAPS, Paleo, Vegan)

My new favorite passion is Cashew Ricotta Cheese! I make this stuff at least twice a week. It is FULL of probiotics and it tastes amazing. Cashew cheese is SUPER easy to make, but you do have to plan head, as it requires quite a few hours of soaking and then even more time for fermenting. You are probably wondering if it really tastes like 'cheese'. That depends on what kind of cheese you

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

White Wine & Thyme Cashew Gravy (GAPS/Paleo, Gluten Free))

To be perfectly honest, I never was much of a gravy lover till I migrated south. I do love my gravy now though. I'll put it on almost anything. The gravy that we are about to explore today is much like a cross between a white gravy(the kind you'd put over biscuits) and a nice caramel colored turkey gravy. What's different about this one though is the absence of grains, starches and

reade more... Résuméabuiyad