Easy Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups pureed pumpkin
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 pie crust

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into pie crust. Bake in preheated oven at 350F for approximately 60 minutes or until set through.

Topping:

1 pkg cream cheese
1 cup whipped cream
½ cup powdered sugar

Blend all ingredients together and use to top pie.

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The History of Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pies are a traditional fall dessert enjoyed during the Thanksgiving holiday. And Allen Smith says that today's pie is far different from the kind early colonists prepared.

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Thanksgiving Craft: Placemats and Place Holders

A beautiful table setting is the finishing touch to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. By collecting a few simple things from around the house, and maybe a trip to the craft or fabric store, you have the makings of a festive table. Standard placemats start with a rectangle of construction paper, or fabric, in fall colors or white and come in endless varieties, limited only by your imagination.

Handy Turkey Placemats - Trace around a hand, with fingers spread, to create a turkey. The palm is the body, the thumb is the head, and the other fingers are the tail feathers. Each child can make their own. It can turn into a game, to try to find their handprint at dinnertime, to see who sits where.

Fall Foliage Placemats - Collect colorful fall leaves from your own yard to make a lovely, natural placemat. You can also use artificial leaves from the craft store, if you prefer. Cut two rectangle pieces of contact paper the size you need. Arrange the leaves neatly on the first piece. Carefully place the second piece on top, pealing part of the paper backing off a little at a time, and press in place. Give the placemat a boarder by gluing strips of construction paper about an inch wide along the edges.

Pilgrims and Indians - Draw or find a pattern for simple silhouettes of Pilgrims and Indians. Place one of each on either side of the placemat. Decorate them, or leave them as simple silhouettes. Craft feathers could be added for details around the edges.

Burlap Placemats - If you want to go with a more rustic look, cut rectangles of burlap. If you have a sewing machine, stitch around the outside edge about an inch in, with a zigzag stitch, to keep it from raveling too far. Decorated the placemat with ribbon or yarn.

Fabric Placemats - There are many lovely fall prints available that could be made into placemats. They could be bordered with a nice ribbon (make sure it's washable) for a simple placemat. The ribbon could be attached with fabric glue or double stick tape. Just be sure to use the permanent kind, if you want to wash them. Alternatively, you could make a quilted placemat and finish it off with binding, for a very elegant looking table.

Placeholders or place cards, can also be a nice touch at the dinner table. These help to eliminate the arguments of who sits where at dinner. They can be made by taking a piece of card stock, or heavy paper, about four inches square, folded in half. Print the name on both sides. If someone knows how to do calligraphy, that can add a nice touch. With all the interesting fonts available, it is easy to print out nice ones, and even add small graphics that fit the theme of the season right at your home computer.

Taking the time to create an attractive table adds a bit of color and fun to the festivities that will be enjoyed by everyone.

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Thanksgiving Craft: Wreath

There is nothing more special than to hang a Thanksgiving wreath on your front door. It is inviting as well as pleasing to the eye. For this Thanksgiving, why not involve your entire family in the craft of making a Thanksgiving wreath? Here are some suggestions.

Having ventured out to various stores, I found Thanksgiving items that were being displayed. One store had a beautiful wreath made of grapevine with fall-colored leaves attached. Although the leaves were plastic, it was a simple, yet elegant wreath. The more one looked at it, the more it seemed it could be spruced up by adding additional items such as berries, nuts, or perhaps a small pumpkin in the center.

Another wreath that was quite impressive was one that used the basic grapevine, but the leaves were freshly picked and dried, then glued to the vine. In addition, there were feathers and beautiful red and green checked fabric which was used to tie berry branches to the vine as well.

One wreath that was quite unique was made out of a large 8-1/2x11 picture frame. The leaves covered the outer part of the frame with berries and nuts placed within the leaves. The center, however, was the focal point of the wreath. A picture of a family with small text indicating three things they were thankful for on this special day.

Thanksgiving, after all, is a day of giving thanks and signifying not only the beauty of the holiday but one’s sentiments as well. A Thanksgiving wreath is not only a lovely way to express the holiday’s meaning, but a gift to share with family, friends, and neighbors as well.

There are so many different wreaths one can creatively and ingeniously make to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. Your local craft store has all of the items you need to create a wreath unlike any other. Remember to take pictures for your scrapbook as well. If the Thanksgiving craft in wreath-making has been a tradition in your home for years, then every picture taken is a reminder of how much love and attention you have given in designing a special wreath for your family.

At a time when world events seem to invade our daily lives, this year it is especially important to show not only how thankful we are for all we have, but show our thanks for the freedom we enjoy every day. Perhaps a wreath with a teddy bear dressed in red, white and blue may be appropriate at this time. 

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Traditional Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing & Homemade Gravy Recipe

For the Stuffing:

½ cup whole chestnuts or dried if you can’t find whole
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and minced
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 egg, lightly beaten
5 cups stale bread, cubed
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
¼ cup butter, melted
Olive oil
Salt (sea salt is preferable)
Pepper

1 10 lb. turkey

For the Gravy:

2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
Corn flour
Chicken stock
Butter

Directions:

The Night Before:

If possible, the previous night, or at least one hour before cooking, prepare your turkey. Remove any giblets and rise well (inside and out) with cold water, then pat dry with paper towels. Generously rub turkey with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and place back in refrigerator until time to cook.

The Next Morning:

Preparing the Stuffing:

To roast the chestnuts, cut an X on the flat side of each chestnut and bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375F oven. Let cool for 10 minutes and then peel and chop.

Do not turn oven off as it will need to be preheated for cooking the turkey.

In a large pot over low heat, heat the olive oil then add onions and celery. Sauté for about 3 minutes or until soft. Stir in crushed garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme and apple and sauté for a further 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in egg, then add chestnuts and bread. Toss mixture well. Stir in warm broth and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Preparing the Turkey:

Remove turkey from fridge and loosely stuff the neck cavity with chestnut stuffing, fold the skin under and secure in place with a toothpick. Then loosely stuff the main cavity, making sure to leave room for expansion and the air to flow through.

Then prepare your roasting pan. Use a large roasting pan and at the bottom add two roughly chopped carrots, onion and celery. Place the rack over the vegetables. Now place your turkey, breast side up, on the rack. Drizzle with melted butter.

Bake, uncovered, at 375F for the first 30 minutes, then baste and reduce oven temperature to 325F. Continue basting turkey every 25 to 30 minutes. The cooking time should be approximately 20 minutes per pound of turkey, which would be about 3.5 hours for a 10b turkey. To check if the turkey is cooked pierce the thigh bone, juices should run clear without any pink. Also use a meat thermometer on the thickest part of the thigh. The temperature should show 180F. Turkey should be golden and crispy on the outside too.

Remove the turkey from roasting tray and reserve juices for gravy.

Tip: For extra added safety, I like to remove the stuffing from turkey once turkey is cooked and bake on a separate dish for approximately 10 extra minutes.

For the Gravy:

Mash the vegetables in the roasting tray, then push all ingredients through a sieve. Discard any remaining vegetables or fat. Place the sieved liquid in a saucepan and simmer over low heat. If you don’t have enough liquid then add 1 cup or more (depending on how much gravy you need) of chicken stock; you can also add a couple of tablespoons of butter.

In a small bowl add two tablespoons of corn flour and mix with cold water (about ½ cup) until all lumps dissolve. Slowly add a little of this mixture (tablespoon by tablespoon) to the saucepan, stirring well after each addition and allowing time for gravy to thicken. Keep adding corn flour/water mixture until gravy thickens.

Tip: You can also add a couple of tablespoons of red wine to the gravy or Madeira for a richer taste. The alcohol will dissolve during the cooking process and children will be able to have the gravy.

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3 Fun Family Thanksgiving Ideas

Thanksgiving is always a fun time of celebration and eating with your family. Here are some ways to make Thanksgiving even more fun for your family this year.

Thankful cards

Make a card for each family member that will be your guest for Thanksgiving this year. On each card, tell that person what you love most about them, and why you are thankful for them.

Recipe books

A few months before Thanksgiving, write a list of each family member. Beside their name, make a note of their best dish. Call each member and ask for a copy of that recipe, plus one or two of their own favorites that they’d like to share. When you have all the recipes ready, compile them into a booklet and print them, using your computer and printer. (You can also use professional services, if you wish, to make a longer-lasting recipe book.) After your guests all arrive for your Thanksgiving dinner, give them each a copy of your special recipe book.

Mini family scrapbooks

Gather family pictures, if you don’t have many pictures, take them to a local copier and have extra prints made. Purchase mini scrapbooks at a scrapbook supply store, along with stickers, markers and various scrapbook supplies. Create miniature family scrapbooks, using one picture per page. Write what you are thankful for, in relation to each family member, on their designated pages. On Thanksgiving Day, give a copy of your mini family scrapbooks to each family member as a memento.

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The History of Thanksgiving in America

When people think of Thanksgiving, most remember the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians at Plymouth Rock. The Pilgrims first arrived in America on December 11, 1620, not prepared for the winter they were to face. Out of the 102 who arrived on the Mayflower, forty-six of the people died during the first few months. Despite the devastation, they had a good harvest, partly in thanks to the Indians who lived nearby.

They had a traditional British Harvest Feast in thanks to God for surviving and the blessings of provisions that would see them through the winter. In contrast to our modern Thanksgiving menu, they actually had more meat than vegetables, including venison, fish and wild foul, which may or may not have actually been turkey. They probably didn't have much in the way of desserts, as they didn't have a lot of flour or sugar on hand. They probably had some fruits and corn. Instead of pumpkin pie, they probably had boiled pumpkin. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted for three days.

Thanksgiving was not an annual event in the U.S. for many years. In 1623, there was a drought and instead of having a celebration, the Pilgrims held a prayer service. When their prayers were answered the next day, they invited their Indian friends to join them in another Thanksgiving observance.

June 20, 1676 was celebrated as a day of Thanksgiving in Charlestown, Massachusetts. However this was very different than the first Thanksgiving. This was to celebrate a victory over the Indians. Another victory, this time over the British, was celebrated in October of 1677 by all of the thirteen colonies. George Washington established the first national Thanksgiving day in 1789, however not everyone thought it was a good idea, including Thomas Jefferson.

It wasn't until 1863 that what we know as our modern Thanksgiving came into being. Sarah Josepha Hale decided to promote Thanksgiving in her magazine, Boston Ladies' Magazine and in Godey's Lady's Book. She also wrote letters to different governors and presidents. Abraham Lincoln finally established Thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November. The date was changed a few times (to the third Thursday), but in 1941 was finally established on its current date, the fourth Thursday in November.

Over the years, it has drifted away from its original focus on being thankful. It has become a day to eat and watch football. While those aren't bad things, it is good for people to take the time to actually be thankful for their blessings.

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