THANKSGIVING MEAL FAVORITES

Cooking a big festive holiday dinner for my family is LIFE to me. Listening to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in the background while I get everything prepared…catching my kids sneak a peek at the desserts I’m making and pretending to be upset with them if they want to dip their finger to taste. I do love enjoying the last hours of my fall decorations before we explode December cheer everywhere like confetti!

Family activities, tons of dessert, and all the talking and laughing while enjoying a meal together is so so valuable to me. I am excited and nervous at the same time for this year’s dinner, because I’m attempting some homemade stuffing this year, in an effort to re-create my Grandma Shirley’s delicious sage dressing. I know I will never be able to do it just like her, but I will give it my best effort!

To help you prepare for your Thanksgiving, I thought I would share my favorite Thanksgiving recipes!

MAIN COURSE

THE TURKEY
The very first holiday season I was out of high school I knew I would be cooking a Thanksgiving dinner and creating my own memories. I’ve been cooking a turkey since 1999! I’ve heard so many friends say cooking a turkey seems so scary and I completely understand, but it’s actually not hard!

What size should you get?
If you would like to have leftovers after your meal, count 2 lbs of turkey for every person eating. For example, if you have 10 people coming to Thanksgiving dinner, make sure you have a 20 lb turkey.

Don’t trash the instructions label.
After purchasing your turkey keep all instructions attached, do not throw them away! You need the label because it shows how many pounds your turkey is and it also has the instructions. Follow the instructions on the label to make sure you defrost correctly and do not plan to defrost the day before. You need time to defrost correctly so read the instructions.

How long do you cook a turkey?
Again, follow the instructions that come with your turkey. I will cook my turkey covered until the required temp is reached, then pull it out to remove the cover and cook about 15 minutes to brown the skin. I baste every hour, but that is a preference. If you still feel like you need help, go to YouTube. You got this!

HAM
Ingredients: (2) butt portion hams, (2) cans pineapple slices, brown sugar

This one will knock your socks off. Ready? Adam and I cut all the meat off the bone and remove as much fat as we can. (If you’re worried that it will be dry because I remove the fat, NOPE. The juiciest)

Drain all the pineapple juice from (2) cans of pineapple slices INTO the roaster. Set all the slices to the side, you will use them. Layer the ham, pineapple slices, and spinkle brown sugar until all of the ham is in the roaster. I cook this for about 4 hours in my roaster and its the BEST! Stir every hour or so.

SIDE DISHES

MASHED POTATOES
I cook my potatoes in my instant pot now and it’s saving me so much dang time. Game changer! It also doesn’t heat up my kitchen from boiling an entire pot of water! I do not use a mixer when I make potatoes because I feel it messes with the starchiness of it and can get sticky. I prefer to let all the moisture steam out before I hand mash and I hand mash while it’s HOT and DRY.

I use warm milk instead of cold milk, a good quality butter (I use Kerry Gold salted), salt and pepper and a couple spoonfuls of PLAIN Greek yogurt. We use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and if you think you are missing taste by using the Greek yogurt you would be wrong! It tastes exactly like sour cream and is so much better for you!

Fancy it up by putting your finished taters in a baking dish, topped with salt, pepper, and a few pieces of butter. Cover with foil and let stay warm in the oven until ready. I only do this at a 200 degree oven. We’re not baking them, just keeping them warm!

DRESSING/STUFFING
This year I am going to attempt to re-create my Grandma Shirley’s sage dressing…without a recipe to follow lol! She was an amazing cook but unfortunately didn’t leave us any recipes to follow. This is the recipe I am going to try this year! It seems to resemble my Grandma’s recipe the most and I’m so excited to give it a try!

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
I love green bean casserole!! Except the recipe on the container of French’s Fried Onions has to be tweaked a little bit for Mr. Wiginton. I always double the recipe and I always add extra fried onions for taste and crunchiness! Tip: keep some of the fried onions in a serving dish so everyone can add some extra crunch if want to!

GRAVY
I don’t make homemade gravy because we love the Campbell’s Chicken gravy and have used it for years! It’s our favorite and it keeps it super easy!

BISCUITS
Joanna Gaines’ biscuits from the Magnolia Table cookbook! The best ever. Add some homemade strawberry jelly….yum!! Don’t have time for homemade? No problem. My go-to favorite for years are Sister Schubert’s Dinner Rolls!

CRANBERRY SAUCE
Here’s the recipe I use. So good!

DESSERTS

Every year I try something new to keep it fun, but I always always always have the same family favorites. Here’s our favs!

PUMPKIN GOOEY BUTTER CAKE
I will say this one time. This cake will eliminate your craving for pumpkin pie. I tried this recipe way back Thanksgiving 2003 and I make it year after year. Family favorite!

(Tip: homemade whipped cream is amazing on this! Add 1 pint heavy cream, 1/4 sugar, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt into a mixer and set it on high until fluffy and cream holds a soft peak. It’s worth it!!)

PECAN PIE
I use this recipe and for sure use the DARK Karo syrup. Just a preference!

CHERRY SALAD
Family favorite since before I was Mrs. Wiginton! I think the first time I made this was the year 2001 and I’ve made it for the holiday’s ever since. It’s super easy!

* 1 can cherry pie filling
* 1 can crushed pineapple drained
* Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
* 8 oz Cool Whip
* 1 cup marshmallows

Drain the crushed pineapples first, and then add to a mixing bowl. Mix in all the ingredients except marshmallows. Once everything is mixed well, add in the marshmallows. Let sit in the refrigerator for an hour before serving. (Funny story, my brother one time snuck in a bunch more marshmallows and it was the gummiest ever lol. We still laugh about that!!)

COOKIE SALAD
Another family favorite! A friend of mine used to make this all the time (and probably still does!) and so do we. So good!

* Whisk together 1 cup buttermilk into a small package of instant vanilla pudding
* Fold in an 8 oz tub of cool whip
* Drain an 11 oz can of pineapple tidbits and a 15 oz can of mandarin oranges (don’t forget to drain!) and add to pudding mixture. Mix well.
* Let sit in refrigerator until ready to serve. Meantime, add a package of Keebler Fudge-Striped cookies to the freezer. When ready to serve cookie salad, take cookies out of freezer, crumble up and mix into the pudding mixture. DELISH!

---

This is basically our entire meal, minus a couple things here and there! This year I will probably make Mr. Wiginton a homemade apple pie again and then find something new to try!

Tell me, what’s your favorites? What are you planning to make this year? xoxo