1 Friendsgiving Part 2

Hi everyone! I hope you have all survived work the past couple days in the week after Thanksgiving. Last year my friends and I decided to have a Friendsgiving (Thanksgiving with Friends) and that was so successful that we decided to hold another one!

Photo courtesy of Mary Ryan

This year I made the turkey and stuffing once again, while everyone else brought something to the potluck (including a delicious gluten free pumpkin pie!) We had a wide assortment from jello salad, delicious brussel sprouts, corn pudding, green bean casserole, and so much more!

Another of Mary Ryan's photos...delicious!

Also, thank you to Mary Ryan for 90% of these photos. They are all amazing photographs that I had to use for this post!

Mac and Cheese Recipe (not gluten free)

Here is a photo from Mary's macaroni and cheese, it looked delicious, and I am determined to figure out how to make it gluten free...as well as Oren's sweet potato hash dish. I could eat the entire dish of them, soooo delicious!

Such a tasty salad. And quite colorful.

As for my contribution, I wanted to share the recipe for my gluten free stuffing. It's easy to prepare, absolutely delicious when stuffed in a turkey (I know there's possible health risks, but you just cannot beat stuffed stuffing. #BestThanksgivingSideEVER). However, you can just as easily bake the stuffing inside of a dish as well. If you have fresh herbs available, I recommend using fresh herbs. Something about the aromatics of fresh herbs elevates the vibrant delicious taste of stuffing.

Serves 6
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time Stuffed, duration of the turkey or chicken it is stuffed within. Dish, 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 loaf of your favorite gluten free white bread. I recommend Whole Foods brand if available, cubed
3 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 Pink Lady apple, diced
2 tbsp rosemary, diced
1 tbsp sage, diced
2 tsp thyme, diced

Steps
Preheat an oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lay the bread out in a single layer. Coat with the oil and oregano, and toast for 7 minutes.

While the bread toasts, sautee the onions and garlic over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add the celery and cook for another 3 minutes.

Once the bread is out of the oven, place them into a bowl and combine with the onion, garlic, celery, apple, and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

For a stuffed preparation, stuff the prepared turkey or chicken, and cook the bird as intended, adding another 5-10 minutes cooking time per pound due to the stuffing. Alternatively, bake the stuffing in a greased baking dish for 30 minutes.

I hope you enjoy, and happy December!

0 Mashed Sweet Potatoes Recipe @ Everyday Southwest

Image Owned By Everyday Southwest

As I was browsing through Foodbuzz today for recipes and advice on cooking emu (one of my roommates bought emu, so I'm trying to help him find ways on how to cook it.) I came across this utterly delicious sounding recipe for sweet potatoes. I read through and it and decided I had to share it with yall for any Christmas dinners that you may have to prepare for. Photo above and recipe owned by Everyday Southwest.

http://www.everydaysouthwest.com/uncategorized/mashed-sweet-potatoes-with-bourbon-molasses-and-pecans-recipe/

0 Thanksgiving Leftovers: Chicken and Rice Soup

I found a really good recipe for making soup from leftover turkey meat and vegetables. With this recipe, you can use store bought stock, or any homemade stock (for pointers on making your own stock, click here). I hope that you enjoy!

Brown Rice and Turkey Soup from AllRecipes.com

0 Thanksgiving Leftovers: Turkey Stock

One useful way of using leftover parts of a turkey is making turkey stock. Turkey stock can be used in any recipe that asks for stock, and makes a great base for poultry soups.

Steps:

1. Toss the carcass and bones left over from a turkey into a pot. Add garlic, celery, onions, and a mix of any other left over vegetables.
2. Cover the bones with about an inch of water, and turn the stove to medium heat for half an hour. Every 5-10 minutes skim the fat from top of the stock water.
3. After half an hour, turn the heat down to low and leave for about 3 hours. Every 30 minutes skim the top of the water for fat.
4. Pour the stock water into a fine strainer to remove all meat and vegetables. Strain a few more times to remove other material that is not stock. 
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, skim the top of the stock for fat. As the stock chills, it will congeal due to the gelatin in the bones. Once heated, the stock will return to its previous state.

Enjoy!

0 Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Not for the diabetic

You'll need:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup Orange Juice
- 16 oz organic cranberries
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- whisk
- pot with lid
- potato masher

Directions:
- Whisk together sugar and oj and bring to a boil on medium.
- Add cranberries and let boil until cranberries have popped
- Mash cranberries and add wine.
- Keep stirring for about 5, let stand to thicken and serve.

2 Turkey Preparation and Cooking

Last week I prepared a turkey for an alternative Thanksgiving that I had with friends. Below I have details and tips to make your turkey look like above.

1. Preheat an oven to 375F.
2. Thoroughly rinse the outside and inside of the turkey to clean it. Pat the turkey dry, and place into a large roaster or roasting pan. Brush the outside of the turkey with softened or melted butter. 
3. If cooking in a roaster, cover the turkey with the top. If cooking in a roasting pan without a top, cover the entire outside of the turkey with aluminum foil. 
4. Cook in the 375F oven for about 30 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 325F. The total amount of time that the turkey must cook will be approximately 15-20 minutes per pound. After about 2 hours of cooking, start basting the turkey with the juice at bottom of the pan, and baste about every 30 minutes to an hour. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, uncover the turkey so that it browns the outside. Using a thermometer, check the turkey for when its done at 165F.
5. Most importantly, leave the turkey alone for about 20-30 minutes before slicing so that the juices do not run out and leave the turkey dry.

Enjoy!

1 Trans-Siberian Turkey Weekend

Happy Turkey Week! To celebrate, I'll be posting a roasted turkey and turkey leftover recipes (all gluten free), so look forward to that! I hope that those who have this week off of work, school, etc. have been enjoying themselves thus far, and that everyone has safe travels and good food!

This past weekend I had two significant events to kick off my week off: a trip to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and an Alternative Thanksgiving.

Thursday I attended the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Verizon Center with a group of my friends. We had seats in the nosebleed section of the theater, but lucked out and received floor seats from one of the employees at the Verizon Center. The result? The perfect seating for one of the best light show/Rock-Christmas concerts you could possible attend. (Some of the better images I captured included below.)

On Saturday, my roommates and I invited a group of friends over for an Alternative Thanksgiving that we could all have with one another. We had decided weeks ahead to purchase a free range turkey from a local Virginia farm. In early November after visiting some local farmer's markets and calling around, we came in contact with a farm west of Farfax called Smith Family Farms.

I've gone to many farmer's markets, but I had never traveled to a farm for produce or protein. It was such a fun process driving to the farm And seeing how a small farm operates. We were able to meet and discuss with the people at the farm, and with the person that prepared our turkey. After roasting, our friends came over in the evening, and we had a huge Thanksgiving feast!

Later today or tomorrow I will post the directions as to how to roast a turkey in the oven (whether its 10 or 36 pounds) along with recipes for transforming leftover turkey into something new and awesome.