Thanksgiving Dinner Recap - The Sides

Some of the side dishes that I served at my Thanksgiving dinner really need to mentioning - the mashed potatos, the corn (that I forgot!), the mashed sweet potatos... They are pretty self explanatory!

There are a few dishes though, that I wanted to share.

First, the stuffing - or dressing - whichever you prefer to call it. I imagine this a huge staple of a turkey dinner. I, for one, was never much of a fan of stuffing, but I am learning to like it. And I am still learning to make it! I have yet to do a stuffing that turns out completely right.

For this stuffing, I used this recipe from Mrs. Wheelbarrow, slighlty adapted. And that was probably part of my problem - the 'slightly adapted' part!

I fully intended to make my own Challah, but never got the time to do so. Bread baking from scratch takes time. This loaf was an estimated 5-ish hours from start to finish. And when you work full time M-F, that can be difficult! So, I ended up with plan B. I bought a loaf of bread - the store I purchased from didn't have any Challah, so I opted for a round, artisan french type of loaf. I cubed it and let it sit out to stale some, but it wasn't enough, so I had to toast it in the oven. Even after uping the oven to 400* after the normal recommend cooking period, and letting it cook longer, it still had a slightly soggy taste to some bites - which always seems to be my problem with stuffing. I imagine, had I followed Mrs. Wheelbarrow's recipe to a T, it would have turned out as good as it should have!

With that being said, it was still good, and still edible :) And I'll try it again, only next time, with the Challah!

The dinner rolls were a big deal for me. I never have luck with making my own bread of any kind, especially when yeast is involved. But this time, it worked!! I was so happy. The rolls were a tad 'heavy', however, I fully intend to say that is probably my fault, again! I probably made then larger than they needed to be. But regardless, a home baked roll is where it is at. And I am enjoying these left overs for breakfast with some honey and butter.

This is the roll recipe I used from Jessica at How Sweet It Is.

And, of course, the Cranberry Sauce. I forgot to get an individual picture of it, but here are the fresh cranberries cooking. Seriously people, get out of and over the habit of the 'cran in a can'. FRESH cranberry sauce is so rodoculously easy it is insane! And it taste much better! And it is better for you, I am sure :) Now that I have done this one, I plan to make this many more times while fresh cranberries are still in season.

I used the Homemade Whole Cranberry Sauce recipe from Deb at Smitten Kitchen.

And let me just tell you, this little man was a cranberry fan!

Tomorrow - homemade pumpkin pie ... like, as in, made with homemade pumpkin puree.