Family Secrets to a Perfect and Easy Thanksgiving Dinner

So many people slave unnecessarily over creating the Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings, and by the time dinner is ready just want to crawl into bed and forget about the whole thing. But there is an easy method to cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I'm going to let you know a few of my family's secrets that will leave you with enough energy to have and actually enjoy that second piece of pumpkin pie. I'll also give you the secret to the moistest turkey you will ever sink your teeth into. Shall we get started?

Let's start with the turkey. My mom used to thaw the turkey for days and the night before Thanksgiving put it in the oven to cook all night long. Now the smell was great, but it left a dry, overcooked turkey at the dinner table. The best way to cook a turkey nowadays is to cook it in an oven bag. You can find the oven bags in the foil section of your grocery store and you can sometimes find them at the dollar store. Pick up two disposable turkey pans while you're at it.

The directions are on the turkey oven bag package, and it only takes a 25-pound turkey three hours to cook and it comes out beautifully. We start our turkey in the morning so that the oven will be clear for all the other goodies. Once your turkey's timer has popped, let it settle and cool for awhile, set some of the turkey drippings aside for gravy, and then (here's the secret) get three cans of chicken broth and pour them into your second turkey roasting pan. Carve the turkey and place all the pieces in the chicken broth, covering the pan with foil. You can put it aside, and if it will be awhile before dinner then you can put it in the refrigerator and simply warm it up right before dinner.

Putting the turkey in the broth makes it even moister and it just melts in your mouth, with the best flavor ever!

Next comes the dressing: Sometimes dressing can turn out dry, or even a bit "bready." Here's what you do for perfect dressing. Pick up the packaged dressing or make the dressing from scratch. Once it's made, add a cup of instant mashed potatoes (prepared per instructions) and again add some chicken broth. This technique pumps up the flavor of the dressing and the instant potatoes keep it moist and flavorful. We put a sprinkle of sage in our dressing which takes it to a whole new level.

How about the yams? Sometimes we bake yams in foil in the oven but the favorite is yams or sweet potatoes and marshmallows. We buy the big can of yams and drain the juice from the can. Place the drained yams in a bowl and take a masher (or fork) and mash those yams into Thanksgiving submission. Mash'em 'til they're mushy. Plop a ½ cup of brown sugar in the bowl with the yams and a softened, half a stick of butter. Stir in the brown sugar and butter and then place the mixture in a 9 x 12 greased pan and spread it so it's even. Zap it in the microwave for about three minutes and then check it to see if it's warm. Once warm, sprinkle miniature marshmallows over the whole shebang but don't stir them in. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and place it in the oven. Keep a close eye on it because it doesn't take long for those marshmallows to brown. Remember, it's already warm from the microwave and the few extra minutes of heat gained in the oven while the marshmallows are browning makes it all nice and hot.

Once the marshmallows have browned pull it out of the oven. A great holiday touch is to sprinkle nutmeg over the top of the marshmallows. YUMMY!

Now it's time for the cranberries: Okay, so we just buy the can of jellied cranberries and open both ends of the can and gently slide out the 'jelly roll' and slice it. We used to go to the trouble of making our own cranberry roll but realized it was way too much work for the taste when you can get the same taste from the can.

Mashed potatoes and gravy: This is the most labor intensive of the whole meal. We have tried instant, we have tried store-bought. But the best mashed potatoes are homemade. We peel the potatoes and then boil them. Once you can pierce a fork in them we take them off the stove and drain them. We put the potatoes in a nice looking bowl and get out the mixer and whip them up. We add one stick of real butter, softened, (use butter not margarine), ½ cup of mayonnaise (another family secret to fluffy creamy potatoes), and milk to keep them from being chunky. Just pour a little splash milk at a time and keep whipping. If they look and feel right don't add any extra milk but if they seem too thick add a little more milk. Salt and pepper to taste.

The gravy is made from turkey drippings. First take half a stick of butter and melt it in a saucepan on medium. Next, sprinkle in some flour until the flour and butter make a paste. Drop your turkey drippings into the mixture and stir. Turn up the heat to medium-high and pour a little milk into the mix. Keep stirring constantly. You will see that the mixture will begin to thicken and if it becomes too thick just add a little milk until it becomes the consistency that you want. You most likely won't need to salt it because the turkey drippings have a lot of flavor but if you like pepper put some in.

Now for Grandma's whipped gelatin salad: Get a package of gelatin, any flavor. We use cherry, orange, or lime during Thanksgiving and yes, you can use sugar free if you want to! Pick up a package of miniature marshmallows and a package of cream cheese. Go ahead and make the gelatin as if you're going to make a regular batch of cold gelatin, but after you boil the water and stir in the gelatin, you will add the block of cream cheese and stir it until it melts. Continually stir as the mixture is on the lowest heat possible. Once the cream cheese has melted, add in half a package of marshmallows and again melt them into your mixture. At this point take it off the heat and you can add diced fruit if you like. Put it in a bowl or a mold and refrigerate until firm. This is so creamy and yummy that we make two instead of one.

Last but not the least... the pies! We used to bake homemade pies days before the holidays but we have found that the ones made in the bakery cost just as much as it does to make them and they taste great! We buy pumpkin and apple and I usually make the chocolate pie. I buy store-bought crust and bake it up and then use sugar free chocolate instant pudding (which is great in flavor, by the way) and make it according to the pie filling instructions on the box. I just put the pie together and use spray whipping cream to decorate and add a little extra flair and flavor. That's it! Thanksgiving is time to spend with family and friends, and it's easy if you make our quick and easy Thanksgiving just like we do every year. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your time together.