Thanksgiving Dinner for 3

With the days passing so quickly, before we know it ,Thanksgiving will be here. I use to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for ten people. Things change, people move, and now I just cook for 3. It is hard to make a dinner with out tons of leftovers for a week, but it is possible. Here is where you have to be open to the new recipe ideas, and new food. It is possible to have a nice turkey, and display of food without spending allot of money. Shop the local bakeries for rolls, the small butcher markets, and vegetable markets to ensure you buy only enough food for what you need. Prepackaging can be more costly, as the can foods, also buying fresh can give you more flavor and nutrients if cooked properly by steaming.

My spouse and I head out while the sales are full enforce. I am very picky about my brand, as I tried most of them and I still go back to the famous Butterball. I wait for that special sale when I can maybe buy it at .79 pound if I am lucky. The same holds true with the ham, I am a huge fan of Honey Baked, but I can not afford their prices, the closet I came to theirs was the generic brand of Kirkwood spiral slice ham. I learned from my mother several different ways of preparing both turkey and ham. The technique I go back to is as follows:

Turkey:Choose the smallest bird you can find in freezer at the grocer. Thaw the bird, in refrigerator a couple days prior, and or in large pot with ice, changing the cold water often. Follow the directions on the bird carefully for thawing to ensure no one will fall sick. In the roaster pan, place turkey breast down, here use a collapsible turkey holder to prop bird, if you do not have one, then you just need to lift it out carefully using two forks. It is important the bird not touch the bottom of the roasting pan. My mother told me placing the turkey upside down allows the juices to follow into the breast meat instead of away, allowing the bird to be more juicy and not dry. Then on top place several strips of bacon covering the bird from front to back. Also make sure you have water in bottom of roaster for steam and collect juices that may roll off. Then you cover with a foil dome and cook according to directions per pound. We just discard the bacon after cooking as it just adds a little more flavor. The thicker the bacon cut the better. It would be advisable to buy this thick cut at butcher since it is cheaper per pound then prepackaged. I found cooking the turkey breast down does result in a juicier bird, not having your guests scramble for the gravy to moisten it.

Ham: They come with their own glaze packets, but we also like to place whole pineapples on top held in place with whole cloves, and placing small amounts of brown sugar inside the pineapple ring. Cook ham accordingly to the manufacturers directions per pound. Glaze according to the directions near the end of cooking. Serve the pineapples on the side along with the ham.

Sides: I prepare these the day before due to cleaning and keeping time in front of stove to minimum.
Green Beans wrapped in bacon: Here you use fresh green beans, steamed gently, not cooked fully. Cook bacon half way, wrap 10 green beans in bacon, place tooth pick to hold together through bacon, place in pan sprayed with cooking spray, and gently drizzle melted butter with garlic over the top. Cook at 350 for 30 min or until bacon is finished cooking. Buying fresh green beans you can purchase only the amount you want ensuring no left overs.

Corn on the Cob: We pick the fattest ears we can find. Cut them in half and place in a large pot of water, pour a little milk and a little sugar into the water and place ears in. Cook until tender. When done, remove, and coat with butter(we use spray butter) and salt, wrap in foil. For 3 just use 2 cut in half, leaving one extra for left over.

Stuffing: You can make homemade, or just buy the box. I found no big difference in generic and name brand. Here, cook stuffing according to box, allow to cool.
while stuffing is cooling. Cook turkey Italian sausage in pan, allow to cool, crumble into little pieces and add to stuffing for extra flavor.

Rolls: I love to make these homemade. But my mother in law likes soft chewy ones, so I buy a few for her at the bakery. I make the rapid rise sweet roll recipe similar to the hot roll mix, tastes similar ,but its homemade. Buying at a local baker supports them, also you can buy only what you need, at about 20 cents a roll depending on baker.

Desert: With all these fattening and semi fattening recipes, this is the last thing that needs to be on the menu, but guests still wish for it. I opt for the untraditional instead of pumpkin pie, and go for the sweet potato pie. It is a great alternative for those guests who do not like pumpkin pie. It is easy to make and tastes wonderful too. The recipe I use is as follows:

1 (1 pound) sweet potato ( boiled in pieces then mashed)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (refrigerated or homemade dough)

Blend well in a bowl, the sweet potatoes, butter, sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla until smooth, pour into pie shell. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top, place around the edges a foil ring to prevent burning of crust, remove 15 minutes prior to end cook time, place in oven at 350 degrees bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely, then on edge of pie take your whip cream in can and decorate edge with dollops of whip cream stars around entire pie.

The day of company, all you need to do is while turkey is cooking, if your oven is big enough that is, stack the sides around turkey allowing them reheat while turkey is cooking to reheat them or use the microwave. The display of your table is up to you. To keep the contents lower in fat, use the packet gravies, and sauces, instead of opting for the traditional grease based. There is no way to say this holiday dinner can be fat free, but it can be less fat when using these. Try buying wheat rolls at the bakery in place of white. My spouse and I try hard all year to watch what we eat, just because the fact of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are worth the wait and sacrifice of carefully eating throughout year. May you all have a Holiday dinners with friends and family.