Thanksgiving Recap

The turkey was fantastic. I think my favorite part was the gravy (so was Jenny's), which covered up my less-than-fantastic mashed potatoes (my sister and I both employed the "cook your potatoes early and keep them warm in the crockpot" idea to our own demise), but the whole thing was simply fabulous. And yes, RaChelle, my turkey cooked way faster than I expected, moving dinner up a whole hour. Yikes! Maybe it WAS a good thing I'd done the potatoes first!

There was some debate before about what stuffing recipe to use, and I hemmed and hawed until, seriously, Thanksgiving morning about whether to just use glorified Stove-Top or stuff my bird with something more exotic. The result? Compromise--I used the Apple, Sausage, and Parsnip Stuffing with Fresh Sage recipe linked to the turkey recipe, with a few alterations:

1) I did not use parsnips. Seriously, what are parsnips?
2) I used ground, Jimmy Dean-type sausage instead of sausage in casings. It was the "savory" kind (no hot sausage), and actually had sage in it, which was awesome.
3) Instead of the sourdough, I simply cooked up a box of Stovetop and mixed the rest of the ingredients in with it. I know, totally cheating, but I adore Stovetop, so why waste my time toasting sourdough when what I really want is a fancied-up box mix?

It was delish. I only had a 12 lb bird, and I think this stuffing recipe is for a 20 pound bird, plus extra on the side (and since Jason's dad doesn't like sausage I had to make regular stuffing on the side anyway), so I cut the recipe to about a quarter, give or take a few apples. I am very sad it is all eaten up, but I'm glad it was eaten up by Jason, who has never liked stuffing before.

The other thing I am sad about is that there is no more tapioca salad, which is my all-time favorite holiday (and any other day I can eat it) recipe. For the record, here is the recipe:

Tapioca Salad
Boil together in a saucepan:
2 c. water
4 T. minute tapioca
1/2 c. sugar (or Splenda works)
Once the mixture comes to a boil, take it off the stove and let it cool.

Once cool, mix in:
1 can fruit cocktail (drained)
1-2 chopped bananas
1 c. frozen strawberries or raspberries
1-2 c. cool whip (the recipe says 1, I like more)

Chill until ready to serve.

Okay, so I'm sad that the tapioca salad was all gone by the end of the weekend, but I did make it again for our Sunday school party on Saturday. My flight from Idaho was so late that by the time we made it to the party everyone was done eating. I am not sad that I got to take most of it home with me...