This Thanksgiving, our oldest son and daughter-in-law will be hosting. It’s the first time one of our kids has had a holiday at their place, which feels like a milestone for our family, and I’m really looking forward to cooking up a storm with them!

Last post, I promised I’d share a few of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. These three are my own versions of some traditional side dishes. If you try them out, let me know what you think!

Sweet Potato Pie

This is a family favorite that my mom always made. We weren’t big into using recipes to cook in my house growing up, so instead we started with a basic recipe and tweaked it to our tastes.

4 large sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)

2 eggs

1/2 stick of butter

2/3 cup heavy cream or half and half

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 cups Frosted Flakes cereal

1 cup miniature marshmallows

Boil the sweet potatoes until soft. Drain well and place in large mixing bowl. Use a potato masher to get started on mashing them.
Add the butter while potatoes are still hot so the butter melts easily.
Switch to electric mixer and add cream and salt.
Once potatoes are cool enough, add eggs and blend.
Mix one teaspoon of cornstarch in 1/4 cup COLD water until smooth. Add to potato mixture and blend.
Transfer potato mix into large pie dish or Pyrex.
In a gallon ziplock bag, crush the Frosted Flakes using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer.
Mix marshmallows with the crushed Frosted Flakes, and cover the top of the sweet potato pie.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes to make sure top isn’t burning.
Remove and let cool, then serve with dinner!

Cranberry Sauce

The twist on this recipe is adding blueberries to the mix! Usually, the ratio for cranberry sauce is 1 cup sugar (brown and white combined) to 1 cup water, but I cut the sugar by a little bit because the blueberries are pretty sweet. I also double the recipe, but it depends on how big a crowd you’re serving.

1 bag of fresh cranberries (12 oz)

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

Boil water and sugars in saucepan until sugars dissolve.
Add cranberries and lower heat, simmering until cranberries begin to burst.
Add blueberries.
Use a potato masher to crush up the mix.
Simmer until the mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and transfer to serving bowl. Refrigerate overnight and serve with dinner.

Roasted Carrots

This one is so easy, it’s ridiculous, but they add nice color to the table, and done like this, they’re a great blend of sweet and savory.

1 bag fresh carrots (multi-colored if available)

Olive oil (I like to use the spray)

Salt and pepper

Wash carrots and cut off ends (you don’t need to peel them, just give them a good scrubbing with a new kitchen sponge).
Spray cookie sheet liberally with olive oil.
Spread carrots out on the tray, and spray them with more olive oil, making sure there coated evenly.
Sprinkle on salt and pepper.
Bake 350 degrees until carrots are soft (45 minutes or so), turning them occasionally.
Broil for 2 minutes, watching carefully, so carrots caramelize around the edges.
Transfer to serving platter.

From my family to yours, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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