Sweet Potato Casserole Ruth Chris-Style

 Sweet Potato Mixture:

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 egg well-beaten
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (about 4 large sweet potatoes)

Topping:

• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter

Instructions:

• Combine sweet potato mixture and pour in 9x13 casserole dish.
• Combine crust in a separate bowl and sprinkle on top of sweet potato mixture.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Allow to set 30 minutes before serving.

Soft & Tender Rolls

From All Things Delicious

Please note: read the post (follow above link) before following the recipe below. There are many more details included in the post that are important.

Ingredients:

3 C. milk
1 C. water
3/4 C. butter
4 T. yeast
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 C. sugar
4 tsp. salt
10 C. flour

Instructions:

• Put the milk and water in a large microwaveable bowl and add the butter. Microwave until the butter is mostly melted, about 3-4 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.
• Put the yeast, eggs, sugar, 6 cups of flour, and salt into Bosch. 
• Pour in the milk, water, butter mixture and mix well. 
• Add enough of the remaining flour to make the dough pull away from the sides of the bowl, but still leaving some on the sides.
• Let it mix on high for about 10 minutes. The dough will be sticky, that's what makes it really tender.
• Roll the dough, onto a very well-floured surface, into a couple of 12-inch circles, brush with melted butter, and slice into wedges (like a pizza). Roll each wedge, starting from the wide end, rolling to the point, like a crescent roll. Place on a greased baking sheet.
• Cover your rolls lightly with plastic wrap and let them rise until doubled in size.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. They are done when they are golden brown on top. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.

Best Pecan Yams

From Favorites Cookbook

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked and mashed yams
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
Combine yams, sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well and turn into a greased 9x13 dish.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine brown sugar and flour; mix well. Stir in 1/3 cup melted butter and nuts. Crumble over top.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes (until set).

Turkey Cupcakes

From Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow flavor cake mix (or your favorite flavor)
• Ingredients from cake box (But must-see the "Cake-Over" recipe I always use.)
• 2 containers Betty Crocker milk chocolate frosting
• Tube of white decorating icing
• Tube of brown decorating gel
• Chocolate sprinkles
• Candy Corn

Instructions:

• Make and bake cupcakes according to package.
• Frost cupcakes with frosting.
• Place remaining frosting in a ziploc baggie and snip off small corner of bag.
• To decorate each cupcake, pipe 1-inch mound of frosting on 1 side of cupcake to look like head of turkey. 
• Make eyes with white decorating icing and brown decorating gel; add candy corn for beak. 
• To make feathers, pipe frosting on opposite side to hold candy corn; place candy corn upright on frosting to look like feathers. 
• Sprinkle chocolate candy sprinkles near head and at base of feathers. 
• If desired, add candy corn at base of cupcake for feet. 
• (See video on link for helpful guide.)

Slow Cooker Turkey

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Slow Cooker Turkey with No-Fuss Gravy

Note from Mel:
The one thing to keep a very, very close eye on is the salt content of this recipe. If you can't find no-salt added chicken broth and use low-sodium, take care not to oversalt the turkey breast because the gravy will be too salty. I used low-sodium chicken broth and only used about 1 teaspoon salt over the entire turkey breast and it was probably on the verge of being too salty. Keep in mind that you can always add salt at the end but it's hard to take away if you've oversalted at the beginning. Got it? Great. Also, you definitely need a large, oval slow cooker for this recipe. Even still, I had to scrap using the lid and cover the turkey and slow cooker with a few layers of foil. Worked perfectly.

Note from me:
Look for 5-7 lb turkey breast or it will not fit in crockpot. We do the turkey in the crockpot every time and love it!


Ingredients:
3 tbsp butter
1 med onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups no-salt added or low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tablespoon dried
2 bay leaves
6-8 pound bone-in skin-on turkey breast
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. In a large, nonstick skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and
garlic and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are lightly
browned.

2. Stir in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes until the flour coating the veggies turns golden. Whisk
in 1 cup of the broth, working to smooth out any lumps as it cooks and thickens. Stir in the
remaining broth and water. Add the thyme and bay leaves.

3. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker. Season the turkey breast all over with salt and pepper
(see the note above about how much salt to use). Place the turkey in the slow cooker (breast
side down). Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours until the internal temperature of the turkey
breast reaches 165 degrees.

4. Carefully transfer the turkey breast to a cutting board (or 9X13-inch pan to catch any juices),
tent with foil and let rest while preparing the gravy.

5. Strain the liquid in the slow cooker into a saucepan. Let it settle for 5 minutes or so and then
skim the fat from the surface. Bring the gravy to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring
often, until it is slightly thickened. It won't be as thick as traditional gravy but will be silky and
slightly thick. If you'd like it thicker, simply whisk together a slurry of cornstarch and cold water
(a tablespoon or so of cornstarch in a couple tablespoons of water) and stir the slurry into the
gravy, simmering for 2-3 minutes.

6. Season the gravy with any additional salt and pepper, if needed.

7. Carve the turkey and serve with the warm gravy.

Green Beans with Cheese Sauce

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp onion, grated
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can French cut green beans, drained
1 - 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup Ritz cracker crumbs

In small pan, blend butter, flour, salt, pepper, and sugar, stirring until bubbling.  Add milk, remove from heat and stir in onion and sour cream.  Combine sauce with green beans and cheese.  Place in a dish.  Set aside.  Sprinkle crumbs on top.  Bake uncovered at 400 for 20 min.

6 servings
(I usually triple the recipe and place in a 9x13 dish.)

Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes

From Pioneer Woman

• 5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
• 1/2 cup - 3/4 cups Butter
• 1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
• ½ cups (to 3/4 cups) Half-and-Half
• ½ tsp (to 1 tsp) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• ½ tsp (to 1 tsp) Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions:

(For best results, see Pioneer Woman link above and follow her exact instructions.)

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they're cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

For the gravy I used the drippings from the pan and added about a cup of rue. I brought it to a soft boil stirring continually and added s & p to taste!

(Note to self: I could not make this gravy work so we didn't use any gravy and it was still delicious.)