Thanksgiving Dinner a la Celia
November 25, 2016 revised September 28, 2019

DISHES

Stuffing
Turkey
Gravy
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Biscuits
Cabbage
Green Beans
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Fruit Mold
Dinner Drinks
Rum Cake
Vanilla Ice Cream
Decaffe coffee

RECIPES

Stuffing:

Olive oil
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped onions
4 T chopped Italian parsley
Salt
Pepper
1/2 t sage
1/2 t poultry seasoning
2 T butter
Chopped bread
Stock

Saute celery and onions in olive oil until golden brown. Add the rest of the ingredients and put in a covered baking pot. Cook for 45 minutes.

Notes: We substituted 2 T bacon fat with butter because we don’t usually have bacon around. And I thought Celia put jiblets in the stuffing or at least served them with the bird, but we don't since they tend to collect the toxics that the bird eats so probably not the healthiest to eat.

Turkey:

Buy a 15 lb turkey. Defrost in the fridge under 40 degrees in about 3 days. Rinse outside and inside. Do not stuff. Salt exterior under the skin and interior. Put turkey bacon strips on each leg. Roast at 300 degrees with the breast down on a roasting rack in Celia’s roasting pan. Baste with drippings every 30 minutes. Cover once golden brown. Cook until thick part of thigh is 180 degrees, about 4 to 5 hours total. Let sit for 1/2 hour before carving to keep the moisture in. Only carve what you will eat to keep leftovers moist.

Notes: Celia stuffed the bird, but we don’t because it could take too long to bake to insure no chance of salmonella poisoning, which could dry out the meat. She also used pork bacon on the legs, but we use turkey bacon for health reasons. Sara adds pepper and poultry seasoning, thyme and oregano.

Gravy:

After turkey is done, put leftover drippings in sauce pan. Add flour and some of the stock used for the stuffing to make the optimum consistency between thick and thin. Stir regularly until warmed through, about 5 minutes.

Note: we don’t have a recipe for Celia’s gravy, but this is a pretty standard way to make it.

Sweet Potatoes and Yams:

Clean the sweet potatoes and put them in the oven 1/2 hour before the turkey is done and bake for a total of 1 hour.

Mashed Potatoes:

We don't have Celia's recipe so we maded Mashed Potatoes a la Megan.

Biscuits:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
4 T butter, cold, chopped in to pea sized pieces
1 cup soy milk
sugar
eggs

Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix in butter pieces. Use a fork to mash the butter until it has the consistency of bread crumbs. Pour in milk. Knead dough 8 to 10 times. Spread out on cutting board. Pat it with your hand to 3/4" thick. Turn a drinking glass upside down and cut out round biscuits. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Notes: Celia used premade white biscuit dough in a can, but we prefer baking bread from fresh ingredients. We use 1/2 whole wheat flour for health reasons. We multiplied the above by 1.5 to serve 7.

Cabbage:

1 head cabbage
1 onion, finely chopped
4 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 T honey
1/2 cup currant jelly
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup red wine
1 sour apple, grated
1 T corn starch
2 T stock

Saute onions until golden brown. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook until cabbage is tender. Add water if it dries out before it is tender.

Note: Celia’s recipe calls for red cabbage, but we are going to try it with regular cabbage since we get it from our CSA. We switched 4 T fat with olive oil and halved the salt for health reasons. We added sauteed onions, and substituted grape jelly and port since it was avaialable.

Green beans:

Green beans
Olive oil
1/4 onion finely chopped, or pearl onions
Garlic
Salt

Steam green beans. Saute onions, garlic and salt in olive oil until golden brown. Mix with green beans.

Note: we don’t have Celia’s recipe for this, so we kept it simple. Celia may have also made other vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts.

Cranberry sauce:

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 bag cranberries

Boil water, add sugar and cranberries, cook until all the cranberries are popped. Chill for at least 3 hours, the longer the better.

Note: Celia used canned cranberry sauce, but we prefer the taste of making it from fresh cranberries.

Cranberry fruit mold:

6 oz red gelatin, or non-flavored gelatin plus some sugar
8 oz cranberry sauce
Diced peeled apples
Diced peeled oranges

Dissolve gelatin in to 2 cups boiling water. Ad cranberry sauce and stir until smooth. Add 1 cup of water and chill until thickened. Fold in diced apples and oranges. Pour in mold or bowl. Chill 3 hours. To remove from mold, dip in hot water for 10 seconds, then tip bowl on side and gently remove from edges. Top with wet plate and invert. Shake gently. Remove mold.

Note: Celia would also serve jellied cranberry sauce in a can; this could be made from fresh cranberry sauce per the above recipe without the apples and oranges.

Rum cake:

Cake:

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 18-1/2 oz yellow cake mix pudding
4 eggs
3/4 cup cold water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Spray oil
1/4 cup 80 proof rum

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix all other ingredients together in mixing bowl for 2 minutes with mixer on medium, then pour over nuts. Bake 1 hour. Cool for 10 mins, then put on cooling rack for 1 hour. Invert on serving plate. Prick top.

Glaze:

1/4 lb butter
1/2 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup 80 proof rum

Melt butter in sauce pan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum. Spoon and brush glaze on top and sides of cooled pricked cake. Repeat until glaze is used up.

Note: we bordered it with whipped cream and sprinkled powedered sugar on top and served with vanilla ice cream.

SHOPPING LIST

15 lb turkey
Salt
Turkey bacon
Sweet potatoes
Yams
Olive oil
Celery
Onions
Italian parsley
Pepper
Sage
Poultry seasoning
Butter
Bread
Stock
Wheat flour
White flour
Baking powder
Milk
Cabbage
Honey
Currant jelly
Vinegar
Red wine
Apple
Corn starch
Green beans
Garlic
Sugar
Cranberries
Red gelatin
Oranges
Pecans or walnuts
18-1/2 oz yellow cake mix with pudding inside
3 eggs
Vegetable oil
Spray oil
1 cup 80 proof rum
Vanilla ice cream
Whipped cream
Powdered sugar
Decaffe coffee
Dinner drinks

SCHEDULE

This should be redone and documented real time because my notes are hard to follow.

For dinner to be served at 2 PM:

7 AM: Shop for last minute things

8 AM: prepare turkey

8:30 AM:
Put in turkey
Make cranberry Sauce
Make cranberry Fruit Mold

9:30 AM: make rum cake

10:30 AM: make biscuit dough, 30 minutes

11 AM: pre-make cabbage

11:30 AM: pre-make green beans

Noon: glaze rum cake

12:30 PM: pre-make stuffing

1 PM:
Put in stuffing; bake for 1 hour
Put in potatoes: bake for 1 hour

1:30 PM:
Take out turkey
Cook cabbage, ½ hour
Cook green beans, 20 minutes

1:45: put in Biscuits, 10-12 minutes

1:50: make gravy, 5 minutes

1:55: Carve turkey

2 PM:
Take out biscuits
Take out potatoes
Take out stuffing

RESULTS

Turkey cold; adjust schedule
Stuffing wet; reevaluate ingredients