Citrus Herb Turkey

Here is a great recipe for a Thanksgiving turkey! I love to cook with citrus, especially when roasting whole birds, like turkeys or chickens.  I seriously don't recommend stuffing turkeys with stuffing, they take longer to cook and it dries out the meat! The crock-pot is the best place to create a yummy stuffing! Harvest Crock-Pot Stuffing. So change up your turkey this year with this tasty bird!
 

Ingredients:

1 turkey, thawed

1 stick butter, softened

1 lemon

1 orange

1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary

10-12 fresh sage leaves

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pull out the giblets and neck of the turkey. Using cool water, rinse out the cavity and outside of the turkey, pat dry with paper towels. Rub the butter around the whole turkey, covering all the skin. Quarter the lemon and the orange. Place the rosemary and sage leaves inside the cavity of the bird. Squirt ¼ of the lemon and ¼ of the orange over the turkey. Place all pieces of the citrus inside the cavity. Generously sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Cover turkey loosely with foil; remove foil 30-40 minutes before it’s done to brown. Cook according to the packaging directions, depending on size of bird, takes anywhere from 3-5 hours. To test for done-ness insert a meat thermometer into the thigh, not touching any bones, a turkey is done once it reaches 180 degrees f. (or just rely on the trusty pop-up one most turkeys come with) Once the turkey is fully cooked remove from the oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and carve. ENJOY!

A New Thanksgiving Tradition

Thanksgiving is filled with fun family traditions. Some old and some new. Each year we go around the dinner table and share with the family what we are most grateful for. It is nice to take a moment away from the endless amounts of food to reflect on what this meal is all about. This year for Thanksgiving we wanted to add another fun thing to our list of traditions: Blessing Mix. This is just a small gift bag of goodies to share with family and friends but it helps to remind us of the symbols of the holiday.

Thanksgiving Blessing Mix Recipe:

4 cups bugles

2 cups waffle pretzels

1 cup rye chips

1 cup shelled sunflower seeds (or nuts)

1 cup pumpkin seeds (or nuts)

1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit)

1 cup candy corns

1 cup skittles (or M&Ms)

Hershey Kisses

Combine everything except the Hershey Kisses in a large bowl, scoop about 1 cup into small cellophane bags. Add a few Kisses (I did three in each) to each bag, tie up with twine or Ribbon. Makes enough for 12 bags. 

The Symbols of the Blessing Mix:

Bugles: 

A Horn of Plenty, a symbol of all that our country has been blessed with

Waffle pretzels: 

The windows of heaven from where our blessings flow

Rye Chips:

For the bread that was broke at the first Thanksgiving

Seeds & Nuts: 

Promise for a future harvest

Dried Fruit: 

Representing our bountiful harvest.

Candy Corn:

 The Pilgrims survived their first winter by eating only a few kernels of corn a day

Skittles: 

The colors of the rainbow to remind us that God keeps his promises

Hershey Kiss: 

The love we share with family and friends

We hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We also hope you can add this fun mix to your Thanksgiving traditions. Get the print out here:

 I got the original idea here: 
http://christmas.organizedhome.com/crafts/thanksgiving/blessings-mix

Harvest Crock-Pot Stuffing

I came up with this recipe last year for Thanksgiving. My oven was over run with other foods and I wanted everything hot at the same time... so enter crock-pot! I am not a huge stuffing fan, never have been, Daddy and Bean on the other hand love love love it! So here is what I created for them! I posted this on my recipe blog last year, but thought it deserved a second post here...Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups chopped onion

2 cups chopped celery

12 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 cup chopped apples

1 cup dried cranberries

12 1/2 cups dry bread cubes

2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3-4 cups chicken broth

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup chopped pecans

Method:  

Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook onions, celery, and mushrooms, in butter, stirring frequently. Once almost cooked add the chopped apples and dried cranberries, cook for a couple more minutes. Spoon cooked vegetables and remaining butter over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with poultry seasoning, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten well, and mix in eggs. Stir in chopped pecans. Transfer mixture to crock-pot, and cover. Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 6 hours. ENJOY!