Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Granini's Thanksgiving Timeline

 


Granini's Thanksgiving Timeline

When to make what for Thanksgiving Dinner
and when to put it in the oven

Several years ago I started to prepare a Thanksgiving Timeline. I wanted to make as much stuff as I could ahead of time, so that on Thanksgiving Day, I could whirl around the kitchen like a crazy person, but not feel quite as frantic.

And THEN I had this brilliant idea.

Why not create a fancy spreadsheet, so that I could simply refer to it every year, rather than try to recreate the same list year after year after year??

And so I did.

 I make a LOT of food for Thanksgiving. AND, I make a lot of pies.
So I made spreadsheets.

I also have spreadsheets for grocery lists.

It sounds insane, but it has helped me immensely with preparing an entire feast by myself two separate times in one week. Yes, that's right. I make Thanksgiving twice, each year. Once on Thursday, and once again on Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year, I made Thanksgiving a third time (last Saturday). Yes, I'm that crazy.

I do not give myself a lot of extra time for each item, as I have made every recipe hundreds of times, and I know how long it takes me to make everything. You may wish to add more time to each item if you are a beginner cook, or if you're not as adept at cutting, dicing, and mixing. But for me, these timelines are divine. And they even allow me a quick nap, a good rest period to watch a bit of football and put my feet up, as well as time to eat breakfast and an hors d'oeuvre filled lunch. This year my goal is to add in Drinkies to the list -- Holiday inspired Cocktails. Delish!!

So, for those of you who would like to see them, here they are.

I hope that they help you immensely on the BIG DAY OF DAYS.


The day before Thanksgiving

  

Thanksgiving Day




 




Friendsgiving (smaller Thanksgiving dinner)


 


I'll gather up my grocery lists and post those too if you're interested!!

Links to my Thanksgiving Recipes:

Appetizers and Other Tasty Savory Treats

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Granini's Stuffed Mushrooms
Cream Cheese Red Pepper Dip

Turkey

Roasted Turkey
(or what I like to call bathing a turkey in butter in a toasty oven)

Side Dishes
Cornbread Stuffing / Cornbread Dressing
Bacon Beer Cheese Dressing (recipe to follow shortly)
Gravy
Creamed Corn Casserole
Cheesy Creamed Corn Casserole (recipe to follow shortly)


Additional Recipes you may want to peruse:

Cornbread
Spaghetti Sauce (for the Ratatouille)
Chicken (or Turkey) Pot Pie for the days after Thanksgiving





Pies!
(What to make with the leftover pie crust)

OR, if you prefer to drool over recipes with pictures, see below:











Dutch Apple Pie with homemade caramel sauce










Appetizers and Other Tasty Savory Treats

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Granini's Stuffed Mushrooms



Links to all Granini's Desserts and Sweet Treats




* * * * *

Find other tasty Thanksgiving Dinner dishes here:


And tasty pie recipes here:



* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed
(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)


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Monday, April 13, 2020

Granini's Au Gratin Potatoes

Granini's Au Gratin Potatoes
or as my favorite father-in-law calls them,
Baked cheesy goodness with some potatoes


Ingredients:
5 to 6 medium sized potatoes.
3 Tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted. Either works)
3 Tablespoons flour
3 cups ½ and ½ 
1 ½ cups sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 to 2 teaspoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
A nice sprinkle of regular paprika (optional)


*I typically use yellow potatoes, but red potatoes will work too. I'm not a big fan of using russet potatoes (baked potatoes) for any recipes except for baked potatoes and twice baked potatoes. But that's just me.

Directions:
1. Lightly spray a 9x13 or 8x11 glass baking dish with cooking spray. 

2. Preheat the oven to 350℉.

3. Fill a medium to large pot with hot water, sprinkle in some salt, and bring the water to a boil. While the water is heating up, start peeling your potatoes.

4. Peel all your potatoes.

5. Using a mandolin, thickly slice all your potatoes into evenly sliced pieces. If you don't have a mandoline, just do your very best to get the potatoes as evenly sliced as possible. 
My mandoline looks a bit like this. It is one of my newest, and most favorite, kitchen gadgets. Particularly when it comes to making au gratin potatoes.

6. Now. Here's a trick. When you're putting your potatoes into the boiling water, try to feed the potatoes into the water ONE AT A TIME, but do it quickly. One of the biggest hurdles with au gratin potatoes is having either potatoes that are underbaked and raw and nasty, or, having potatoes that are stuck to each other and thus not cooked properly and not coated with cheesy goodness. Boil the potatoes for about 8 to 10 minutes or so. It's more of a par boil than a true, boiled all-the-way-through kind of situation. You want them mostly boiled, but not so over boiled that they fall apart when you pour them into your baking dish. Once they're done boiling, drain them in a sieve and let them sit there and kinda hang out until your sauce is done.

7. While the potatoes are boiling, you can get your cheesy sauce going.

8. Grate all your cheeses and set aside.

9. In a large skillet with deep sides, melt your butter on medium to low heat. Turn the heat down to low and add your flour, and whisk together, allowing the flour and butter to cook together for a good 5 minutes or so. DO NOT cook the flour and butter on medium or high heat, or you may end up burning your flour and making the whole mess turn brown and taste nasty. Low to medium heat is the trick here.

10. Pour your half & half (you can use milk or cream, but I prefer half & half) into a small sauce pan and allow your cream to heat up a bit on medium to medium high. Don't allow it to boil.

11. Once your flour and butter mixture has cooked for several minutes, sprinkle on the Lawry's seasoned salt, and the (optional) smoked paprika. Then, slowly, a little at a time, pour in a little tiny bit of your heated half & half, using a whisk to bring the mixture together. Do not pour all of your half & half in all at once, or you risk the chance of getting lumps. Low heat, a little at a time. That's the trick here. Once all the half & half is mixed in, raise the temperature of the sauce to medium, or medium high. Bring the mixture to a slight boil, and then turn the sauce back down to low. Raising the temperature will allow the sauce to thicken up. Add in the cheeses, stir, and then turn off the heat.

12. Once the cheesy sauce is done, bring out your lightly sprayed baking dish. Ladle a layer of cheesy goodness onto the bottom of the baking dish. Then add a layer of your potatoes. I tend to slightly stir a wee bit, to try to make sure all the potatoes are covered in cheesy goodness. Ladle another spoonful of cheesy goodness over the top. Then add in another layer of potatoes. Repeat as necessary until all of the potatoes are covered in cheesy goodness. On the very top, sprinkle very lightly with paprika. Bake at 350℉ for about 40-45 minutes or so, or until the potatoes are bubbly and the cheesy mixture is browning lightly on the top.

 I usually serve my au gratin potatoes with thick ham slices, deviled eggs, roasted asparagus or my green beans, and my glazed carrots.

 Mmmmmmm.



* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed
(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)


* * * * *

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