Me?  I’ll have a quiet day with my kids while my husband works in the morning.  Then we’ll have a quiet Thanksgiving dinner with just the 4 of us.  No huge meal plans, no fancy table settings, no friends or extended family – just the 4 of us!  I may not even clean my house for dinner and try to enjoy the day playing with my kids.  The weather is so gorgeous still in Florida that I’m sure we’ll be outside most of the day.

Tonight I made the first part of our little Thanksgiving meal, my dads Frozen Cranberry Salad (a yummy dessert).

Ingredients:

• Container of sour cream (Small or large depends on how many you are feeding)
• Whole cranberry sauce – 1 can
• Crushed pineapples, drained – 1 can
• Mini-marshmallows – about 1-2 cups (again depending on how many you are feeding)
• Handful of chopped pecans

Directions:

In a freezer safe dish or pan mix all of the ingredients together.  When they are all mixed together the end result should be a light-medium purple colored bowl of delicious goodness.  Cover and freeze!  You’ll need to make this the night before so it has time to freeze.

To serve:

Take out of the freezer about 20-30 minutes before dessert is to be served.  Cut with a knife and top with a small scoop of whipped cream (although I usually eat mine plain).  It should still be slightly frozen but not melted.  Once I pull it out of the freezer I’ll snap a picture and share it with you.

This dish always reminds me of the holidays – both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  He always made it for both.  I’m not sure that my family appreciates the dessert as much as I do or if they will even eat it.  While I won’t be spending this holiday with my parents or any extended family I look forward to spending it with my family.

I pray that you all have a blessed day and that you find hundreds of reasons to be thankful.

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My husband is working on Thanksgiving Day so we won’t be going to visit family – and the family isn’t coming to us either.  With my new job I’m scheduled to work off-and-on over the Thanksgiving weekend since Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some of our biggest sale days of the year.  While the hubs will be home early in the afternoon (by 3pm) it’s not all that exciting to cook an entire turkey dinner for 2 adults and 2 children.  We’re not big leftover eaters either – if it doesn’t get eaten in the first 2 days it normally gets trashed.  (Don’t get me started on using our freezer, the food just sits in there and gets frostbitten.)  I know that I will end up grocery shopping tomorrow and will cave and get all of the traditional fixings that we both grew up with.

I found a few exciting recipes that I would love to try with my new Carapelli Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  They sent me a bottle over the summer to cook with and I love the flavor.  The recipes call for a variety of olive oils but since I’m not a savvy chef I’ll be using my one bottle of organic olive oil for everything.  Since I’m in such a funk tonight thinking about the changes in our traditions this year I may just make the mashed potatoes over the weekend – they are my ultimate comfort food.

Tuscan Roast Turkey – Serving Size 16 (Yes, I’ll need to scale this down A LOT!)

• 1 16-pound young turkey
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1 cup Tuscan Herb Paste
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
• 2 teaspoons celery salt
• 3 fennel stalks with fronds, rough chopped
• 3 onions, large dice
• 1 stalk celery, small dice
• 2 1/4 quarts chicken stock
• 3 ounces all-purpose flour

Remove giblets from turkey’s cavity, rinse cavity and pat dry, set aside. Season turkey inside and out with Kosher salt.

Mix Tuscan Herb Paste with crushed fennel seeds and celery salt. Starting at the neck of the bird, slip your hand between the meat and the skin to loosen.

Rub half the paste mix under skin, and rub remaining paste inside the cavity and over the rest of the turkey.

Season all over with kosher salt.

Place two-thirds of the chopped onion and fennel stalks inside cavity. Truss bird.

Place turkey in a roasting pan. Roast at 400°F for 30 minutes.

Reduce temperature to 325°F and continue cooking the turkey to an internal temperature of 160°F, approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Baste turkey often during cooking with juices from pan. If turkey begins to overbrown, cover it loosely with aluminum foil.

As turkey roasts, simmer giblets (neck, heart and gizzard), the other one-third of the fennel stalk, onion mix and diced celery in 1 quart chicken stock until tender, approximately 1 1/2 hours.

When turkey is done, remove from roasting pan and set aside to rest. Degrease roasting pan, reserving 3 ounces of fat to make a roux.

Deglaze pan with a small amount of chicken stock. Transfer stock to a saucepot, and add remaining stock and broth from giblets. Bring to a simmer and degrease.

Make a blond roux with reserved fat and flour. Add roux to the liquid, whisking well to prevent lumps. Simmer 15 minutes. Strain gravy through a fine-meshed strainer. Adjust seasoning.

Tuscan Herb Paste – Yield: 2 1/4 cups

• 3/4 cup Carapelli Extra Light in Taste Olive Oil
• 1 cup Carapelli Premium 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
• 1/2 packed cup fresh Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Blend herbs and crushed red pepper with light olive oil using a blender or food processor, then stir in extra virgin olive oil.

Serving Ideas: Rub under the skin of turkey for Tuscan Roast Turkey. Use to flavor vegetables for grilling and mushrooms for roasting.

Olive Oil and Herb Mashed Potatoes – Serving Size: 12

• 10 8-ounce potatoes, (about 5 pounds) peeled and cut in half
• 3/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup Tuscan Herb paste
• 1/2 cup Carapelli Premium 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 cup heavy cream, warmed

Boil potatoes in salted water. When cooked tender, mash potatoes. Mix salt and pepper with Tuscan Herb Paste, olive oil and warm heavy cream. Fold into potatoes.

What about you?  Do you like to try new holiday recipes or do you like to stick with family traditions?  Have you ever cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal for just your immediate family?  What tips do you have – I don’t even know what size turkey to get for 4 people.

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-The father, spirit, and the holy ghost

-My husband who loves me despite my blogging addiction

-My beautiful kids

-My entire extended family

-My friends; whom often take second place to my blogging addiction

-My life…really I am so fortunate!

-Living in Florida…how did I get so lucky? (Thanks Hubby!)

-All of you…my readers…who keep me motivated to share my passion with the blogosphere!

May you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving Day.  What are you thankful for?

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And here we are again, almost a year later!  We now have a toothless little 6 yr old boy and a crawling and clapping (our newest talent) 10 month old girl.  Thanksgiving will be spent with hubbies family and Christmas will be spent with mine.  I really love all the decorations and food and time off of work.  I love trying to find just the right gift for the special people in my life and this year I’m going to try to make it as green as possible. 

This year I have put together a list of my favorite environmentally friendly gift items.  I’m so excited that in addition to the gift guide many of the companies have offered up giveaways and coupons for my readers.  So cuddle up with me and start making your shopping list! 

One part of the gift guide that I’m most excited about is the Homemade for the Holidays section.  I have a great Etsy store that I’m featuring along with some unique ideas to make this season more about Love and People than about Things!  After all, we need to all remember what Christmas is all about…the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!  We tend to get caught up looking for the perfect gifts that we forget that we can give our time and ourselves for people as well.  But there will be more on that later on! 

Over the next few days you will see the Gift Guide growing larger and larger!  Be sure to subscribe to receive The Eco Chic in your email so you don’t miss a minute of The Eco Chic’s Holiday!

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