Thanksgiving Meal/Recipe List

I want to apologize now because this post will be devoid of yummy photos; however, I hope to be successful in creating yummy visions of Thanksgiving dishes in your head.

I’m getting excited (which is a rare emotion for me) about Thanksgiving just because I get to cook and bake as much as I want for a bunch of people I love – my family.

As a single, graduate student, cooking for one can be a lonely, bittersweet activity. While I enjoy baking and cooking, I don’t enjoy having all of that food in my kitchen just for me. I would love to have others around with whom I can share my goodies!

So, since I’m so excited, I thought I’d share my list of dishes I plan to prepare for my loved ones this year. I made almost all of these dishes at least once last Thanksgiving and/or Christmas, and everyone loved everything. They were also shocked since almost all of our family members are quite inept in the kitchen, excluding one of my aunts who brings the veggie dishes (which explains why I have to make so much in order for us to have something to eat on holidays. LOL). So, without further ado, here is my tentative list for this Thanksgiving:

• Wolfgang Puck’s Turkey with Turkey Stock and Cream Gravy (involves brining the turkey the night before, which yields a shorter cooking time and a moister turkey without basting!)
• Southern Plate’s Dixie Cornbread and Crockpot cornbread dressing (OMG! You have to make this if you love good, southern dressing. Also, you can free up space on the stovetop and in the oven and leave the dressing in the Crockpot to warm until dinner is ready. You can even place the Crockpot in the living room or a clean garage as it cooks for more space. My mother adds that the intoxicating, comforting smell of this dressing will waft all through your house!)
• Pioneer Woman’s Mashed Potatoes (I add shredded, sharp cheddar cheese on top on special occasions. This dish could also be made in a Crockpot. In fact, that is how I prepared it the first time I made it. Just boil the potatoes in a pot, then transfer the mashed taters (hehe) to the Crockpot and add the other ingredients.)
• Croissants (I haven’t picked out a recipe yet (maybe Pierre Hermé’s?), but I’m going to make a laminated dough well ahead of time, shape the croissants, and place them in the freezer. Then a few days before I leave for Thanksgiving, I'll just need to bake them at my grandmother's house.)
• Sweet Potato Pie from Allrecipes (This dessert is not for me; I don’t like sweet potatoes, but my mom loves the stuff. So, because I love her so much, I’m going to make this for her instead of another variety of carrot cake. Anyway, I’m going to make the same revisions the second commenter ("SL") made on Allrecipes.)
• Hershey’s Chocolate Cake (my go-to chocolate cake. I haven’t decided which type of frosting I’m going to put on it. Chocolate, vanilla, or my leftover coffee buttercream?)
• Paula Deen’s (White) Hot Chocolate (I’ll be blogging about this later. It is a rich, rich, fattening, hot chocolate especially made for special occasions. It’s so quick to make, too. I will be making it with Guittard milk chocolate chips instead of white chocolate or a mixture of the two.)

Now, I'll open the floor, because I’m curious and excited. For those who will be celebrating Turkey Day soon, what is on your list? What dishes are you going to make? If you already celebrated Thanksgiving this year, what did you make? Add links to the recipes or your blog entries, if there are any.

I’ll be back with another food post very, very soon.