Thanksgiving Dinner!

What else could be better than Pumpkin Pie at Thanksgiving?!

Well, I guess the Turkey, surfing, rolls, vegetable dishes, cornbread, and other pies too :)

But, this pumpkin pie was special because I was able to eat it!

It's a Paleo pie and was awesome.

Onto the main event!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I cooked just about everything from scratch and was in the kitchen from morning 'til late afternoon.

Whew! It's a good thing my hubby took care of our yummy organic turkey!

I had lots and lots of help from my kids and family too, thank goodness.

I made this Sourdough, Wild Mushroom, & Bacon Stuffing.

I bought an organic rosemary sourdough loaf at Wholefoods and wow,

it smelled delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds sourdough bread, crusts trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 12 cups)
• 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 to 5 cups homemade chicken stock or low sodium canned chicken broth
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

• Spread the bread onto a large baking sheet (or 2 smaller baking sheets) in an even layer and bake, stirring a few times, until lightly golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove and let cool. Once cooled, put the cubes into a very large bowl.

• Increase the heat to 375 degrees F. Combine the mushrooms in a large baking dish or baking sheet, toss with 3 tablespoons of the oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven, stirring several times, until soft and golden brown, about 25 minutes.

• While the mushrooms are roasting, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a large high-sided saute pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and the fat has rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.

• Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat in the saute pan and place back on the stove over high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 3 cups of the chicken stock and the herbs, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.

• Add the mushrooms to the bread, and then add the onion/stock mixture, egg, salt and pepper, and gently stir until combined. The dressing should be very wet, add more stock as needed. Scrape the mixture into a buttered 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue baking until the top is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay

My father in-law did the brussels sprouts, I don't know what he put in it, but it was good!

Here's a recipe from my previous brussel sprout dish...

I threw together this dish by chopping up...

Fresh Garlic, minced

Onions, diced

Potatoes, peeled and cubed

Brussel Sprouts, bottoms cut off

and cut in half

I started to pre cook the sausage in a pan on the stove, but didn't cook all the way because it would cook longer in the oven.

I put everything in a big bowl and added sea salt (I like Redmonds), peppercorn (from the pepper grinder), and Italian Herb Seasoning, and then drizzled plenty plenty of oil all over and mixed it all together.

Preheat oven 400 deg or so for 30-40 mins.

Can't forget the cornbread and rolls!

I just used an easy cornbread recipe here and oh my goodness the rolls...

This was my first time making rolls, quite daunting, and after all the…

Mixing

Kneading

Rolling

Etc.

There was lots of time waiting for them to rise.

And hoping they'd turn out!!

I had the help of my little sous chef, so all in all they didn't turn out bad, but I'll get it right one day!

Can you guess the secret ingredient in just about every dish?

Ryan says, "It starts with "B" and ends with "utter"!"

Yep....

B-U-T-T-E-R

And lots of it!

Lots of healthy organic grass-fed butter that is.

In the pie crust along there is 4 sticks of it!

Luckily, my littlest was my apple pie helper!

He was so cute slicing the apples, juicing the lemon, and mixing the sugar.

We named it after him :)

Sadly the pie didn't turn out like I was hoping for due to various reasons, but just throw down some vanilla ice cream and it's all good!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!