You know what is amazing about having family live nearby, something we’ve never had until two years ago? Thanksgiving cooking help! Not only do I not have to cook everything, but we get even more food. It’s a dream.

MONDAY – WEDNESDAY:

• NO IDEA. We are painting our kitchen, which has to get done before our floors start getting ripped out on Saturday, plus, you know, Thanksgiving. Our cupboards are currently bare and I have no idea when we’ll get to the store. Good luck, Maynard children!

2022 THANKSGIVING FEAST

• Turkey (dry brined, spatchcocked and roasted + smoked)
• Gravy
• Stuffing + GF Vegetarian Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Cheese board
• Brussels sprouts gratin
• Green beans
• Sausage rolls
• Marshmallow fruit salad
• Sweet potato souffle
• Homemade crescent rolls + GF almond millet rolls from a local bakery
• Cranberry sauce
• Cranberry slush (traditional family drink)
• Pumpkin pie
• Apple pie
• French silk pie
• Bread pudding

THURSDAY – SUNDAY:

• Leftovers + floors getting ripped out kicking off a week of pure insanity…but no more cream-colored carpet! Woohoo!

Share your menus for the week! And definitely share your Thanksgiving plans along with links to recipes if you have them. Can’t wait to see what everyone has cooking!

Happy Thanksgiving Week! Today’s post is all about the Thanksgiving menu. If you care about the rest of our dinner plans for this week, it’s Hello Fresh meal kits Monday – Wednesday, then leftovers after Thursday. Pretty simple!

Okay, here is this year’s plan for Thanksgiving. I will be combining forces with my family this year, which means way less work than usual. Yippee for me!

2021 THANKSGIVING FEAST

• Turkey (dry brined, spatchcocked and roasted + a few smoked turkey breasts from Nate and my brother)
• Gravy
• Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Charred greens
• Salad
• Marshmallow fruit salad
• Brown butter squash and sweet potatoes
• Homemade crescent rolls
• Squash rolls
• Cranberry sauce
• Cranberry slush (traditional family drink)
• Pumpkin pie
• Apple pie
• French silk pie
• Bread pudding

OTHER WINNING THANKSGIVING RECIPES

We aren’t cooking these recipes this year but not because we don’t love them. In fact, we love them so much it’s hard to strike them from the list! But there is already so much food on our plates, so what are ya gonna do?

• Sweet potato souffle
• Green bean casserole from scratch!
• Broccoli casserole
• Rose’s creamed onions

Your turn! Share your weekly menu plans and/or Thanksgiving menu! Have the most delicious week!

Happy Thanksgiving Week! Below you will find out plan for the whole week as well as our Thanksgiving menu. Please share your regular weekly dinner menu, your Thanksgiving menu or both in the comments!

Click here or on the banner above to see all of my Thanksgiving-related content here on the blog.

MONDAY:
– Safari Park

TUESDAY:
– Moroccan Chicken Skewers

WEDNESDAY:
– Leftovers

THURSDAY: Thanksgiving 2018!

• Turkey (for real this is the BEST technique for cooking turkey, be sure to click through and check it out!)
• Classic Mashed Potatoes
• Classic Stuffing
• Gravy
• Crescent Rolls 
• Cranberry Slush (my great-grandmother’s recipe that we have EVERY YEAR NO MATTER WHAT)
• Cranberry Sauce (as per Jess’s request, there will also be canned jellied cranberry sauce)
• Sweet Potato Souffle
• Green Kale Salad with Dried Cranberries
• Green Bean Casserole
• Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Crumble Apple Pie, Chocolate Mousse

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Leftovers

SUNDAY:
– Turkey Soup with Rice
– Homemade Bread (my Grandma’s recipe that is not published anywhere…saving that for the book I may never write ;))

Can’t wait to see what you all have cooking this week! Thank you in advance for sharing, either weekly menus, Thanksgiving plans or both!

Happy Thanksgiving Week! Below is our dinner menu for the week PLUS our plans for Thanksgiving. This week feel free to share your regular weekly dinner menu, your Thanksgiving menu or both in the comments!

Click here or on the banner above to see all of my Thanksgiving-related content here on the blog.

MONDAY:
– Corner Bakery Cafe (I have a work thing in the evening, so going to take advantage of the free kids meal night!)

TUESDAY:
– Bolognese & Pasta
– Salad

WEDNESDAY:
– Leftovers/Scrounge up whatever you can find in the kitchen, Family, as I’ll be busy cooking for Thursday!

THURSDAY: Thanksgiving 2018!

• Turkey (for real this is the BEST technique for cooking turkey, be sure to click through and check it out!)
• Classic Mashed Potatoes
• Classic Stuffing
• Gravy
• Crescent Rolls and/or Squash Rolls
• Cranberry Slush (my great-grandmother’s recipe that we have EVERY YEAR NO MATTER WHAT)
• Cranberry Sauce (as per Jess’s request, there will also be canned jellied cranberry sauce)
• Sweet Potato Souffle
• Green Kale Salad with Dried Cranberries
• Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Crumble Apple Pie, Chocolate Mousse

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Leftovers

SUNDAY:
– Turkey Soup with Rice
– Homemade Bread (my Grandma’s recipe that is not published anywhere…saving that for the book I may never write ;))

Can’t wait to see what you all have cooking this week! Thank you in advance for sharing!

Today I was going through my favorite Thanksgiving recipes to share them on Facebook and discovered something – I have never published Rose’s creamed onions recipe here on my blog. This is not right and I must rectify the situation immediately.

When Nate and I met and married, his great-grandmother Rose was still alive. She was in her 90s and still lived in the beautiful Colonial home where she raised her children. It wasn’t until she was 99 years old that she finally moved into an assisted living facility, where she requested a cane simply because everyone else had one. She also always wore a dress, even in exercise classes. She passed away just one month shy of her 104th birthday and I am so grateful to have had the chance to know her.

Rose was able to meet her first two great-great-grandchildren, both of whom carry her name. My daughter, Cate Rose met Great-Great-Grandma Rose a few times — meetings that of course involved many laughs, hugs, and camera flashes.

Until she moved into assisted living, Rose made creamed onions for every holiday. Her creamed onions could always be counted on for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. After she died, Nate’s grandmother and his mom both carried on the tradition. Rose’s creamed onions are beloved and elicit wonderful memories and feelings of love.

The first time I tried making Rose’s creamed onions was with Nate’s sister Jess at Thanksgiving. We inadvertently used pickled onions for the recipe and it was horrible, but also really funny. While the laughs were good, we were a wee bit disappointed at our failure. Thankfully I have since made creamed onions successfully with my girls, keeping the tradition alive.

The more modern version of the recipe uses jarred onions, but Rose always used fresh pearl or boiler onions. The first time I made these after that initial failure, Cate and I could only find fresh onions at the store. Cate insisted that we stop looking and make the recipe the way Rose always did. She literally gripped the fresh onions to her chest, rejecting even the possibility of jarred onions. It was very sweet.

Cate and Anna three years ago, making the creamed onions recipe together

Whether you use fresh or jarred onions, the result is the same — delicious! The fresh onions take longer to cook, but if you cook them a long while, as Rose did, it works great. Either way you end up with layers of flat, soft onion petals that complement many different types of meals nicely. I will admit that my kids don’t love eating these onions nearly as much as they love making them, but I’m sure they will appreciate the taste as they get older. As my daughter Anna pointed out, even if you don’t like the onions that much, the cream around them is awesome! As for the adults in the family, we all love Rose’s onions. There are even several onion-averse members of the family who eagerly look forward to this dish each year. It’s just so good served alongside holiday food — as necessary for some family members as cranberry sauce.

Rose's Creamed Onions

 

Print

Recipe for creamed onions from my husband's great-grandmother, Rose McCarthy. Perfect for all kinds of holiday meals.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 16-ounce jar onions (NOT pickled) or 1 pound pearl/boiler onions, fresh or frozen (about 20-25 total)
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 cups half and half
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper
• Pinch nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. If you are using fresh onions, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add onions and cook for 1½ minutes. Drain onions and add to an ice bath to stop cooking. Cut off the root end of the onions and then peel the outer layer off each onion. Set onions aside.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add flour all at once. Whisking constantly, cook until butter has liquefied. The butter and flour will start out pasty, then boil for about 3-4 minutes, then it will foam a bit and become liquefied, about 5 minutes total. When it reaches this point, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 3 more minutes.
4. Slowly add cold half and half, whisking constantly while adding.
5. Raise the heat back up to medium and cook until the sauce thickens, between 5-10 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and whisk in the Parmesan cheese, dry mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
7. Add onions to the sauce, stir well, then pour into a 1½-quart baking dish. Sprinkle top with paprika.
8. Jarred Onions: Bake uncovered for 10-30 minutes, until mixture is hot and bubbly. Cook longer if you want the top more browned.
9. Fresh Onions: Bake uncovered for 60-90 minutes, until onions are very soft and top is very brown. If you want to cook the onions longer to make them even softer, cover with foil once the top is as brown as you want it.
10. Frozen Onions: Boil frozen onions for 2 minutes then prepare as you would for the fresh onions.
11. Creamed onions can be made a day ahead. Follow all directions until the baking step. Place unbaked creamed onions in the fridge, covered. The next day, remove baking dish from fridge, uncover, and let sit at room temperature while oven preheats. You will probably need to add 10-20 minutes of baking time.

Notes

Makes appx. 12 servings; Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 10-20 minutes when using jarred onions, 60-90 minutes when using fresh pearl/boiler onions

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I love it when Thanksgiving is a little early because then there’s more time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas but HOLY CRAP HOW IS IT ONLY ONE WEEK UNTIL THANKSGIVING?

Just letting you know I’ve tagged all of my Thanksgiving goodness on the blog. Simply click HERE to scroll through it all. You’ll find all kinds of goodness, including from-scratch green bean casserole that is to die for, cranberry slush, SERIOUSLY THE BEST WAY TO COOK TURKEY EVER and so much more. (Did I mention the turkey? Oh, yeah, okay, I did, but really, check out my turkey roasting technique.)

Happy Thanksgiving prepping!

Before we take off on our Thanksgiving travels, I have to share this super cute, crazy easy Thanksgiving kids craft with you. Owen brought it home from school. It’s so simple and so cute (and so delicious…I love Hunt’s Pudding Snack Packs for some reason!) even I would do this craft with my kids. That is really saying something. I’m like the anti-craft mom.

Materials:

• Chocolate Pudding Snack Pack
• Small Googly Eyes
• Construction paper, cut into feather shapes and small orange triangles for the nose

How To Make the Turkey Pudding Craft:

• Flip the pudding snack pack upside down.
• Using either a hot glue gun or scotch tape, attach the eyes, nose and tail feathers.
• All done!

You could even have the kids make these and then put them on the table at each place setting for decoration. It will keep them busy while the grown-ups are cooking and make them feel like they’ve contributed.

I never thought I would say this on the blog…but…Happy Crafting!

Happy Thanksgiving Week! I’m going old-school-This-Week-for-Dinner and doing a weekly menu post filled with all kinds of stuff. Here we go!

THIS WEEK’S MENU

We were originally going to be hosting Thanksgiving here at our home, but plans have changed and now we’re driving to Utah to be with family there. Which means I don’t need to plan a menu for this week because we’ll be traveling. But if YOU have a menu planned for this week, please share it in the comments!

THANKSGIVING!

This November I’ve been feeling a lot of gratitude. Things have also been a little quiet here on the blog, on my podcast and on my social media channels. You see, two weeks ago I was in a car accident. I’m not going to get into details for now, and I am recovering very well. That said, the accident was scary and unexpected. In the end, though, it could have been so much worse and, from the moment the car came to a stop and I knew I was okay, I felt nothing but gratitude throughout the entire experience. That gratitude carried me through. And now, entering the busiest time of year, I’ve not only been forced to slow down, but I’ve also thought a lot about just how lucky and blessed I am. Instead of feeling frustrated by not being able to do more this November I’m just taking it in stride and letting it be a positive experience. Here’s to a holiday season that is less about the busy and more about the gratitude and love.

That is why I haven’t been posting much or sharing any new recipes for Thanksgiving. But that’s okay, I’ve got tons of great Thanksgiving content on the blog already. If you’re looking for assistance for the big feast this week, I have some links you need to peruse!

• Click here to see every post I’ve shared on the blog with the tag Thanksgiving Prep. Clicking this link simply takes you to that blog category, where you can scroll through all the Thanksgiving Prep posts.
• I have tried pretty much every technique out there for cooking turkey with the exception of frying. Last year I finally figured out the formula for the PERFECT TURKEY. Click here for my Perfect Roasted Turkey post.
• Click here for my pie crust tutorial and favorite all-butter pie crust recipe.
• Click here for my Thanksgiving feast menu from 2 years ago. I link to all of my most favorite Thanksgiving recipes in that post, some of which I am sure I we will be cooking up at my sister-in-law’s home this year!

If you have your Thanksgiving feast planned, please share that in the comments! Links to recipes always welcome!

GILMORE GIRLS IS ALMOST HERE!

Forget the accident, I think the new Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life episodes airing on Netflix the day after Thanksgiving is why I am feeling truly grateful this year. Just kidding! (Mostly.)

Netflix sent me an adorable package filled with goodies to help us enjoy the new episodes. I’m still not sure if I’m going to bingewatch or spread out the new episodes, but the mailer got me and my girls watching old episodes together this weekend and it’s been so much fun. Nate is still flummoxed by the fact I can watch Gilmore Girls over and over and over again. (To be honest, I’m a little flummoxed by it myself.) Psst…I have an inside source who has already seen the new episodes. This little birdie didn’t give me any details (it’s a good birdie) but she did say that the new episodes are SO GOOD. Are you as excited as I am?!?!?! WOOHOO!!!!

And with that I am DONE. I kind of love today’s post. I don’t have to plan a weekly menu (I know, ironic). THANKSGIVING! And GIMORE GIRLS! As I mentioned before, if you have a weekly menu and/or Thanksgiving plan to share in the comments, please do. And, of course, any and all discussion of the Gilmore Girls is welcome! Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Happy Friday! Soccer season is over around these parts, so I’m looking forward to our first weekend with nothing on the calendar. Sadly I think most of that free time will be spent cleaning the disaster that is our house!

There is a lot to share today. Ready, set, GO!

I have a bunch of food links for today, most of them perfect for Thanksgiving!

• How to make the best turkey gravy on Cool Mom Eats
• 7 Awesome Stuffing Recipes on Cool Mom Eats
• Easy Turkey Recipes and Tips on Cool Mom Eats
• Kid-Made Snack: Bagel Snowmen on Babble (these are SO cute and easy!)
• Recipe for Nate’s Great-Grandmother’s Creamed Onions on Babble

And, before we go, just want to share two great causes quickly. It’s the giving season!

When Cate was in preschool many moons ago, there was a really wonderful group of moms in that classroom. We were all very different from one another but everyone got along beautifully. One of the moms, Rachel Lorkin, had a baby around that time, a little boy named Luke with chromosome 15q duplication. Rachel has an Etsy shop where she sells some of her artwork, which serves as a respite in her otherwise hectic life. From now through December, 100% of the sale price on any of her items will go to the Chromosome 15q Duplication Aliance, an organization that supports research and kindness for families like Rachel’s. If you’ve started your holiday shopping, check it out! It’s a great cause! (The robots on canvas are RIDICULOUSLY cute.)

Second, last week I had the chance to be a guest judge for a high school speech tournament at an non-profit called Reality Changers here in San Diego. It is absolutely astounding what this non-profit is doing for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds to help get them into college. I was very impressed and loved meeting a few of the kids in the program. If you’re in San Diego and looking for a non-profit to get involved with, definitely check out the volunteer opportunities at Reality Changers. If you’re not in San Diego and would like to support the program with a donation, click here.

That’s it from me today. If you have anything you’d like to share, please do!

There hasn’t been much Thanksgiving prep happening here on the blog because, honestly, there just isn’t much Thanksgiving prep happening in my kitchen! I AM cooking next week, and I haven’t done one thing yet to get ready. Honestly, I’m not stressed about it. I’m sticking with the old stand-bys this year, so I pretty much know what we’ll be eating. Just need to do some shopping this weekend. It’s all good. However, if you are actually planning ahead, you can click on my “Thanksgiving Prep” tag and see all kinds of posts related to Thanksgiving!

I do want to share a quick Kitchen Tip today related to Thanksgiving. It’s one of those tips that is kind of a “Duh” thing to share, but I didn’t figure it out until last year, so I imagine I’m not alone in having not done this before. Every year I make crescent rolls for Thanksgiving. And every year I use a sharp knife when cutting dough for crescent rolls. You know, once you’ve rolled out a circle and cut the circle into triangles. Well, last year, I was about to use the knife and then, for some reason, I thought of the pizza cutter. It worked beautifully. Also, what did I tell you? DUH. How had I never done this before?!

Please note that it works best to cut from the outside edge towards the center. If you cut from the center, sometimes the tips of the triangles roll up as you roll the pizza cutter.

Life changer, guys. Well, when it comes to making crescent rolls at least. You’re welcome and happy crescent roll cutting!