Dressing via booniecat
For me, its dressing. Not stuffing, but dressing which is moist and just better than stuffing all around. It takes a bit to make, but it is worth it!

- 1 chicken, or chicken thighs (1-2 lbs)
- 1 stick of butter
- 1/2 loaf white bread, a bit stale
- 1 pan cornbread
- 4 stalks of celery +/-, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- sage, poultry seasoning, a generous amount
- salt and pepper
- 3 eggs


I'll start by buying a chicken, either whole or just the thighs, and boil it down to debone it. Once it's boiled down (a good 4 or 5 hours, depending on size), I'll add a stick of butter to the broth and set aside, although keeping it hot is key. Shred the chicken, and set aside.

I'll also make cornbread (the 33 cent box kind, which I always thought was the best) and set out about half a loaf of white bread. While the bread is getting stale on the counter, I'll crumble the cornbread into a large bowl, and then cube the white bread and add it in. Mix it together well. (I use a huge mixing bowl for all this) I'll add in the shredded chicken, diced celery and onion, and a generous amount of the seasonings, again mixing well with my hands.

Once all that is mixed well, break in the eggs and mix well. Really well. Once the eggs are mixed in, begin pouring the broth in. Do it about a cup at a time, and mix constantly. It will be pretty thick at this point, so I always just use my hands, so the broth should be hot, but definitely not boiling. Continue adding broth and mixing it into the brad mix until the dressing is moist and smooshy. You will want it to be a little more liquid than wouldbe ideal for eating.

Once the consistancy is good, pour it into a large casserol dish. At this point, you can refridgerate overnight before cooking, or bake at 350 until set (10-15 minutes). Don't overcook! :)

Dressing is good hot, but even better as leftovers when you can cut yourself dressing "brownies" the next day while standing in your fridge.

Sounds complicated, but aside from cooking down the chicken (which is mostly for just getting that yummy real chicken broth, easily substituted for ready-made broth) it really doesn't take hardly any time at all.

But, this is my Holiday Dish of choice. Except for Christmas Time Tamales, ofcourse!

Recipe the second . . . Tiramasu . . . from wombat_kombat

If you're curious, here's how I make it: http://haruspicy.blogspot.com/2007/11/and-for-dessert-tonight-sweet-delicious.html

Recipe the third . . . chocolate carmel swirl brownies from clowe

gooey caramel-swirled brownies. The brownies are simple as pie - you just buy a regular ol' thing of brownie mix from the store, prepare it as usual until you get to the point where you pour it into a baking pan, and then you melt caramel and/or any other goodies you might want to mix by using a double pan boiling thingamajig. That way, your caramel doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan when it melts, and you can clean it up way easier. Pour the brownies into the pan, drizzle the caramel in very slowly, and swirl it with a toothpick. Baking times suck to measure in Montana, so I always tend to take my baked goods out at the earliest possible time. Even if they're too gooey (that ain't possible), you can refrigerate them and it should be just fine

Recipe the fourth . . . butterfinger cookies . . . also from clowe

Sure! Here you go. It's a pretty common recipe, and certain people will tell you to use chunky peanut butter as opposed to creamy, but texture-wise, I think the corn flakes do a good enough job with that. Here you go:

2 cups creamy peanut butter (Reese's if you can find it is the absolute best for baking or for cookies)
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt (this is NOT necessary)
2 teaspoons vanilla abstract
6 cups of crushed corn flakes (pretty finely)
12 oz of melted chocolate chips (see variance below)

Combine the corn syrup, sugar, and peanut butter in a large pan. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla and the corn flakes. If you want bars, take this glop and smooth it into a cake pan. If you want cookies, just drop em onto a cookie pan. Drip the melted chocolate over the top. If it's bars, use a butterknife to smooth the chocolate over the top. Toss 'em in the fridge or just let the chocolate settle, and serve. This should make about one big pan of bars or about 30 cookies, maybe a bit more. Want less, just halve the amounts here.

For variants on the chocolate chips, you can do just about anything, really. Butterscotch chips are great, as is even leaving the bars without chocolate. My personal favorite is to use a heavy dark chocolate on smaller cookies, as the dark chocolate contrasts nicely with the heavy sugary peanut butter. But this can be wayyyy too rich, so just experiment and find out what you like.

from thewylddream


No Bake Cherry Cheese Cake

2 gram cracker pie crusts

2 8oz packages of softened cream cheese
2 14 oz cans of sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup lemon juice
2 tea spoons vanilla (Don't screw around. Use real vanilla.)

2 cans of cherry pie filling.

Add the milk, cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla together in a large bowl and beat with an egg beater until very well mixed, then mix it again for another five minutes. No, do it some more. Ok that is alright now.

Then take the sweet mixture and put half in each pie plate over your gram cracker crusts. Put them in the fridge and let them set for at least four hours.

Then pour the cherry pie filling over the top.

Now you are ready to serve.

Please note: IF you don't let the pie set up for at least four hours you are going to have a tasty but completely unattractive pie. For best results let it sit overnight.

Also we don't have a recipe for a single pie. THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT! If you have two people or more in your house make two pies. Trust me.

Recipe the sixth . . . turkey soup . . . via ceosanna

My special Thanksgiving food is also special comfort food: turkey noodle soup using the bones of the turkey and fresh pasta. The original recipe I went by is here, but it can be modified in a variety of ways depending on your tastes. For instance, this year I used smoked turkey drumsticks and a couple of non-smoked thighs for the stock. I also tossed in some fresh cilantro (whole stalks into the stock and finely chopped into the finished soup). Mmmm, yummy.