Giving Thanks

C and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Last weekend, we had several friends over for a thanksgiving dinner.  Here are some of the more popular recipes: 

Broccoli Casserole

Recipe from C's Family (picture from Google)

• 2 10 oz packages of frozen chopped broccoli
• 2-3 cups instant rice
• 1 can Cream of Celery soup
• 2 cups shreeded velveeta cheese
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/2 - 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice and broccoli according to their packages.  Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Sautee the onions in the butter over medium heat. Mix the rice, broccoli, soup, cheese and onions in a large mixing bowl and pour mixture into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.  Top the mixture with Ritz crackers.  Bake for about 45 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Sweet Potato Casserole 

Recipe and picture from Cooking Light

• 5 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans (divided in half)
• 1 small bag of mini marshmallows

Put sweet potatoes in boiling water and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until very tender.  Drain and cool.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place potatoes in a large bowl and add brown sugar, salt and vanilla.  Mash this mixture together.  Fold in half of the pecans. Put mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Top with marshmallows and remaining pecans.  Bake until golden brown (about 30-40 minutes). 

Bread Pudding with Banana Praline Liqueur

Recipe from Galatoire Restaurant in New Orleans

• 11 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 24 slices of french bread (about 1 baguette cut into 3/4 inch slices)
• 1 lb salted butter
• 1 lb light brown sugar
• 4 bananas
• 1/2 cup praline liqueur

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk together eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon until well blended.  In a greased 9 x 13 baking dish (or an oversized muffin pan), put the bread slices in the bottom of the dish (or 2 per muffin cup).  Pour the egg and milk mixture over the bread slices, allowing the mixture to saturate the bread.  Bake for about 35 minutes for muffin tins, or 45 minutes for dish (it is done when the pudding is golden and set in the pan).  


While the pudding is in the oven, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the light brown sugar and whisk until smooth.  Slice the bananas and stir them into the sauce.  Add the praline liqueur. Reduce heat to low.


Remove from bread pudding from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Serve onto plates and ladle the sauce into the pudding.  Serve immediately.




For Thanksgiving day, we went to Louisville to be with my family and met our good friend's beautiful baby girl.   We ate like kings all weekend when C's parents from Tennessee came in town over the weekend for the game.

All I will say is it was our turn :)