November – Let the Holiday Season Begin!

November

ThanksgivingNovember - Thanksgiving

Did You Know? 

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in Canada, the United States, some of the Caribbean islands, and also in Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, and around the same part of the year in other places. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.

Stress Less Thanksgiving Dinner

So how do we have a stress free Thanksgiving dinner? Here are a few simple tips to have a more enjoyable holiday meal.

1. Plan ahead –

While planning the Thanksgiving meal, do you plan who is going to help? Instead of doing it all yourself, recruit your family to help. Not only will the work go faster, it’s also more fun working together. Make a list of what needs done before everyone arrives. Give everyone something to do and also assign things that are age appropriate to the children. Before you know it, the leftovers will be wrapped in foil and everyone will have had a great time.

2. Covered dish meal –

If you are having a large group get together for Thanksgiving, divide the menu amongst all those attending. The host family can provide the main dish (turkey or ham) and also the drinks. Each family brings a favorite side dish and also a dessert. If you want to make sure there is a variety, provide a menu and mark things off as people chose what they want to fix.

3. Simplify –

Instead of having a huge feast, prepare a smaller meal. We all tend to overeat at Thanksgiving, so make an effort to make fewer dishes. Not only will the preparation be smaller, so will our waistlines. Another option is to prepare as much ahead of time as you can. Slow cookers can be used to make all kinds of foods, even desserts. Many things can also be made as “freezer meals” and stored for weeks before re-heating them.

Hence, the key to less stress on Thanksgiving is – Cook Ahead!  the less actual cooking you need to do on the holiday, the lower your stress levels will be.

We all know that Thanksgiving is a special time for family, friends and lots of food. Thanksgiving is the only holiday that the sole focus of the holiday is the meal.  Therefore, pulling together the perfect Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing dinner can be a daunting task, whether this is your first time or you are a seasoned pro.

Preparing Thanksgiving dinner can be stressful but it’s our most delicious meal of the year to enjoy with family and friends!

17 Thanksgiving Trivia Facts:

  1. The first Thanksgiving was actually a three-day celebration.
  2. It’s unclear if colonists and Native Americans ate turkey at their feast.
  3. Today, a special part of Plymouth, Massachusetts, looks just as it did in the 17th century.
  4. The woman behind “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is also responsible for Thanksgiving’s recognition as a national holiday.
  5. The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade didn’t feature any balloons.
  6. But we have a Good Housekeeping illustrator to thank for the parade’s first balloons.
  7. In 1939, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the third Thursday in November — not the fourth.
  8. A Thanksgiving mix-up inspired the first TV dinners.
  9. About 46 million turkeys are cooked for Thanksgiving each year.
  10. But not everyone eats turkey on Thanksgiving.
  11. You might consume up to 229 grams fat during the big meal.
  12. The turkeys pardoned by the President go on to do some pretty cool things.
  13. Only male turkeys actually gobble.
  14. Most Americans like Thanksgiving leftovers more than the actual meal.
  15. The Butterball Turkey Talk Line answers almost 100,000 calls each season.
  16. Also, there are four places in the country named Turkey.
  17. Lastly, Black Friday is the busiest day of the year for plumbers.

Tired of the Same Old Pumpkin Pie Recipes? Try These for a Change!

Pumpkin Roll

YIELD: 14 SERVINGS

INGREDIENTS

CAKE:

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • Baking powder – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Baking soda – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Ground cinnamon – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Ground cloves – 1/2 teaspoon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional

FILLING:

  • 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT
 oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT
 cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Pumpkin Shortcake

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

  • cup flour
  • 1cup nuts, chopped
  • 1cup margarine, softened
  • ounces cream cheese
  • cup powdered sugar
  • (8 ounce) container Cool Whip, divided
  • (3 1/2 ounce) packages instant pumpkin spice pudding mix 
  • cups milk

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Combine the flour, nuts and margarine.
  3. Press mixture into a 13×9-inch pan.
  4. Bake 10-15 minutes.
  5. While cooling, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 cup Cool Whip.
  6. Spread over first layer.
  7. Mix the pudding and milk; pour on creamy layer.
  8. Chill.
  9. Spread with remaining Cool Whip.

And, after the Thanksgiving left overs are put away…..now we all look toward the fast-coming Christmas Season. Check my other pages for great Christmas Gift Ideas!  Also, be sure to look at all those you can get from Amazon – from toys & games, to books, to music, and so on!