Publishing this on Tuesday so I’m a little late for traditional Thanksgiving Day. We’ve been living abroad for many years so we have our celebration on Saturday as we gave up trying to persuade employers and schools that Thursday and Friday are actually legal holidays. We gather friends and family for a meal, to help the Davinator put up the Christmas lights (see photo below) and to decorate the Christmas trees. Yes, there are two. Used to be three but that’s another story…

I’ve worked on my menu over the years to get to maximum ‘prep ahead’ so I can spend time with everyone. The prep ahead approach avoids the kitchen looking like a bomb site when you get up from the table. There are more vegetarians so the menu caters to them as well. Vegans are another kettle of fish but I’ve noted where recipes are easily adapted. Also, I buy in the main course for the vegetarians when I’m busy but usually make a nut loaf (if no nut allergies).

There are several departures from my family’s traditional menu: no corn casserole, no sweet potatoes with marshmallows,no green bean casserole and no pumpkin or pecan pie. That’s mostly personal taste but also not being able to source some of the usual ingredients.

We traditionally eat around 3 or 4pm so I’ve learned to have snacks available or send out for pizza for the decorating crew. We usually have a break between the main meal and dessert – means everyone can eat more. Which is partly the point.

Make ahead recipes are linked below.

Thanksgiving Menu

• Turkey – everyone has their favourite recipe, I’m a traditionalist, cover mine with bacon and roast it.
• Easy-Make Ahead Stuffing; vegetarian – do ahead
• Nut Loaf
• Turkey gravy – do ahead
• Ultimate Onion Gravy – do ahead
• Make-ahead creamy mashed potatoes – do ahead
• Green Bean Salad with Cherry Tomatoes– do ahead
• Roast carrots
• Cranberry relish (ask a guest to bring)
• Cranberry from a can – it’s a tradition, the children loved the can rings
• Cranberry Apple Crumble – do ahead
• Chocolate dessert (ask a guest to bring)
• Cheese (not everyone has a sweet tooth)

Do Ahead Schedule

Day Minus Three

Easiest day of all – cut the bread for the stuffing and leave it to dry.

We usually have people staying over the weekend, so I check the bedrooms and bathrooms. Clean sheets, heat on, towels, soap and water. Also, I start bringing down the Christmas boxes. It’s good aerobic exercises as they are up in the storeroom on the top floor.

Day Minus Two

• Mashed Potatoes
• Onion Gravy
• Turkey Gravy

Day Minus One

• Stuffing
• Apple & Cranberry Crumble
• Green Bean Salad

Each recipe has its own instructions for re-heating and serving.

Thanksgiving, at its best, is a three-legged stool: food, family, and friends.The food is the magnet that pulls everyone to the same table.
Family is the anchor, the shared history that makes the day feel sacred.
Friends are the spark, the chosen ones who bring laughter and loosen the room.

It is a day to count our blessings.

I don’t put the stuffing in the turkey. There was a food poisoning incident in our extended family (we shall pass over that with no detail) and in general I think it’s not recommended anymore. Also, once it’s been in the turkey, hard to call it ‘vegetarian’ with a straight face. I find it easier to make one stuffing recipe and then allow guests to drown it in onion or turkey gravy as they please.

Recipe – serves 8 to 10 with leftovers

Ingredients

• 800-1000 g dried bread cubes (about 1–1.5 large loaves; use a mix of sourdough, French, or country bread for best texture)
• 170 g unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions, finely diced (about 2½ cups)
• 4 stalks celery, finely diced (about 1½–2 cups)
• 2 medium carrots, finely diced (optional, but adds sweetness; ~1 cup)
• 600-850 mls vegetable broth (start with 600mls, add more if needed)
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten (omit or replace with 2 flax eggs* for vegan)
• 15 g fresh parsley, chopped
• 2–3 tsp poultry seasoning (or make your own: 1 tsp sage + ¾ tsp thyme + ½ tsp marjoram + ¼ tsp rosemary + pinch nutmeg)
• 1 tsp dried sage (extra if you love sage flavor)
• 1 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Optional add-ins (pick 1–2):
  • 150 g sautéed mushrooms
  • 100 g dried cranberries or chopped apples
  • 100 g toasted pecans or chestnuts
  • 100 g cooked wild rice or quinoa

Instructions

1. Dry the bread (1–2 days ahead or same day):
   • Cube bread into ¾-inch pieces. Spread on baking sheets and let sit out overnight, or bake at 150°C (300°F) for 30–45 minutes, tossing occasionally, until dry and lightly toasted.
     
2. Sauté vegetables:
   • Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
   • Add onion, celery, and carrot (if using). Cook 8–12 minutes until soft and translucent.
     
3. Season:
   • Stir in poultry seasoning, dried sage, salt, and pepper. Cook 1 minute to bloom the herbs.
     
4. Assemble:
   • In a very large bowl, combine dried bread cubes and the vegetable mixture.
   • Add parsley and any optional add-ins.
   • Drizzle with 2½ cups vegetable broth and toss gently. The bread should be moist but not soggy—add up to 1 more cup broth if it still looks dry.
   • Taste and adjust salt/pepper.
     
5. Add binder:
   • Pour beaten eggs over the mixture and fold in gently.
     
6. Bake:
   • Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
   • Transfer stuffing to a buttered 9×13-inch (or larger) baking dish.
   • Dot top with extra butter if desired.
   • Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
   • Uncover and bake another 15–25 minutes until top is golden and slightly crisp.

Fully assemble & refrigerate (up to 2 days ahead) – RECOMMENDED

• Complete steps 1–5 (dry the bread, sauté vegetables, mix everything including the eggs and broth).
• Pack the unbaked stuffing tightly into your buttered baking dish, cover well with plastic wrap or foil, and refrigerate up to 48 hours.
• When ready to bake: let it sit at room temperature 30–60 minutes (so the dish doesn’t crack from temperature shock), then bake as directed, adding an extra 5–10 minutes to the covered baking time since it’s cold.

Pumpkin, in cans or the real thing, is widely available in supermarkets for a relatively short period of time. Americans (and some Brits) carve pumpkins for Halloween which renders them useless as food. But they can be cooked and eaten like any other squash. Canned pumpkin is hidden away in the back corner of American supermarkets except for the run in to Thanksgiving when its ubiquitous. Pumpkin pie is a given for most Thanksgiving tables.

The Davinator was very surprised that pumpkin pie is a dessert. Of course, many aspects of American food have bemused him over the years. I sympathise with his desire why pumpkin pie is a dessert and sweet potato and marshmallow casserole is not. Again, a topic for another day and another blog.

I wanted tinned pumpkin without paying for the stuff imported from the USA and sold in our local garden centre in the American speciality food section. Because I didn’t want to have to take out a mortgage to buy it. I think I may do a separate blog on garden centres because this is a retail establishment that I don’t think you find in America. Back to the pumpkin quest. I went on line and found a UK based brand. Then I had to buy a dozen cans to make the shipping reasonable. And there I was with 11 more cans of pumpkin than I really wanted.

What to do with excess pumpkin? Not a huge problem as pumpkin is lovely in bread, rolls, muffins and cupcakes. More of a storage issue as it’s not going to expire until 2021. These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were the biggest hit of the various ‘things I did with pumpkin’.

Now on to the real problem. The recipe below makes 30 to 36 cookies. Unless you double the recipe you will only use half a normal can of pumpkin. Readers will know I hate to throw out food. So, I made a loaf of pumpkin bread that nicely used up the rest of the can. The pumpkin bread is coming in a separate blog and I will link to it from here.

This recipe can be easily adapted for vegans. The pumpkin does the job of eggs so none needed. You can replace the butter with margarine or unrefined coconut oil. Both are solid at room temperature and so give the ‘spring’ that butter will.

Time to get baking.

Recipe – makes 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 225 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled (USA two stick) (substitute as discussed above for vegan friendly)
• 100 grams brown sugar (light or dark)
• 200 grams caster (white) sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 185 grams pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie filling (a bit less than half of a standard 15 ounce can)
• 380 grams plain white flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or allspice mix
• 180 grams dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 60 grams of pecans, chopped small (optional)

Instructions

1. Whisk together the butter and the sugars until lump free. Add in the pumpkin and vanilla, beat until smooth.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and spice together.
3. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add in the chocolate chips and then the nuts if using. The dough will seem very wet.
4. Cover the dough and then chill for at least 45 minutes. I left mine for a couple of hours and went to spinning. (Ignore the virtue signalling here).
5. Preheat your oven to 175C or 350F. Get your baking sheets ready. I’m newly converted to ‘silimats’ or silicone baking mats instead of parchment. They work well and seem to last for ever.
6. Scoop out the dough with a small trigger scoop or a tablespoon. I weigh mine – with each scoop of dough weighing 35 – 40 grams. Please feel free to eyeball these at about a tablespoon and a half. Precision has limited benefits to cookies – it makes me feel better though.
7. Roll your scoops of dough into balls. Place on the baking sheets and flatten the tops with a spoon or your fingers.
8. Bake for about 10 minutes. The cookies will look set on the outside and wet in the middle. Take out of the oven. Leave to cool and set on the baking sheets for another 10 minutes. Then move to a rack for final cooling.
9. If you want to make these a little more chocolatey you can press a Hershey’s kiss or a big chocolate drop on the top of the cookies when they first come out of the oven.

I really like the consistency of these cookies – I’m a chewy cookie kind of person not a crunchy cookie biscuit person.

Please leave comments, please share photos if you’re baking from the recipes: @mamadolson on Twitter and Instagram, Mama Dolson’s Bakery on Facebook. Requests always welcome.

Buttery flaky crust, crisp on top, gooey and sweet in the middle. Nutty and chocolately.

Thanksgiving is a day of feasting, family and friends, practically sacred to all Americans.   You can do your own thing at Christmas time but you better show up at home for Thanksgiving.  Or perhaps – where you are for Thanksgiving is your home.

Pumpkin pie reigns supreme on the dessert buffet on Thanksgiving but pecan pie has always been my top choice.  I will eat (and make) pumpkin pie but there is something a little odd about a vegetable based dessert.  Just saying.

My recipe takes pecan pie to a new  level – making them individual sized and adding chocolate.  Chocolate and pecans – a match made in heaven.   And I’ve noticed that people might be reluctant to grab a knife and hack off a piece of pie and put it on a plate, find a fork and THEN eat.  So much easier to pick up one of these little beauties and pop it in.  Either with or without a little dollop of whipped cream.  It’s all about portion control.

One unique feature of this blog post; the crust recipe makes about twice what you need for 12 mini pies.  I used my usual pie or sweet tart pastry recipe.  I tried making a half batch but the dough just went sulky and wouldn’t come together.  No idea why.  You can try cutting the ingredients in half (or doubling the filling recipe).   Or you can put the extra dough in the refrigerator and wait for inspiration to strike.  And I’m doing mince pies over the weekend.

The only specialised equipment you need for this recipe is a 12 hole muffin tin.  Here we go……

Ingredients

Crust

320 grams plain flour

2 teaspoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

115 grams chilled unsalted butter

95 grams cold vegetable shortening (Trex or Crisco)

120 mls very cold water

(Note: this makes roughly twice as much crust as you need for the mini-pies).

Filling

105 grams brown sugar (light or dark, both good)

1/4 cup or 115 grams of Karo light corn syrup or Tate & Lyle golden syrup

1 egg

15 grams of melted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

85 grams chopped pecans, plus 12 pecan halves for decoration

75 grams dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate bits

Making the pastry

1.  Make sure your butter and Trex are well chilled.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a wide shallow bowl.
3. Cut the butter into cubes.   Try not to touch the butter and Trex with your hands more than you absolutely have to. Here’s an important distinction between dough and pastry.  (say for bread) is all about transmitting warmth from your hands to the dough to encourage the incorporation of any fat and the development of the yeast.   Pastry is about keeping it cool and NOT completely incorporating the fat.  Add the  butter and Trex to the dry ingredients.
   

   Try to handle the butter as little as possible.

4. Cut together the dry ingredients and the fat with either a pastry blender or two table knives working back and forth.  I think a high quality pastry blender is an important tool.   I clean the pastry blender with a table knife, rather than with my fingers.
   Again, trying to keep the butter and Trex cool (rather than melting it into the pastry).   The pastry should look like peas, coated with flour once combined.
   

   Those butter lumps look a bit big in hindsight.

5. Add the water to pastry one tablespoon at a time.  I like to have the chilled water in jug and pour it in, then stir.  The pastry should start to come together but it will look quite shaggy,  even after all the water is in.  Tip the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it together. (You’re allowed to touch the pastry with your hands here).  Divide the pastry into two equal portions, wrap each one in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour.
6. Your pastry will have some visible butter lumps in it.  Provided they aren’t too big this is okay.
   

Making the filling

1. Melt the butter in a plastic bowl (15 seconds in the microwave should do it).
2. Combine the butter with the brown sugar, the Karo or golden syrup and the egg.  Stir in the chopped pecans, the chocolate bits and the vanilla.  Beat it together until smooth.

Assembly and baking the individual pies

1. Preheat the oven to 170C (160C fan).
2. Spray the muffin tin generously with non-stick spray (I have coconut based spray that I use for baked goods vs the olive oil one for savoury dishes).
3. Take one of the packages of pastry from the refrigerator.  Cut it into 12 even pieces (weigh it on a piece of cling film and then divide by 12).
4. Press a piece of pastry into a flat disk (yes, you can use your hands now). Place one into each muffin cup.  Flatten out the bottom and press the pastry up the sides of the cup.
5. Put a scoop of filling into each pastry shell.  I have a small trigger scoop that is about the size of a tablespoon.  Or, you could whack the filling in a pastry bag and pipe it in.  You should have just enough filling for 12 mini pies.  Don’t fill above the pastry shells or you’re going to have a sticky mess to clean up when it comes out of the oven.  Put one of your reserved pecan halves on the top of each pie.
   
6. There will be barely enough left in the bowl to make it worthwhile for the Davinator to sneak in and ‘clean’ the bowl.
   
7. Bake the mini pies for 30 to 35 minutes.  The pastry above the filling should be a toasty brown colour.   Cool in the muffin tin for about ten minutes, then gently remove to cool completely. You may have to loosen the pies with a flat knife.  Let them finish cooling before you eat them – or you might burn your tongue.
   

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Gratitude is a choice, count your blessings and be thankful.