Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is basically America’s excuse to eat an insane amount of heart-attack provoking food, embrace awkward interactions with family, give cheery toasts that make your grandma blush scarlet, explain to your aunt Marge *once again* that you are happy being single, and generally give thanks that there is such a beautiful mess of these people in your life.

While blood-relations can sometimes be difficult to navigate, you should be able to have an absolutely wonderful and wholesome Thanksgiving with your closest friends (contrary to the themes of popular shows such as New Girl and How I Met Your Mother– not every Thanksgiving will end in catastrophe XD). So, here are a few recipes to share with your *chosen* family. Happy Holidays!

Skillet Chicken/Turkey Breast with Gravy

One-Pan Chicken with Gravy Recipe

Be sure to ladle that gravy on absolutely everything— that’s what it’s there for.

Gourds and Onions thanks Youngweon
12 oz roughly chopped butternut squash
2 sweet potatoes, roughly chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
generous amounts of fat (butter! olive oil! duck fat!)
salt and pepper
rosemary (optional)

Heat up a large sauté pan and swirl around a generous! pat of butter and/or your fat of choice (like duck fat or olive oil). Pan fry cubed sweet potato until tender and then add cubed butternut squash (TJs offers pre sliced squash which saves a lot of time).
Once your gourds are nearly cooked through, add more fat to the pan and toss in some thinly sliced onions. Cook until onions are fragrant and golden, and the potatoes/squash is fork-tender. Toss in some rosemary and season with salt and pepper.

Country Ham and Green Beans
4 oz country ham, roughly chopped
minced garlic (a lot)
1.5-2 lbs of green beans, washed/trimmed/roughly chopped
more butter *never a bad idea

Roughly chop ~4 oz country ham and fry in pan until crispy and cooked all the way through. Add minced garlic (about 4 cloves, or one head if you’re like me). Sauté until fragrant. Toss in trimmed, roughly chopped green beans (1.5-2 pounds) and cook until tender. Season with salt and pepper.

The Best Rolls
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/parker-house-rolls
Don’t forget to brush up these babies with an obscene *i mean the perfect amount* of butter when they’re fresh out of the oven.

Cranberry Sauce
https://www.oceanspray.com/en/Recipes/By-Course/Sauces-Sides-and-Salads/Fresh-Cranberry-Sauce
*add zest of one orange for some extra flavor

Pumpkin Pudding
baked pumpkin and sour cream puddings
The lazy baker’s guide to the classic thanksgiving dessert— don’t forget the gingersnaps for a finishing touch.

Apple Pie
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/classic-double-crust-apple-pie
What Thanksgiving is complete without a classic apple pie?!?! While a homemade crust is always a game-changer, Bwog is sure that a pre-prepared pie crust will do the trick. Don’t forget to serve this up with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

German Gluhwein thanks Abby
https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-german-gluhwein-238371
1/2 orange; 3/4 cup water; 1/4 cup granulated sugar; 20 cloves; 2 whole star anise; 1 (750 mL) bottle dry red wine; rum or amaretto for serving (optional)
Peel away wide strips of the orange rind with a vegetable peeler. Set aside.
Juice the orange, being careful to keep out any seeds.
Boil water and sugar until sugar has dissolved completely. Reduce heat and add cloves, anise, orange zest and juice. Simmer until mixture becomes syrupy (about 1 minute).
Reduce heat more and add wine. Let it barely simmer for 20 minutes, or up to a few hours.
Strain and serve in small mugs. Add a splash of rum/amaretto (if you’re feeling it). Garnish with orange peel and star anise.

Fall Spritz
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/fall-spritz
1.5 oz Averna Amaro
6 oz dry style hard cider
orange twist to garnish
(i.e. 1 part armor to 4 parts cider)
combine in a glass over ice, stir and garnish

Image Via https://d213sdapb08052.cloudfront.net/assets/recipes/deep-dish-apple-pie/_entryTopPhotoMobile/Page-159-web-horizon.jpg?mtime=20160719134831