Thanksgiving Recipe Contest...and the winners are...

Well, after going through all the wonderful recipes submitted for our fun contest we realized that with so little time, everyone who submitted a recipe won!  So our congratulations to each of you!  We will be in touch to arrange delivery of your prizes.

Our prize winners are:

Sarah's Cherry Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
8-10 sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp cherry juice concentrate
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp melted butter
1/8 tsp ground ginger
Green onions, sliced, to taste
Directions:
Cut cleaned sweet potatoes in half (but don't peel them).  Spray a cookie sheet with Pam, place the sweet potatoes with the cut-side down on the sheet.  Bake 30-40 mins. at 400 degrees.  Stir cherry juice concentrate, brown sugar, melted butter, and ginger together.  Flip the sweet potatoes over, and brush with the cherry  mixture.  Bake at 400 degrees until tender (an additional 5-10 minutes).  Sprinkle with green onions and serve.

Kitchen Dweller's Refrigerator Rolls
YUMMYYY!  This is a recipe that lots of people use on Big Daddy's side of the family.  They are so light and fluffy, and practically melt in your mouth.  The batch makes 32 and they usually don't last two days.  We may like them a little too much, if that is possible.
Ingredients:
2 pkgs dry yeast (1 1/2 Tbsp)
1/2 c warm water
1 Tbsp sugar

2 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 c warm water
1/2 c melted butter
4 3/4 c flour
melted or softened butter (additional)
Directions:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 c warm water with one Tbsp sugar and set aside for at least 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs.  Add the sugar and mix.  Mix in the salt and warm water, then add the melted butter and dissolved yeast mixture.  (Make sure the better is not super hot, we do not want to make scrambled eggs!:) ).  Stir in the flour (the dough should be a tiny bit sticky, I also just usually mix in the flour with my hands).  Cover the dough and refrigerate for two hours or over night.  Grease two large cookie sheets.  Split dough into two balls and roll out into big circles.  Spread on the melted or softened butter (this is where I like to melt it and use my pastry brush).  Using a pizza slicer cut each circle into 16 pieces.  Roll up into crescent shapes and place onto greased cookie sheet.  Cover rolls with a towel and let rise for about 1 1/2 hours.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cook one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.  If you are feeling crazy right when you take the rolls out of the oven spread some butter on the top!

Kaelee's Sweet Potato Casserole
This is my favorite Sweet Potato Casserole recipe we have every Thanksgiving!
Ingredients
2 cans sweet potatoes-mashed
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c sugar
canned milk
(topping)
1/4 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
3 Tbsp flour
Directions
Blend all ingredients together.  Add canned milk until smooth.  Pour into casserole dish, and crumble topping on the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Stacie's Cranberry Sauce Extraordinaire
Ingredients
1 c water
1 c white sugar
1 (12 oz.) package fresh cranberries
1 orange, peeled and pureed
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 pear, peeled, cored, and diced
1 c chopped dried mixed fruit (can be anything you want it to be)
1 c chopped pecans (optional)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
In a medium saucepan, boil water and sugar until the sugar dissolves.  Reduce the heat to simmer and stir in cranberries, pureed orange, apple, pear, dried fruit, pecans, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries burst.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Thanks so much for joining with us for this contest, and especially all you who shared your favorite recipes with us!  We'll be posting the next recipe contest shortly, so stay tuned!  Congratulations again to each of you!

Garlic and Chives Mashed Potatoes

Whenever we sit down to a turkey dinner, we just have to include this creamy, flavorful dish.  I know, mashed potatoes are incredibly common and one of the most consumed forms of potatoes.  Yet, I have had so many people ask for how to make our potatoes I thought we would just include the recipe and tips here.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Garlic and Chives Mashed Potatoes

4-5 large baking potatoes, washed with any 'spoil spots' trimmed off
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2+ tsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp butter
1/4 c cream (or evaporated milk)
2-3 Tbsp sour cream (to taste)
2 Tbsp freshly chopped chives (or to taste)

Cut potatoes into 1/2 in cubes (do not peel!), then put into a 3 qt. pot.  Fill with water until potatoes are covered, then pour in salt and whole garlic cloves.  Boil until potatoes are soft, then drain.  Put hot potatoes into a mixing bowl and beat on low, all the while adding butter, cream, sour cream, and finally 1/2 the chives until it reaches your favorite consistency.  Place into serving bowl and sprinkle the remaining chives over the top.  Add a small pat of butter (for decoration to really help those salivary glands kick in!).

I know that traditionally everyone peels the potatoes before boiling them.  I'll give you a little tip from a childhood spent playing in potato fields in Idaho: you don't have to do it!  Most of the nutritional value found in potatoes are in their peels, including several nutrients that help with weight loss.  When you add that to the wonderful textures that your tongue loves to play with while you are eating your mashed potatoes, you can see why we recommend leaving them in the dishes!

Sweet Potatoes Anna

I love sweet potatoes in any form, but don't ever ask me to eat even a bite of those vile things they call candied yams.  Too much sugar, and too mushy and just not good eats (as Alton Brown would say...).  I'll eat sweet potatoes mashed, baked (just like a normal potato), and just about any other way but candied.  This recipe is one of my favorites, and my grandma found it somewhere a long time ago.  Very simple recipe and very tasty results.  I hope you like them as much as I do.

2 lbs sweet potatoes (about 3 large sweet potatoes)
1 stick of butter, melted
parmesan cheese

Set oven to 435 degrees.  Slice the sweet potatoes super thin, like you would Au Gratin potatoes.  I used a salad shooter type thing and just ran them through on the slicer blade, but you can also use a food processor slicing blade, or a mandolin.  They should be about 1/8 of an inch thick.  In a spring form pan, spray a tiny bit of cooking spray just so stuff doesn't stick.  Place a layer of your potatoes on the bottom of the pan so all of it is covered--you'll want to have a good 1/2 inch layer.  Using a turkey baster, drizzle the potato slices with the melted butter, and then sprinkle the layer with the parmesan.  Add another good layer of potato slices, and then more butter and more cheese.  Top with another layer of potato slices, and then another layer of butter and cheese.  Top with the rest of the potatoes, and then top the whole thing with the remaining butter and cheese. Cover with foil, and press down to compress everything.  Bake covered for half an hour, and then remove the foil and bake another half an hour.  Top will be browned and golden.  Drain of any excess butter, and let stand for 5 minutes.  Remove the clamped side of the pan, and then cut the potatoes into wedges and serve with your favorite veggie and protein.