Thanksgiving dinner is famous for leaving its victims passed out in food comas. Dads doze on the couch with the day’s football game serenading their dreams of tryptophan-loaded turkey as aunts and uncles dive into their fifth gravy-soaked serving of mashed potatoes. The entrees we enjoy each year are relatively constant throughout celebrating households: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce are all Thanksgiving staples. However, many households place their unique spin on these dishes, passing their “secret recipes” down generations. Thankfully, a few members of the CHS staff and Dialogue Team have agreed to share step-by-step instructions and/or ingredients for their family’s signature Thanksgiving dish! Although this year’s holiday has already passed, feel free to draw inspiration from these recipes!
Cave’s Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients:
1 package of cranberries,
4/5 medium sized pippin apples
1 cup of water
1¼ cups of sugar
The Cave family’s cranberry sauce recipe demonstrates enormous attention to detail, specifying the exact type of apple to include. It pays off in a delicious dish!
Steps: Pour water, cranberries, and sliced apples into a pot – bring water to boil so that the cranberries pop (takes 15-20 minutes). Once popped, strain all contents from water. Put the contents in a saucepan and add sugar.
Mr. Cantagallo’s Chicken Divan
A lesser known dish, Chicken Divan is a casserole commonly composed of layered broccoli, chicken, and a cheesy sauce. Mr. Cantagallo has been kind enough to share his family’s secret chicken divan recipe. Let’s take a look at how CHS’s principal feasts during the glorious four day Thanksgiving break!
Ingredients:
6 cooked chicken breasts
3-10 ounces of frozen broccoli
3 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of mayo
½ cup of milk
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Cheddar cheese
Bread crumbs
Directions: Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
Gunning’s Texas Potatoes
Texas Potatoes are a cheesy, creamy, and breaded dish similar to the mashed potatoes present at most Thanksgiving dinners!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 8 oz. condensed cream of chicken soup
(can use 2 cans – I saw a recipe that said use 2 cans)
1 pint sour cream (or can use 8 oz – if 2 cans soup/8oz sour cream)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pkg hash brown shredded potatoes, frozen (thawed) (2 lbs) –
1 ½ pkg OK too – maybe more sour cream
1/2 cup melted butter
Directions:
-Combine all of the above and put in a pyrex baking pan.
-Crushed corn flakes with some more melted butter.
-Top the casserole with crushed corn flakes.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
The Uglialoro Family’s Pecan-Chocolate Chip Pie
Among my family, the pecan-chocolate chip pie is a favorite. The sweet chocolate coupled with the crunch of the pecans makes for a coveted desert!
Ingredients:
1½ cups of pecans
1 pie crust
½ cup of chocolate chips
1 tablespoon of flour
3 large eggs
1 cup of light-brown sugar
1 cup of corn syrup
¼ cup of melted butter
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit
-Spread pecans in pie crust
-In a bowl, toss chocolate chips in a pinch of flour
-Scatter chocolate chips over pecans
-In a bowl, stir together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, butter, and flour until mixed.
-Pour filling from the bowl over pecans and chocolate chips
-Bake for about 70 minutes
