I am attending a family Thanksgiving dinner and I need ideas as to what to bring. They do not make a traditional Thanksgiving meal; I never know what they are making. And we will be driving about 2 hours away for this dinner.
By Shannon from Austin, MN
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Can you ask what they will be serving for the main dish? It would be helpful to know.
I suggest to make granny's home made chicken & dumplings. It's always a very good dish for any day. I would double the recipe-
Recipe Yield 4 servings
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
3 cups chicken broth
Directions
In a bowl, combine flour, salt, and poultry seasoning; cut in shortening until crumbly. Combine egg and milk; stir into flour mixture just until combined. On a heavily floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut into 1-in. strips; cut strips into 2-in. lengths. In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Add chicken. Reduce heat; drop dumplings onto simmering broth. Cover and simmer on very low heat for 5 minutes (do not lift the cover while simmering).
Good luck.
If you put any of these dishes in a cooler with ice they should keep well during your trip, and you can buy already made if you choose not to make it: potato salad, macaroni salad, cranberry relish
Or take cake and pies and fudge. You won't need any cooler for these items; you can't go wrong with desserts. A relative of mine attended a family reunion out of state for her first time and stopped at a store along the journey and bought cake.
I've never had a family dinner to attend where they didn't let you know what they were making ahead of time and suggest the dish to pass to bring. Since you're driving two hours each way why don't you make it easy on yourself, if they don't tell you what to bring, and simply contibute olives and pickles or chips and dip or some candy and cookies?
I would prepare a fresh veggie/fruit tray with hummus, and a couple other type dips. This travels well and works with most any type meal.
How about some cranberry or banana bread, both quite easy to prepare and take?
Try this salad: Just open a can (or more) of kernel corn add whatever you like (chopped green and red pepper, black beans, onions, etc.) Dress with Italian Salad dressing and voila, a great dish for any party or time of year.
What's nice about this is that it doesn't have to be chilled and can be assembled at the site as long as you remember to bring a can opener.
You totally can't go wrong with brownies. Quick and easy to make, convenient-to-eat finger food type dessert. In case pumpkin pie is served, a good alternative for people who don't like it. They're cheapest to make from scratch, but if you want to use a mix, I highly recommend the Ghiardelli double fudge.
I would ask for ideas, and anything cold, in the line of salads would keep for that long of drive, if put in a cooler.
Every now and then, and we usually do this for Easter, because by then I am cooked out for the other two holiday meals, we do sloppy joes, potatoe salad, macaroni salad, etc. We've done this twice and the grandkids think that is just as neat as when we do turkey and ham, etc.
Because I like to cook, when I am not cooking the 'feast' I want to bring something a little special so I feel I contributed to the special day. I am traveling this Thanksgiving and decided to make the following recipe:
Pumpkin - Pineapple Cheesecake
It doesn't get any better than this luscious, creamy pumpkin cheesecake, drizzled with a pineapple glaze and juicy pineapple slices. (And it's another way to fit vitamin A-rich pumpkin into your menu plans!)
Ingredients:
Cake:
No-stick cooking spray
1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar, divided
12 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1 can (16 ounce) solid-pack pumpkin
4 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable cooking spray
Glaze:
1 can (15 1/2 ounce) sliced pineapples in heavy syrup
Preparation Time: Approximately 15 minutes
Cook Time: Approximately 120 minutes
Preparation:
For the cake: Heat the oven to 350º F. Place a pan of hot water on the rack of oven. Coat an 8-inch springform pan with no-stick spray. Set aside 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Beat the remaining sugar and cream cheese until smooth.
Mix in the pumpkin, eggs, flour, spice and vanilla. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the cake stand in the oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack to room temperature. Loosen the edge of the cake with a knife and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
For the glaze: Drain the pineapple, reserving the syrup. Chop 1 pineapple slice finally; combine it with the reserved syrup and the remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes or until thick; do not stir. Just before serving, arrange the remaining pineapple slices on the cake and top with the glaze.
I love to do this recipe when traveling:
3 - 1lb bags of frozen normandy (broccoli, cauliflower & carrots) *
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can mushrooms
1 jar cheez-whiz
Pour all ingredients into a crock-pot. Cook for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally. I put this on a few hours before leaving. When we get to our destination I immediately plug it in to heat up while we are getting caught up on news with our hosts.
*I mix-up the veges sometimes using only brocc/cauliflower or adding brussel sprouts.
Do you have to bring the main dish? or a side? I post a couple of things...
my Veggie Pizza
Ingredients:
2 pkg of refrigerated crescent rolls (lg. roll)
2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayo
1 pkg (one ounce) dry Ranch-style dressing mix
1 cup fresh broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot, chopped (I used my chopper).
cup bell peppers, your choice (I used yellow and red)
cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 1/2 to 2 cups finely shredded pizza cheese, or cheddar, or whatever cheese you would like!
3 or so pieces of bacon, cooked well, and cooled, and chopped (again, I used my chopper)
really ANY veggie you want or don't want can be used, but this is what I used. - Also, I've never seen a recipe using bacon, I just think it added the perfect taste!
Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2 Roll out the crescent roll dough onto a 9 x 13 pan, and pinch together edges to form the pizza crust (the little pieces of the dough that don't fit I use to fill in around the edges, etc.
3 Bake crust for 12-13 minutes in the preheated oven. Once finished cooking, remove crust from oven and let cool 15 minutes without removing it from the baking sheet.
4 In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayo, and dry ranch dressing. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. I then sprinkled the broc/cauliflower/carrot mixture, the peppers, the cheese, bacon and place the tomato halves skin side up. I then pressed it down with the bottom of the spatula.
Chill for one hour or more.
**Note: I made a few of these and combined the cream cheese mayo mixture. So, next time I whip up a pizza, I think I'll make half of the mixture to spread on it, but again, up to your tastebuds!
Cranberry Croissants
1 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese (or use the spreadable type-much easier!)
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 can whole cranberry jelly
deli turkey slices or thinly sliced turkey
leaf lettuce
6 croissants
Blend together cream cheese, orange marmalade and pecans. Spread on bottom of croissant. Add 2 deli turkey slices, spread some of the cranberry jelly and top with leaf lettuce.
White Chocolate Snack Mix
6 cups CORN chex
3 cups cheerioes (I use the store brand for both and tastes great!)
1 sm bag small pretzels
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
1 med lg bag Plain M & M's
1 small bag Peanut butter M & M's (opt)
Mix together in brown grocery bag (I just get an extra one from the store)
Melt 1 pkg plus &frac; pkg of White Chocolate Almond Bark according to pkg directions. Poor on mixture in grocery bag and stir well.
Line 2-3 cookie sheets with wax paper. Pour mix out and dry. (smooth down any big chunks, if you know what I mean!) Yum!
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