A good bird

Hope your Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful in every way!
Thanks to those of you who left Thanksgiving traditions...so fun to read and think about as we add to our own! We had a full house and a full table on Thanksgiving day. After changing my mind several times, I finally decided to try the turkey recipe my friend Tegan suggested for two reasons:
1. Tegan is a fabulous cook and has never made anything I didnt like.
2. The recipe required a brining process...something I have never tried. I like to add to my cooking skills and knowledge when I can, and although I was a bit intimidated at first, I was really happy with the results...moist and yummy!

If you arent familiar with brining, check out this article at cooks illustrated:

TheBriningProcessExplained

Here is the recipe link for the Apple Cider Brined Turkey with Savory Herb gravy.

AppleCiderBrinedTurkey

Another new thing I tried this year....homemade cranberry sauce. Man, I had no idea how easy it is to make....and so delish! Most recipes call for boiling the sugar and water before putting in the berries, but I accidentally boiled them all together and it worked just fine! Who knew that you dont need gelatin to make it set up?! Here's what I did:
Boil:
1 8oz bag of cranberries
3/4 C water
3/4 C granulated sugar

Cook at low boil for about 10 min, stirring occasionally. Let cool for 15 min or so. Blend mixture in food processor or blender. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Our final Thanksgiving menu for this year was: (just so that I remember)

Apple Cider Brined Turkey with Savory Herb Gravy
Sausage and Raisin Stuffing
Gruyere cheese broccoli gratin
Becky's corn casserole
Cranberry sauce
Mashed Rosted Sweet Potatos with crunchy pecan topping

Thanksgiving Traditions

Im wondering what yours are?
The Rader house is about to host Thanksgiving this year, and we want some traditions of our own...besides eating a LOT of good food and having everyone say what they are thankful for:)
How do you spend the time with your family? What are your favorite food traditions?
Does one person cook, or do you have a pitch-in (as they say here in Indy). We call it a pot-luck in Michigan.

I've got the menu almost planned, but Im still debating on how to prepare the Turkey. Im a novice Turkey-preparer. Ive got a few options, but the one rising to the top is an Orange Rosemary basted bird with carrots and leeks. Yum.

Today we (all five of us) stormed Trader Joes and Costco...this was after I sent AJ to the farmer's market for some key ingredients. Shopping the Sat before Thanksgiving is nuts. But it does make me excited for Thursday and wearing my apron all day and having my family fill every corner of the bungalow.

Happy Turkey day preparations! Dont forget to leave a tradition in the comments if you have a fun one to share!

Cherry Almond Granola

Since I've had a few requests for this recipe lately, I thought I would make it my first post. Making granola is so easy...you wont be able to buy it after you start making it! And, its so fun to try different things, depending on what's in your cupboard. This recipe is a variation of a recipe I clipped years ago from a newspaper. (Before the days of Googling recipes!) You can substitute all sorts of yummy things into it of course, but this is my favorite version. Enjoy!

Recipe makes 2 Quarts (about 8 cups)

Heat oven to 275 degrees. Mix the following in a very large bowl:

4 C rolled oats
1 C wheat germ
4 Tbs. sucunat (or brown sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
1 C sliced almonds

Bring the following to a low boil, stirring, and immediately turn down to simmer for 2 minutes,
then turn heat off:

1/2 C real maple syrup (or honey)
6 Tbs. coconut oil
1 1/2 tsps. almond extract
2 Tbs. water

1 C dried cherries

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix. Should be clumpy! Lightly grease two cookie sheets. Divide the granola between the pans and place into heated oven,
middle rack. Bake for 30 min. Remove and stir the granola a bit, adding the cherries. Bake another 20 min. After the 20 min, turn oven off, open the oven door part way and leave the granola in until cool. This will make it nice and crunchy! After it cools, put in airtight container. Stays yummy for about a week...if it lasts that long!

Substitutions:
For almonds: pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, other nuts...
For cherries: coconut, raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries
For almond extract: vanilla extract, ginger, allspice, etc...

*Update: My original recipe called for canola oil, but my reading over the last year has convinced me that coconut oil is a much better choice....read here if you are interested! I also revised the brown sugar with sucanat....again, to up the nutritional impact.