Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Bacon by Give Thanks Giveaway Winner Jaci Gordon

Congratulations to Jaci Gordon of San Diego, CA for being the lucky winner of the Give Thanks Giveaway! She will receive an autographed copy of my debut album Whiskey & Lace before it is available in stores. Jaci submitted her recipe for Sweet Potatoes with Bacon which was included in the Keith Family Thanksgiving Feast this year. The dish is a yummy and healthier alternative to the traditional candied sweet potatoes. Delicious healthy ways to prepare sweet potatoes always catch my eye. Jaci's recipe along with the other photos of the dish, as it appeared on our dinner table, are below. Thank you all so much for your submissions, there were so many amazing dishes to choose from and believe me...it was NOT an easy task to decide on only one. I hope you guys had an amazing Thanksgiving and had the opportunity to give thought to all the things you have to be thankful for.

Prep Time: 25 Minutes  Total Time 1 Hour 45 Minutes
Makes 10 servings (1/2 cup each)

3 lb dark-orange sweet potatoes (about 4 potatoes)
6 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped (3/4 cup)
1/4 cup fat-free half-and-half, warmed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Fresh thyme sprigs, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Pierce sweet potatoes all over with fork; place on cookie sheet with sides. Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with fork. Let stand 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
2. Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown. Remove bacon from skillet; place on paper towels to drain. Reserve 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet; discard remaining drippings. Add onion to skillet; cook over medium heat 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
3. Peel sweet potatoes; place in large bowl. Mash until no lumps remain. Add warm half-and-half, thyme, salt and pepper; mash until very smooth.
4. Add onion to sweet potatoes. Crumble bacon; reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish. Add remaining bacon to potatoes; stir until blended. Garnish with reserved bacon and thyme sprigs.

  

Enjoy! XOXO~

Thanksgiving Leftover Quiche

This week is all about Turkey Day. But have you planned what you'll do with the leftovers? I figured I would share an idea or two with you. This is the gourmet girl coming out in me...We have a French bistro in my hometown (Norman, OK) called La Baguette and it has been around for decades. They have the most decadent pastries, warm fresh-baked loaves of bread, soups, sandwiches and quiche...oh the quiche. It rocks my world. I used to think quiche was a hard dish to make because it sounded so foreign and fancy, and tasted so delicious that it had to take hours to create the perfection that is the French quiche. WRONG...It is super simple. I started playing around with different ingredients and figured out that quiche is not only simple to make,  the filling combinations are endless too. I'll list some other combinations at the bottom incase you decide that all you want to eat is quiche until Christmas! With all the leftovers I'll have from our Thanksgiving feast for 30 (yes...30!) I wanted to play a little off of my favorite ham and swiss quiche from La Baguette and put a little Thanksgiving twist on it. I would love to hear some filling combo ideas from you guys too! Just post them in the comments section below.

 

1 unbaked store-bought pie crust (do not prick holes)

4 eggs

3/4 cup half and half (I used fat free H&H but some of you prefer the regular - up to you!)

1 1/2 cups shredded gruyere cheese

3/4 cups shredded leftover turkey

3/4 cups diced leftover ham

1 Tbsp green onions

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Press the pie crust into a pie dish or tart pan. Cover crust with 2 pieces of foil and bake for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes. Spread turkey, ham, cheese and green onions over pie crust. In a bowl, whip eggs, half and half, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over the turkey, ham, cheese and green onions. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the tip of a knife inserted in center comes out clean. This time is for a tart dish which is much more shallow (about 1 inch deep) than a pie plate. If you are using a pie plate you will need to add approximately 10 minutes. After removing from the oven, allow the quiche to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Other Combinations:

Ham and Swiss

Chicken, Green Chile and Mozzarella (part skim)

Ham and Cheddar (white or yellow cheddar)

Southwest - onion, green and red peppers, mushrooms, white cheddar

Broccoli and Cheddar

Spinach and Artichoke

Ham, caramelized Onion and Muenster Cheese

Sun Dried Tomato, Spinach, Feta

Italian Sausage and Mozzarella

Spinach and Bacon

Bacon and Leek

 

 

 

 

You can even make it into mini quiche for parties!

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy! XOXO~

Grannie's Thanksgiving Stuffing

 

Just in case you're living under a rock, or are deprived of a calendar....Thanksgiving is almost here! I'm freakin' out over only having 2 more days to prepare for all the cooking and then inevitable food coma that leads to me falling asleep while watching a football game. There are 5 or 6 staples to our thanksgiving feast, Dad's turkey, Mom's Ham, Grannie's stuffing, Nannie's candied sweet potatoes and Aunt Hooey's apple pie   You guys are getting a family gem right here. There was a few years that my Grannie was out of town for Thanksgiving and my sister and I got to compete to see who could get closer to the original neither of us got it just right the first year, the second and third attempts were much closer. Something about my Grannie making it, makes it just that much more perfect though. There has been a debate for years over the "right" way to make stuffing. My husband grew up on bread stuffing but I grew up on cornbread stuffing. His mom cuts up loaves of bread and let's the cubes of bread harden a bit before adding the stock and seasonings. My Grannie bakes a couple pans of cornbread and crumbles that up to add stock and seasoning to. Our first year to do Thanksgiving together, the hubs was disappointed that we were not having bread stuffing that he was used to having on Turkey Day...We won him over though, and he thought ours was delicious (He may not have made it into the fam if he rejected Gran's stuffing!). You simply cannot compare the two, they are entirely different. But since I'm the one sharing the recipe...today...you get Grannie's version. Maybe next year I'll share my sweet Mother-in-Law's recipe with y'all and you can be the deciding vote.

 

2- 9x13" pans of Shawnee's Best or Aunt Jamima White Cornbread mix, prepared as directed

3 large white onions, chopped

2 clusters celery chopped

1 whole bottle rubbed sage

1 Tbsp oil

1/4 cup cold water

1/2 tsp salt

4 sleeves saltine crackers

5 cups Turkey Broth (from cooked turkey or store-bought)
salt and pepper

 

Sauté oil, water, onion, celery and salt. Cover and cook on low until tender but not mushy. Strain turkey broth (to keep bones out of stuffing). Crumble both crackers and cornbread and combine in a large pan. Add turkey broth, onion mixture and 1/2 bottle sage. Use potato masher and mash as if you were making mashed potatoes. If needed, add more chicken or turkey broth to get the consistency you need. Add the other 1/2 bottle of sage and salt and pepper to taste. Be aware that the crackers are salted so make sure you taste it as you add it so not to over-salt. Pour mixture into 9x13 pans (should make 3 pans) Bake at 425 for 1 hour. After 30 minutes rotate pans in the oven (move top rack pans to bottom rack and bottom rack pans to the top rack), continue the remaining 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the feast begin!



 

Enjoy! XOXO~

 

P.S. Here are a few extra photos just for fun!

 

 



 

 

 

Cheers to all of you having a Happy Thanksgiving Day!

(You guys didn't think I cooked sober, right?!)