Kasey's Thanksgiving Recipes - The ones I could give out at least...

It’s that time of year again! You know, that magical time when we reacquaint ourselves with butter, cream, sugar and elastic waistbands. That’s right, it’s Thanksgiving time!!
Thanksgiving has always been a pretty big deal in my family. The preparation would start on the night before... I would help my mom by soaking the bread for the stuffing, peeling the potatoes, or making the cranberry sauce... as the years went on I began taking on more and more of the responsibility.
I like to think that I started to spread my culinary wings through our family Thanksgiving meals and I’d like to share some of the recipes with you... at least the ones that mom let’s me give up!

New England Cranberry Sauce
So simple. So easy. So good!

What You Need:

• 1 bag of whole cranberries
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ c brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• orange zest

What You Do:

1. In a medium saucepan add 1 bag of cranberries and 1 cup of water, cover and bring to a simmer for about 5-10 minutes. (You’ll hear the cranberries start to burst)
2. Stir in sugar and cinnamon, reduce heat and let simmer. The mixture will begin to thicken. If you find that it’s too thick, add in some cranberry juice.
3. Remove from heat, stir in a few teaspoons of orange zest and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

Best Darn Mashed Potatoes... Like, EVER.  
My apologies if you now have Taylor Swift stuck in your head, but these potatoes are worth it!

What You Need:

• 5lb. Bag of Yellow Yukon Potatoes, peeled/quartered (the kind of potato makes all the difference)
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 c whole milk
• ¼ c scallions, chopped
• garlic salt
• black pepper

What You Do:

1. Bring a large stockpot of water to a rapid boil and add in the peeled potatoes. Cook until tender.
2. Drain the liquid out of the stock pot, keeping the potatoes inside.
3. Add in butter and sour cream, begin mashing. Once you get the big lumps out, add in milk, garlic salt and pepper. Now mash like you’ve never mashed before! This is when you’ll be glad you got to Yukon Gold’s they are SO smooth!
4. Take a large whisk and give it one more good whirl. This allows the potatoes to get extra fluffy!
5. Add in your chopped scallions just before you’re ready to serve.

The Cranberry Bogger
The perfect cocktail for when your house is full of family members ;-)

What You Need:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 bag of cranberries
• 3 cups of dark rum
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ginger beer (1/2 can per serving)

What You Do:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil and add in sugar. This makes a simple syrup. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.
2. In the same saucepan, combine the rum, cinnamon and cranberries, bring to a boil. When the berries begin to burst, remove from heat. Add in the simple syrup and let cool until you’re ready to serve.
3. To serve, add ice to a tall glass, about half way. Spoon in the cranberry mixture (hold back the berries for more liquid) and top with ginger beer.

Festive and refreshing!!

Last year's masterpiece of a bird!! The turkey was good too! :-P