The irony of being a food blogger who makes a VERY small real-life Thanksgiving dinner has always amused me.

But for the holiday, I’m usually cooking for just four adults and one kid. It makes Thanksgiving dinner a very low-stress meal to host, because cooking for five doesn’t require shuffling dozens of pans and casserole dishes into the oven (or multiple ovens, which we don’t have!).

On the the other hand, it also makes it impractical to prepare a HUGE feast – there’d just be way too many leftovers to deal with (even after making my leftover mashed potatoes recipe and cranberry sauce muffins the next day), and food waste bums me out.

So, in real life, I stick to just the basics, which is usually a small Cajun turkey or turkey with maple bourbon glaze, mashed potatoes with homemade gravy, cranberry sauce, my husband’s grandma’s old fashioned dressing, and green beans or maple glazed Brussels sprouts.

But this blog is where I kind of live out my Thanksgiving FEAST fantasies (and test and eat them in the weeks BEFORE the holiday).

In my dreams, I envision a table loaded with a dozen side dishes, like Thanksgiving salad and roasted acorn squash slices and every other vegetable imaginable. Oh, and Thanksgiving Rice! Let’s talk about this Thanksgiving Rice recipe.

“Made this for Thanksgiving this year. Absolutely delicious. So easy to bake in the oven. Was perfect at 50 minutes.”

—Cindy

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If you’re the cook for Thanksgiving dinner, what is your favorite part of the preparation – the turkey (or perhaps the baked ham with pineapple sauce), the sides, or dessert?

While I’m pretty useless when it comes to dessert except for the occasional cranberry curd pie, it’s such a tough call between the other two for me.

I love the sides because you can get really creative and have a lot of variety, everything from classics like classic stuffing recipe to something kind of oddball like my crock pot green bean casserole recipe or Thanksgiving rice or chorizo stuffing.

But I also really dig the simplicity of roasting a turkey, carving it, and putting together a beautiful turkey platter for presentation, complete with my favorite turkey glaze recipe.

Today, I’m going to share the method I use for the best roasted turkey, the maple bourbon glaze I brush it with for extra flavor, and tips to make the most gorgeous turkey platter of your life.

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Stuffed Baked Apples – Perfect for Fall!

It’s inevitable as the passage of time – toward the end of the winter, I start to long for spring and summer food. And toward the end of the summer, I start to long for fall and winter food.

Even though we’ve had record warm October days in Michigan recently, the calendar still says it’s fall, so I’ve been longing for carrot apple soup, my mom’s lasagna recipe cottage cheese, crackers with savory pumpkin dip and anything involving apples for weeks now. I love you, summer, but I’ve had enough buttermilk grilled chicken for now.

Other than a Halloween charcuterie board, nothing says “autumn” to me more than going to an apple orchard, eating warm donuts with cider for lunch, and buying way, way more apples than my family of three realistically needs.

Then spending the next month putting apples in everything I eat (even on a butter board) to prove to myself that buying all those apples was a great idea. These walnut stuffed baked apples are one of my favorite simple apple desserts.

The best part is that the recipe can easily be adapted to feed a big crowd, or can be prepared as a simple weeknight sweet treat for one or two. They’re even a great addition to your Thanksgiving recipes list, as a unique alternative to traditional apple pie (try a batch of Thanksgiving Rice Krispies treats, too).

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It’s finally starting to feel like fall here in Michigan, and I’m ready for some comfort food (and a platter of Halloween food ideas).

This time of year, my favorite meals are the kind where everything can be roasted on one sheet pan, or where (almost) everything can be made in a single skillet, like my Skillet Mac and Cheese. (more…)

The post Skillet Pork Chops with Apple Gnocchi Sauté appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

While I certainly have some room for improvement when it comes to the baking department, I’ve been working on my skills recently.

After tackling Quick Pumpkin Beer Bread and homemade pizza crust, I went into this recipe feeling pretty confident in my new skills.

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