Getting Ready for a Thanksgiving Feast

        Every year at Thanksgiving, my extended family gets together for a day of watching football on TV and enjoying a big family dinner around the dining room table. We all look forward to enjoying the signature dish (or two) each cook in the family contributes to the meal. For someone like me who loves to eat good food, it is a smorgasbord!
        My contributions to the meal this year (besides the roast turkey) are a Mom’s Yam Casserole and Rich Lemon Cake with Orange Glaze. Both these dishes are “never fail” and a big hit with the rest of the family.

Yam Casserole

2 Large Yams
½ cup Unsalted Butter, softened
1 ½ cups Granulated Sugar
½ cup Orange Juice without pulp
3 Eggs
4 tsp All Purpose Flour
½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
½ tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 375. Rub yams with oil or shortening and place in a shallow pan. Bake uncovered on the middle rack until tender, approximately 50 minutes to an hour.

Turn the oven down to 350.

Peel the warm yams, cut into chunks and remove any strings. In a medium mixing bowl, mash the yams with a potato masher and measure; there should be approximately 2 cups. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add milk and blend. Stir in the mashed yams, orange juice, eggs, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and mix well. Transfer into a 2 quart casserole dish.

Bake uncovered at 350 for about 45 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.  If desired, top with miniature marshmallows and broil until brown. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings

Rich Lemon Cake

1 18.75oz box Lemon cake mix
1 3oz box Lemon instant pudding mix
4 large Eggs, beaten slightly
1 cup Vegetable oil
10 oz Lemon lime pop

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour bundt pan or a 9x13 baking pan.

Mix the dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Add the liquid ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth, approximately 3 minutes. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool slightly, 10-15 minutes, then remove from the cake pan(s) and place on the serving plate. 

While the cake is still warm, poke holes in the top of the cake ½ inch apart. Top with Orange Glaze. Cool completely at room temperature.

Yield: 16 to 24 servings


Orange Glaze

½ cup Powdered sugar
½ tsp Orange juice concentrate without pulp, not diluted

Mix ingredients until spreadable consistency.


I hope your family enjoys two of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes!  Until next time...

Kathy

PS. What are your family’s Thanksgiving traditions?