Well, the big day isn’t until tomorrow, but the cooking almost certainly starts in earnest today. So, if you are looking for a few last minute Turkey Day ideas, I thought I’d share the annual standards we employ in the Cavehold.
I just posted my famous Cavey Gravy recipe the other day. But, you’ll need to put that gravy on something (though, some have considered just grabbing the gravy boat and a straw! 😉 ). Of course, the main event (ie. turkey) is a prime candidate to be smothered in that savory sauce, which calls for a start 24 hours before you pop it into the oven. That’s because we always use our T-day Turkey Brine to ensure a moist, flavorful bird. White wine, grapes, garlic, and rosemary are the mainstays of this magnificent marinade.
One thing that most Thanksgiving gobblers agree on: mashed potatoes are a must! Plus, they are another traditional landing pad for the gravy. But, if you are going to cook like a Caveman, you are going to have to bump it up a notch or two. We accomplish that with our tasty Garlic Mashed Taters. Milk, sour cream, and cream cheese are all combined into this recipe to create a creamy, delectable side dish … which does make it the “Angioplasty Special”. Though, if you are only cranking these spuds out once or twice a year, your cardiologist shouldn’t mind too much. I can attest that your taste buds won’t complain one bit!
Every meal calls for a vegetable. But, even the most anti-veggie attendee can’t turn their nose up on the Cavewoman’s incredible Super Spinach Soufflé. With eggs, two kinds of cheeses, milk, and butter it is plainly
obvious that this is not a healthy dish, either. So, we try to cut out some of the fat by using non-fat milk and light sour cream. It works great, and there is plenty of other fat in there to more than make up the difference! I guarantee if you try this one at your T-Day feast once, it will become a regular participant in your family’s faire for years to come.
HINT: I highly recommend that you get some Cougar Gold from the WSU Creamery for this recipe. It adds the perfect flavor that just pushes the entire dish over the top.
Holiday cooking has always been where my Mom shines brightest in the kitchen. Her creative mind is always at work … but, none more so than when she puts her signature touch on a recipe. This is plainly evident with her 
Cavemom’s Orange Yam Turkeys – an ingenious spin on the traditional Thanksgiving yams. This unique, colorful, and tasty dish has become a real favorite of the Cavekids … not just to eat, but to make as well. They really look forward to working in the kitchen on these with their Cavenana, and this year is no different! They’ve already been asking us if their grandmother was “bringing all the stuff to make Yam Turkeys”. Put one of these on your guest’s plate, and I guarantee they will be ooing and cooing about how cute they are. That is, until they taste it and start oohing and awing about how delicious they are! Yams, orange, pineapple, nuts, marshmallows, butter … I mean, what could be bad about that, right?!?!
You can’t call it a Thanksgiving meal without cranberry sauce. However, far too many call it “good” with a canned variety of the tangy berry relish. If you are in that crowd, I strongly advise you step out of your canned comfort zone and give my Cave’s Cranberry Sauce a go. It will only take an extra 20 minutes in your meal’s preparation, and you will end up with a C-sauce that will forever have you shunning the pre-made type in the future. Plus, it’s easy … just the recipe on the package with some molasses and either wine, port, cognac or brandy added. Best of all, you can make it a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate it until chow time – which actually also helps it to set up better, both flavor and consistency wise. The only problem with that is keeping everyone away from it until the big meal … the Cavewoman is our biggest offender on that!
Most of all, we wish you the sweetest of Thanksgiving Holidays, filled with laughter, love, and memories to last a lifetime!
©2013 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. These recipes originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at http://cavemancooking.net authored by Caveman. These recipes may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies them.
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