My Wednesday Pantry-It's Not All About the Turkey

     

Last year's table setting when just a party of five. 

     The turkey might get top bill on a Thanksgiving menu followed by the pies, but tats not where my head goes. I'm all about the sides. My contributions tomorrow will be the roasted sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and maple glazed (a change from ginger glazed) carrots, and now the dinner rolls. We lost five form our gathering at my sisters on Sunday with a great niece testing positive for Coid. She has  symptoms of a bad cold, so she her parents, and sisters will be home. Just today, my sister confirmed she is positive as well, and feeling quite lousy. I picked up the dinner rolls in her stead. She and her husband, as well as her son and daughter-in-law, and another son, all without transportation, are all not coming. 

     Quite frankly, I worry about my sister and her husband, both with a lot of underlying issues, though both have been boosted, so hoping he doesn't come down with it, and she has a fast recovery. Since she retired in the summer, she has been bored so started substitute teaching  2-3 days per week. Maybe my nephews and the spouse will coordinate a ride, but they all live significantly  far away for someone to make an extra round trip-twice, to get them. They were going to come with their parents. N DH's side, even though we werent' going for the meal. just one siblings family will be there, we will not see his brothers family as they have an isolated house with another positive kiddo. Same as my great niece, cold symptoms, but otherwise doing OK. They had a round of Covid in early October. I just hope all recover and no one else comes down with it hard. 

     Where was I? Oh, yes,the sides. I am pretty simple in my cooking and the sweet potatoes and carrots could not be easier. As for the green beans-I just follow the  universal  recipe.

Green Bean Casserole

     3 cans green beans, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 can milk, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp pepper, mix in 1/2-2/3 cup  crispy fried onions, toss in a  sprayed baking dish, bake for 30 minutes, top with another 1/2 to 2/3rds more onions, and finish in th eoven for another 15 minutes. I use cut beans, not French style. I'm still tripling hte batch even with the number lower. College ki can take back any leftovers. For my  vegan eating daughter, I'm making a mock crema of mushroom sauce starting with a roux of plant based butter, flour, and plant based milk, then add more milk, onions and garlic. The beans and the crispy onions will be the same. 

 Roasted Sweet Potatoes

• Peel and  cut potatoes in 2 inch chunks
• Toss in light olive oil,  then in pepper, seasoning salt, a bit of onion powder, and garlic powder, and a light bit of brown sugar-not much-just enough to help caramelize. I don't  measure but  let's estimate 1/2 tsp of each  seasoning, 1 tsp brown sugar, and  1 1/2 tsp olive oil  per pound of potatoes. Some people might add cinnamon. 
• Roast in a 350 degree oven until soft.

Do not mash. Do not put marshmallows on top. Do not  drench in sugar or syrup. Let the sweetness of the vegetable itself shine through. 

Maple Glazed Carrots

Mine will look more like this
than the recipe link version.

     I'm essentially using this recipe from go Dairy free, but I'm roasting them in the oven rather than on the stove, so will modify a bit. I also cheated and bought three bags, one pound each, of baby carrots.  I'm staming my carrots, until partially cooked, but not yet  soft, then tossing them in the cinnamon and ginger, before finishing them off in the oven with the maple syrup and plant based butter spread. 

     Seriously, I could make a holiday feat out of these three side dishes. My daughters liley will. Of course, I need to make sure there is a slice of turkey, a spoonful of cranberry sauce, a scoop of mashed potatoes and gravy, and my brother-in-laws famous  dressing. What sides will be alongside your turkey this year?