The most exciting part about the holidays isn’t necessarily about spending so much time with the family. What people look most forward to in any event is the FOOD! If you want the traditional dinner but, don’t have the recipes here are some suggestions.

Turkey Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1(17-pound) whole fresh turkey, rinsed well and patted dry
• 1 1/4 stick unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 large stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 large onions, quartered
• 8 cups homemade chicken stock, divided, plus more if needed for gravy

Sage Gravy:

• Turkey neck
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup white wine
• 4 cups sage-infused stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

Directions
For the turkey: Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.

Combine the butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with half of the carrots, celery, and onion. Rub the entire turkey with herb butter and season liberally with salt and pepper.

Put 4 cups of the chicken stock in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

Place the remaining vegetables on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven, and roast in the oven until lightly golden brown, 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 160 degrees F, about 2 to 2 1/4 hours longer. Remove the turkey from the oven, transfer to baking sheet and tent loosely with foil, and let rest 20 minutes before slicing.

For the sage gravy:

Strain the cooking liquid from the roasting pan into a medium saucepan (should be about 4 cups, if not, add more stock to make 4 cups). Add the neck, bring to a boil, add the sage leaves, remove from the heat, and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove the sage leaves.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until reduced. Whisk in the stock and cook until thickened and smooth, about 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and chopped sage.

Brief Turkey Cooking Video

Mashed Potato Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 medium baking potatoes peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon (or more) whole milk, at room temperature or warmed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
In a medium saucepan, cook the potatoes in salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return them to the saucepan.

Add the butter, sour cream and garlic. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or the back of a fork until the ingredients are blended. Add the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the potatoes are the desired consistency. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.

Brief Mashed Potato Cooking Video

Biscuit Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don’t want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that’s life.)
Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

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Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
• 1 piece pre-made pie dough
• Whipped cream, for topping

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Brief Pumpkin Pie Cooking Video

As far as the calories are concerned don’t fret it! You have until New Years to come up with a resolution.