Metro staffers (somewhat grudgingly) share their Thanksgiving recipes

This recipe is seriously the shit, and I’ve somehow convinced my boring paletted family to make it every T-giving:http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/citrus-marinated-turkey.

Cranberry jelly

Danielle Tcholakian
New York City senior reporter

Ingredients:
Can of jellied cranberry
Can opener
Thing to slice the can-shaped jelly with (optional)

The Healy Whiskey Sour

Pat Healy
U.S. Features Editor
This one is a classic in my house. For best results, make a pitcher of it and share with the whole family.

1 can of lemonade from concentrate
1 can of whiskey (I prefer Jim Beam)
1 can of beer (usually something watery and domestic)
1 can of water
1 can of ice

Pour the frozen lemonade into a blender. Then you use the empty container that the frozen lemonade was in, and fill it with whiskey. Pour that sucker into the blender too. Crack open a beer and dump that into the blender too. You can dump it into the empty lemonade can, but you really don’t need to. Just know that it works best with a 12 oz. can, and not a pounder. Fill the empty lemonade can with water and pour that into the blender also. Throw in a bunch of ice (a can if you want to be a stickler for proportions) and then press blend. The whiskey cuts the sweet of the lemonade and the beer adds a smooth froth. If you want a slushier version (usually best for warmer weather), use more ice. Serve immediately and share graciously. It’s also helpful to have the makings for a second pitcher, because it goes fast!

Poppy’s Peanut Butter Fudge

Allen Houston City Editor, New York
Poppy is my wife’s grandfather. It’s a recipe that was passed down from his folks. He makes a batch every Thanksgiving.

3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon of butter
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Mix the sugar, milk and peanut butter into a saucepan.Bring the mixture to a boil over a high flame, stirring constantly.Reduce the heat to a simmer, stirring every 10 minutes.Cook 30 to 35 minutes until the mixture has a caramelized texture.

Beat in the butter and vanilla.Fill sink with cold water and place the saucepan in the cold water to cool, while stirring the contents vigorously until the mixture hardens and starts coming away from the pan.

Quickly pour fudge into a greased pan.

Pumpkin Cookies with or Without Glaze*

Anna Sanders
New York City reporter

Ingredients
Dry
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Liquid
1 stick of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (NOT THE WHOLE CAN! easy to forget that)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze
2 cups confectioner sugar (SIFT OR IT WILL LOOK CLUMPY!)
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and salt. Feel free to add less/more spices to your preference.

Microwave the butter unless it’s super soft. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly. (To flatten: You can either put some sugar in a bowl, and wet the bottom of a heavy glass with water and get sugar on the bottom. Use it to flatten. Or, wash your hands–hopefully this already happened–and flatten with your palm.)

“Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven.” This is what the original recipe says. I usually eyeball them. I put them in for 9 minutes, check, 3 more minutes, check, 4 more minutes, etc etc. To make them deliciously soft, pull them out when they are soft on the top but the top doesn’t break if you touch it. (Or when the bottom is golden/hard to the touch but you have to use a spatula for that).

Cool cookies (wait at least 30 minutes), then drizzle glaze with fork.

To Make Glaze: Combine confectioner sugar (SIFT OMG SIFT CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH), milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed. It will not be a frosting consistency, but a glazy one.

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

Andrea Park
Online Reporter

My fam and I love this bourbon pumpkin cheesecake.

Or, just blanch a bunch of green beans, fry quickly in olive oil and shallots and a dash of balsamic vinegar and a little brown sugar, add crumbled bacon. Delicious.

Flip cup

Tracie Michelle Murphy
Copy Chief, NYC Entertainment Editor
My fam all travels and stays in hotels, so we don’t tend to prepare things, but we bring regional food and beverage gifts: i.e., my dad brings a jug of wine from the Finger Lakes, my mom brings a bag of oranges from Florida, my sister brings farmers market goodies from Tennessee, I bring:

1 bag red Solo cups
1 box of Genesee Beer (cheap and regional, what!)
1 pack of ping-pong balls
0 parts shame

We play beer pong at Thanksgiving. My family’s just cooler than yours.

Maple Roast Turkey With Corn Bread Stuffing

Emily Laurence
Books/Parenting/Personal Finance editor
My dad is from Pennsylvania and my mom is from Tennessee, so when I was little, there was this big debate every year over what type of stuffing we should have: “Northern” stuffing or Southern cornbread stuffing. Finally, we just decided to have cornbread stuffing every year because no one could deny that it truly tastes better. Below is the recipe, which is from the November 1987 issue of Bon Appetit:

Cornbread Stuffing:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3/4 cup coarsely chopped vacuum-packed roasted chestnuts
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh sage leaves
4 cups coarse corn bread crumbs
3/4 cup chopped turkey giblets (reserved from turkey stock)
1 extra-large egg
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup Turkey Stock

Maple Butter Glaze
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

Turkey
1 16- to 18-pound turkey (reserve neck and giblets for stock)
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Fresh mint leaves
Fresh sage leaves
Fresh herb springs for garnish
Cranberries

For stuffing: Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, chestnuts, thyme and dried sage and cook until onion is translucent, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add parsley and fresh sage and stir 2 minutes. Transfer to large bowl; mix in corn bread crumbs. Mix in giblets and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Add enough stock to moisten slightly. Cool completely.

For glaze: Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat. Add ginger and cook until tender, stirring occasionally about 5 minutes. Add syrup and water and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in chives. Cool to lukewarm.

For turkey: Position one rack in center of oven and one rack in lower third and preheat to 325 degrees. Rub turkey inside and out with rosemary, salt and pepper. Fill cavity with stuffing. Gently separate breast skin from meat by running hands under skin. Dip mint and sage leaves in glaze and slide under skin in decorative pattern. Truss turkey with kitchen twine. Brush generously with some of the glaze. Slide turkey into large heavy brown paper bag. Tie bag and place turkey in roasting pan and place the pan on the center oven rack. Place other baking pan on lower oven rack and add 1 1/2 inches water. Cook for 5 hours. Slit top of bag to expose turkey. Baste with glaze and cook until thermometer inserted in thigh registers 170 degrees. Transfer turkey to platter. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Serves 12.

Turkey stock (makes about 6 cups):
Maple roast turkey (neck and giblets reserved)
8 cups cold water
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 parsley sprigs

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Let simmer for three hours.

Sweet potato orange cups

Cassandra Garrison
Head of online content
I make these every year – they are adorable and easily transportable!

Ingredients
6 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
1/2 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup chopped pecans
6 large oranges

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cover sweet potatoes with cold water in a large pot and boil until fork tender. Peel the potatoes, transfer to a bowl, and mash. Stir in butter, orange juice and pecans, and mix until incorporated. Reserve some pecans for toasting stove top in a pan.

For the orange shells, cut each orange in half and scoop out the pulp using a small knife or grapefruit spoon. Reserve the pulp for another use.

Fill each orange shell with the potato mixture. Bake until hot. Top with toasted pecans.

Glogg

Maja Lungager
Danish intern extraordinaire
In Denmark we like to drink. Surprise. And what is better than a Christmas cocktail of nothing less than three alcohols?

Gløgg essence
1 bottle strong red wine
8.8 ounces brown sugar
0.7 ounce cinnamon sticks
0.7 ounce all spice
0.7 ounce carnations
0.4 ounce cardamom

Gløgg
6 1/3 cups strong red wine
0.8 cup brown rum
0.8 cup snaps
0.8 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups raisins
3.5 ounces almonds
1 1/5 cups port

Make the essence by pouring all of the essence ingredients in a pot and heat it up without boiling. Remove all the spices when the heat has subsided.

For the gløgg, let the raisins soak in the port for 24 hours. Mix the essence with the gløgg and heat up. At last pour the raisins and the almonds in.

Boozy Carrots

Eva Kis
Web Editor
Stealing this from a friend — made it for Thanksgiving that was me and a bunch of dudes last year, and it went over gangbusters.

Ingredients
2 lbs carrots
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp bourbon (2 large shots)
1/4 cup real maple syrup

Preheat oven to 450. Wash and peel carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces. Toss with butter and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place carrots on a large brownie pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Take out, drizzle with maple syrup and bourbon. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Aunt Bon’s Brussels sprouts salad

Julia Furlan
Dating and Careers/Education editor
I started this whole thing and then proceeded to be shafted by my own family for recipes. So I did the smart thing and went to my aunt-in-law, who is a total genius of salad.

Ingredients
250 grams fresh Brussels sprouts
Handful of pomegranate seeds
Handful of toasted walnuts
50 grams Parmesan cheese, grated
extra virgin olive oil
Juice from one lemon
salt/pepper to taste

Sliced raw Brussels sprouts tossed with olive oil and lemon dressing with toasted walnuts, grated Parmesan and pomegranate seeds.(If Brussels sprouts aren’t your thing, use shaved fennel and watercress with the same dressing, it works just as well.)

Alex Cavallo Thanksgiving Wine Special

Alexandra Cavallo
Boston Entertainment Editor
My mom never got back to me with any of my grandma’s recipes (my own mother doesn’t cook).

1. Procure extra large goblet from wine cabinet.
2. Open bottle of wine and pour hefty glass (when it’s hovering at the rim and it’s difficult to make your way to the couch without it spilling over the lip is the ideal measurement).
3. Sit on couch.
4. Sip. Repeat.
5. When glass is empty (depending on the conditions, this could be anywhere from 5 to 7 minutes) holler like an overgrown child for your mother or father (another relative or family friend can be substituted if a mother or father is unavailable) to bring that bottle into the living room and fill your glass, please, thanks, and step on it.**

**depending on your household, and how friendly the mother/father/unidentified substitute is feeling, you may have to retrieve the bottle yourself.

Beer Dip

Jill Gadsby
Philadelphia Editor
Since beer and football are staples of our Thanksgiving celebration, here’s a super easy recipe for beer dip that is usually big hit for all occasions.

2 packages of cream cheese
8 ounce bag of shredded cheddar cheese
Hidden Valley Ranch packet dressing (NOT the dip!!!)
Start with 1/2 cup of beer (any brand, non-light works best – add more if desired)

Mix with electric mixer.Chill overnight.Serve in sourdough bread bowl and/or with pretzels.

Dorothy’s Apple Pie with Red Hots recipe (which she just totally stole off the Internet)

Dorothy Robinson
Managing Editor, terrible boss
This is a recipe from my youth — it’s apple pie made with red hot cinnamon candy which I got out of Highlights. I would be super proud of it but then slightly crestfallen when people didn’t choose it as their first pick. This was the beginning of the end of my baking career.

Ingredients
6 cups apples
2 ready-made pie crusts
1 tbsp lemon juice
2/3 cup red hots
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar (for apples), 1/8 cup for top of crust
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp flour
butter

Take out pie crusts to warm to room temp. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut and peel apples. In large bowl mix all ingredients except the butter. Should be a bit sticky and semi-dry. Place crusts into 9″ pie plate, add mixture for filling, top with 5 pats of butter, place crust on top, poke holes for air. Take milk (skim or any you have) use fingers to spread over the pie crust, then sprinkle with sugar, no more than 1/8 of a cup. Bake for an hour, and then check. May been another 10-20 minutes depending on your oven.