If you want to step up your game this Thanksgiving, try making your own pie crust! This recipe results in the butteriest, flakiest crust, which is perfect for any kind of pie.
Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 tablespoons ice cold water
Directions
In a medium deep mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the butter, and cut into the flour using a pastry blender, leaving large chunks of butter remaining. Stir in the water with a spatula until the dough starts to come together.
Shape the dough into a disk and chill in the fridge until firm and cold, at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
Let the dough sit at room temperature for up to 10 minutes, or until slightly pliable.
Roll the dough out on a generously floured work surface. Keep turning the dough after every roll to ensure it doesn’t stick to the counter and is of even thickness. Use your hands to cup the edges of the dough to keep it smooth and prevent cracks. Add additional flour to the dough, the counter, and your rolling pin as needed. Roll out into a 12 to 14-inch circle, depending on how deep your pie tin is.
Gently roll the dough up and around the rolling pin then unroll and drape over a 9-inch pie tin. Gently press into the pie tin, being careful to avoid stretching it to fit. Use scissors or a knife to trim the excess dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under itself and crimp or flute.
Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
If the pie recipe calls for a prebaked shell, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the chilled crust with foil pressed gently into the bottom and sides, leaving an overhang to protect the edges of the crust from burning.
Fill the crust with pie weights, rice, or dried beans. Place on a rimmed baking pan. Bake until cooked through and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, and carefully remove the foil and pie weights. If the bottom of the crust is too pale, return to the oven to brown for a few minutes longer. Let cool on a cooling rack.
Deep-frying has become one of the most popular ways to prepare Thanksgiving turkeys; however, there are some serious safety concerns you need to be aware of upfront. Check out our safety tips to make sure your turkey is the only thing that gets fried this year!
1. Make sure children and pets stay far away from the fryer. The fryer is a hot cauldron of boiling oil, so you want to keep your little ones and furry friends as far away as possible to avoid any accidents.
2. Read the manual and follow manufacturer’s instructions. Normally, people toss the instructions manual aside; however, that manual is incredibly important in this case. Every fryer is different so you want to make sure you have yours setup properly to avoid mishaps.
3. Never use a deep fryer indoors. Deep-frying is an outdoor activity and you should not be done inside an enclosed or covered space.
4. Don’t leave the fryer unattended. This can be a struggle if you live in an especially cold climate, but you should never have the fryer going without being nearby. Have a buddy who can watch the fryer while you go inside for breaks to ensure nothing falls over in the wind or catches fire while you are away.
5. Don’t drink and fry. Does this even need an explanation?
Looking to travel somewhere other than grandma’s house this Thanksgiving? Check out these unique destinations within the U.S. perfect for the long Holiday weekend.
1. Gatlinburg, Tennessee
2. Orlando, Florida
3. New York, New York
4. New Orleans, Louisiana
5. Chicago, Illinois
6. Santa Barbara, California
7. Santa Fe, New Mexico
8. Breckenridge, Colorado
9. Scottsdale, Arizona
10. Lake Tahoe, California
One of the most expensive times of the year is holiday season. Many people want to show their love to family and friends through gifts, but before they know it, the debt is piling up.
Before the holiday season arrives, consider putting together a budget for holiday gift giving. Especially in the current economic climate, a budget can help you keep track of your expenses, and keep you honest as you do your holiday gift shopping.
Evaluate your limits
It is important to set limits. You can do this by setting a per-person limit, or by setting an overall limit. Some people find it helpful to put together a list of everyone they plan to get gifts for, and then list “extra” gifts for people that they may have forgotten. Look at your list and your financial situation, and decide how much you can afford to spend on gifts.
Remember: You need to be brutally honest with yourself about how much you can afford to spend. You may not be able to buy a holiday travel package as a gift this year, especially if things are tight.
Consider your options
Think about the gifts that you plan to give. Check their prices and comparison shop. Think about your talents and consider making gifts. Remember to spend appropriately. Mom and dad should, as a general rule, have a more expensive gift than siblings. Do you really need to get gifts for the children of close family friends and relatives?
Another option is to speak with family ahead of time. Many large families limit gift giving budgets by doing a drawing for who you will buy a gift for. Then a dollar amount serves as the limit.
Track spending
Part of budgeting is tracking your spending. Make sure you are keeping track of the gifts you are buying, and how much is spent on each gift. If you are making gifts, track the cost of the materials you are using. Try and stay within your budget limitations. That is key to avoiding debt.
Planning ahead
Now is the time to plan for holiday gift giving.
Budgeting is all about planning for the future. And it is possible to include holiday gift giving in your year-round plans. You do not have to think about gifts only as the holidays approach. Set aside money throughout the year in a special savings account, ready to be used for the holidays. How much you save depends on your gift spending limit, as well as what you can afford after your own financial needs are met. You can also work gifts into your monthly budget, spreading the cost out over a year.
That way you will be less likely to go into debt when the time comes to buy gifts.
When hosting Thanksgiving, last-minute tasks have a way of sneaking up on you, which is why it’s important to get as much as you can done in advance. Follow these tips so that you can enjoy your guests and have a memorable turkey day.
1. Don’t leave grocery shopping until the last minute. The day before Thanksgiving is usually chaos at supermarkets. Do your shopping as early as you can in order to save time. Many grocery stores are open on Thanksgiving day, but with proper planning, you should be able to avoid the market entirely.
2. Do an inventory of your cookware and kitchen tools. Having all the necessary cookware and tools is just as important as having the ingredients for a recipe. Make sure you have a roasting pan, pie dishes, meat thermometer, turkey baster and whatever else you might need to prepare your Thanksgiving feast well before you begin cooking.
3. Know when to start thawing your bird. If your turkey is still frozen, start thawing it now. A completely frozen turkey needs a day to thaw for every four pounds in weight. If you have a frozen bird on Thanksgiving morning, there’s no way it will be ready to cook by dinner time.
3. Prep dishes ahead of time and freeze. Make your cranberry sauce ahead of time and freeze. You can also assemble dishes like green bean casserole the day before and put in the fridge to bake the following day. Dinner rolls can be made fully ahead. Gravy can also be made ahead of time and placed in the freezer until Thanksgiving morning. You can make your pie dough a day ahead and set in the fridge to chill until you roll it out to assemble your pie.
4. Make a schedule for Thanksgiving day. Even if you’ve done a lot of food prep in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, it’s helpful to have a schedule of what needs to happen when, especially considering you will have a tight timeline for using the oven.
Ingredients
4 extra large eggs
1 – 29 oz canned pumpkin
3 cups evaporated milk
1½ cups sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cloves
2 – 9 inch pie crusts (unbaked) homemade or store bought
Directions
1. Lightly beat eggs until well blended. Add pumpkin, milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. Mix until well blended. Pour evenly into pie shells.
2. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy delicious food with family and friends; however, many people don’t have that luxury. Some are homeless or sick or simply have no place to go. If you want to make a difference this holiday season, but don’t know how you can give back in a meaningful way, check out these ideas for spreading cheer and lending a helping hand:
1. Visit patients in a hospital or nursing home. Being in a hospital or assisted-living facility can be painful and lonely, especially on Thanksgiving. Spend some time visiting those who can’t be home for the holiday. A simple conversation might mean more to them than you think.
2. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Spend your holiday serving food to those less fortunate at a soup kitchen. Many shelters and kitchens need assistance to serve the big crowds on Thanksgiving.
3. Extend an invitation to someone with nowhere to go on Thanksgiving. Do you know anyone who will be away from their family on Thanksgiving? Or someone who has recently lost a close family member or friend? Invite them to your holiday meal so they don’t have to spend the day alone.
4. Donate blood. The American Red Cross estimates that someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds. What better way to give back than by donating blood? You never know who you might be helping.
5. Perform a random act of kindness. Doing something nice for a stranger can have a huge impact on their life. Whether it’s leaving an extra large tip at a restaurant or letting someone go ahead of you in the line at the grocery, these small acts of kindness can help turn someone’s day around.
This easy, kid-friendly craft is fun for the whole family! Make your own tabletop turkey to proudly display on your Thanksgiving table this year.
What you will need:
Paper cups
Brown paint
Brown pom-poms
Construction paper (at least two different colors)
Googly eyes
Directions:
1. Paint a paper cup brown. Turn the cup upside down and glue a pom-pom to the top of the cup for the head.
2. Cut nine 4-inch leaf shapes from different colors of construction paper. Fold a 1-inch-square piece of orange construction paper in half; cut a triangle shape out of the folded paper for the beak. 3. Using a 2-inch square of red paper folded in half, cut a heart shape to create the turkey’s wattle.
Glue the beak and wattle to the pom-pom. Add googly eyes. Glue on the “feathers.”