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Deep-fried turkey? Pumpkin pie? Sweet potatoes with marshmallows? Cranberry sauce? What foods make Thanksgiving special at your house? Here at Engage we wanted to share a few of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes, and ask you for some new ideas for the table.

Amy Baroch, Senior Project Manager:
This is my great-grandmother's and then my grandmother's and now my sweet potato recipe.  It isn't Thanksgiving without them.

Mamaw's Sweet Potatoes
8 Medium Sweet Potatoes
Lots of Butter
Lots of Dark Brown Sugar
Large pot
9x13x2 glass casserole dish
Boil the sweet potatoes with skin on in a large pot until tender - approx. 35-45 minutes.  Remove from water and gently peel off skin - it should nearly slip off the potato.  Cut the potatoes into chunks - usually about 8 chunks per potato. Place in casserole dish - try not to stack them.  Cut chunks of butter and place generously around the casserole dish on the potatoes - don't forget the corners.  Place generous spoonfuls of dark brown sugar around the dish on the potatoes.  Place in oven on 350° for approximately 15 minutes - stir potatoes to make sure they are covered in butter/sugar mixture.  Bake for another 15 minutes until everything is melted.  Remove from oven - eat hot! 

Betty Alvarez, Content Manager:
Here's my folks'stuffing. I think they made it up as they went along back when my sisters and I demanded that we celebrate Thanksgiving with all the trimmings.

My Folk's Stuffing
1 can large pitted black olives, finely chopped
1 little can jalapeno peppers (the kind in vinegar with carrots and onions), finely chopped
1 large box Mrs. Cubbison's Stuffin' bread cubes (you can bake your own cornbread and dry it out on your own, if you prefer)
1 cup chopped baked ham (we like to slice it off the bone, but I'm sure your butcher can cut you a slab)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 eggs
Chopped turkey innards (boiled to make your turkey stock)
Turkey stock
All measurements can be adjusted to your liking (some like less ham, some like more black olives - it's up to you and your family). All of these measurements also depend on how big your turkey is, of course. Cook whatever innards you pulled out of the turkey (you know, the delicious neck, heart, liver, and whatnots) to make a stock. Flavor your stock as you like it - I like to throw in rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper. Meanwhile, mix the olives, jalapeno, stuffin', ham, celery, and onion in a large bowl. Crack in two eggs, just to help the whole mixture stay together. Give the whole mix a good massage. In my house, nothing goes to waste, so we chop up all the cooked innards and throw that into the stuffing. Add in a few ladles of stock (cooled, otherwise you'll make scrambled eggs in your stuffing!) and give the whole mixture another good massage. You don't need to add much salt, or anything else, because the olive brine and ham and stock take care of the salt taste. You can use a stuffing bag or put the stuffing right into the turkey cavity. Then it all cooks inside the bird and it will be deliciously juicy with a little kick of spice when your turkey is ready. You can cook this stuffing in the oven on its own (in a covered dish, then uncover to let the top brown for just the last 15 or 20 minutes) but make sure you add a little extra stock to the recipe so that you don't end up with cardboard stuffing.
Buen Provecho!

Lauren Saks, Associate Producer:
I have not made this yet, but I am going to:
Kale with Garlic and Cranberries

And a favorite dessert, from Laura Hertzfeld, Content Manager:
Thanksgiving happens to fall right around two big birthdays in my family, so we're always looking for a way to combine birthday cake with traditional Thanksgiving desserts, without having to stick a candle in a pumpkin pie. Last year, I made a pumpkin-chocolate chip cake, modified from an Epicurious recipe, topped with a cream cheese frosting - it really hit the mark (plus the leftovers make a Friday morning breakfast of champions).

Frosting:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Cake:
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I make my own, using 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ½ tsp ground cloves, and ½ tsp nutmeg)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt                               
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 sour cream
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (toss with flour to prevent from sinking)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9-inch cake pab. Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar, then beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Beat dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture alternately with milk. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; cool completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Wrap in plastic; store at room temperature.) Ice the cake with cream cheese frosting.
***I make two cakes and use the frosting to layer it, but this recipe works nicely as a loaf or bundt cake as well, with or without frosting!

But Amanda Hirsch, Engage Blog editor, might have the best idea for when all that family time is getting to be a bit much:
Add Calvados to hot apple cider :)

Please post your favorite recipes here or email them to Engage@pbs.org. We'll post a round-up early next week - just in time for your Thanksgiving feast!

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