Assorted raw vegetables
Blue cheese dip
Guacamole
Roast turkey
Hot rolls
Cranberry sauce
Tossed green salad
Sweet potato and apricot casserole
Cajun green beans
Paprika potato fingers
Chocolate passion pie
Frozen pumpkin pie
Okay, we know who you are. You can try shutting off the shrill blast of your alarm clock or pulling the comforter back over your head, but that won`t change a thing. It is still Thanksgiving morning.
From your cold, vacant oven comes nothing. There are no wafting aromas from browning turkey, fragrantly baking breads or pecan pies. Zip. Zero. Nada. We know you meant well. You invited your friendly next-door neighbors, your cousin Alice, and several co-workers. You even invited a visiting foreign exchange student, notorious for his gargantuan appetite. And you promised them a memorable meal.
”I`ll make you the best homemade Thanksgiving dinner you`ve ever had,”
were the words you wish you never had uttered.
In your early exuberance you laundered the tablecloth and napkins, polished the glasses and took down the special-occasion flatware and dishes. You carefully composed an elaborate Thanksgiving menu. Then you telephoned Aunt Helen in Des Moines and got her special recipe for squash casserole.
After that, however, both you and your plans came to a screeching halt. You never bought the turkey, the squash or anything else for that matter, and in just a few short hours your guests, hungry as a horde of high school football players after a homecoming win, will descend upon your doorstep. Let`s face it, Felicia, they want food.
Forget your friends at Procrastinators Anonymous, they can`t help you now. But we can. . . with our make-it-in-minutes three-ingredient Thanksgiving menu.
Each of these recipes uses only three or four ingredients and can be whipped up in minutes following a quick trip to the nearest supermarket. The recipes are for a sweet potato and apricot casserole, spicy Cajun green beans, paprika-dusted potato ”fingers,” and not one, but two fabulous frozen pies. One is dense rich chocolate, the other a spicy no-bake pumpkin pie with an ice cream ”crust.”
Combined with a roast turkey (fastest are the ready-made, precooked turkeys sold at many local supermarkets, cafeterias and restaurants), canned cranberry sauce and prepared rolls, your guests will swear you`ve done nothing but slave over a hot stove for days. And we`ll certainly never tell them otherwise.
If you`ve got a little extra time (or if a couple of thoughtful guests ask whether they can contribute something), we suggest rounding out the meal with some raw vegetables, a spicy dip and a tossed green salad.
To simplify your last-minute marketing, we`ve compiled a complete, section-by-section shopping list to take with you to the grocery. Better yet, clip out the list and the recipes and put them in your recipe file. These delicious holiday dishes might be worth repeating throughout the year.
CAJUN-STYLE GREEN BEANS
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 3 to 4 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
2 bags (20 ounces each) French-style frozen green beans
1 stick unsalted butter or cholesterol-free margarine, cut into tablespoons
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning or garlic seasoning (or a combination) to taste
1 small jar (7 ounces) pimientos, optional for garnish
1. Put 2 inches of water in a large pan fitted with a vegetable steamer. When water boils, put green beans and salt, if desired, in steamer. Cover pan. Steam until beans are crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large, warm serving dish. Add butter or margarine and seasonings. Toss. Taste. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Garnish with pimientos if desired. Serve hot. PAPRIKA POTATO FINGERS
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 45 to 50 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
8 uniformly sized baking potatoes
1 stick unsalted butter or cholesterol-free margarine, melted
Salt
Sweet Hungarian paprika
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Scrub potatoes well. Wipe dry. Slice each potato in half lengthwise. Cut side down, place each potato half on cutting board. Cut each half in half again. Potato slices should be wedge-shaped.
2. Butter the bottom of a cookie sheet (or use disposable foil pans). Place potatoes on pan cut side up. Brush liberally with melted butter or margarine. Dust with paprika and salt. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. While baking, brush occasionally with melted butter or margarine. Use any remaining butter for use with other vegetables.
SWEET POTATO AND APRICOT CASSEROLE
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 45 to 50 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
This casserole may be made ahead of time and refrigerated. To reheat, cover with aluminum foil and warm in a 350-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
2 cans (29 ounces each) sliced sweet potatoes or yams
2 cans (17 ounces each) apricot halves in heavy syrup
1/4 cup rum or brandy
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch-square glass pan. Drain potatoes, discarding liquid. Thinly slice a layer of potatoes into dish.
2. Halve each apricot half and arrange in a single layer over sliced potatoes. Repeat. Add a final layer of sliced potatoes. Measure out 1 1/2 cups syrup from apricots and pour with rum or brandy over top of casserole. If desired, dot casserole with butter or margarine.
3. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, basting casserole several times with syrup. FROZEN PUMPKIN PIE
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Freezing time: Several hours
Yield: 8 servings
1/2 gallon vanilla or butter pecan ice cream
2 cups whipping cream, chilled
1 can (18 ounces) prepared pumpkin pie filling (not plain canned pumpkin)
Pecan halves for ganish, if desired
1. Chill a large glass or metal bowl and a hand-held rotary beater or the beaters of an electric mixer. Soften ice cream at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes or microwave-soften ice cream by microwaving at fullpower for 15 to 20 seconds.
2. Using about 6 cups of ice cream, form a ”crust” around the bottom and sides of a 9-inch or 9 1/2-inch round deep dish pie plate. Refreeze remaining ice cream. Freeze ”crust” for about 20 minutes. As ice cream hardens, use the back of a spoon to decoratively build up ”crust” on rim of pie shell. Freeze solid.
3. Meanwhile, pour cream into chilled bowl. With chilled beaters, whip 1 cup of the cream until it is stiff. Add pumpkin pie filling and beat until well blended. Pour pumpkin filling into hardened ”crust.” Freeze pie several hours or until firm. For garnish, whip remaining cream until stiff. Chill.
4. Just before serving, garnish pie with mounds of whipped cream or pipe whipped cream rosettes onto top of pie. Garnish each with a pecan half.
CHOCOLATE PASSION PIE
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Chilling time: 3 hours
Yield: 8 servings
To make a purchased crust look homemade, transfer the unbaked pie shell to a glass pie plate of equal size before baking. Then bake according to the manufacturer`s instructions. Cool thoroughly before using.
1 9-inch purchased (or homemade) pie shell, baked and cooled
2 packages (12 ounces each) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup unwhipped whipping cream, chilled
Additional whipped cream for garnish, if desired
1. Chill a medium-size bowl, a hand-held rotary beater or the beaters from an electric mixer. Pour 1 package and 1 cup from second package of chocolate chips into a double boiler set over 2 inches of simmering, not boiling, water. Save remaining chocolate .
2. Melt chocolate over the simmering water, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Chocolate should be smooth. Or put chocolate in a large, microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at half-power for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, put cream in chilled bowl and beat until stiff. Add melted and cooled chocolate to whipped cream and beat until smooth. Pour into cooled pie shell. Refrigerate for about 3 hours or until filling is firmly set. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream.
4. To make chocolate designs for garnish, line a cookie sheet with a double layer of wax paper. Melt remaining chocolate morsels. With a rubber spatula, thinly spread melted chocolate onto waxed paper. Chill or freeze until firm. Cut into small triangles or geometric shapes with sharp point of knife. Put a piece of chocolate on each dollop of whipped cream.
Note: Should stove-top melted chocolate stiffen, liquefy by stirring in one tablespoon solid white vegetable shortening.-
LAST-MINUTE SHOPPING LIST
Fresh produce:
8 large Idaho baking
potatoes
Frozen foods:
1/2 gallon vanilla or butter
pecan ice cream
2bags (20 ounces each)
French-style green
beans
1 9-inch, deep-dish pie
shell, unbaked
Dairy:
1 pound unsalted butter
or magarine
1 1/2 pints whipping cream
Grocery items:
2 packages brown and
serve rolls
2 cans (29 ounces each)
cut sweet potatoes
or yams
2 cans (17 ounces each)
apricot halves in
heavy syrup
1 can (18 ounces) pre-
pared pumpkin pie
filling (pureed
with added spices),
not plain pumpkin
Seasonings:
Cajun seasoning
Garlic seasoning
Sweet Hungarian
paprika
Rum or brandy
Optional:
Additional whipping
cream
1 package pecan halves
Pimientos
