This thread is for recipes that are wonderful treats for any holiday, be it Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, etc.

I'll place a link here for pumpkin pie, as we've just finished Thanksgiving in Canada: http://forums.braintalk2.org/showthread.php?t=3143

Since Dh just requested this for Thanksgiving (and its not even Halloween yet ) I thought it might be safe to post

Not that there's any real secret to it.

3-4 jewel or ruby sweet potatoes
2-3 white sweet potatoes
1 large yellow onion
3 stalks of celery
Equivalent of 1 sliced bell pepper, brightly colored


Peel and cut sweet potatoes into bite sized chunks (large bite size) Cut off the top and bottom of the (peeled) onion, quarter it then cut into thirds. Slice the celery into finger tip sized chunks. Toss into long baking dish, sprinkle with grapeseed oil and season with garlic/salt whatever else you like. (I think it would be *great* with some jalapenos or something, but, I have at least one 'picky' kid)

Roast at 425* for half an hour, turn down to 375* for another 45 minutes to an hour, or longer. I like the sweet potatoes to carmelize a bit. You do need to stir every so often with a metal spatula or they stick and look icky when you serve.

I usually use small sweet potatoes, so adjust if you've got monster sized . The measurements are obviously forgiving. I also like to throw in some pre steamed beets (I get tired of peeling, I love the "open, pour" ability.) :P And I like them...the juice stains some of the sweet potatoes, they add interest etc. Dh prefers without. Dd doesn't mention them either way. I keep thinking carrots or parsnips would go well too.

And my kids favorite, albeit labor intensive, dish:
Sweet potato fries

Cut sweet potatoes into disks. Slice disks into fry sized sticks. Place in ziplock bag with a little bit of oil and salt. Shake. Place in mostly one layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375* until crisp. White sweet potatoes are starchier and work best, but works fine with jeweled sweet potatoes too. (I know...one of those are actually yams, but the definition of yam vs sweet potato changes, so I'm not even trying.)

Sorry This is not dairy free...

in an oblong cake pan, melt 1 stick of butter, then in layers spread the following:
1 1/2 cup Almond Flour (or cookie crumbs or a mixture of both)
1 1/2 cup Coconut
1 1/2 Cup Chopped Almonds
1 1/2 Bag chocolate chips
DO NOT STIR, drizzle over the top 1 1/2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
(or just one can - but I usually make two pans for family & friends)

Bake in a 350 degree oven until it starts to slightly brown on the edges.
Cool, cut into squares.

anyone wanting to convert this to dairy free, you could use margarine, & for the milk maybe a combination of coconut milk & honey, or a simple syrup combined with coconut milk & some powdered sugar, it just needs something sweet & sticky to hold it all together...

I've not tried this other than in pumpkin pie filling, but a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk can be subbed with 1/2 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup soy milk (I used to use rice milk). I've also used rice milk and subbed the maple syrup with brown sugar and water. Not so much for allergies as an empty kitchen and kids on a pumpkin kick, but, at the time they loved it.

Thanksgiving Thread
Cinnamon Roll Thread