Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday for food. I love every bit of it! When I was at home we would have turkey, candied yams, corn, stuffing, cranberry jelly, dinner rolls, applesauce, maybe a salad, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, maybe pumpkin cheesecake too (we like pumpkin in my family!). My other family (being away at school) has introduced me to some new side dishes over the years such as green bean casserole, stuffing I will actually eat, garlic mashed potatoes, corn bread, apple cider, cranberry salad/ ambrosia. At first I was a little afraid , "what no corn? how can there be no corn? And what is green bean casserole, yuck!" But I quickly got over it when i realized how good it was.

For thanksgiving with my school family, we do a potluck dinner. For the second year in a row I hosted it. As per usual, I decided to make the candied yams. Boiled the yams till fork tender and skins are falling off. Pulled the skins off, cut in half, then half again making long skinny pieces. Placed them in a 13x9 inch pan, covered with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon (lots of them!). Baked at 350 until really tender and the butter and brown sugar have made a nice glaze over the top and the taste has set in. I usually make the pumpkin pies as well but I decided this year to make apple pomegranate cider instead. Brought apple juice, pomegranate seeds, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves to a boil. Added a few tsp of butter right before serving. I would recommend not leaving the pomegranate seeds in the mixture while serving. One, some start to float, two, the longer they sit in there the sweeter it gets and you don't want it to get too sweet.