Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

As you know, Thanksgiving is just over a week away and if you are anything like me, you will be scrambling to get the house cleaned and trying to put together a menu. So, with this in mind, over the next week or so, I will dust-off some of my old Thanksgiving Day recipes and share them with you. Although I can't help you with the cleaning, maybe I can help you with the menu.

So, to start things off, I have included a few items that I make every year. These two items need to be made several days in advance, so I usually start the Crème Fraîche (for use in an apple pie) on Sunday and the compound butter (for use in the turkey) on Monday.


Crème Fraîche:

Things you'll need:

Heavy Cream...1 cup
Butter Milk...1 Tbsp
jar w/lid...1


Putting it together...

• pour heavy cream into jar


• add buttermilk


• mix well


• put lid on jar and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours, then refrigerate


• can be stored for up to a week

Any left-over Crème Fraîche can be used as a very rich sour cream.

Compound Butter:


Things you'll need:

Butter...1 lb. (4 sticks) unsalted, please
Fresh Sage...1 Tbsp
Fresh Rosemary...1 Tbsp
Fresh Thyme...1 Tbsp
Olive Oil...1Tbsp

These three (sage, rosemary, and thyme) are also referred to as a Poultry Mix. All measurements are considered a baseline; if you prefer a stronger flavor, you can increase the amount of herbs or reduce the amount for a milder flavor. If you cannot find fresh herbs and need to use dried herbs, you will need to reduce the baseline measurements by 1/2, as the dried herbs have a more concentrated flavor.


Putting it together...


• Place butter on counter to soften


• Take the herbs (try to avoid including the stems) and chop them very fine or, if you have a food processor, place them in there and pulse until finely chopped.


• Next take your softened butter and place in your food processor


• Add a small amount of olive oil (1Tbls)




• If you do not have a food processor (like me), place butter and herbs in a bowl and mix with a hand-mixer until well combined.




• Pulse until well combined


• Take plastic wrap and place on the counter


• empty butter onto the plastic wrap


• fold the wrap over the butter


• Using the edge of a cookie tray or other straight object, press it against the butter and tightly form into a log about 1-inch in diameter (the plastic wrap acts as a mold)


• careful not to get the plastic wrap under the butter, roll-up and twist both ends


• place butter in refrigerator