Tina Farquain, News Editor

Now-a-days Thanksgiving is a big celebration for lots of food. Hopefully families around the table still share what they are thankful for, but I mean, there is usually a huge pile of food in between you and your cousin across the table. So who can’t help but be thankful for food. Around the holidays many people cheat on their diets and that is completely acceptable. For some college students however, they may not get to return home, or they might just want to be with their new found college family. Something fun going around is having Thanksgiving meal with your friends, or having what is called Friendsgiving. If you choose to have Friendsgiving on campus, it might be a little hard to cook a whole turkey and all the fixings. Here are some more manageable recipes to use. Split them up between all your friends and then it makes the cooking part an even smaller hassle. If cooking could ever be a hassle that is.

The Turkey:

Start to finish: 3 hours

Servings: 8

1 bone-in whole turkey breast (4 1/2 to 5 pounds), thawed if frozen

½ cup butter or margarine, melted

¼ cup apple juice

2 ½ Tablespoons Mrs. Dash

1 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons instant mashed potatoes

2 tablespoons cold water

Directions

First, heat oven to 325ºF. Place turkey, skin side up, on rack in large shallow roasting pan. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of breast and does not touch bone. Roast uncovered 1 hour.

Now, mix butter, apple juice, Mrs. Dash, salt and garlic. Brush turkey with half of the butter mixture. Roast 30 minutes; brush with remaining butter mixture. Roast about 1 hour longer or until thermometer reads 165ºF.

Once finished, remove turkey from oven and let stand 15 minutes for easier carving. Meanwhile, pour pan drippings into measuring cup; skim fat from drippings. Add enough water to drippings to measure 2 cups. Heat drippings to boiling in 1-quart saucepan. Mix instant potatoes and 2 tablespoons cold water; stir into drippings. Boil and stir 1 minute. Serve with turkey.

The Veggies:

Start to finish: 1 hour

Servings: 8

3 medium carrots

1lb red potatoes

2 cups green beans

1 cup corn

1 cup onions

½ cup butter

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash

First, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Then, grease a round cake pan with butter. Place vegetables in pan.

Melt butter then add the salt, pepper, garlic and Mrs. Dash. Pour over all vegetables, evenly coating all them with the seasoning. Add more butter if the vegetables seem dry.

Place in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

The Potatoes

Some people may mock the instant stuff, but let me tell you, it’s good. Get a box and follow the directions. This makes it cheap, easy, and fast. A good thing for potatoes but maybe not for people, just saying.

To add flavor, load them up with butter and garlic to taste.

The Pumpkin Pie:

Start to finish: 10 minutes

1 pkg vanilla pudding mix

1 container of cool whip

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or cinimon

1 15oz can of pumpkin

Mix all the ingredients together. Place in a bowl to serve.  Chill if not serving immediately.

You can use with marshmallows, graham crackers, fruit or anything your heart desires.