Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. To help Kats get ready for the big feast, I collected some of our favorite reader recipes for Turkey Day.
We'd love to know what you're planning to make with your Thanksgiving leftovers. Recipes received by email by Nov. 15 will be included in our Nov. 23 column, space permitting.
Trish Walters shared her recipe for homemade poultry seasoning with us last year.
"I've been using this for years," she wrote.
Poultry Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons rubbed sage
- 1½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- ¾ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Mix well and store in an airtight container in a cool dry place. Keeps for 6 months.
Makes about 2 tablespoons.
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With turkey prices on the rise, chicken might be a more economical option for some households. This chicken and dressing recipe is from Sandy Thompson.
"This is a chicken and dressing recipe that I use each year at this time. As you can see in the instructions there is a bit of leeway in how spicy or dense it can be," Thompson wrote back in 2015.
"We enjoy it with cranberry sauce."
Mom's Always Good Chicken and Dressing
- ½ cup butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 (9-inch square pan) cornbread, use any recipe you like
- 2 hot dog or hamburger buns, toasted
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can cream of celery soup
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 2 eggs
- 2 (15- to 16-ounce) cans chicken broth, divided use
- 1 to 3 teaspoons ground sage
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 2 chicken breasts and 2 chicken thighs, cooked and deboned
In a skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter and add the onion. Saute until the onion is clear.
Remove from heat.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, crumble the cornbread and the toasted buns together. Add the soups, the eggs, half of the chicken broth and the sauteed onion and butter. Mix well. Season to taste with sage, salt and pepper. If mixture seems dry, add as much of the remaining chicken broth as needed to create desired consistency. (We usually use 2 cans as we don't care for dry dressing.)
Break up chicken pieces into bite-size pieces. Stir into cornbread mixture.
Coat 9-by-13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray or line with foil. Pour dressing mixture into baking pan. Bake 45 minutes, then check for doneness. If it is lightly browned over the top and around the edges and not wet looking, it is done. Cook longer if you prefer.
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Jenny Ann Boyer's pecan cobbler recipe, which she got from Roy Tainter, that first ran in Idea Alley back in 2016 ranks among our most-requested recipes ever.
Pecan Cobbler
- 3 cups sugar, divided use
- ¾ cup white Karo (see note)
- ¾ cup dark Karo (see note)
- 2 sticks margarine, divided use
- 1 cup plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups pecan halves or pieces
In a 4-quart saucepan, combine 2 cups of the sugar, corn syrup(s) and 1 stick of the margarine. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Set aside to cool.
In a 13-by-9-inch baking dish, melt the remaining stick of margarine in a 350-degree oven.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Stir in milk. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Do not stir. To the corn syrup mixture, fold in the eggs, vanilla and pecans. Pour mixture over the batter in the pan. Do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce oven to 325 degrees and continue baking until the crust comes to the top and is golden brown, 15 to 30 minutes more.
Note: Can use all white or all dark.
Email recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to: kbrant@adgnewsroom.com