One of the best things about living on a homestead at Thanksgiving is making a tasty meal from scratch. Some homesteaders can source all (or nearly all) of their meal ingredients themselves, eliminating the need for over-processed foods from the local grocer.
Raising turkeys and growing berries, fruits, or gourds for your pies and sides are just a few of the ways you can make a homestead Thanksgiving meal. Even if you must rely on a local farmer to get some of your ingredients, you can make a Thanksgiving feast from scratch.
Toss aside the boxes and cans and check out some of the recipes in this blog that can help you make a good old-fashioned homestead meal to enjoy with family and friends.
Turkey is a popular main dish for Thanksgiving. Nearly 90 percent of Americans baste and bake one of these tasty birds as the centerpiece of their meal, according to the National Turkey Federation.
One of the things that makes turkey so popular is the many ways you can prepare it. From grilling to roasting to smoking, you can prepare your turkey according to your tastes.
Whichever cooking method you choose, start with a fresh turkey. If you raise livestock on your homestead, you may want to consider adding a few turkeys to the mix. Fresh turkeys also are available in many communities from turkey farmers. We recommend using fresh over store-bought for the best-tasting bird.
No matter which cooking method you use, you must get the internal temperature of the turkey to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid food-borne illnesses like salmonella.
You can use a food thermometer to accurately gauge when your meat is thoroughly cooked. If you’re cooking a whole turkey, insert the thermometer into three separate places:
It’s important to avoid bone or gristle with the thermometer to get the most precise temperature reading. If you’ve stuffed your turkey, make sure the stuffing also has reached the minimum safe temperature.
Oven bag roasting is a popular method because it locks in the juices. If you want to prepare your homestead Thanksgiving turkey meal using this technique, you can follow the directions below to achieve the juiciest and tastiest bird possible.
The turkey is only one component of a traditional homestead Thanksgiving meal. Next, you need all the sides that go with it.
Squash is a popular seasonal vegetable. Sweet potatoes are a close second. You can prepare some tasty homestead Thanksgiving side dishes from these two staples.
If you have space on your homestead, growing squash and sweet potatoes can be rewarding. Other options include locally-sourced squash and sweet potatoes from nearby farmers or farmer’s markets.
One of our favorite Thanksgiving side dishes is a sweet potato casserole with candied pecans. The following recipe serves 6 to 8 people.
Ingredients you’ll need:
Filling:
Topping:
How to make it:
Homemade egg noodles are another popular side dish for the holiday. You can serve them covered in homemade turkey gravy. Follow this recipe to make the best homemade egg noodles.
To make the gravy, you’ll need turkey drippings – the fat and juices from your roasted turkey – and the following preparation method.
Ingredients you’ll need:
How to make it:
Hot, fresh bread can complement any meal. Serving it with your homestead Thanksgiving feast is sure to please your guests. Buttery biscuits are a favorite around here. We substitute the water in the recipe with raw Jersey cow milk to create a richer-tasting biscuit.
Speaking of butter, you can hand-churn your own using raw Jersey cow milk to top off those biscuits. You’ll need at least one gallon of raw Jersey cow milk to make one-third to one-half pounds of butter.
What would a homestead Thanksgiving meal be without desserts to finish things off? Pumpkin pie is one of the most eaten pies of the season. Here’s how to make one of the tastiest homemade pumpkin pies that will ever cross your lips.
If you’ve grown pumpkins on your homestead, you can use one in this recipe. Otherwise, we recommend getting a pumpkin from a local farmer or farmer’s market.
How to make pumpkin puree for filling:
Tip on doneness: You’ll know your pumpkin is fully cooked on the inside when the tip of a knife sticks into the skin about ¼ inch.
Ingredients you’ll need:
How to make it:
Now that you have your homemade pumpkin puree and pie crust, you need to put them together to make a pie.
Ingredients you’ll need:
How to make it:
Want to make your homestead Thanksgiving pumpkin pie even tastier? Make some homemade raw Jersey milk cow ice cream to top it off!
Happy Thanksgiving!
In our kitchen, we only use cultures from Cultures for Health.
Get yours here and start culturing today.
Get signed up to get latest updates and new information from the Jersey Milk Cow!
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Leave a Reply