Thanksgiving at our house is usually a fairly simple affair since it’s just four of us (three adults and a five year old). Though I still make a full meal even just for us, so Brianna can feel the excitement of the day. I didn’t think I had any traditional recipes I turn to, but when I thought of it, I actually do have a couple including homemade cranberry sauce and sweet potato fluff. So in the spirit of sharing, here’s what we’re having for Thanksgiving dinner, with links to recipes where appropriate:

Brined and roasted turkey
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (recipe from allrecipes.com)
Sweet Potato Fluff
Roasted Garlic Stuffing (recipe can be found at Baking Bites)
Pumpkin Cheesecake (recipe can be found at A Little of a Lot)
Homemade Cranberry Sauce (recipe from allrecipes.com)
Dinner rolls (recipe from Cooking Dunkin Style)
Pecan Pie Bars (recipe from allrecipes.com)
Deviled eggs
creamed corn

Okay, I’m actually buying the creamed corn. Sue me 😛 Of these recipes, only the desserts (pumpkin cheesecake and pecan bars), and the dinner rolls are recipes that are new to me. All the others I’ve made before. Rather than linking you back to my personal blog, I’m reposting the recipe for Sweet Potato Fluff here. It probably doesn’t count so much as a veggie as it does a dessert. But it’s my favorite Thanksgiving dish!

Sweet Potato Fluff (or Souffle, as my MIL calls it)
6 to 8 medium sweet potatoes (I used 6 and that made enough for the brunch).
2 sticks of butter
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 can well drained crushed pineapple (I used a 28 oz can but you could use smaller, depends on what you want)
1 c firmly packed brown sugar

Bake the sweet potatoes at 375 for about 45 minutes (or until done) in the oven. If you’ve never baked sweet potatoes, they’re easy. Just cut the ends off (if you’re not going to do this, make sure you pierce them with a fork so steam can escape), throw them on a pan and bake! Make sure you cover your pan or whatever you bake them on with foil, because they release sugar when they bake and it will burn to whatever they’re on and be just about impossible to clean off! They’re done once a fork goes easily into them, and it looks like the skin is kind of loose. Once baked, let them cool a bit, so you can remove the skins, which should peel off easily (this is kind of a sticky job, though, thanks to the sugar content).

Once baked and peeled, begin to mash sweet potatoes in a bowl, add 1 cup white sugar, 1 tsp vanilla (the vanilla will take over quickly so don’t use too much!) and 2 sticks of butter (I melted mine but if your sweet potatoes are hot, you could just add the sticks in). Once mashed together, add 1 can well-drained crushed pineapple. Mix together. Pour into 9×13 greased baking dish (spray with Pam is fine), sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar on top and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until top browns and mixture is bubbly.

That’s it! For a variation, you could mix the brown sugar with some chopped pecans and then sprinkle that on top, but it’s not necessary. Wal-Mart sells glazed pecans in the baking aisle (you can also make glazed pecans) which make this seem more like a dessert than a vegetable.

You could also divide this into two smaller pans, if you needed to.

Even people who say they don’t like sweet potatoes, like my husband, will try and enjoy this because it’s more like dessert than a vegetable.

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So after all that, what’s on your menu? Any unique recipes you can share?