Three Delicious Dishes to Prepare Ahead for Thanksgiving

FAMILY FAVORITE HOLIDAY FOOD

It is good to spend time relaxing and visiting during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  Here are three easy recipes you can prepare ahead. Your guests will believe you spent hours making them.

Diane’s Five-Cup Salad

1 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup mandarin oranges

1 cup frozen coconut

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 cup sour cream

Stir the ingredients together and refrigerate overnight.  A few maraschino cherries may be added for color.                                                                                                    

  

Heidi’s Butterfinger® Pie                                  

1 (9”) piecrust

10 fun size (or 2 king size) Butterfingers®

1 small size whipped topping                                                           

Bake the piecrust and allow it to cool. 

Beat the candy bars while they are still inside the wrappers, unwrap them, and chop any large pieces that remain.  Mix the candy with the whipped topping and pour the mixture into the piecrust.

Freeze and keep it frozen until it is served.

Ruth’s Prize-Winning Broccoli Salad

4 cups broccoli (chopped)                                                                             

½ cup raisins

½ cup nuts (small pieces)                                                                                   

½ cup celery (chopped)

½ cup onion (chopped)                                                                                

½ cup real bacon bits

½ cup light mayonnaise                                                  

½ cup sugar

¼ cup vinegar (apple cider or white)

Mix the first 6 ingredients.  Make a sauce out of the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar.  Pour the sauce over the salad. Toss and chill. 

In 2000 Ruth won a prize of $50 in the annual Laurel, Mississippi, Main Street Festival Low-Fat Cooking Contest, sponsored by the Heart Care Center for her broccoli salad recipe.
There is one problem with making this salad: if you don't put a lid on it fast and shove it into the refrigerator, it will disappear into your mouth before you have a chance to chill it.

(Source: Flavored with Love cookbook by Mary Cooke writing as Jane Riley)