Thanksgiving Cooking Part III: Swiss Green Beans; Sweet Potatoes; Fruit Salad

I'm done! Well, except for the turkey tomorrow morning, for which I am setting an alarm clock. Doubt I'll sleep in with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on so early. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the parade!

I panicked a little when the turkey wasn't thawing fast enough. My mom told me to add some water to the pan with the turkey--that seems to be working nicely.

Mission: Swiss Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, and Fruit Salad. 

Swiss Green Beans: This yummy dish has it all. The green beans are cooked in a mixture of sugar, butter, pepper, onion, and sour cream. The mixture is poured into a casserole dish then topped with grated Swiss cheese and warm buttered corn flakes. (Note to self: Open sugar bags with caution. Had a most unfortunate incident with the sugar)

Note to self: Figure out the best way to cut an onion--started while cutting for the stuffing. Clearly didn't figure out a better way for this dish. We're talking seriously burning tears.

This one requires you to add the ingredients super fast, so I had a couple of issues with nervous hands, but managed getting it all together without spilling too much.  

Sweet Potatoes: My all time favorite dish (I was so afraid of messing this one up). After placing the sweet potatoes in a large, flat dish, I added a mixture of butter, brown sugar, pecans, and orange juice. It wasn't bad at all, although my mom doesn't know exactly how much brown sugar and orange juice she uses (she can eyeball it). We'll find out tomorrow if I got it right or not. It sure smelled good. I'll take a pic when I give it the final touch before warming it: marshmallows.

The last thing I did was a kid friendly fruit salad my mom told me about...um, yeah, it's pink--couldn't be a better color for me! It's fun, colorful, and a great way to get kids and non-fruit-eating adults to eat the healthy stuff. It has fruit...and marshmallows, whipped cream, and jello. Didn't I say it was kid-friendly?

Well, day one of cooking is done. No major catastrophes; nothing burned. I've had a fantastic coach: My mama.

Mission: Swiss Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, and Fruit Salad--COMPLETED

Tomorrow: Turkey and final touches. I really hope I don't dry the turkey out too much--that's my biggest concern...a Griswold Turkey.