Thanksgiving Recipes for a Crowd

Thanks for sharing these fun dining room photos, Tom Martin!

Here are a couple of recipes that might be useful for the holidays:

Sweet Potato Casserole

150 servings, 3 steamtable pans (12”x20”x2 1/2”)

6 #10 can sweet potatoes (each #10 can = 3# 13oz) or substitute fresh baked sweet potatoes (even better)

3 pounds butter, softened (6 cups)

36 eggs, beaten

½ cup vanilla

6 cups whole milk

Mix all of the above together in mixer until smooth.  Put in casserole dishes or steamtable pans.

 

Mix together streusel topping and sprinkle over top of potatoes dividing evenly between the pans:

4 cups flour

1.5 # butter, softened

8 cups dark brown sugar

4 cups chopped pecans (optional).

 

Bake at 325* until hot (165 degrees), approx. 1 1/2 hours. Cover with foil for first hour to avoid burning topping. Uncover to lightly brown the streusel for last half hour.

 

Here’s the original scaled back recipe:

Sweet Potato Casserole: 8 servings

6 sweet potatoes, baked

¼ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk

½ cup butter

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

 

Combine cooked sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk and ½ cup butter.  Beat at medium speed with a mixer until smooth.  Spoon into lightly greased 12X8X2 inch baking dish.

Combine brown sugar, flour, pecans and butter.  Sprinkle mixture over casserole.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Check out this older post for Pork Roast and Cheesecake recipes

Here’s another cheesecake post  Cheesecake for a Crowd

Or try this one for pork roast for a really big crowd:

Honey-Bourbon Glazed Pork Loin:  600 4oz servings

7 cases boneless pork loin roasts (4 roasts/case, average size 8 ½#/roast)  or about 240# boneless pork loin.  This is about 6.4 oz uncooked or 4 oz cooked per serving

4 cups minced fresh garlic

garlic mist spray

10# uncooked bacon slices

If roasts are large, cut in half and put 2 or 3 halves per full size steamtable pan.

Cut several small slits evenly over roasts and press minced garlic into slits.  Spray roasts with garlic mist and season with salt and pepper.  Arrange bacon slices over roasts.

Roast at 325* convection for 2 hours, or until 145 degrees.

Coat with glaze, and continue roasting to 155 degrees (about 30 more minutes)

Glaze: Combine in large pot and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.

10 cups honey

5 cups light brown sugar

3 ½  cups bourbon

1 ¼ cup Dijon mustard

5 cups orange juice

 

Calvary Carrot Cake

Make 3 times for 360 servings (9 pans)

Makes 3 20x12x2 inch cakes. Cut 5×8 makes total of 120 servings.

8 cups flour

8 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp baking soda

4 tsp salt

8 tsp cinnamon

16 eggs

8 cups sugar

6 cups vegetable oil

8 cups grated carrots

3 cups crushed pineapple, drained (for 3x recipe, use 1 #10 can plus 1 15 oz can)

 

Sift together dry ingredients.

Beat eggs, add the sugar and oil and beat until combined. Stir in flour mixture. Fold in carrots and pineapple. Mix well. Turn into greased and floured pans. Bake at 325* for 45 minutes.

 

Cream cheese frosting: For 9 cakes:

(we divided this in half to fit in our big mixer)

4 1/2# butter softened

9# cream cheese softened

6 Tbsp vanilla

16# powdered sugar

Beat together butter, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. Add sugar gradually, beating until well mixed.

Join us on Wednesdays evenings at Calvary Lutheran Church. Meet up with friends, have some dinner, join in worship and leave with a smile on your face.