As a part of the New Beginnings' program, we participate in family traditions including having a group meal over the holidays. Everyone brings a homemade dish to pass for the entire group - as we all know, WELS people love their potlucks! This provides an excellent opportunity for the mothers at New Beginnings to learn new cooking skills, as well as try new dishes. 

​We were so excited about the dishes made this year, that we would like to share them with you. 

Our Executive Director, Brianne Hansen, has made the turkey for our Thanksgiving Dinner for 2 years. I suppose it is tradition now. We usually have about 15 people at our Thanksgiving Dinner, and a 15 pound turkey is just about perfect!
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INGREDIENTS

• 2 sticks unsalted butter   
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 fresh turkey (15 pounds)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme
• 1 whole lemon, halved
• 1 bag of shallots
• 2 heads garlic, halved crosswise

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INSTRUCTIONS​
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.

Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Pat dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, shallots, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place pieces of butter in the turkey cavity.

Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Take the turkey out of the oven and let rest for 20 minutes. 
Slice the turkey and serve.

Okay, so let's be honest. Thanksgiving isn't all about the turkey - it's about the bird's friends! Here are some outstanding recipes made by our staff and residents that will leave your guests wanting more. 

The terrific part about these recipes is that not only are they the traditional, and completely necessary sides for any Thanksgiving celebration, they are also HOMEMADE completely from scratch! Even the cream of mushroom soup in the green bean casserole was created - no need for canned soup here, people. 

Are you dying for the recipes? After tasting these dishes, I know I was! For your tasting pleasure, I have included them below:

Our Resident Supervisor, Eden Ehlers, created this green bean casserole recipe from scratch. Boy, was it worth it! 

INGREDIENTS
Baked "Fried" Onions

• 1 large onion
• 1/2 cup (62g) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (45g) Panko
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk

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Green Bean Casserole

• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
• 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced into halves or quarters
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 Tablespoons (15g) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (180ml) chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 and 1/4 cups (300ml) half-and-half

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 475°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.
2. For the onions: (while the onions bake, you can blanch the green beans-- next step.) Thinly slice the onion. Pour flour in one small bowl, Panko + salt + pepper into a medium bowl, and whisk the egg and milk together in another small bowl. To bread the onion slices, you'll want to use one hand for dry and one hand for wet. It helps things move a little quicker and easier. First, dip a few slices into the flour. Then into the egg mixture. And finally, give them a nice dunk into the Panko and coat them well. Place onto baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the onions. Bake onions until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Flip them twice during this time. Set them aside. Reduce oven to 400°F.
3. Bring a gallon of water and 1 Tablespoon of salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain and immediately place into a large bowl filled with ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain again and set aside.
4. For the casserole: Over medium-high heat, melt the butter in a large 10 - 12 inch ovenproof skillet. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give off some of their moisture-- about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, stir, and cook for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on top and stir until combined. The flour will soak up all the moisture. Add the chicken broth and simmer for 3 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half-and-half. Stirring occasionally, cook until the mixture is thick-- about 10 minutes or maybe more if you prefer a thicker sauce.
5. Remove from the heat and add 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Give it a nice stir, combining the sauce and beans. Top with remaining onions and bake until bubbly, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and enjoy! Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat as desired.

Our Program Manager, Karen O'Leary, made cranberry sauce this year. As we know, cranberry sauce is a hallmark Thanksgiving day side, and ....it is one of my favorites! 

INGREDIENTS

•  12 ounces cranberries
• 1 cup white sugar
• ​1 cup orange juice​

INSTRUCTIONS
​In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools

When I say the best...ever, I mean it. This dressing is the best...EVER! Our Outreach Manager, Christina Pritzlaff, made a recipe for dressing that was passed down by her mother. Hopefully it was not meant to be a family secret because we have to spread this love around! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bag cornbread stuffing mix (follow directions on bag but use less liquid/broth, see comments below)
• 6-8 cooked breakfast sausages chopped up - save the grease
• 1 pkg cooked bacon (after cooking, let cool and chop into fine pieces -save the grease)
• 1/2 stick of butter (melted), not margarine
• Chicken broth
• Onion, celery, mushrooms

INSTRUCTIONS
Follow the directions on the bag for preparing the stuffing.  Add the chicken broth to the bacon and sausage grease to make the full amount required for the stuffing mix.  We are just substituting some of the broth with the grease. Cook the fresh veggies in a pan with the butter and add it to the stuffing mixture.

One of our mothers, Shaneka, made a classic Southern macaroni and cheese dish! It was one of our favorites. Shaneka always does an outstanding job making dishes for group dinners! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Course salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar
• 2 cups milk
• 2 large eggs

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9"x13" dish. Boil macaroni until tender (about 12 minutes) and drain. In a large bowl, combine the macaroni, cheese, milk, and eggs. Add salt and pepper. Transfer to prepared dish. Bake until golden and bubbly, abut 30 minutes.  

One of our mothers, Kim, made crockpot garlic mashed potatoes! Who knew that you could make mashed potatoes in the crockpot? They tasted great!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds red potatoes, but into 1 inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 head garlic
• 4 tablespoons salted butter
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

INSTRUCTIONS
Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Add potatoes, thyme, garlic, butter, and chicken broth. Cover and cook for 5 hours on high. Add heavy cream and use a hand mixer to blend the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we hope you did too! God has blessed New Beginnings so richly. All of our mothers, their babies, and the staff at New Beginnings wish you God's richest blessings this holiday season as well!

See below our chefs!

“The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.” - Psalm 85:12

During our Thursday evening group sessions at New Beginnings, we explore a variety of topics to expand our residents’ life skills. These sessions have been presented by staff, a local church or community member, or a Wisconsin Lutheran College student. We have learned about fire safety from a Milwaukee Fire Department firefighter, self-breast exams and women’s health from a senior WLC nursing student, how to submit a FAFSA form and scholarship essays from TEAM UP Milwaukee, discussed religious topics with a WLC campus pastor, held game nights and much more!

On a beautiful evening in June, we held a group session outside our home to beautify the landscaping and learn a little about gardening. At the time, we only had one resident, who had never planted anything before. She learned a lot that night and I think she might have even liked it a little bit. She helped plant geraniums and impatiens to add some color, and we also planted bell peppers, tomatoes, basil seeds and cilantro to enjoy later in the season.

After a summer of faithfully watering our plants and giving them lots of love, we had a bountiful harvest of basil and tomatoes. The peppers and cilantro did not do as well, but we are still learning!

As our tomatoes ripened and we watched as our basil leaves got bigger and bigger, we knew it was time to do something with all of it. We were very thankful for our amazing crop, but didn’t want to see it go to waste. We were able to make use of our earlier planting efforts for another educational group session: How to Use Basil. If you haven’t used basil for much before, there are countless possibilities! You can dry it to use throughout the winter months in pasta, dressings, sauces, soups, and more. You can make and freeze pesto to thaw later and enjoy on sandwiches or pasta. You can make Margherita pizza, caprese salad, fruit salads, flavor your water, basil-infused olive oil, basil butter, and the list goes on… Okay, so maybe there aren’t a “basil-ion” ways to use basil as the title suggests, but I would reckon at least 100!

We decided to focus on two uses of basil for our group session: making bruschetta and drying basil. Some residents had never had bruschetta before, while others had eaten it, but had never made it, so it was a great experience for all! Residents helped with cutting up the tomatoes, basil, and bread, and adding seasonings. It was smelling delicious in our kitchen! We let the flavors mingle together for a bit while we headed to our dining room table to dry the basil.

Drying the basil was a new process for most of us, but it went fast with five sets of hands working on it! It made me look forward to the day when my girls are all old enough that I can set up an assembly line at home to do this – it would go much faster than me doing it by myself!

After drying, bunching, and hanging the basil in our kitchen, our bruschetta was ready. We scooped it up onto some warm toast and indulged. It always tastes better when it’s homegrown, right? Everyone enjoyed this fresh, tasty treat and we hope that the residents are now confident to make it on their own sometime.

Our hanging basil is getting nice and dry now and will be ready to crush in a couple days. I think some empty baby food jars will be the perfect containers to hold the basil for each resident to enjoy in the coming months. 

Growing your own herbs and vegetables is a truly rewarding experience, and we look forward to doing it again next year. Maybe then we can try the other 98 ways to use basil! We hope you are able to enjoy our bruschetta recipe and method of drying basil. We want to know: What’s your favorite way to use basil? Please tell us and we might try out your recipe next!

Garden Fresh Bruschetta
(Recipe adapted from tasteofhome.com)

* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 4 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
* 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
* 4 T. olive oil, divided
* 3-4 T. fresh basil, chopped
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* 14 slices French bread (3/4 inch thick)

** In a small skillet, heat 2 T. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and fry about one minute, just until lightly browned.
** In a large bowl, combine the garlic, tomatoes, onion, 2 T. olive oil, basil, salt and pepper. Let stand for 20-30 minutes.
** Drizzle French bread slices with olive oil; sprinkle lightly with additional salt and pepper. Broil in oven for about 1-2 minutes until lightly browned – watch carefully!
** Spoon about 2 tablespoons of bruschetta onto each piece of toast.

Yield: 14 servings.


Drying Fresh Basil
(Method from preservingyourharvest.com)

METHOD:
1. Gather your basil harvest in the morning hours after the sun has dried away the dew of the night. Cut approximately 1/4” down the stem on each leaf.
2. Gather the sprigs into loose bundles and secure the stems with rubber bands to assure that the bundles stay together as they dry.
3. Hang upside down in a warm, dry place such as an attic or porch until the leaves are brittle to the touch, approximately 2 weeks.
5. Gather the dried bundles and place on a sheet of wax paper.
6. Crumble the dried leaves and separate out all of the tough stems onto the wax paper.
7. Store in an air tight container in the pantry for use in cooking.

STORAGE:
These air tight jars can be stored in a dry, dark place such as your pantry or cupboard, or even your freezer, with proper care.

USES:
Dried basil can be used in sauces, gravies, dressings and many other recipes that require fresh basil.