Each November, loved ones across the U.S. gather to celebrate one of the best holidays ever – Thanksgiving! A holiday all about family, fun, traditions, gratitude and feasting, Thanksgiving is the definition of #TeaProudly – special moments of togetherness. And while we hope everyone is as thankful as we are for never-ending pots of tea all day long, here are three more ways to #TeaProudly this Thanksgiving.
- Plan an activity for everyone. Gather the fam and do something together! Check out a local race or Turkey Trot. Volunteer together at the local soup kitchen. Go see a movie or binge-watch your holiday favorites. See a local parade or catch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. Pull out your go-to board games or suggest a game of Charades. Or, start small – go ‘round the table before dinner and express your gratitude for the people surrounding you. Already do that and want to elevate the tradition? Use a paper tablecloth and distribute markers for everyone to write down or draw what they’re thankful for.
- Stay connected. Maybe you can’t travel this year or you have family members far away. Use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to connect! Plan a video call before dinner!
- Make cooking a family affair. Gather in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning and help prepare the meal together! Or, add a little competition to the day (and not just football!): choose a theme and have everyone compete for the title of best recipe. Who can make the yummiest pie? Who’s bringing the most creative side dish to the table? It’s on! And, hey, we’ll make it easy for ya – here are a few of our best and most #TeaProudly recipes!
Maple and Miso Glazed Squash
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons grape seed oil for glaze (use additional oil for baking sheets)
- 3 acorn squashes (about 1 ½ pounds each), halved, seeded, and sliced into one-inch-thick crescents
- 2 tablespoons mellow white miso paste
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ cup Bigelow Decaffeinated French Vanilla Tea (1 tea bag steeped for 5 minutes)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil, and brush with oil. Boil water for a cup of tea. Pour about ½ cup hot water over the tea bag, cover and let steep for five minute. Mix up maple miso glaze by adding miso, maple syrup and grape seed oil, then gradually add the concentrated tea and mix until miso dissolves (use ¼- ½ cup of tea). Try to avoid making your mixture too watery. Lay squash pieces on baking sheets. Drizzle maple miso glaze over each crescent (reserve half the mixture for the other side). Roast about 5 minutes. Remove baking sheets from oven. Using tongs, turn over pieces. Drizzle once more with glaze mixture. Roast until tender, about 20 minutes.
French-style Green Beans and Carrots with Pomegranate-Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 cup hot water
- 4 Bigelow® Green Tea with Pomegranate Tea Bags
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound fresh french-style green beans
- ½ pound carrots cut into 1 inch matchsticks
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Combine hot water and 4 Bigelow® Green Tea with Pomegranate Tea Bagsand allow to steep for 5-7 minutes. Place tea in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook until liquid is reduced by half (about ten minutes). Add balsamic vinegar and sugar. Stir to combine. Add cornstarch and whisk vigorously until glaze is thickened and smooth. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, combine butter and olive oil. Heat until butter is melted but not smoking and then add carrots and green beans. Saute vegetables until just tender, approximately 5 minutes (allow a few extra minutes of extra cooking time if using traditional green beans). Add pomegranate-balsamic glaze, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Note: Glaze may be prepared up to 2 days in advance. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.
Roasted Turkey with Constant Comment® Glaze
Ingredients
Glaze:
- 12 Bigelow® Constant Comment® Tea Bags
- 1 cup (250mL) boiling water
- ⅔ cup (160mL) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30mL) butter
- ½ cup (125mL) cranberry juice
Turkey and Gravy:
- 1 10-15 pound (5-7.5g) turkey (thawed if previously frozen)
- 1 lemon, cut into four pieces
- 1 onion, peeled and cut into four pieces
- 1 cup (250mL) chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons (30mL) cornstarch
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350º. Steep tea bags in 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes. Squeeze excess liquid out of tea bags and discard. Reserve tea. Meanwhile, prepare a glaze by heating butter, brown sugar and cranberry juice into a saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Add tea and reduce mixture by cooking over medium high heat for 15 minutes. Set aside. To prepare turkey, remove giblets and neck from turkey, rinse inside and out and pat dry. Place a cut lemon and a cut-up onion into the cavity and truss the turkey. Place in an open roasting pan breast side up. Brush skin with glaze. Bake turkey in preheated oven. Keep glaze warm on stove and continue basting with glaze every 20 minutes. Remove turkey from oven and let stand for at least 20 minutes before carving. Discard any unused glaze. To make gravy, dissolve cornstarch in chicken stock. Place roasting pan on burner over medium heat, scraping browned bits. Add stock whisking constantly until thickened; about 1 minute. Strain gravy and serve with turkey. As a nice alternative, use a 9-11 pound oven stuffer roaster chicken in place of the turkey. For best results, tie the chicken with string at the legs and the wings. For the glaze reduce the number of tea bags from 12 to 8.
Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (60mL) butter, melted
- 1 ¼ cup (310mL) gingersnaps, crushed
- 1 tablespoon (15mL) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5mL) cinnamon
- 10 Bigelow Ginger Snappish Tea Bags
- 10 Bigelow Pumpkin Spice Tea Bags
- 1 ½ cup (375mL) heavy cream
- 24 ounces (750g) cream cheese, softened
- 1 ½ cups (375mL) sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups (375mL) pumpkin pie filling
- ¼ cup (60mL) pecan halves
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325*F (160*C). To make the crust, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Mix the gingersnaps, brown sugar and cinnamon together. Add the melted butter and mix together with a spoon. Spray a 10″ (25cm) spring-form pan with cooking spray. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom. Filling: Add heavy cream into saucepan, heat over medium heat, be careful not to boil. Add Bigelow Ginger Snappish and Bigelow Pumpkin Spice tea bags and steep cream for 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and squeeze out excess cream. Set aside to cool. Beat cream cheese in large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy, gradually add sugar, beating well. Add the eggs one at a time and beat the mixture until it is fluffy and pale. Add the cooled cream and beat well. Stir in the pumpkin pie filling, combine well and pour the cheese mixture into prepared springform pan. Place pan into a larger pan and fill with hot water halfway up. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Do not over bake, the middle should have a little jiggle. Refrigerate at least 3 hours to chill thoroughly. Remove cheesecake from the pan, decorate the edge of the cheesecake with pecan halves, cut into wedges and serve with whipped cream if desired.