South African Turkey Rub with Basil, Garlic, and Smoked Paprika

With two turkeys to prepare for Thanksgiving, I knew one of them would be my standby Salt Rub and Butter Turkey so that meant I could be a little more adventurous with the second turkey.

I found a South African spice blend from Trader Joe's that I liked and decided to pick out the seasonings to add to the usual salt rub. I mean, I could have just used a few spoonfuls of the packaged seasoning, but this way I could control the amount of each spice. Besides, what if you wanted to make this recipe and there's no Trader Joe's near you?

The South African spiced turkey was quite a hit! Actually, my turkeys always are since I discovered the salt rub, but the spiced turkey was particularly so. Mainly I think because the garlic powder and smoked paprika were the standout flavors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

With about 20 guests to feed this year, I made two big turkeys, my usual salt rub and a South African spiced turkey. I extended my table and added a portable one and ran out of enough chairs for everyone. I invited some friends, my brother invited some friends, and it just grew into a full house. Not a bad first Thanksgiving to welcome the new house.

Italian Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey, Sausage, and Zucchini

Now that several of my cousins are married, they've split off to have Thanksgiving dinner with their significant others' sides of the family. So a couple of years ago and this year, cousin Q's older brother hosted a pre-Thanksgiving for the cousins. Since I was also hosting Thanksgiving at my house, I decided to make Italian Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey, Sausage, and Zucchini to serve at both dinners.

With the oven running constantly on Thanksgiving day, this baked ziti is easy enough to make ahead of time and simply reheated on the day of. The zucchini is my attempt to add some more vegetables into this dish since being smothered in tomato sauce and cheese makes anything taste good. It's not that different from my Italian Lasagna with Meat Sauce recipe, substituting out the wide noodles for penne or other short, round pasta.