Troop 1015’s Turkey Feed recipes

Troop 1015 from Alameda, California, has the giving part of Thanksgiving down pat.

Every November, they invite almost everyone they know to attend their Turkey Feed, a massive, outdoors, all-you-can-eat-and-more Thanksgiving dinner prepared by the Scouts themselves.

It takes a lot of preparation and hard work, but the end result is well worth it: dinner with around 100 of their closest friends and family members.

“It feels really good to know that we worked so hard and people are enjoying what we did,” says 13-year-old Ricardo Tremper. “It feels like we made their weekend.”

Here are the recipes Troop 1015 uses to feed 100 people.

TURKEY AND DRESSING

(Ingredients are for one turkey. Multiply by the number of birds you’re cooking.)

Stuffing ingredients

• Giblets (turkey’s liver, heart and gizzard)
• 4 cups finely diced celery
• 1 onion
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1/2 — 3/4 cups butter
• 4 quarts lightly packed day-old bread crumbs
• 4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Wash your hands!

Giblets: Clean thoroughly in cold water. Place the heart and the gizzard in a saucepan with the neck, a stalk of celery, one small sliced onion and cold water to cover. Simmer covered until tender. Add the liver and 1/2 teaspoon of salt for the last fifteen minutes of cooking. When done, chop the giblets and use in dressing.

Stuffing and turkey: Simmer celery in boiling water, covered, for 15-20 minutes until tender. Drain, saving the water for later use. Cook the onion in butter over low heat until tender, but not brown. Mix crumbs and seasoning together. Add celery, approximately one cup of saved water per turkey, butter, onion, and giblets. Mix well with fork. Wash inside of bird and rub salt on the inside cavity with your clean hands. Fill cavity with dressing. Truss bird and put in pans.

Cooking time will vary from 1-4 hours, depending on the size of the turkey.

Weight	Temperature	Approximate Time
10-15 lbs.	300 degrees	20 minutes per pound
15-18 lbs.	300 degrees	18 minutes per pound
18-20 lbs.	300 degrees	15 minutes per pound

MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients

• 20 pounds of regular potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Butter
• Milk

Directions

Wash your hands!

Wash potatoes, peel, cut into 1 ½-inch cubes, cover with water and 1 teaspoon (the size you eat with) salt, and boil until soft. (A knife should go into the potato easily). Drain water and mash with a potato masher until no lumps remain. While mashing, add butter and milk to make potatoes creamy and fluffy. Cover top of pot with aluminum foil when done.

CUBED YAMS

Ingredients

• 20 pounds of sweet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Brown sugar
• Marshmallows

Directions

Wash your hands!

Wash yams, peel, cut into 1 ½-inch cubes, cover with water and 1 teaspoon (the size you eat with) salt, and boil until soft. Drain water and carefully place them into a serving pan. Cover them with brown sugar and marshmallows. Cover top with aluminum foil when done. Keep them heated.

CORN

Ingredients

• 50 ears of corn
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Wash your hands!

Peel, husk, and remove silk from corn ears. Put the husk and silk in a garbage can. Cut all ears of corn in half. Put in pots and cover with water and 1 teaspoon salt. Boil until the kernels are tender. (A knife should go into the kernels easily.) Leave water on corn until serving time. Cover pan with foil. Do not drain until immediately before serving.

GREEN BEANS WITH BACON, ONIONS AND ALMONDS

Ingredients

• 10 large bags of green beans or French beans
• 2 pounds of thick bacon
• 3 red onions
• 5 larges bags of sliced almonds

Directions

Wash your hands!

Beans: Bring to boil 4 quarts of salted water. Put beans into pot and wait until it starts to boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat and spoon the beans into a pan of cold water. Save the juice you just boiled for later use.

Bacon: Slice the bacon in ½-inch strips. Place bacon into a small pan of boiling water, and boil for 1 minute to remove fat from bacon. Strain and put bacon into a frying pan and fry until cooked.

Onions: Chop the onions and cook in a frying pan until tender.

All Together Now: Put all of the items, including the juice from the beans but not including the almonds, on the stove and heat until almost boiling. Add almonds, stir and serve.

PIE CRUST

(Ingredients are for one pie crust. Multiply by the numbers of pie crusts you need.)

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups pre-sifted all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup shortening
• Approximately 5 tablespoons cold or ice water

Directions

Wash your hands!

Measure pre-sifted flour into bowl. Add salt and shortening. Using two knives, combine ingredients together until flour-coated particles are the size of peas. Add water, but only enough to make the particles stick together when gently pressed. Lay out waxed paper on the covered picnic table ad lightly sprinkle some flour on it. Lightly flour a rolling pin to stop the dough from sticking to it. Roll out the crust. Whenever the dough sticks to the rolling pin or waxed, paper re-flour them.

PUMPKIN PIE

(Ingredients are for one pie. Multiply by the numbers of pies you need.)

Ingredients

• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 1 ½ cups canned pumpkin pie mix
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 2/3 cup (13 fluid ounces) evaporated milk

Directions

Wash your hands! Mix the ingredients in the order they are listed. Pour ingredients into pie shell. Bake in Dutch oven at approximate 425 degrees for fifteen minutes. Reduce the heat by removing charcoal to approximately 350 degrees and continue baking for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in pie comes out clean.

MORE TURKEY FEED PHOTOS