Do you have the moistest, juiciest turkey? Is your stuffing an absolute winner? Can no one, and I mean no one, leave the Thanksgiving table without having at least two slices of your pecan pie?

Patch asked for submissions of some of your favorite recipes, from sweets to sides, we wanted to know if that table on Thursday could use just one more dish.

Thank you to everyone who made their suggestions, which can be found below. And, Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Ginger Cookies
Submitted by Ginger Bennett Kutsch, Morristown 

The Seeing Eye served these cookies during its open house held in October of 2006 in recognition of my husband's new position as President and CEO. Since then these delightfully thick and scrumptious cookies have become a favorite holiday treat in our household.  

Ingredients

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup robust (dark) molasses
• 1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• Additional sugar 

Combine first eight ingredients in large bowl. Add molasses, shortening and egg. Using electric mixer beat until well blended. Beat in 1/4 cup boiling water. Chill dough one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll chilled dough by generous tablespoonfuls into balls. Roll in additional sugar to coat. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until cookies are puffed and cracked on top and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 12 minutes (do not over bake). Transfer cookies to racks and cool. 

Makes about 40 cookies.

Dolan's Twice-Baked Potatoes
Submitted by Lisa Dolan, Hopatcong

Bake large potatoes at 375 degrees F until you can stick a fork into them without pressure. Let them cool for 20 minutes or until you can hold them in your hands. Slice them in half, longways, and scoop out the potato's insides.

Combine the potato, butter, sour cream, chives (fresh or dried) in large bowl. Put the mixture in the potato shell.

Optional: Top with cheddar cheese, bacon or both.
Bake at 375 degrees until the tops are golden brown.

Ingredients: large baking potatoes, sour cream, butter, chives, cheddar, bacon bits.


Creamed White Onions
Submitted by Bob Kelly, Long Valley 

• One or two pounds of white onions (should not be any larger than a quarter in diameter. They are a pain to prepare, but the small ones taste better).
• Peel off the outermost tough layer of the onion, cut off the very top and bottom and score an X into the top and bottom.
• Soak in cold water for 24 hours.
• Boil gently with the onions just covered until the onions are soft all the way through (this is the most difficult part–too hard or too soft is no good)
• Drain off ½ to ¾ of the water.
• Add ¼ pound of butter (it will melt).
• Cover the onions immediately with milk.
• You can keep them warm until you are ready to serve, but don't boil the milk.
• Make a slurry of cornstarch and water–about a tablespoon of cornstarch
• Gently heat the milk water mixture, pour the corn starch slurry evenly into the pot, and with a spoon, jiggle between the onions to mix. Do not stir the onions, they will break apart.

The mixture should thicken suddenly.  As soon as it does, remove from heat and serve. A dash of white pepper zips it up.

Fruited Wild Rice Salad
Submitted by Jennifer DiSimeone, Long Valley

Dressing:

• 3 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 Tablespoons honey

Salad:

• 1 cup uncooked wild rice
• 2 Golden Delicious apples, chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
• 2 Tablespoons each minced fresh mint and parsley
• Pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preparation: 
Combine dressing ingredients; set aside. Cook rice according to package directions; drain if needed and allow to cool. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice.  Add raisins, grapes, mint, parsley and rice. Add dressing and toss. Season with pepper.

Cover and chill several hours or overnight. Just before serving, top with pecans. Makes 10 servings. 

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
Submitted by Justin Villamor, Chatham

Originally seen on the Food Network

Ingredients 

• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 lemon
• 12 fresh sage leaves
• Large handful fresh flat-leaf parsley (about 1/2 cup, from 12 stems)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 fresh bay leaves
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 boneless turkey breast halves, skin on (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds each)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup apple or regular brandy
• 2 to 3 cups apple cider
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Oil a roasting pan and set it aside.

Put the onion into the bowl of a mini food processor. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the zest from the lemon in thin strips.  Add the lemon zest to the food processor and reserve the whole lemon for another use. Chop the onion and lemon zest until fine. Add the sage, parsley, olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt and pulse until it forms a coarse paste.

Put 2 of the bay leaves and the butter into a small pan and heat over medium-low heat until the butter is bubbling. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Put the turkey breasts on a work surface. Carefully run your fingers between the skin and the flesh from 1 end, being careful not to pull it completely off, creating a pocket. Season the turkey breasts generously with salt and pepper. Stuff half of the herb paste under the skin of each breast, and spread it evenly under the skin. Transfer the breasts to the roasting pan, and slide 2 bay leaves underneath each one. Using a pastry brush, baste the breasts with half of the bay butter. Place the turkey in the oven and immediately decrease the temperature to 400 degrees F. After 20 minutes, baste the turkey breasts with the remaining butter, and roast for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until cooked through, and a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the breast registers 170 degrees F.

Remove from the oven, transfer to a platter, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes before carving while you make the gravy.

Put the roasting pan over the burner on medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the pan juices, and cook, stirring, for a few minutes. Add the apple brandy, and scrape the pan to lift the pieces that are stuck to the bottom. Cook for a minute to burn off the alcohol, then, while stirring, pour in the apple cider. Bring to a simmer, and stir until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the turkey breast on the diagonal, and serve with warm gravy.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting
Submitted by Katie Maiuro, Chatham

Originally Paula Deen's "Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake"

Pumpkin Cake:

• 1 (17 to 18-ounce) package yellow or vanilla cake mix
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 orange, zested
• 3 drops yellow food coloring
• 1 drop red food coloring
• toasted pecans and/or walnuts for garnish (rough chopped or finely chopped depending on your preference)

For the Pumpkin Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with festive liners.

In a large mixing bowl combine and beat with a hand held electric mixer all the ingredients until the batter is smooth.  Pour into cupcake liners until 2/3 full.  Refer to cake box for cupcake baking time.  (Cupcakes are done when a toothpick can be inserted into the center of the and comes out clean.)  Let the cakes cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting:

Cream the cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth and then beat in the orange juice and zest.  For an easy finish, mix in food coloring to desired color, ice cupcakes, and top with toasted nuts.  For a fancier finish, take a portion of the icing and color it - keep the other portion white.  Ice the cupcakes with the base color you'd like (either white or orange), and put the other color in a large zip lock bag.  Snip a tip of the bag to form a make-shift pastry bag and decorate cupcakes as desired.

Note: since this recipe was originally a double layer cake recipe, it makes a LOT of cupcakes.  Feel free to cut it in half if you don't need as many.  

Fruit & Nuts Biscuits
Submitted by Julia Enerson, Fair Lawn

Makes enough to feed a frat party.

Ingredients 

• 18 cups Bisquick (one large box) 
• 6 cups whole milk 
• 12 oz. walnuts, chopped 
• 1 bag Craisins 
• 1 bag dried apricots 
• Brandy to soak fruit

Equipment: Food Processor, very large mixing bowl, one big spoon

With blade insert, chop craisins and apricots into fine pieces. You can use a knife, but that'll take all day ... Soak cut fruit in brandy for ten minutes. Drain and reserve brandy for another use.

Chop walnuts in food processor–more chunky than fine.

In that large bowl with the big spoon, mix milk into Bisquick and stir 20-25 times. Don't overmix or you'll have tough biscuits.

Add fruit and nuts to biscuit mix. Best to use your hands to feel the dough's consistency.

Let mix stand for an hour.

Oven should be at 350 degrees F, so if you didn't preheat it, now's the time.

Mix is now less sticky, so using hands once again, pull off silver dollar portions of dough and place on cookie sheet (spray the cookie sheet with some aerosol cooking spray before doing this step, too). Bake for about 10-15 minutes or more depending on your oven. If your oven is on "frat time," check occasionally to make sure pilot is still on.

Should make about 96 biscuits. Serve warm with maple butter (Make ahead 1 part maple syrup, 3 parts unsalted butter, softened. Blend together & chill 2 hours - best overnight).

Recipe can be halved, quartered, eighthed. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Submitted by Deborah Bell, Local Editor, Woodbridge Patch 

Ingredients

• 1 Ready Crust Chocolate Pie Crust
• 6 oz. of cream cheese, softened
• 1 can, Eagle Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk!)
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using a mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in the sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add the egg, lemon juice and vanilla, and mix well.

Wash and drain the raspberries and let dry on a paper towel. Set aside a handful as a garnish; arrange the rest of the raspberries at the bottom of the pie crust, and pour cream cheese mixture over the fruit. (Some of the raspberries might rise; this is normal.)

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the center of the cheesecake is almost set. Let cool.

Top cheesecake with Chocolate Glaze (recipe to follow). Chill overnight, garnish, and serve to your guests, who will be in nirvana after this experience!

Chocolate Glaze
In a small saucepan over a low heat, melt three squares of semisweet baking chocolate with a half cup of whipping cream. Cook and stir with a whisk until mixture is thickened and smooth. Remove from heat.

How to Garnish
You'll probably have chocolate squares and whipping cream left over if you purchase these items to make the cheese cake. Use them to garnish.

Whip up some of the whipping cream until it forms a peak. Using a tablespoon, place a dollop in the center of the cheesecake, over the Chocolate Glaze, and several more dollops around the perimeter. 

Place several of the reserved raspberries into the center of the whipping cream in the middle of the cheesecake, and one raspberry in any of the perimeter whipped cream dollops. Take a cheese grater, and using the large holes, shave some of the leftover chocolate over the whipped cream.

Serve and enjoy!