LET'S TALK THANKSGIVING!

pancakerunner
pancakerunner Posts: 6,137 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How are you celebrating this year? What are your go-to dishes? What're your favorite sides? What are you drinking? What's for dessert? I wanna hear it!
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Replies

  • umbramirror
    umbramirror Posts: 256 Member
    This year we're having Thanksgiving at my house. This will be me and my fiance's first Thanksgiving together. I'm very excited. I would love to cook something new but I'm not sure what yet.

    I really love some honey-baked ham, oven-roasted sweet potatoes, beets, and my grandma's stuffing. We don't actually stuff anything with the stuffing but it's good nonetheless! I would also love to have some hard apple or pumpkin cider this year.

    Also, pies! Pies are the best for this cozy autumn holiday. I think my favorite for this time of year is pecan pie. I would love to bake some new and interesting desserts this year. We'll see!
  • AshHeartsJesus
    AshHeartsJesus Posts: 460 Member
    I am thinking since hubby will be working Thanksgiving I will do our Snoopy's Thanksgiving with the kiddos and homemade donuts for breakfast. For our big meal ham and all the fixins not sure what I am going to have yet. 😎
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited October 2020
    I made Butterball turkey and gravy/cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with cream cheese and Greek flavored green beans. And biscuits. And pumpkin pie with whipped cream. I was just making it for my family but my parents ended up coming over to help with something so they stayed for dinner. Water to drink... milk for the kids.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Were doing prime rib, turkey and ham... sides are TBD at the moment.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    I have no idea what is happening family wise yet. I doubt I will know until right before depending on health and safety needs. Right now we are planning on a family meal, but again, who knows if that will stand.

    What I do know is that that weekend I will be making my own meal and will eat off of it for like a week. Whole turkey, my grandmothers stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, gravy, and a dessert of some sort. All for me. That is the meal I grew up on for the holidays so I still make it.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited October 2020
    I don't know how many will be involved yet, but it will be quite small, so likely a turkey breast, instead of turkey, plus the favorites of our family's usual sides.
  • pancakerunner
    pancakerunner Posts: 6,137 Member
    amart4224 wrote: »
    It'll probably just be me and my parents as the rest of the family is too far away. My mom will be cooking and I'm sure it will be all the traditional staples we have every year:
    Turkey
    Stuffing
    Gravy
    Cranberry sauce (fresh, not canned)
    Devilled eggs
    Rolls
    Mashed potatoes
    Sweet potatoes
    Waldorf salad (so many different recipes for this but in my family it means apples, grapes, pineapple, walnuts, celery, and mini marshmallows all tossed in mayo)
    Whatever green veggie is in the house
    Sparkling grape juice if Mom feels fancy
    Pumpkin pie
    Likely another variety of pie (whatever Dad requests) could be apple, rhubarb, pecan

    my kinda thanksgiving!
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,987 Member
    I've already ordered by Christmas goose.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    nighthawk584 wrote: »
    pancakerunner wrote: »
    How are you celebrating this year? What are your go-to dishes? What're your favorite sides? What are you drinking? What's for dessert? I wanna hear it!

    My Sister's house (her Thanksgiving dinners are incredible!) Along with Traditional Turkey and Honey Glazed Ham, she makes around 20 or so side dishes! My favorites being her mashed potatoes made with heavy cream and a lot of butter, smothered in her homemade turkey and giblet dressing. Sweet potatoes (they are like dessert themselves, so good) , deviled eggs made with dijon mustard, homemade cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, cornbread
    casserole, 7 layer salad (my absolute favorite salad) and many more delicious items .....For dessert my favs she makes, peanut butter balls made with rice krispies dipped in chocolate, pumpkin pie with the best homemade whipped cream ever and cherry cheesecake. I probably eat at least 5000 calories on that day spread out over HOURS haha.....Worth it!

    Our Thanksgiving dinners are similar, with my sisters and their families. Each family brings something. 44 people if everyone can make it. Not this year, thanks to Covid 😢
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    muszyngr wrote: »
    I just heard my brother's brother in law, declare that he wants a Traditional Food Thanksgiving (TFT) and I could not agree more, no crazy aunt Betty's marshmallow licorice avocado salad, no burn the garage down deep friend turkey drum sticks, just your standard properly baked turkey with the stuffing on the inside like god intended, mash potatoes, green beans, and cranberries out of the can, like mama used to make, ha ha

    I experiment with food quite a bit, but Thanksgiving is a meal that I want replicated straight from my childhood. Unfortunately, so does my OH, so I tend to make two stuffings - his and my mom's, and two cranberry sauces, fresh like my Mom used to do and canned like his Mom served.

    My mom used to like a ridiculous amount of different root vegetables, but we've gradually gotten rid of the rutabaga, etc. over the years. She forced me make the cream of mushroom sauce for the green bean casserole from scratch last year, but I thought it was horrid and made two casseroles, one with packaged soup As God Intended (although I have upgraded from Campbell's to Pacific or Whole Food's) and one with the overly-mushroom flavored soup I made, which my mother and sister did like quite a bit.

    There will be just four of us, but I'm down for slaving away in the kitchen for a few hours anyway. I'll likely break the cooking up over two days.

    Mom is in charge of pies. I like her to make pecan plus at least one other, so there is more pecan for me.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    We're downsizing to our nuclear fam of 5. And eating it outdoors because our 3 daughters live away (kinda, 2 in college staying home until Jan). I've been thinking about what I can do to simplify for outdoor feasting. There are usually lots of hands in the kitchen to help which will not be the case this time.

    Also thinking of having the 2 sets of grands who are local over at 2 separate times for a shorter time for dessert only. Our tradition is my grandmother's pumpkin chiffon pie. Sometimes DH makes a derby pie (kind of like pecan pie with chocolate... wicked good).

    We love turkey, and aside from the carving, it is really not that difficult to prepare. I'm not a big dressing fan but DH is so that is on him to make. I like scalloped potatoes which have the added benefit of being prepared ahead so they can just go in the oven for 30 min when the turkey comes out. (DD prefers whipped potatoes, but those are tricky to reheat if prepared ahead. Better just to make at the last minute, and obviously that adds to the last minute complexity with fewer hands.) I'm wondering about a fresh green vegetable I can put in the oven at the same time as potatoes and stuffing. Any casserole involving a cream of ___ soup is not a part of our family tradition, although I certainly appreciate the prepare ahead convenience. Maybe brussel sprouts with bacon slightly undercooked then reheated in the oven? Suggestions appreciated!

    Another question is if I should make aluminum trays of Thanksgiving dinner for the grands to pop in the oven at home. So much more work to do that. But I feel it is the right thing to do.

    Another question is how to serve. Tradition is having it all on the table & passing plates. Obviously not this year. A buffet makes more sense but it will be cold so I may need to round up some hot plates. And lots of wine, probably pinot noir. Maybe negroni's at some point when all the hard work is done.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    muszyngr wrote: »
    I just heard my brother's brother in law, declare that he wants a Traditional Food Thanksgiving (TFT) and I could not agree more, no crazy aunt Betty's marshmallow licorice avocado salad, no burn the garage down deep friend turkey drum sticks, just your standard properly baked turkey with the stuffing on the inside like god intended, mash potatoes, green beans, and cranberries out of the can, like mama used to make, ha ha

    This made me laugh. To my inlaws, "salad" means involving marshmallows or jello or both. When I was a young bride celebrating one of our early Thanksgivings at the inlaws, my MIL was doling out tasks for later, one of which was "tossing the salad." Delighted, I visualized something green and leafy. Hours later at the table, someone commented, "This is a good salad." I looked around thinking, "Hey, what happened to the green leafy?" There it was, a coconut marshmallow jello "salad." Wishful thinking.
  • pancakerunner
    pancakerunner Posts: 6,137 Member
    Let's talk about stuffing... so many mixed opinions on this! Pesonally, I like a more traditional, but I know people who make it with cornbread or make it with rice, etc. What's your favorite kind?

    Also... stuffing > mashed potatoes any day
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    Were doing prime rib, turkey and ham... sides are TBD at the moment.

    So I worked out the menu 😊

    Appetizers:
    Deviled Eggs
    Shrimp Cocktail
    Veggie Platter

    Main:
    Glazed Ham
    Turkey
    Prime Rib
    Fried Chicken
    Mashed Potatoes
    Candied Yams
    Baked Macaroni and Cheese
    Green Beans with Smoked Hamhock
    Bacon Stuffing
    Gravy
    Cranberry Sauce (canned cause I love it 😋)
    Roasted Veggies
    Yeast Rolls

    Dessert:
    Milk Bar Pie
    Pecan Tarts
    Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Pie

    Can't wait now!! 😁
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    pancakerunner wrote: »
    Let's talk about stuffing... so many mixed opinions on this! Pesonally, I like a more traditional, but I know people who make it with cornbread or make it with rice, etc. What's your favorite kind?

    Also... stuffing > mashed potatoes any day

    I make a bacon stuffing every year that gets demolished. I love both stuffing and mashed potatoes equally smothered with gravy 😊
  • pancakerunner
    pancakerunner Posts: 6,137 Member
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    Were doing prime rib, turkey and ham... sides are TBD at the moment.

    So I worked out the menu 😊

    Appetizers:
    Deviled Eggs
    Shrimp Cocktail
    Veggie Platter

    Main:
    Glazed Ham
    Turkey
    Prime Rib
    Fried Chicken
    Mashed Potatoes
    Candied Yams
    Baked Macaroni and Cheese
    Green Beans with Smoked Hamhock
    Bacon Stuffing
    Gravy
    Cranberry Sauce (canned cause I love it 😋)
    Roasted Veggies
    Yeast Rolls

    Dessert:
    Milk Bar Pie
    Pecan Tarts
    Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Pie

    Can't wait now!! 😁

    sounds perfect! Do you have a recipe for the bacon stuffing?
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    pancakerunner wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    Were doing prime rib, turkey and ham... sides are TBD at the moment.

    So I worked out the menu 😊

    Appetizers:
    Deviled Eggs
    Shrimp Cocktail
    Veggie Platter

    Main:
    Glazed Ham
    Turkey
    Prime Rib
    Fried Chicken
    Mashed Potatoes
    Candied Yams
    Baked Macaroni and Cheese
    Green Beans with Smoked Hamhock
    Bacon Stuffing
    Gravy
    Cranberry Sauce (canned cause I love it 😋)
    Roasted Veggies
    Yeast Rolls

    Dessert:
    Milk Bar Pie
    Pecan Tarts
    Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Pie

    Can't wait now!! 😁

    sounds perfect! Do you have a recipe for the bacon stuffing?

    Yes... I use https://www.bunsinmyoven.com/bacon-stuffing/#comments

    and tweak it around as I like.
  • VegjoyP
    VegjoyP Posts: 2,773 Member
    edited October 2020
    Well I'm vegan and no family here to see, I will probably make myself something with sweet potato, cranberries or squash, maybe something I rarely eat like Beyond Meat. Maybe a vegan spinach or green bean casserole I can have for my week lunches. Then most likely go workout or walk.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    pancakerunner wrote: »
    Let's talk about stuffing... so many mixed opinions on this! Pesonally, I like a more traditional, but I know people who make it with cornbread or make it with rice, etc. What's your favorite kind?

    Also... stuffing > mashed potatoes any day

    It has to be my Grandma's stuffing. It's made with cubed bread, pork sausage, onions, celery, various spices.
    I'm going to make this, even if it's just my sister and I this year.

    Uggghhh...I know you didn't mean for this to be a depressing topic, but it's sure bumming me out. I should probably just see myself out at this point...
  • alexmose
    alexmose Posts: 792 Member
    Stuffing is the only thing I live for during thanksgiving!! oh and pumpkin pie but everyone loves that!
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,987 Member
    pancakerunner wrote: »
    Let's talk about stuffing... so many mixed opinions on this! Pesonally, I like a more traditional, but I know people who make it with cornbread or make it with rice, etc. What's your favorite kind?

    Also... stuffing > mashed potatoes any day

    I normally do my mom's stuffing which is probably not quite traditional because she grew up in China and came to North America in her mid twenties. Fry up bacon with onion in butter, drop in bread cubes, chicken stock, diced apple, and dried fruit such as currants.

    Growing we used to stuff the cavity of the bird but nowadays I like to do the stuffing in a foil covered casserole separately. This is because nowadays my festive birds of choice are game-y duck or goose, both of which lose so much subcutaneous fat during roasting, that stuffing inside the cavity gets too greasy. I will spoon a little roasting juice and melted fat onto the stuffing after taking off the foil to brown the last 15-20 minutes.

    Mash might be as good as stuffing if you do it the French way. Equal quantities of potatoes and butter.

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