What do you Americans eat for Thanksgiving??

mrsmackieblacky
mrsmackieblacky Posts: 164 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Is it similar to Christmas dinner??
«134

Replies

  • DM01234
    DM01234 Posts: 317 Member
    Can depend on family tradition, but the big push is turkey, some sort of stuffing (dressing), potatoes (sweet/yams/white), breads/rolls, cornbread and various veggies. Toss in some wine and liquor - good to go!

    Good thing is, it's all low carbs so it never weighs you down ;)
  • mrsmackieblacky
    mrsmackieblacky Posts: 164 Member
    DM01234 wrote: »
    Can depend on family tradition, but the big push is turkey, some sort of stuffing (dressing), potatoes (sweet/yams/white), breads/rolls, cornbread and various veggies. Toss in some wine and liquor - good to go!

    Good thing is, it's all low carbs so it never weighs you down ;)

    So if you eat turkey for Thanksgiving, do you eat turkey for Christmas as well??
  • DM01234
    DM01234 Posts: 317 Member
    I'm sorry.. I forgot to include that. Some people do - my family does not. Ham and other assorted roasts (beef/pork) are often pushed for Christmas & New Years. However - most of the side dishes are the same.
  • MissElectricEyeliner
    MissElectricEyeliner Posts: 122 Member
    edited November 2015
    We have all this for Thanksgiving:
    • Turkey
    • Ham
    • Rolls
    • Homemade stuffing
    • Fruit Salad
    • Peanut Butter Pie
    • Dirt Cake (Oreo Pie)
    • Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows
    • Corn and Green beans
    • Pumpkin roll
    • Mash potatoes
    • Brown Gravy

    We go all out at Thanksgiving because it's one of the only times we can have all the family together. My grandma is going on 80 years old and she gives us money to make some of the items. My duty this year is the turkey, stuffing, and dirt cake. She wants us all to enjoy ourselves while we're there together for those few hours.

    We also eat Turkey for Christmas because turkey is only 88 cents a pound during November and December.
  • Sugarbeat
    Sugarbeat Posts: 824 Member
    We are American but do a "Canadian" Thanksgiving (in October) at my mom's for my husband's birthday and at my own house we now do a "Black Friday dinner" because my husband has to work on Thanksgiving. Food is usually turkey, potatoes and gravy, rolls, some type of veggie (corn or green beans at my mom's, squash and sweet potatoes at my house), dessert of some kind, usually a pie plus something else. I'm thinking of making a lasagna for the actual day of Thanksgiving this year, but I haven't completely decided on that yet.
  • mrsmackieblacky
    mrsmackieblacky Posts: 164 Member
    When you say rolls do you mean like bread buns?? Thats strange to me to have a bread bun with what we call "Sunday dinner". Also do you eat pumpkin pie or is that a stereotype??
  • Soopatt
    Soopatt Posts: 563 Member
    As a South African I have wondered the same. I also imagine it is quite the challenge, having both those giant feasting occasions so close together. I only need to worry about Christmas - another turkey dinner with all the sides is something I can do without.

    I can see the appeal though - family bonding time and American traditions. We use Christmas for that and maybe Easter.
  • mrsmackieblacky
    mrsmackieblacky Posts: 164 Member
    Soopatt wrote: »
    As a South African I have wondered the same. I also imagine it is quite the challenge, having both those giant feasting occasions so close together. I only need to worry about Christmas - another turkey dinner with all the sides is something I can do without.

    I can see the appeal though - family bonding time and American traditions. We use Christmas for that and maybe Easter.

    Ditto with easter!
  • nicolebaugh518
    nicolebaugh518 Posts: 20 Member
    mrsmackieblacky wrote: »
    When you say rolls do you mean like bread buns?? Thats strange to me to have a bread bun with what we call "Sunday dinner". Also do you eat pumpkin pie or is that a stereotype??

    Yeah. Most people eat pumpkin pie, but I don't find it appealing. I prefer sweet potato pie
  • frabeco
    frabeco Posts: 9 Member
    edited November 2015
    Thanksgiving, for me is : Roasted turkey, sausage stuffing, gravy, some type of venison (usually grilled back straps), green bean casserole (so good), cheesy potatoes, mashed potatoes, rolls (yeast) or Hawaiian (a little sweeter),Sweet potatoes (yams) not sweetened, and for dessert pumpkin pie. This has been our menu for 45 years (since I was a kid, and now into adult hood). I would not have it any other way. Christmas is pretty much the same except no turkey, its ham.

    Pumpkin pie is not a stereotype....it's an American tradition!! Classic Thanksgiving dessert. Of course, we eat it all year...yummy!!
  • mrsmackieblacky
    mrsmackieblacky Posts: 164 Member
    Mmmmmmmm I love sweet potatos. Don't like pumpkin much. They only really get used for Halloween over here
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    mrsmackieblacky wrote: »
    When you say rolls do you mean like bread buns?? Thats strange to me to have a bread bun with what we call "Sunday dinner". Also do you eat pumpkin pie or is that a stereotype??

    It's a dinner roll, maybe like a very small bun.

    Pumpkin pie, or some form of pumpkin dessert, will usually be found. We're picking ours up this week from the local butcher shop/bakery, then freezing it until the night before.

    My dinner is usually smaller than average...turkey, mashed potatoes, and some type of vegetable casserole. Then the pie and date pudding.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and apple pie are the staples here.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    My in laws are children of Italian American immigrants to the Bay Area. This is their meal:

    - Assorted focaccia from a bakery in North Beach, San Francisco. Also, an antipasto platter with cured meats, cheeses, olives, etc.
    - A green salad with freshly picked Dungeness crab meat (not possible this year; crab season is indefinitely closed due to high bacteria)
    - Very high quality homemade meat & cheese ravioli from a small local factory. Served with a special sugo my MIL makes.
    - A roasted turkey with my MIL's chestnut stuffing.
    - Oven roasted sweet & white potato wedges.
    - Green beans.
    - Several pies, usually pecan & pumpkin.
  • hgycta
    hgycta Posts: 3,013 Member
    I guess my family isn't too traditional, except for the pumpkin part. We always have some kind of pumpkin dessert around the house. It used to be pumpkin pie, but recently it's been homemade pumpkin bread baked with chocolate chips which we usually make 2-3 loaves of and sit them out for breakfast, and snack on throughout the day until they're gone.
    As for dinner, we generally do whatever we're craving. Last year it was Chinese food. No idea why, but that's just what we all wanted at the time! xD
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited November 2015
    My family is very traditional.

    We have:
    • Turkey (cooking method will vary)
    • Dressing (aka stuffing) (actual recipe will vary)
    • Potatoes (may be mashed or au gratin or scalloped)
    • Some kind of veggie (NEVER green bean casserole)
    • Corn pudding
    • cranberry sauce (I live in Wisconsin which is the #1 cranberry producing state so we have lots of cranberry stuff: juice, sauce, wine, cranberry apple pie, etc)
    • dinner rolls (my specialty, I vary the recipe)
    • Pumpkin pie
    • some other pie or dessert for those who do not like pumpkin

    ETA: we usually do not do turkey for Christmas dinner. We are more likely to have ham, a good beef roast, or something extra special like lobster and steak ("surf and turf") for Christmas dinner. More often than not, we will have turkey for Thanksgiving, beef for Christmas, and ham for Easter. We did sometimes have turkey for Christmas dinner while growing up because it was the least expensive of all of the "fancy" meats and money was tight.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    EVERYTHING!!! lol. No really, Thanksgiving is beyond wonderful.

    We have Turkey, Stuffing (also called dressing), Green bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Brussels Sprouts, Various assortments of bread and rolls, cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes, candied carrots, salad, cream corn and steamed broccoli. And for dessert there's Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Roll, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pecan Pie, Apple Pie and sometimes cookies.

    At Christmas, it depends which side of the family we go to. MIL likes to do Lamb at Christmas (I'm not a fan of lamb), and Step-MIL likes to do Ham. And the grandparents like to do Turkey. We usually end up going to all 3, so lots of protein! lol
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
    Thanksgiving in my Southern family is the mid day meal and includes

    Roast and fried turkey

    Honey glazed ham with Jezebel sauce (a sweet /spicy horseradish sauce)

    Cornbread dressing

    Gravey

    Mashed potatoes

    Sweet potato casserole

    Cranberry relish and sauce

    Broccoli and cheese casserole

    Mac and cheese

    Rolls

    Lots of dessert choices but always pumpkin pie and pecan pie

    For dinner we eat leftovers with turkey and ham sandwiches.

    Christmas is much more casual for us. As a kid we'd have a big breakfast then kinda snack through the day. Now, with my hubby and kids we usually have cinnamon rolls for breakfast then have family over for soups and sandwichs or finger foods. We also usually have hot drinks like cocoa and spiced cider with Christmas cookies.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    mrsmackieblacky wrote: »
    When you say rolls do you mean like bread buns?? Thats strange to me to have a bread bun with what we call "Sunday dinner". Also do you eat pumpkin pie or is that a stereotype??

    Yes, rolls are bread buns. Pumpkin pie is tradition.

    Over the years I've eaten Thanksgiving dinner in various areas of the US with different families. The consistent traditions seem to be turkey, stuffing (dressing), pumpkin, cranberry and sweet potatoes. Everything else varies.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    nicolebaugh518 wrote: »
    mrsmackieblacky wrote: »
    When you say rolls do you mean like bread buns?? Thats strange to me to have a bread bun with what we call "Sunday dinner". Also do you eat pumpkin pie or is that a stereotype??

    Yeah. Most people eat pumpkin pie, but I don't find it appealing. I prefer sweet potato pie

    Can't stand either. This is why we always have 2 desserts: pumpkin pie and something else. The something else more often than not is apple or cranberry-apple pie. I'll probably make a cranberry cheesecake this year.

  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Finally spoke to my mother yesterday about the menu, and talked her down from ALL the traditional stuff to something more reasonable (there's going to be 8 of us there):
    • Turkey
    • Roasted sweet potatoes
    • Roasted asparagus with balsamic reduction
    • Corn casserole (family friend is bringing this; it's not traditional for us, but we're skipping stuffing because of it)
    • Some kind of fake turkey for my sister-in-law who is vegetarian
    • Probably some kind of bread product (usually Americanized croissants)
    • Whatever pie my dad feels like making
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    We are usually turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, some sort of new recipe, pumpkin pie and apple pie

    for christmas, it's usually ham, mash potatoes, green beans, salad of some sort. and lots and lots of cookies.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    edited November 2015
    Thanksgiving: turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, corn, carrots, cranberry sauce, rolls, and lots of different dessert options including pumpkin pie, cookies, cheesecake, etc.

    Christmas Eve: lasagna, stuffed shells, salad, rolls, desserts (cookies, pie, etc)

    Christmas Day: usually a roast of some kind

    Easter: ham
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited November 2015
    auddii wrote: »
    Finally spoke to my mother yesterday about the menu, and talked her down from ALL the traditional stuff to something more reasonable (there's going to be 8 of us there):
    • Turkey
    • Roasted sweet potatoes
    • Roasted asparagus with balsamic reduction
    • Corn casserole (family friend is bringing this; it's not traditional for us, but we're skipping stuffing because of it)
    • Some kind of fake turkey for my sister-in-law who is vegetarian
    • Probably some kind of bread product (usually Americanized croissants)
    • Whatever pie my dad feels like making

    Yay for corn casserole (aka corn pudding)! It almost rivals the dressing as the best part of the meal IMHO. Don't skip the dressing . . . have both! My SIL makes it every year and we scarf down the entire dish. Very high calorie and high fat, but super tasty!!!!!!!!!!!

  • mrsmackieblacky
    mrsmackieblacky Posts: 164 Member
    Wow! So would you all say Thanksgiving is the biggest feast of the year or still Christmas?
  • Lone_wolf46
    Lone_wolf46 Posts: 2,709 Member
    Pizza, ice cream and chips
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited November 2015
    mrsmackieblacky wrote: »
    Wow! So would you all say Thanksgiving is the biggest feast of the year or still Christmas?

    In our family it is both on a pretty equal basis. Thanksgiving is all about the food. Christmas is the food plus a bunch of other things.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Pie choices are regional. Some southerners like sweet potato pie, pecan pie, key lime pie.
    Choices for stuffing (or dressing as we call it) are also regional -- cornbread, rice, oyster, sausage.
  • GBrady43068
    GBrady43068 Posts: 1,256 Member
    Everything that isn't nailed down :D
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    RodaRose wrote: »
    Pie choices are regional. Some southerners like sweet potato pie, pecan pie, key lime pie.
    Choices for stuffing (or dressing as we call it) are also regional -- cornbread, rice, oyster, sausage.

    I am in the upper midwest and my family heritage, food wise, tends towards the English/Scottish and German side so we always do a basic sage and onion dressing without the giblets.

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