What do you Americans eat for Thanksgiving??
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I have made Thanksgiving dinner for like the past 7-8 years. My menu goes like this:
Shrimp and cocktail sauce
Meatballs
Celery and cream cheese
Turkey and sausage stuffing
Cheesy broccoli casserole
Sweet potatoes with marshmallows
Dinner rolls
Mashed potatoes
Pumpkin roll (Never any pumpkin pie. BLECH.)
And this year it will be a blueberry-oatmeal-crumb dessert0 -
My family is traditional, we have turkey on Thanksgiving, ham on Christmas, ham for Easter. All the meals are pretty equal in quantity of food but Thanksgiving is definitely more centered around indulging than the other holidays. We make pumpkin, pecan, mincemeat, pecan cream cheese, and apple cranberry pies on Thanksgiving. Easter and Christmas desserts are more like cookies and creative assorted desserts vs. pies.0
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mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Is it similar to Christmas dinner??
for both holidays most americans eat.....everything in sight then lay on the couch w their pants undone and watch football. Its not a very pretty sight.
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mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Wow! So would you all say Thanksgiving is the biggest feast of the year or still Christmas?
All American holidays focus on food, barbeques, buffets, candy. chocolate or whatever...its really very sad./0 -
I disagree with this. For me and my family, the primary focus of the holidays is family and friends.mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Wow! So would you all say Thanksgiving is the biggest feast of the year or still Christmas?
All American holidays focus on food, barbeques, buffets, candy. chocolate or whatever...its really very sad./
ETA: If it was just food, we wouldn't waste the time or money to travel the 8+ hours to see family. We would just cook good food at our house.0 -
I disagree with this. For me and my family, the primary focus of the holidays is family and friends.mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Wow! So would you all say Thanksgiving is the biggest feast of the year or still Christmas?
All American holidays focus on food, barbeques, buffets, candy. chocolate or whatever...its really very sad./
ETA: If it was just food, we wouldn't waste the time or money to travel the 8+ hours to see family. We would just cook good food at our house.
+1
Thanksgiving is based on a harvest feast, so sure the food bit is important, but hardly the only thing (and I think it's usually a reasonably healthy meal). Plus, there are commonly physical traditional associated with them -- Turkey Trots or family activities outdoors, depending on the weather and the group. Christmas, Easter, the 4th, the 1st may have food traditions associated with them, but for my family and friends food is certainly not the central thing. Even Christmas where there are endless parties leading up to it has many elements (the religious, gift giving) that seem to me much more central.0 -
I'm in Texas and we don't have turkey every year because not everyone likes it. We do have either cornbread dressing with chicken or duck dressing, chicken n dumplings, ham, broccoli rice casserole, green bean casserole, turnip greens, rolls, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, pecan pie, chocolate pie, and usually a fruit salad.0
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mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Is it similar to Christmas dinner??
for both holidays most americans eat.....everything in sight then lay on the couch w their pants undone and watch football. Its not a very pretty sight.
That's a stereotype. My very traditional family doesn't watch TV nor unbutton our pants after eating. We sit at the dinner table and talk to my grandparents or play with the kids or go outside and actually play football or bags.0 -
I disagree with this. For me and my family, the primary focus of the holidays is family and friends.mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Wow! So would you all say Thanksgiving is the biggest feast of the year or still Christmas?
All American holidays focus on food, barbeques, buffets, candy. chocolate or whatever...its really very sad./
ETA: If it was just food, we wouldn't waste the time or money to travel the 8+ hours to see family. We would just cook good food at our house.
agreed0 -
Last year we stayed home for Thanksgiving and opted for stuffed pizza for dinner! We also watched the movie "Free Birds" and laughed with our mid aged kids. But we usually eat the above: turkey, potatoes with gravy, veggie, stuffing, etc.
I actually have my first turkey in the oven this morning! I purchase abut 3-4 turkeys at this time of year and make one a month throughout the fall/winter. It is rainy here so at 50 cents a pound turkey is a great option; turkey noodle soup is on the menu for tomorrow!
My favorite part of turkey are the leftovers: turkey noodle soup, turkey chili, just meat for sandwiches, salads, etc...
What do you do with your turkey leftovers?
I usually make some green chile turkey stew and then save some turkey for sandwiches. i love turkey sandwiches.0 -
@dawnz75 - I always make a stock that night. Leftovers are usually some kind of turkey soup, apple/stuffing muffins, turkey croquettes, turkey sandwiches, turkey curry, turkey/sweet potato shepherd's pie, turkey pot pie, sweet potato soup, etc. Cranberry sauce gets spread on sandwiches if there is any left.
My favorite part of the food is re-purposing the leftovers!0 -
mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Wow! So would you all say Thanksgiving is the biggest feast of the year or still Christmas?
All American holidays focus on food, barbeques, buffets, candy. chocolate or whatever...its really very sad./
Not sure I agree with this, but even if true, why is that sad?0 -
mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Is it similar to Christmas dinner??
for both holidays most americans eat.....everything in sight then lay on the couch w their pants undone and watch football. Its not a very pretty sight.
Huge stereotype
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mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Wow! So would you all say Thanksgiving is the biggest feast of the year or still Christmas?
All American holidays focus on food, barbeques, buffets, candy. chocolate or whatever...its really very sad./
Not sure I agree with this, but even if true, why is that sad?
I don't agree either. But even if it were true, there is nothing sad about eating good food with good people. Sounds like she is bitter about something...0 -
Our family does the traditional Thanksgiving feast; roasted turkey, dressing (stuffing), fresh cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, roasted brussel sprouts; fresh baked breads/butter, and pumpkin pie. Carb heavy but so good.
Christmas dinner is never turkey. Since we're second generation Italians we do a totally Italian-American Christmas Eve (Feast of the Seven Fishes) with fish and vegetables for dinner. OK, and bread too. Then off to midnight Mass.
Christmas day is usually melon wrapped with Prosciutto de Parma, salad and fresh made garlic bread then a pasta stuffed with cheeses and Prosciutto di Parma served with Italian sausage, pork, and beef simmered in red sauce (gravy). Dessert is always cannoli, and other Italian pastries from a local Italian market with espresso and desert wines. Wine with dinner is a must too!
It's all about family and food -- the two go together! We like to keep the traditions alive that our grandparents brought over from the old country!
Between the two holidays our family loves the Christmas holiday the most since we are all together.0 -
MsJulesRenee wrote: »mrsmackieblacky wrote: »Is it similar to Christmas dinner??
for both holidays most americans eat.....everything in sight then lay on the couch w their pants undone and watch football. Its not a very pretty sight.
That's a stereotype. My very traditional family doesn't watch TV nor unbutton our pants after eating. We sit at the dinner table and talk to my grandparents or play with the kids or go outside and actually play football or bags.
So very nice.
We try to center what we do around family. The act of cooking, I do with my children. They are in the kitchen the whole time and we talk the entire prep time. They go to my mother's house to set the table and then visit with her while she puts out the cloth napkins and teaches them about dinner etiquette. We continue the tradition of connecting by cleaning the kitchen and doing the dishes together.
We talk to the kids about school, life, friends, challenges they may be having, goals for the future. It's a beautiful day and in my humble opinion, the food is secondary. There's a park within walking distance and if the weather is decent, we let the kids go play while we grownups get a chance to catch up. Often my mother will ask my husband to do a few favors for her, around the house.
It's what you make of it.
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We do turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, corn, and dinner rolls. I've never had green bean casserole or yams/sweet potato casserole and I'm from the Midwest (funny what is so traditional to some people and so not traditional to others!). Dessert is apple pie and/or pumpkin pie. For Christmas, we mix it up each year. One year we'll have Italian and do lasagna or something, then maybe the next year is pork. Last year we did fondue for the first time which was fun and totally different!0
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Not sure this year -- it's our first Thanksgiving on our own and also first Thanksgiving being vegetarian.0
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Apparently we are having enchiladas, beans, rice, tamales, shrimp and crab legs. Because we are going to a friends house.... It hurts every bone in my body but there will be wine so I'm sure I'll get over it. Lol0
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