LET'S TALK THANKSGIVING!

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Replies

  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,646 Member
    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: 6,646 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

    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
    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: 6,646 Member
    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: 2,693 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: 2,983 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

    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: 7,553 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

    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.
  • Peach1948
    Peach1948 Posts: 2,473 Member
    Paula Dean's Southern Cornbread Stuffing!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    edited October 2020
    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 grew up with stuffing made from cubed white bread (a store brand similar to but firmer than Wonderbread), sauteed with onions, celery, and poultry seasoning, combined with sauteed bulk (i.e., not in casing) sage-flavored sausage. I do something similar, although I've taken to subbing pre-cubed bread or cornbread, or even something like Stove-Top mix, but I do the onions, celery, and sausage and add it to whatever I'm using for bread cubes.

    Can't really agree with you "any day" about the stuffing/mashed potatoes comparison. But on Thanksgiving, yes, stuffing > mashed potatoes. But I don't view mashed potatoes as so much of a holidays-only food, since I grew up with mashed potatoes on the table probably three or four days a week (at least in cooler weather). These days, cooking for one, I don't make mashed potatoes that often, but I still make them more often than stuffing.

    ETA: Sometimes when I'm just making the stuffing for me, I'll add dried fruit -- usually cranberries -- and nuts, generally either walnuts or pecans.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    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!! 😁

    Yummy! Can I eat at your house!!!
  • amart4224
    amart4224 Posts: 345 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

    I grew up with mashed potatoes on the table probably three or four days a week (at least in cooler weather).

    We had mashed potatoes 6 days a week year round when I was a kid! Guess it was cheap and could be served with everything my mom cooked so 🤷🏻‍♀️
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    It will just be the two of us because we are super strict about covid-19 protocols. Also, our adult son dislikes any holiday with food as the focus so he usually begs off anyway.

    Faux turkey
    Fruit stuffing (cinnamon raisin bread and cranberries)
    Mashed potatoes
    Cranberry sauce
    Roasted asparagus
    Pumpkin pie
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    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.

    There’s a make ahead recipe for mashed potatoes that you can pop in the oven after the Turkey is out. It involves cream cheese and sour cream. We’ve had it for years and it’s delicious.
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    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
    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.

  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    @kashama2001
    I’ve done that too. Once. It WAS horrid.
    Anyway, what I was going to reply above, is that Campbell has a new cream of mushroom soup, cream of cremini & shitaki.
    No difference from the original that I could discern. There’s really something to say about Thanksgiving and traditional foods we grew up with. It brings back memories. I’m glad my mother isn’t here to see 2020.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,227 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

    For thanksgiving I make my grandmother's stuffing which is literally just hamburger buns broken up super small, butter, salt, and pepper. It IS stuffed into the turkey, though there is often extra which I just wrap into foil and throw into the oven to heat up. It's basic but the perfect companion to the turkey and gravy.

    When I was cooking for a larger group that included my mom who did not like grandma's stuffing, I made Pioneer Woman's Cornbread dressing. Super good. I also will make this recipe when I am making a whole chicken or something throughout the year.