Thanksgiving Food

[emmybee]

I love dark meat turkey, my sourdough stuffing (but just about any stuffing will do), and pumpkin pie.

 

[snowwite]

Homemade stuffing balls (my Mom's recipe). I just started eating cranberry sauce...only with the turkey and gravy.

Now those sound interesting !

 

[Robber Baron]

Homemade stuffing balls (my Mom's recipe).

Well, the term 'stuffing balls' is sparking a brainstorm session.

I think I'll try making arancini, substituting stuffing for the rice....., or.....,Deep fry balls of stuffing.....

Hold my beer.....

 

[DisneyHardin]

Turkey and rolls.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Dressing. I've had it lots of ways and can eat it just about any way*, but prefer cornbread dressing with onion, celery and lots of sage.



*--First time I had Thanksgiving dinner with DW's family, they served dressing with slices of boiled egg in it. I hate boiled eggs.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

I love turkey, gravy, crescent rolls. And the sweet potato casserole I make every year (no marshmallows....brown sugar crumble with pecans for the topping). It gets good reviews which is nice.

 

[fly girl]

No question, my mom's deviled eggs. She has the magic touch! Even after showing me, I cannot replicate them. I could eat them alone in one siting. I love those things.

For traditional dinner food: stuffing, dark meat turkey, pumpkin pie

This year will mark 2 consecutive years celebrating thanksgiving outside of America, and it can be a lot of fun. It's really nice not to have to cook (although working on Thanksgiving day feels weird).

My little family of 3 made a new tradition of going to Disneyland over Thanksgiving. Short trip (catch a late afternoon flight on Tuesday and come home late Friday) but we have a blast.

We celebrate with family the Sunday prior. It works well as football is on TV and it works with extended family. We got very used to celebrating holidays not on the actual day with mine and my dh's career. Have to be flexible.

And I get you, @Lord Manhammer, I worked many many Thanksgivings. It is different, but I think Christmas was always the hardest for me. I enjoyed being out of country for Thanksgiving as it is business as usual. Easy to get a nice meal, no matter what type of food. (harder to do in the states)

I love dark meat turkey, my sourdough stuffing (but just about any stuffing will do), and pumpkin pie.

You are my Thanksgiving sister.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

No question, my mom's deviled eggs. She has the magic touch! Even after showing me I cannot replicate them. I could eat them alone in one siting. I love those things.

For traditional dinner food: stuffing, dark meat turkey, pumpkin pie



My little family of 3 made a new tradition of going to Disneyland over Thanksgiving. Short trip (catch a late afternoon flight on Tuesday and come home late Friday) but we have a blast.

We celebrate with family the Sunday prior. It works well as football is on TV and it works with extended family. We got very used to celebrating holidays not on the actual day with mine and my dh's career. Have to be flexible.

And I get you, @Lord Manhammer, I worked many many Thanksgivings. It is different, but I think Christmas was always the hardest for me. I enjoyed being out of county for Thanksgiving as business are open and you can get a nice meal easily. (harder to do in the states




You are my Thanksgiving sister.

I taught last year on Thanksgiving but I kept the Detroit Parade on my laptop during class so I could glance at it. This year, we'll be in Italy for Thanksgiving so we're looking forward to great pasta or seafood on that Thursday. We are not traditional in any way shape or form. The only difficulty will be watching the Lions as the NFL is not available in Europe.

 

[fly girl]

I taught last year on Thanksgiving but I kept the Detroit Parade on my laptop during class so I could glance at it. This year, we'll be in Italy for Thanksgiving so we're looking forward to great pasta or seafood on that Thursday. We are not traditional in any way shape or form. The only difficulty will be watching the Lions as the NFL is not available in Europe.

I wonder if there is any way to stream the Lions? They are doing well this year. My poor parents have been lifelong Lions fans. Of course I cheer them on too, but I married a Pgh boy ... it was in my wedding vows (not really, but almost) to love, honor, and root for all Pittsburgh teams.

And what part of Italy? That would dictate what I would get for dinner. LOL

 

[Lord Manhammer]

I wonder if there is any way to stream the Lions?

And what part of Italy? That would dictate what I would get for dinner. LOL

Well be in Tuscany, Firenze specifically. It's one of our favourite cities. I'm going to try and jump on a VPN to stream the Lions game. We've been there many times before but after last year we have learned to make reservations. Strangely enough, when we were in Krakow last year, Thanksgiving was a madhouse, EVERY restaurant in town was booked!!

 

[fly girl]

Well be in Tuscany, Firenze specifically. It's one of our favourite cities. I'm going to try and jump on a VPN to stream the Lions game. We've been there many times before but after last year we have learned to make reservations. Strangely enough, when we were in Krakow last year, Thanksgiving was a madhouse, EVERY restaurant in town was booked!!

I am with you, I love Florence! You'll definitely have a good meal (and dessert, hello gelato!) there.

That is crazy how booked it was last year. Hopefully you'll have better luck this year. Enjoy! (hope you have beautiful weather as walking in Florence is bliss)

 

[tvguy]

Jellied cranberry sauce from the can with lines or ridges intact.

We will have that this year because that is a treat for one our guests, and since she's 86 just nice to let her enjoy it.
Normally we make cranberry sauce from scratch, not that it's a big deal because opening a can of cranberry sauce is almost more work. 2 cups water, 2 cups sugar, bring to a boil, put in the fresh cranberries, boil for 10 minutes, done.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We live in the heart of MA cranberry country, so we enjoy cranberries in a lot of dishes year round (as well as walk the bogs), often for meals that are sweet and savory at the same time. We made the mistake of making turkey and cranberry dumplings a week or so ago and now I’m not really craving turkey anymore! What I am most looking forward to at this moment is DH’s cannoli’s and SIL’s chocolate mousse! I’m sure I’ll love my food, though, too, since the traditional turkey dinner is a favorite. I have to work on Thanksgiving, also, but I should be able to make it to the meal.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

I am with you, I love Florence! You'll definitely have a good meal (and dessert, hello gelato!) there.

That is crazy how booked it was last year. Hopefully you'll have better luck this year. Enjoy! (hope you have beautiful weather as walking in Florence is bliss)

It's one of our favourite cities in the world. We have lots of friends there so we will be celebrating indeed. And this year, we will be making reservations for Thanksgiving. The weather should be good 50's, warmer than New England.

 

[NotUrsula]

Roasted or Fried Turkey, and a pecan-heavy dessert. Really the only "Thanksgiving Foods" I like, though I'm always up for quality mashed potatoes. (There also must be turkey & sausage gumbo made with the carcass: that simmers all day in the crockpot on Black Friday, to be eaten after any shopping trips.)

My primary issue with traditional Thanksgiving foods is the textures: almost everything is mush. It's like we're all dedicated to making a meal at which chewing is not necessary. I'm not a fan of mushy foods in general.

The other odd thing about so-called Thanksgiving Foods is that, other than the turkey (which tends to be much more affordable when on sale for the holiday than at other times) the ingredients cost pretty much the same any time they are in season, but there seems to be some strange taboo that says that one cannot eat any of these sacred side dishes on any other day. That one totally baffles me: I bought some fresh cranberries yesterday because there was a sale and I know DH likes them. He froze them, because he wants to save the cranberry sauce experience for 3 more weeks, even though we make the stuff in the microwave and it only takes 7 minutes. (This is even odder for the people who just open a can.) I get that to make stuffing in a bird, then there must be a whole bird, but for just about everything else, why not just make it anytime you feel like eating it?

Typically I get up late (I had enough 5 am "start cooking to serve it all at lunchtime" Thanksgiving mornings in my childhood to last me until death; so we don't eat the turkey until the sun is well over the yardarm here.) I mix up the stuffing with the slurry that I made the night before, then stuff the bird and put it in the oven after DH makes lunch. We watch some football and/or old movies, and DH makes all the rest of the food we are eating, which typically is only 2 extra side dishes when we don't have guests. (I buy the stuff for all of my family's favorites, but they are prepared & eaten a couple at a time over the course of the whole 4-day weekend, rather than having 9 side dishes at one meal.)

 

[NYCgrrl]

 

[NYCgrrl]

Roasted or Fried Turkey, and a pecan-heavy dessert. Really the only "Thanksgiving Foods" I like, though I'm always up for quality mashed potatoes. (There also must be turkey & sausage gumbo made with the carcass: that simmers all day in the crockpot on Black Friday, to be eaten after any shopping trips.)

My primary issue with traditional Thanksgiving foods is the textures: almost everything is mush. It's like we're all dedicated to making a meal at which chewing is not necessary. I'm not a fan of mushy foods in general.

The other odd thing about so-called Thanksgiving Foods is that, other than the turkey (which tends to be much more affordable when on sale for the holiday than at other times) the ingredients cost pretty much the same any time they are in season, but there seems to be some strange taboo that says that one cannot eat any of these sacred side dishes on any other day. That one totally baffles me: I bought some fresh cranberries yesterday because there was a sale and I know DH likes them. He froze them, because he wants to save the cranberry sauce experience for 3 more weeks, even though we make the stuff in the microwave and it only takes 7 minutes. (This is even odder for the people who just open a can.) I get that to make stuffing in a bird, then there must be a whole bird, but for just about everything else, why not just make it anytime you feel like eating it?

Typically I get up late (I had enough 5 am "start cooking to serve it all at lunchtime" Thanksgiving mornings in my childhood to last me until death; so we don't eat the turkey until the sun is well over the yardarm here.) I mix up the stuffing with the slurry that I made the night before, then stuff the bird and put it in the oven after DH makes lunch. We watch some football and/or old movies, and DH makes all the rest of the food we are eating, which typically is only 2 extra side dishes when we don't have guests. (I buy the stuff for all of my family's favorites, but they are prepared & eaten a couple at a time over the course of the whole 4-day weekend, rather than having 9 side dishes at one meal.)

Reading your post made me think. Firstly, I planned on making turkey pot pie soup with the carcass but gumbo sounds even yummier and I’ve andouille in the fridge.
I hear you on the texture sameness. Thru the years I’ve cut a lot of similar textured dishes off the menu with mashed potatoes being one of the first to go. With all the other dishes on the table it’s rarely missed nor is the bread.

My oven space was too limited to traditionally stuff and roast a bird on the day but was able to cut back cooking time by removing many of the major bones including the backbone beforehand and then placing a mound of stuffing under the uncooked bird. The stuffing tastes just as good as when cooked in the bird and the bone removal allows for easier carving at the table.

Novel idea allotting the side dishes throughout the long weekend; keeps them anticipating the next meal!

 

[Disneylover99]

My favorite is the stuffing. I love homemade stuffing, particularly cooked in the bird which I know is controversial for food safety reasons, but I still love it.

Oh yeah. If you’re going to make your own stuffing, you gotta stuff it in the bird.
So good!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Mashed potatoes are not only a Thanksgiving favorite, but an all time favorite. I like them with brown gravy the most.

Stuffing too, I would like to devour an entire dish of that

I am also a big fan of cranberry sauce... cranberry anything really

 

[TwoMisfits]

Roasted or Fried Turkey, and a pecan-heavy dessert. Really the only "Thanksgiving Foods" I like, though I'm always up for quality mashed potatoes. (There also must be turkey & sausage gumbo made with the carcass: that simmers all day in the crockpot on Black Friday, to be eaten after any shopping trips.)

My primary issue with traditional Thanksgiving foods is the textures: almost everything is mush. It's like we're all dedicated to making a meal at which chewing is not necessary. I'm not a fan of mushy foods in general.

The other odd thing about so-called Thanksgiving Foods is that, other than the turkey (which tends to be much more affordable when on sale for the holiday than at other times) the ingredients cost pretty much the same any time they are in season, but there seems to be some strange taboo that says that one cannot eat any of these sacred side dishes on any other day. That one totally baffles me: I bought some fresh cranberries yesterday because there was a sale and I know DH likes them. He froze them, because he wants to save the cranberry sauce experience for 3 more weeks, even though we make the stuff in the microwave and it only takes 7 minutes. (This is even odder for the people who just open a can.) I get that to make stuffing in a bird, then there must be a whole bird, but for just about everything else, why not just make it anytime you feel like eating it?

Typically I get up late (I had enough 5 am "start cooking to serve it all at lunchtime" Thanksgiving mornings in my childhood to last me until death; so we don't eat the turkey until the sun is well over the yardarm here.) I mix up the stuffing with the slurry that I made the night before, then stuff the bird and put it in the oven after DH makes lunch. We watch some football and/or old movies, and DH makes all the rest of the food we are eating, which typically is only 2 extra side dishes when we don't have guests. (I buy the stuff for all of my family's favorites, but they are prepared & eaten a couple at a time over the course of the whole 4-day weekend, rather than having 9 side dishes at one meal.)

That's exactly what I do. I'll make 2 different sides for the final Thanksgiving food use (which tends to be meal #3) and it will be 2 traditional T-day sides I don't serve on the day - usually, that's when my sweet potatoes arrive (since stuffing and mashed potatoes are a must on the day, and there's only so many heavy carbs you need on a plate)...