Thanksgiving dishes?

I'm having Thanksgiving at my place the weekend before thanksgiving and there's going to be 10 of us. This is only my second Thanksgiving so need ideas for dishes!!!

I've heard of the weird sweet potato mash with marshmallows which I think is bizarre. We'll obviously have turkey (how big a turkey will I need for 10 adults??), and vegetables, and pumpkin pie for dessert. What else is traditional??

in the southeast Sweet potato Pie is standard. This is the sweet potato and marshmallow you mentioned.
Another standard is giblet gravy. Could not tell you how to make it since my mother makes it.
Cornbread stuffing
Greenbean casserole
Pecan Pie
Apple Pie
The ever so traditional cranberries out of the can. Just like the pilgrims at the first thanksgiving
Also having Ham as well is a tradition in my family

If you want left overs, you need 1 1/2 pounds per person, so for 10 people that's a 15 pound turkey. If you are making stuffing, make about 15 cups.

If you don't want left overs, you need 1 pound per person, so for 10 peole that's a 10 pound turkey. If you want to make stuffing, make about 10 cups.

I'm a fan of buying 2 smaller turkeys instead of 1 big one. The smaller ones cook faster, and there is twice the legs, wings and thighs for those who like that.

I don't do anything fancy for veggies. Just plain mashed/whipped potatoes with salt, pepper, butter, some sour cream and milk. Gravy. A couple of steamed veggies like carrots and broccoli or cauliflower. Salad. Dinner roll.

You can also make cabbage rolls if you are ambitious, or even buy some at a Ukranian restaurant.

I know some people like to make sweet and sour meatballs too.

But it's my experience that people tend to way over cook for the holidays and make way more food than they need or can eat, even with left overs, and most do it because they feel they "have" to: which isn't the case

Oh, and don't forget dessert! A nice cheesecake for those who want something heavy and something light like a fruit/pudding dessert for those who want something lighter.

EDIT:

So far as cooking, cook on a lower temperature of 325 degrees. If you are stuffing the turkey cook for 4 to 4 1/2 hours for a 15 pound turkey. 3 to 3 1/2 hours if you aren't stuffing it.

EDIT EDIT:

Here is a great site to help you plan your turkey menu:

http://www.butterball.com
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Every family has a bit different tradition, so pick your favs from all the suggestions you get!

My family would have banana bread as well as rolls (usually parker rolls or crescent rolls), my gram's recipe for a simple bread stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, mashed squash (hubbard is sweetest and really good), mashed rutatbaga's, bread and butter pickles, black olives, and I added scalloped oysters which now my mom does every year and I do for my husband and I (while my grandparents were alive, this became a yearly addition as my grandfather liked it too )

Homemade pumpkin, mince and apple pies, with vanilla ice cream available, were standard too.

My other addition is a cranberry relish that is cooked fresh with fresh cranberries, maple syrup, orange juice and zest - think I submitted it to one of the tcs cookbooks, and it truly is the only cranberry relish I'll eat - never a fan until i tried this recipe.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

cranberry relish

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I prefer strawberry or raspberry jam with turkey. Occasionally if my mom had cranberries we would have cranberry sauce, but most of the time we just had jam and it's still what I prefer.

You have to have home made mashed potatoes!!!!!

At our house, the vegetables are supremely important, because both my mom and I are vegetarians. We do mashed potatoes, of course, and also sweet potatoes -- but not with marshmallows. Instead, we peel them, cut them into chunks, and sautee them slowly in butter and brown sugar until they're fall-apart soft.

We also do Harvard beets, and contrary to some recipes, we make them more vinegar-tangy than sweet... and the sauce is light, not gooey. The trick with beets is to use the tiniest little baby beets you can find -- that's when they're most tender.

But my mom's piece de resistance is scalloped corn! That's what she calls it, anyway, but there's no cheese involved. It's just a light cream sauce (butter and flour cooked together, milk added to thin it, a tiny touch of salt) poured into a casserole dish along with fresh-cut (or frozen) corn that's been sprinkled with just a bit of sugar (or Splenda)... topped with white breadcrumbs lightly fried in butter (use good bakery bread, not the spongy supermarket kind)... and baked at about 375 F until the edges bubble. (You'll probably need to cover it lightly with foil during most of the baking, to keep the breadcrumbs from getting too dark.) It doesn't sound like much, but trust me... it's devastating!

Our traditional Thanksiving is Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, yams or sweat potatoes (with marshmellows like you mentioned, it's VERY good!), and a broccoli puff (made with eggs, cheese and bisquick). Then pumpkin and apple pie for dessert. Lately I make yeast rolls too. Oh and I do the jellied cranberry sauce. My Grandma used to make it from scratch and I might give it a try, but I don't know how ambitious I'll be this year.

This year my Mom is just making some turkey breasts so we won't have leftovers. No one ever wants much turkey really in our house.

You must have chicken and dumplings!

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

But my mom's piece de resistance is scalloped corn! That's what she calls it, anyway, but there's no cheese involved. It's just a light cream sauce (butter and flour cooked together, milk added to thin it, a tiny touch of salt) poured into a casserole dish along with fresh-cut (or frozen) corn that's been sprinkled with just a bit of sugar (or Splenda)... topped with white breadcrumbs lightly fried in butter (use good bakery bread, not the spongy supermarket kind)... and baked at about 375 F until the edges bubble. (You'll probably need to cover it lightly with foil during most of the baking, to keep the breadcrumbs from getting too dark.) It doesn't sound like much, but trust me... it's devastating!

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Funny, I never think of cheese when I think of scalloped corn or oysters I love scalloped corn too, but have had it made more like the way I make scallopped oysters - layers of oysters, salt and pepper,dots of butter, then topped with crushed saltines (I use salt-free), layer by layer ending with a layer of saltines, butter, then pouring in cream or half and half, baking. Oh yum.

I have a cousin and he HAS to have white turkey meat, white bread and mayo to make a sandwich for turkeyday dinner. that is the only thing he eats

I always contribute my "killer mashed potatoes" to the Thanksgiving feast. I only do it once a year as it's rather labor intensive.

I boil 6 or 7 Idaho potatoes, already pealed. Frefigerate over night. Next day grate them with one of those 4 sided graters into a large bowl. I then put one small bunch of green onions in my mini chopper. I then add 1/2 cup melted margarine, 16 oz. sour cream, 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese. Combine all ingredients and bake @ 350 for 35-40 minutes.

It's to DIE for!

We usually make a smaller ham & a smaller turkey for about 10 people. Dad & I take ham/turkey sandwiches to work with us for about a week, so mom makes waaayyy more than we could possibly eat. Stuffing, of course. Cranberries. Usually Pilsbury crescents. Pie. And we just boil potatoes then whip them with some milk.

Turkey, the biggest that will fit in the pan. We often cook it on the grill (in an oven bag in an aluminum foil pan)
Mashed potatoes, real not boxed
Giblet gravy - boil the neck, liver, heart until done. Chop up the liver, heart, and boil eggs to add to turkey/chicken gravy
Dressing - same as stuffing, but baked in a separate pan and safer than dressing that may not be cooked thoroughly (i.e. my mother-in-laws)
green bean - casserole or separately cooked
jello salad - cherry jello, with sliced bananas, apples and marshmellows, the green jello with pineapple doesn't sell at my house
fresh bread - Parker House rolls or crescent, must be homemade
pies - pumkin, deep dish apple, mincemeat, pecan, ice cream on the side
cheesecake
egg nog - Braums, with fresh nutmeg on top
nibble tray - black olives, green olives, carrots, celery, sweet pickles

This is the best Sweet Potato recipe - and I HATE sweet potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole
30 oz. can of Sweet Potatoes
drain all juice except 1/4 cup

Add: 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
salt (1/4 tsp.)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. melted margarine

Mix all together, then bake for 30 minutes at 350. Put topping on and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Topping: 1 c. brown sugar
1 c. flour
1 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. melted butter

ETA: Fresh cranberry sauce is REALLY easy. Buy a bag of cranberries at the produce section and follow the directions. It's basically boiling the cranberries for a while and adding a cup of sugar if I remember correctly. It's much better than the canned!

Originally Posted by PookieBoy

I boil 6 or 7 Idaho potatoes, already pealed. Frefigerate over night. Next day grate them with one of those 4 sided graters into a large bowl. I then put one small bunch of green onions in my mini chopper. I then add 1/2 cup melted margarine, 16 oz. sour cream, 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese. Combine all ingredients and bake @ 350 for 35-40 minutes.

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Add 1-2 teaspoons of cayan pepper and this sounds really really good!

Mez

Originally Posted by EnzoLeya

You have to have home made mashed potatoes!!!!!

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Its a staple in our family too! And of course...STUFFING

Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

Our traditional Thanksiving is Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, yams or sweat potatoes (with marshmellows like you mentioned, it's VERY good!), and a broccoli puff (made with eggs, cheese and bisquick). Then pumpkin and apple pie for dessert. Lately I make yeast rolls too. Oh and I do the jellied cranberry sauce.

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Ours is very similar except we don't have the broccoli puff. We also have ham and deviled eggs.

Mez

Green bean casarole, twice baked potatoes, dutch oven baked beans are all staples for my family, but we no longer get the baked beans because my mom can no longer make them.
None of us can make them as good as she did, so we stopped trying.

We always start off with stuffed shells or some other macaroni type dish (we're Italian), salad, turkey, ham, stuffing (classic and rice), yams, mashed potatos, gravy and loads of bakery goodies.

This thread is making me so hungry for Thanksgiving foods!