Thanksgiving ?

I'm surprised I am beating Winchester to starting this thread, but I am early this year. :lol3:


What are those of you in the US doing? What are you cooking? For those in CAnada, what did you do? What did you cook? Did you like or not like some new recipes?


I'm hosting again as usual. I don't have a final number yet, but I had to make up my menu and start shopping early. I'm without a vehicle for roughly two weeks, so didn't want to leave all of my shopping and cooking to the week of Thanksgiving.


So far my menu includes -

Turkey with gravy
Spiral ham
Portuguese cacoila - bought, not made by me.
Rolls with butter
Mashed potatoes can be made ahead. recipe - http://www.food.com/recipe/pioneer-womans-delicious-creamy-mashed-potatoes-475240
Homemade cranberry sauce recipe - http://www.thecatsite.com/t/238195/side-dishes-and-vegetables#post_3867581
Canned cranberry sauce
Macaroni and cheese recipe - http://www.thecatsite.com/t/238195/side-dishes-and-vegetables#post_3139883
Portuguese chourico stuffing
French meat stuffing - http://www.thecatsite.com/t/238195/side-dishes-and-vegetables#post_3654292
sausage and cornbread stuffing -

I'm not sure on vegetables yet. I found a baby carrot recipe to do in the crockpot that looks interesting. http://www.thereciperebel.com/slow-cooker-honey-orange-glazed-carrots/


I'll put out some chips and dips. I'm trying a new shrimp scampi dip http://damndelicious.net/2014/08/01/shrimp-scampi-dip/ I've got cheese and crackers also. My SIL is bringing some type of appetizer as well.

For dessert we have a chocolate candy bark http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/halloween-peanut-butter-and-toffee-candy-bark , chocolate chip cookies, a chocolate mousse cake that I am trying - http://omgchocolatedesserts.com/chocolate-mousse-cake/ and others normally bring desserts.

The drink situation is a little crazy. Plenty of wine and bottled beer. I'm going to make an apple pie sangria. The past few years I have had a list of different cocktails and people really got into that and started rating them with stars. It's become a thing. There will be a cranberry margarita and I'm still working out the details of the others.

DD's BF is joining us this year. His parents (for whatever reason) do not  celebrate Thanksgiving 

He has dietary restrictions so there's a lot of things he can't eat (dairy, gluten, chocolate, most alcohol and anything oily or greasy)

As of right now, the menu will be

Roast beef (probably an eye round as it's lean) (DD AKA The Queen  doesn't like turkey)

Gluten free beef gravy to go with

Vegan roasted garlic mashed potatoes

Salad of some kind with vinaigrette. Maybe I'll make some gluten free croutons to go on that

Maybe a veggie- DD is very picky about vegetables too

Gluten free rolls or bread of some kind with vegan butter

Fruit sorbet with gluten free, dairy free sugar cookies for dessert

A roasted bone in chicken breast to shred up to use as a topper/treat for the furkids. Lily, Sophie and Bailey (the dog) will get some roast beef as well. Henry will  just get chicken. Beef is too rich for his tummy. 

I am going to my cousin's for Thanksgiving. There will be about 16 of us. I will be the only cousin. The rest are siblings and their kids and SO's.

I think the menu will be:

cheese, crackers, veggies with dip

Turkey, stuffing, gravy

Mashed white potatoes (instant--yuck)

roasted plain sweet potatoes

green bean,

peas

cranberry sauce

Ham, I hope

butternut squash (mashed with just a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon, plenty of butter) Another, I hope; because I usually bring that, but have not been asked as of yet...I will inquire next week if the hosts wants anything...Do not want to ruffle feathers....

Custard pie, 

Apple pie

cookies.....

Beer, wine, water, soda, sparkling water, cider, sparkling cider

We are eating at 1:30pm... I would rather a bit later, like 2pm, but I am not in charge. 

It is over an hours drive from my apartment. 

I may bring something....do not know what

At least, that is the usual menu......

If I was home, I would make either a cornish game hen or a chicken for myself...it is just me and Artie...

AbbysMom said:

I'm surprised I am beating @Winchester to starting this thread, but I am early this year.

 

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I was working on it! 

I think there will be seven of us; Rick and I were supposed to go to Philadelphia to spend time with my niece and her family, but we won't leave Jackie alone that long. 

So far the menu is:

Good Eats Roast Turkey (brined all night in the basement)

Crock Pot Stuffing (a mixture of browned sausage, three kinds of breads, and apples)

Party Potatoes with All-Purpose Gravy (my version of mashed potatoes, but easier)

Sagaponek Corn Pudding (from the Barefoot Contessa)

Roasted Winter Vegetables (also from the Barefoot Contessa, with roasted butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes & parsnips. Leftovers will be used in a bisque on Friday, if there are any leftovers.)

Mom's Cranberry Relish (cranberries, apples, and oranges)

Freezer Cabbage (a pickled cabbage that can be frozen)

Praline Pumpkin Pie or Maple Pumpkin Pie - I haven't decided yet, but am leaning toward the maple one

Black Bottom Peanut Butter Pie (a chocolate bottom with peanut butter filling. Yum)

Small Tray of Assorted Cookies (I'll make them this weekend and toss them in the freezer)

Sugared Pecans  

Iced Tea and Coffee

Autumn Harvest Blush Wine (I have 3 bottles....it's really good stuff)

It's pretty much the same menu as last year. We are big on tradition for the holidays. What I like about this menu is that everything is make-ahead but the turkey. Once I get everything made on Wednesday night? It's just a matter of throwing the turkey into the Nesco roaster on Thursday morning, putting the stuffing together in the crock pot, and then timing it to put the side dishes in as we go. A quick reheat of the gravy and dinner will be served. Easy peasy. Dinner will be at 4:00.

We're having Thanksgiving on Sunday this year, it's the only way to get everybody together at the same time.  That's fine, it doesn't matter what day of the week it is, as long as everybody can be there.  

I'm making a ham!!  I'm serious too!  it's just my little family and no one here is crazy about turkey; so ham it is!  I really want some home made split pea and ham soup!  

So the menu is:

• Brown Sugar Ham
• Sweet potato casserole
• Carrots
• Mashed potatoes (this is a maybe)
• Oven roasted veggie medely (I forget what it's actually called, but it has various squashes, potatoes and onions cubed and tossed in a balsamic vinegar, rosemary and thyme mixture before roasting in the oven.)

So far I have not planned a dessert.  I may go simple like apple cake.  It's really just us; so I get to take it easy!  I might even leave out the carrots and mashed potatoes.  No major messes in the kitchen and time to relax.  Sounds like something to be thankful for! 

It's just my parents, me and my brother every year! We basically do the same stuff every year... I am not sure what time we are having dinner. Probably 3 or 4 since my brother is coming Thanksgiving morning with his dog they live out of town. It just depends when the turkey gets done and we're all ready to eat.

Turkey

Stuffing (one in the turkey which is my favorite and one not in the turkey)

Cranberry Sauce - Whole and jellied. We just buy canned nothing special.

Homemade mashed potatoes and gravy

Sweet Potato Bake (A small helping my brother and dad don't like sweet potatoes so more for me. )

Homemade yeast rolls

And we usually do celery with  peanut butter, cream cheese & pimento spread. Not on all one stick of course.

Chips and dip when the turkey is cooking.

We also do a veggie tray.

And different kinds of crackers with cheese & some kind of lunch meat but usually salami!

Oh and dessert I almost forgot!

Pumpkin Pie - Will be homemade

Marie Calendar's Razzleberry pie. It's raspberry and blueberry pie haven't tried but am excited to!

And of course chocolate cream pie! Will be homemade well except the crust. We bought 3 containers of cool whip for the pies lol.

I really can't wait for Thanksgiving. Good food & most importantly family time!  

I think I'm staying home alone this year.  

Tom's mom has cancer. We just found out it spread to her lungs, so things are not looking good.  He's heading up there to spend a few days with her.  I could go, but honestly I think it's best if he spends some quality time alone with her.  He recently lost his dad, so she's got all that grieving going on combined with being so ill.  It really sucks.

One of my sisters is having her almost yearly get together for all of us (siblings, we lost our parents years ago) but, she lives kind of far away also, and I really am finding driving in the dark to be an issue as I'm getting older.  I don't think I can leave at dusk - dinner probably won't even be served yet.  My brother would bring me and get me home but that means I'm stuck until he decides to get on the road, which knowing him could be really late.  I'd stay at my sister's but I have an important doctor visit early Friday morning even further north than my house; doing that much driving isn't anything I care to do either.

I'm ok with this.  I'm not that big on Thanksgiving food anyway - unless I cook it.  My family are good cooks but they stick to the usual all the time and most of it isn't appealing to me anymore. I kind of like the idea of having a few days to myself since I have off Friday also.  I'm probably going to take Wednesday too - so it will be a nice 5 day quiet weekend for me.  

Tom will be back late Friday, so maybe I'll cook us up a late feast

This year it will be our usual 5.  I am thinking about inviting a couple of friends.

Our usual menu is

Turkey

Stuffing done in turkey

Gravy

Canned Jelly Cranberries

Black Olives

Homemade mashed potatoes

Salad?

Maybe an acorn squash

Fruit salad made w/Cantalope, watermelon and grapes

Pillsbury crescent rolls

Rudi's Gluten free rolls

Dessert will be store bought pumpkin pie and something for the guys who don't eat that.

My DH does the cooking, but I do the shopping and my cast doesn't come off until the day before Turkey day.  He may have to do the bird buying since my son who has been doing the shopping will be totally mystified if I ask him to buy a turkey.  How big?  What brand?  Where is it in the store? What do they mean by young turkey?   LOL  He drove me (and DD) to Costco yesterday, we stocked up because I don't think I'll get him to do it  again. 

betsygee said:

@AbbysMom
 cranberry margaritas!  That sounds yummy.    

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Here you go -

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/cranberry-margaritas/

I made them a few years back and they were a hit.

Ooooh, man that looks good! I may have to do a test-drive Friday night. 

AbbysMom said:

 

betsygee said:

@AbbysMom
 cranberry margaritas!  That sounds yummy.  

 
 

Click to expand...

Here you go -

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/cranberry-margaritas/

I made them a few years back and they were a hit.

Click to expand...

Thank you!  I'm going to try those.  

We usually go to our son's for Thanksgiving Day and her parents are always there too. We chip in to help with the meal.

They have a new baby. Needless to say, they don't have time for cooking. We are all going to meet at a place in between and have a restaurant meal. It is hard for me to do that and get something I can eat because of eating gluten free. So I am not much looking forward to the actual meal. They haven't said yet which restaurant. Several years ago we did the same thing because they had a new baby. That meal was a buffet type. It was awful as just about everything on their buffet had gravy. The mashed potatoes without the gravy were bad and tasted like instant. I tried to fill up on veggies, but it was an expensive meal for veggies, no bread, no meat and no dessert.

I am looking forward to spending the time with them though. They live two hours away and so we don't get to see them much. After we eat, we will probably go on to their house and spend some time there. I might cook us a really good meal to have on Tuesday or Wednesday before if I think the Thanksgiving pickings might be rough.

We always had a big crowd at Mom's on Thanksgiving, but she and Dad have been gone several years and everyone is now 'doing their own thing' with their children/grandchildren. 

A friend invited me to her house again this year, but I opted to do the cooking this year (frankly, she just plain can't cook! LOL and her rendition of Thanksgiving dinner last year consisted of sandwiches, baked beans and potato salad on paper plates with a store bought pie for dessert. NOT!). My daughter will be going elsewhere on Thursday, so I am having dinner on the Saturday after so my daughter, her friend, and a few others will be coming as well - maybe 8 or 10 in total? There are always a few who 'drop-in' - the more the merrier!

I am a traditionalist when it comes to Holiday dinners, so I will be doing the 'whole feast' - the one I grew up with - and my daughter will coming over Friday to help prepare things. Most everything but the turkey and dressing, can be made a day or two beforehand and brought out and/or baked/warmed on Saturday.

So, my menu will consist of:

Turkey - probably 16 pounds - with a paprika and honey glaze.

Dressing - homemade; not out of a box. Yuk!

Green bean casserole  - (I mix cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup for this and add sliced fresh mushroom and sauteed onions).

Sweet corn - with cream, salt, pepper, butter and little sugar (I cut the corn off the cob when it came in season late summer and froze it).

Mashed potatoes  - with caramelized onions and garlic.

Homemade gravy. (I divide the turkey drippings between the dressing and the gravy)

Sweet potatoes - candied with brown sugar, butter, nutmeg and vanilla.

Jellied cranberries - my daughter always makes these. Grammy taught her when she was a little girl and this has been her 'special contribution' every year.

Dinner rolls -  with honey butter.

Hot slaw - with bacon

Relish tray - gherkin pickles, pickled beets, pickled cauliflower, spiced okra, red & black olives, and spiced apple rings.

Veggie tray - cherry tomatoes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, three colors of bell pepper strips, baby carrots, radishes and a ranch dip.

A bowl of mixed nuts.

Dessert - this year I am making homemade pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake with a caramel glaze, and a homemade apple pie with golden vanilla ice-cream.

Drinks: Soda, sweet tea, coffee, and a bottle of 2012 Robert Mondavi-Woodbridge Chardonnay I have been holding back for a special occasion. It goes great with turkey! (I'll probably run out and grab an extra bottle or two of wine (maybe a Reisling and a Merlot?) because we will be sitting around after dinner talking, laughing, playing cards or watching a good movie. 

And, yes, I get out out the linen table cloth and fine china and stemware too! C'mon! It's a once-a-year celebration! 

My daughter will be spending the night, so it should be a good, but very lazy, weekend!

The Boys will, of course, get their share of roasted turkey! 

Rick took me out to a very nice local restaurant one year for their Thanksgiving buffet. We were not impressed and, on the way home, he even said, "Look, I know that it's not easy cooking a big dinner for everybody. But I can't do that again. It wasn't worth it." And I agreed. We've never done it since. Barbara, I hope you can find something on the menu that you'll be able to eat for dinner.

We're pretty traditional, too, for our holiday dinners, but I think Christmas more so than Thanksgiving for the most part. The first year I made our stuffing in the crock pot, I thought there was going to be a mutiny when everybody found out. Surprisingly, everybody loved the crock pot stuffing and now, even when we have dinner at my sister's, I'm still asked to bring that along...they still stuff their bird, but everybody really likes the crock pot stuffing, too.

I always buy the biggest bird I can find, usually about 24 pounds, and then I worry like crazy that it's not thawing fast enough in the fridge. Sometimes we'll buy a local free-range turkey from a farmer, but most of the time, I buy one that's frozen.  We always brine overnight in the basement in a cooler with lots of ice to keep the bird well-chilled. Lots of leftovers for us, even with everybody else taking some leftovers home, too.

There is nothing like a huge turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving! 

By Thanksgiving, I usually have the kitchen decorated for Christmas, so it's nice and festive. The red tablecloth with the matching napkins (I use cloth napkins for the holiday dinners). I have a ton of Winterberry dishes and I mix in my red and green Fiesta dishes on the table. We always do something really nice for our table centerpieces. Our table(s) look very nice. Sometimes with everybody, we'll have the adult table and then a kids' table, too, which is just a card table....but I always make sure it has its tablecloth and that it's decorated. The last time we had the kids' table set up, my sister-in-law and I sat with the kids and we had a blast. It makes for a very busy kitchen, but there are also some neat memories of sitting at the kids' table when we were kids and how we couldn't wait til we were old enough for the "big people's table".

Banshee used to park her butt in front of the oven, waiting for the turkey to come out. She would be beside herself until she got her share. She dearly loved turkey. Today, it's Tabby who loves to enjoy the turkey. And she's pretty much the only one.
 

blueyedgirl5946 said:

We usually go to our son's for Thanksgiving Day and her parents are always there too. We chip in to help with the meal.

They have a new baby. Needless to say, they don't have time for cooking. We are all going to meet at a place in between and have a restaurant meal. It is hard for me to do that and get something I can eat because of eating gluten free. So I am not much looking forward to the actual meal. They haven't said yet which restaurant. Several years ago we did the same thing because they had a new baby. That meal was a buffet type. It was awful as just about everything on their buffet had gravy. The mashed potatoes without the gravy were bad and tasted like instant. I tried to fill up on veggies, but it was an expensive meal for veggies, no bread, no meat and no dessert.

I am looking forward to spending the time with them though. They live two hours away and so we don't get to see them much. After we eat, we will probably go on to their house and spend some time there. I might cook us a really good meal to have on Tuesday or Wednesday before if I think the Thanksgiving pickings might be rough.

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Most restaurants now days offer varied menu items such as vegan and gluten free. You might want to call ahead and see what they offer. If they don't offer anything gluten free on their menu, explain to them your dilemma and ask if you could bring your own dinner so you can still celebrate with your family. It never hurts to ask!

Another option would be to select a restaurant that you know carries a gluten free menu. Here is a link that has many listings! 

http://glutenfreeguidehq.com/chain-restaurants/

Otherwise, perhaps you could eat a light dinner beforehand at home and just enjoy the company of your family while sharing drinks and maybe a salad?

Make it a positive celebration and enjoy!

betsygee now I'm no expert on American Thanksgiving, but I think you might want to offer a little more than that! :lol3:

This year we went to our friend's house and I bought dinner rolls and a maple pecan cheesecake. Both first time recipes, and both were big hits! I made the cheesecake again last weekend, and it's a real treat. Basically I combined two recipes and came up with that one. Definitely a special occasion kind of dessert.

The rolls were awesome particularly as I have given up on using my bread machine and was looking for handmade rolls. This is the recipe I used and I thoroughly recommend it:

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-mak...-rolls-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-187478

pushylady said:

@betsygee now I'm no expert on American Thanksgiving, but I think you might want to offer a little more than that!

 

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Yes; it's not exactly a day known for fasting.   

I've been thinking.  I can't see us having Thanksgiving without making an apple pie.  So I guess I will be making one.  I usually do 4 pies.  So only 1 apple shouldn't be TOO big of a deal.  I always want my crusts to turn out like my Gram's.  It seemed so easy when I was a kid and had her right there with me.  I have used the pre-made ones; but they aren't as good as home made. My pies have tasted fine; even if they didn't LOOK so good! 

I'm trying to decide if I can come up with some kind of potato side dish to replace mashed potatoes.  But I don't want to be in the kitchen all day.  So we shall see! 

MoochNNoodles said:

 

pushylady said:

@betsygee now I'm no expert on American Thanksgiving, but I think you might want to offer a little more than that!

 

Click to expand...

Yes; it's not exactly a day known for fasting. 

 

I've been thinking.  I can't see us having Thanksgiving without making an apple pie.  So I guess I will be making one.  I usually do 4 pies.  So only 1 apple shouldn't be TOO big of a deal.  I always want my crusts to turn out like my Gram's.  It seemed so easy when I was a kid and had her right there with me.  I have used the pre-made ones; but they aren't as good as home made. My pies have tasted fine; even if they didn't LOOK so good! 

I'm trying to decide if I can come up with some kind of potato side dish to replace mashed potatoes.  But I don't want to be in the kitchen all day.  So we shall see! 

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   I know, I know....we don't normally do Thanksgiving so we don't have a repertoire of recipes for this holiday.      But since we're planning dinner for nine people, I guess we'd better come up with more than squash gratin and cranberry margaritas....  

MoochNNoodles said:

 
Yes; it's not exactly a day known for fasting. 

 

I've been thinking.  I can't see us having Thanksgiving without making an apple pie.  So I guess I will be making one.  I usually do 4 pies.  So only 1 apple shouldn't be TOO big of a deal.  I always want my crusts to turn out like my Gram's.  It seemed so easy when I was a kid and had her right there with me.  I have used the pre-made ones; but they aren't as good as home made. My pies have tasted fine; even if they didn't LOOK so good! 

I'm trying to decide if I can come up with some kind of potato side dish to replace mashed potatoes.  But I don't want to be in the kitchen all day.  So we shall see! 

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You can always do an 'alternative' mashed potato! 

When I have left over mashed potatoes, I will saute` some garlic and onions in butter until just starting to caramelize, then add them to the potatoes and re-mash with the mixer. Then add in some eggs (depending on how much potatoes you have - usually 2), and mix those in. Then spread them in a 9 X 13 baking dish and bake until the top just starts to brown (about 30 minutes at 325*). Pull them out and add some grated cheese (I usually use cheddar or something similar) and bake until the cheese is melted and starts to bubble and get slightly golden. You can sprinkle the top with a garnish of finely minced chives for a little color contrast. They are awesome!

If you don't have left-overs, you can make some regular mashed potatoes a day or two in advance and put in the refrigerator and mix them up the day you need them. 

Hint: This is a good mix if you feel the need to use instant potatoes because the onions, garlic, butter and cheese 'hide' the instant flavor! And if you don't have enough left-overs of 'real' potatoes, you can add /mix instant in with them for a larger yield.