Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Winchester · Nov 20, 2016

Oh crap. I wanted to get the turkey out of the freezer and get it into the fridge on Friday night. Forgot about it and remembered as we were about halfway down to the kids Saturday morning. It's a 24-pounder, so it's going to take awhile to completely thaw. As soon as we got home last night, Rick ran downstairs, took Mr. Tom out of the freezer and tucked him into the fridge to start thawing for Thursday. I may have to do some last-minute running cold water thawing on Wednesday night to get it completely thawed out.

I haven't stuffed a turkey in a long time, but I'm considering it this year. I always remember Alton Brown saying "Stuffing is evil!" and the "experts" citing all these statistics for food poisoning from stuffing a turkey. But my mom did it forever and I did it for years and nobody ever got sick. My sister still stuffs her turkey.

Anybody stuff (or refuse to stuff) your turkey?

miagi's_mommy · Nov 20, 2016

My mom stuffs the turkey and makes stuffing outside of the turkey. I really enjoy both.

denice · Nov 20, 2016

I too haven't stuffed a turkey in years and quit because of food poison warnings. I really do prefer it in the bird rather than outside. I have read that if it's stuffed very very loose and only part way that it is safer.

AbbysMom · Nov 26, 2016

So did anyone make anything different this year that was a huge hit? The shrimp scampi dip I made last year was again a huge hit this year and gone within 15 minutes.

The experimental carrot cake with a layer of cheesecake in the middle was also a huge hit.

Winchester · Nov 26, 2016

The salted caramel chocolate pecan pie was an instant hit this year (and I was told not to wait until Christmas to make it again!) Seriously drool-worthy. Seriously. If you love salted caramel, chocolate and pecans, this pie is for you. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/caramel-chocolate-pecan-pie I will say that it took almost an hour for the chocolate base to finish baking in the oven.

The fake Lofthouse sugar cookies went over very well. Rick loves them. My MIL and my GF and her DH took home a bunch. I've made them twice in the past week or so alone. (And I need to stop making them!!)

The new stuffing recipe that I tried went over very well as did the different herbs I slathered onto the turkey. I love crushed fennel and I also love sage, but wasn't sure if others would. It was a big hit. I ended up not stuffing the bird....I don't know, I haven't done it in so long, I'm almost leery.

betsygee · Nov 26, 2016

AbbysMom said:
The experimental carrot cake with a layer of cheesecake in the middle was also a huge hit.

That sounds decadent!

I made caramelized butternut squash instead of the gratin and it was a hit. Also very easy to make, I liked that.

ginny · Nov 26, 2016

I worked and the family was gracious enough to invite me to their table. So we had turkey/dressing/gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans and pumpkin pie for dessert. Yum. And I brought the deviled eggs. What's a get-together without deviled eggs?

ginny · Nov 26, 2016

I wish I'd thought to make some pineapple casserole. Not exactly Thanksgivingy, but it's to die for!

miagi's_mommy · Nov 26, 2016

We did fresh green beans with bacon instead of green bean casserole. I couldn't get enough.

foxxycat · Nov 26, 2016

I made green bean casserole with cream of chicken instead of mushroom..umm yuck. No. I should have stuck with cream of mushroom. It wasn't bad but not as yummy as the other one. I made one of each. the classic was for Thursday and that was gone pronto. I made it just a tad soupy and piled fried onions on it and baked until crispy on the edges. came out good. yesterday I made the chicken soup beans and its soso. I made it because I wasn't sure if I would have enough gravy because it was a while before the bird had drippings.

I always stuff the turkey. My theory is=if it's not 170 degrees I just nuke it. voila. I always cook the bird until stuffing is 170. I turned the heat down to 300 because the outside was getting dried up. So covered with tinfoil and also layered stuffing along the creases of the wings etc. We love the crispy critters on the outside and instead of fighting over the half cup of stuffing that comes out crispy-I usually make a shelf with tin foil on the side of the bird and it comes out perfect. I ate way too much both days. I didn't bring any left overs to work because I knew once I ate it I would get sleepy. That's going to be tonight's meal.

Winchester · Nov 28, 2016

My sister's family says it's not Thanksgiving dinner without the green bean casserole. My sister also says it's not Christmas dinner without scalloped oysters; she's the only one in the family who eats them. I will make them for her, but I will not eat oysters.

I decided not to stuff. We brined and, even though I rinsed the turkey thoroughly, I still didn't want to take a chance on getting too much salt in the stuffing. I still stuff my roasted chickens sometimes, so I don't know why I'm so wary of stuffing a turkey anymore.

Yeah, we pretty much spent the weekend feeding our faces; had I not walked so much the past three days, getting on the scales this morning would have been really ugly. As it was, I still gained two pounds.

I thought that with making that turkey pie last night, that would be the end of the turkey because we had given my GF quite a bit of leftover turkey. Then Rick told me he had put a bag of turkey in the freezer on Thanksgiving.

I'm thinking either turkey corn soup or turkey tetrazzini. Rick's mother reminded me that I still had not made her a BBQ chicken pizza; I could probably use turkey for that, too. Not right now though...I'm turkey-ed out.

Kat0121 · Nov 28, 2016

We had a very simple meal. It was just DD and me. I made these shrimp. I made extra sauce and we dipped pieces of baguette into it. It was so good.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/220597/simple-garlic-shrimp/

I don't eat capers so I looked over the reviews and a lot of people used olive brine so that's what I did. It added a unique sourness to the sauce that was great. It was fast and easy. Minutes of cooking instead of hours. Works for me. Roasting the bone in chicken breast for the furkids took a lot longer.

They loved it and were so happy. They saw me getting it ready for them and all 3 were on the kitchen table pacing around impatiently waiting for their dishes to arrive. Sophie scolded me for taking too long but she usually does.

ginny · Nov 28, 2016

Winchester said:
My sister's family says it's not Thanksgiving dinner without the green bean casserole. My sister also says it's not Christmas dinner without scalloped oysters; she's the only one in the family who eats them. I will make them for her, but I will not eat oysters.

I decided not to stuff. We brined and, even though I rinsed the turkey thoroughly, I still didn't want to take a chance on getting too much salt in the stuffing. I still stuff my roasted chickens sometimes, so I don't know why I'm so wary of stuffing a turkey anymore.

Yeah, we pretty much spent the weekend feeding our faces; had I not walked so much the past three days, getting on the scales this morning would have been really ugly. As it was, I still gained two pounds.

I thought that with making that turkey pie last night, that would be the end of the turkey because we had given my GF quite a bit of leftover turkey. Then Rick told me he had put a bag of turkey in the freezer on Thanksgiving.

I'm thinking either turkey corn soup or turkey tetrazzini. Rick's mother reminded me that I still had not made her a BBQ chicken pizza; I could probably use turkey for that, too. Not right now though...I'm turkey-ed out.

I guess we do things differently in my family, but we've always put the "stuffing" - we call it dressing - in a big ole 9x13 pan like it's a separate dish, never in the bird.

Another leftover recipe for the turkey would be Turkey A La King. My mom used to make that after Thanksgiving a few times.

Kat0121 · Nov 28, 2016

Ginny said:
I guess we do things differently in my family, but we've always put the "stuffing" - we call it dressing - in a big ole 9x13 pan like it's a separate dish, never in the bird.

Another leftover recipe for the turkey would be Turkey A La King. My mom used to make that after Thanksgiving a few times.

I'm with you. I think my mom put some stuffing in the bird but most of it was done separately. I never stuffed the bird. I like the stuffing when there is crunchy bits all over the top. You don't really get that when it's in the bird.

@Winchester Scalloped oysters?? I can see why no one else would eat those. Oysters are in my top 3 most despised foods.

muffy · Nov 28, 2016

Winchester said:
My sister's family says it's not Thanksgiving dinner without the green bean casserole. My sister also says it's not Christmas dinner without scalloped oysters; she's the only one in the family who eats them. I will make them for her, but I will not eat oysters.

I still gained two pounds.

I agree with your sister's family about the green bean casserole but not about the scalloped oysters. I don't see how she can say that if she is the only one that likes oysters.

Gaining only two pounds isn't too bad.

Ellen

ginny · Nov 28, 2016

What are the other two?

Kat0121 · Nov 28, 2016

Ginny said:
What are the other two?

Bananas and hard boiled eggs (or anything containing any of the three). Just thinking about any of those 3 foods is enough to make me gag.

MoochNNoodles · Nov 28, 2016

I like seafood and I can enjoy a couple oysters; but scalloped oysters just doesn't sound appetizing to me. Your a nice sister to make them for her!

It was just my little family so I tried to keep it small. I did make my MILs sweet potato casserole for DH. And my favorite broccoli puff. But I tried to take it easy so the turkey breast was cooked in my biggest crock pot. DD helped make the stuffing and we baked it in the oven.

ginny · Nov 28, 2016

Kat0121 said:
Bananas and hard boiled eggs (or anything containing any of the three). Just thinking about any of those 3 foods is enough to make me gag.

Wow, I would have never thought bananas and boiled eggs! Maybe raw eggs and boiled okra or something! Fried okra is ok.

Kat0121 · Nov 28, 2016

Ginny said:
Wow, I would have never thought bananas and boiled eggs! Maybe raw eggs and boiled okra or something! Fried okra is ok.

It's almost comical to see me in the produce aisle. I avoid the display of bananas like it's on fire. The smell alone makes me

.

Hard boiled eggs are cold. They are slimy. They are rubbery and they smell like sulfur. They make my skin crawl. DH used to love egg salad and I'd make it for him but hated every second of it. DD is on board with me and dislikes them every bit as much as I do. She also hates bananas as much as I do.

I like fried okra. Any other way and it's just slimy and nasty.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

In the kitchen with my cookies

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

At Abby's beck and call

In the kitchen with my cookies

Thread starter

Just what part of meow don't you understand.

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

In the kitchen with my cookies

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member