Also, urgent question:

[conuly]

What should I make for Thanksgiving?

What are you all making for Thanksgiving (or, if you don't do Thanksgiving, for your next big winter event that everybody comes to)?

I want to outdo myself. I probably won't, but I want to try.

Comments

Simple stuff

[polydad]

The core of showing off is the coordination of putting on a Big Feast, with lots of dishes planned to complement each other and getting the timing right so they all come out as hot or cold as desired at the right times.

No longer having a house to entertain in, I don't do that; I just bring my own dish to the Orphan's Potluck. Which is usually barley with onions and mushrooms. Directions too simple to be called a 'recipe'; chop and brown the onion and mushrooms, and dump 'em in with the barley and liquid (I use soup stock; since I currently have a lot of vegan friends it's generally a vegetable stock), spice to taste,and simmer 'til the liquid's absorbed.

[larryhammer]

Our usual Big T dinner is something like:

veggie matzo-ball soup (only if large gathering)
kosher turkey, with Joy of Cooking's basic stuffing
mashed potatoes (either white or sweet)
a steamed veggie dish (broccoli or similar, garlic often involved)
a quinoa or rice or pasta dish (as needed to appease small palates)
Ma Stamberg's cranberry relish

(Aside from the relish, this is very similar to the usual Seder menu.)

We're not sure if we're hosting a dinner this year -- need to decide soon, don't we ...

---L.

[conuly]

I dunno, cranberry relish sounds kinda harosety. (And google agrees!)

*clicks link*

Wait. You put garlic and horseradish in it?

[kshandra]

My 81-year-old mother-in-law declared that she was DONE cooking for holidays, so my sister-in-law made reservations for all of us at the Mountain Winery. Here's the menu - I'm eager to try their take on green bean casserole.

[conuly]

Well, I'm not a fan of persimmons, but I'd like to try those mashed potatoes! Have extra for me, if you like them.

[zesty_pinto]

I'm going to visit Michelle's parents, but I have a couple of things:

-Some Korean beef barbecue, mostly because I promised to make more for Michelle's mom, who never got to eat any when I brought some to their last barbecue
-Acorn squash soup
-Scalloped potatoes
-Probably a pecan pie for my folks and the first pumpkin pie I've ever done out of an actual pumpkin instead of canned squash.

You could always consult one of those "popular Thanksgiving recipes by state" sort of things. There was one that listed some really fancy dishes if you want to give it a shot (and one for lasagna, which is a very NJ thing for some reason).

[zesty_pinto]

Last year for the potato dish I did colcannon instead, which works fine, but I didn't realize they'd make mashed potatoes that year so this is an alternative that I don't think they're doing (although I prefer the former more since I'm a sucker for textures).

[angelofthenorth]

Game terrine
Duck with cherries
Salmon en croûte
Strudel
Watercress soup

[conuly]

Mmm.

[akamarykate]

My family always has a huge potluck, with my parents providing turkey, mashed potatoes, and wine, and all of us (I'm the oldest of 7 kids so when the "immediate family" gets together it's like 26 people) bringing side dishes and desserts.

I usually bring these oatmeal knot rolls (the niecephews call them "Aunt Mary Rolls" and ask for them at every big family dinner), along with fresh cranberry sauce (the recipe is an amalgamation of several, but it includes cranberries, apples, orange juice, and cinnamon), and a fruit pie.

This year I'm trying out this Stuffed Apple and Bacon Sweet Potato Casserole this week to see if it's worth doing full-scale. Someone usually brings the sweet potato-marshmallow thing but this one sounds soooo much better.

[conuly]

Oooh, that casserole sounds delish. But the girls don't like sweet potato. But I do! Oh, tell me if it's good, I'll try it myself if it is.

[malkingrey]

Thanksgiving dinner around here is fixed in canon; most of the possible changes have to do with scaling down the number of people being fed from a high of 7 to the current low of 3.

That said, here's the usual:

• turkey (probably a turkey breast, this year)


• dressing (cornbread and white bread mix, cooked outside the bird)


• creamed onions (an absolute requirement; the original reason I learned how to make scratch white sauce)


• cranberry sauce (scratch made from the world's simplest recipe*)


• green beans (either slow-cooked with bacon and salt, southern-style, or quickly steamed until just-past-raw, depending upon which half of the family I feel like pleasing; some years I've given up and done both)


• potatoes (either mashed or baked)


• dinner rolls (usually brown-and-serve, because I can't be bothered with anything fancier, but Some People insist on them)


• pie (at least two kinds, probably pumpkin and either apple or cherry. Roughly speaking, for N diners, where N is greater than 1, you need at least N-1 varieties of pie.)

---

*Really. One bag fresh cranberries, one cup sugar, one cup water. Put them all in a small saucepan, turn the heat up high, and boil like mad until the berries pop open.

[conuly]

Try the cranberries with orange or apple juice instead of water next time - I love 'em that way.

Can you give me the creamed onions recipe?

[sgatazmy]

No one in my family except me likes the traditional meal. We often make salmon.

[conuly]

Salmon, mmm!

[hamimi_fk]

My mom corrals me and my sister (well my sister in recent years) into helping her cook every year, lol. The usual fair is spanish yellow rice with green pigeon peas in it, pernil (puerto rican style pork shoulder), turkey - a small one tho, delicious delicious stuffing, lasagna, green beans with ham, dinner rolls, sometimes sweet yams (not often though), and of course, pies (pumpkin and apple)! Last year, she tried a new dish - cauliflower mash! It was diced cauliflower with milk and butter and I think cream. My son LOVED it so much he's been asking for it for this Thanksgiving since July, lol.

[conuly]

I've had cauli mash before - very diabetic friendly, so we had it when visiting a friend with a diabetic daughter. Have you made cauli rice? Bet your son might like that too.

[gatheringrivers]

We're taking the lazy approach this year, on account of the War On Fleas.

I booked a 6-seat table for us, a pair of local friends, and 1-2 friends from out of town at a restaurant that is LIKELY going to close for good over the winter. The current owners are getting on in years, and I guess don't have kids taking over the place.

I'll still get the turkey I preordered (because I'm NOT missing out on turkey skin I can actually EAT), but that'll get popped in the freezer for eating MUCH later. Like maybe spring, when a couple different friends visit from the other side of the country.

[conuly]

Love. The. Icon.

[chaos_by_design]

I'll definitely be making myself a box of Stovetop stuffing, since it's such a comfort food for me.

[conuly]

Would you believe that I am the only one in my family who likes stuffing?

My dad liked stuffing too, but he only ever made this god-awful wild rice with raisins stuffing and the raisins were squishy and the rice was hard.

[acelightning]

Here's what my typical Thanksgiving dinner looks like. I only have two people to feed, myself and my husband, and he doesn't get Thanksgiving off from work, and he works extremely irregular hours; I never know whether I'll be serving the meal at 10 PM or 4 AM, or anywhere in between. I don't need to impress anyone any more, although I used to have holiday meals for up to 10 people (the others are all long dead).

For your purposes, I suggest you make my World-Famous Three-Rice Stuffing With Walnuts And Sherry. It's pretty easy, and works just as well as a side dish as it does when stuffed into a bird. But it's quite different from most common stuffing recipes, and that often impresses people whose only concept of "stuffing" begins with wet bread.

If you're into baking, the pan rolls described in the Thanksgiving entry also go over very well. My son (who is a pretty fabulous cook himself) always asks me to bring those to his Yule Feast. Again, they're fairly simple, but dipping them in melted butter before baking gives them a really wonderful taste, if I do say so myself ;-)

[conuly]

Thanks :)

[pauamma]

In my corner of the Internet, there's neither Thanksgiving nor a "next big winter event that everybody comes to".

[conuly]

Spoilsport! ;)

[siderea]

When I want to impressed people at a Thanksgiving dinner, I make stuffed mushrooms. NB: since then, I've dropped the parsely out completely. Mushrooms-butter-onion-basil-breadcrumbs.

[conuly]

That would certainly surprise my entire family, given my legendary dislike of fungi!

[archangelbeth]

Spaghetti and sauce is our Thanksgiving tradition, if we don't wind up at a Chinese restaurant...

[conuly]

Well, that's one approach.

[alasse_irena]

Weirdly Australia doesn't appear to have any big winter festivals, so I honestly have no Impressive But Scaleable Winter Recipes for you. Only summer ones.

We clearly need to fix this, as a nation.

[conuly]

Borrow Thanksgiving, but have it in May.

[gatheringrivers]

Arrrrgh. I *had* an entry written out with about a half-dozen recipes in it, and clicked the wrong thing annnnnnnd BAM, all my tabs got wiped out.

*siiiighs*

Anyway....I'd forgotten the original question was what TO make. Ok, let's see if I can find all the recipes again....

brine your turkey
cranberry orange relish (we use organic fruits, and stevia in place of sugar)
sausage dressing (Our tweaks below)
strawberry pie
apple pie
pumpkin pie
cranberry dipping sauce

Pie Crust:
I always make my own lard pie crust ("single" or "double" sized) rather than buying a pre-made crust. My mom-in-law used basically the same recipe (so hers were the first pie crusts I actually enjoyed eating), but she used Crisco (she was also "low fat" dieting), where I use actual leaf lard. I think lard tastes better, and my husband agrees. I get my lard from the weekend farmer's market thing, so right now I have 1/4 of a standing freezer full of lard in various forms - some rendered, some not, some diced, some "as it got pulled off the pig". :)

Sausage Dressing:
Always cooked separately. The recipe we use is actually a scaled version of my late father-in-law's, the one I linked is at least CLOSE. In place of the sage and the poultry seasoning in the linked one, we used "old bay" seasoning (First recipe in the list on this page, but we leave out the paprika and cayenne pepper). We tend to use red onions in place of "regular" (white/yellow). And the meats are: Meatloaf selection (often a mix of beef/pork/veal) + breakfast sausage. Originally his recipe also added bell pepper. My FIL used to work in food service, so his recipe was....a bit bigger and had lots of leftovers. :)

Pumpkin Pie:
My MIL used to use the one on the back of the can of pureed pumpkin, and then only used 1/2 the spices called for. As a result, hers was the first pumpkin pie that actually tasted GOOD to me.

Strawberry Pie:
MIL was the first person I met who makes this, And it's one of my all-time FAVORITE pies.

[conuly]

I don't think you'd like my approach to pumpkin pie, then, which is DOUBLE all the spices. I do like ginger!

(Though, full confession? My favorite pumpkin pie remains Entemann's, though for some reason it's been hard to find these past few years.)

[moxie_man]

We celebrated Thanksgiving last month 'cause brother married a nurse from Mirimachi, New Brunswick. Slightly lower key than normal: Turkey, potatoes, spaghetti squash, carrots, salad, assorted pickles, deviled eggs and both homemade heirloom apple and pumpkin pie (pies were my contribution).

This was lower key than in the past. Everyone forgot the rolls this year and I only brought three pies this year (1 pumpkin and two apple). I normally also provide a second pumpkin, a custard, and a butterscotch. Brother had less guests this year, so I didn't have to produce so many.

As for American Thanksgiving, we're taking a break this year. My father doesn't want to do anything. Kid brother will be at his girlfriend's family gathering. Wife indicated she doesn't want anything major and I don't want to impose on middle brother (with Canadian wife) again when we'll already be at their place for Christmas.

For Christmas it is tortiere pie (2 or 3 types), salmon pie, assorted finger food and "green" cake (pistachio cake).

As our family is French Canadian (Quebecois on father's side and Acadian on my late mother's side), tortiere is a must. "Proper" pronunciation is tor-tee-ay or tor-tear (depending on which French Canadian you talk to), but around here it's too-chay. No two family's recipes are alike. My family's is equal parts hand-ground roast pork, hand ground roast beef and plain mashed potatoes, half again as much hand ground raw onion, a mixture of spices to taste (including Bell's poultry seasoning) all mixed by hand before placing in a pie shell. If the mixture feels dry, you add jus from the roast pan until it "feels" just right. In some parts of Quebec, salmon pie is also called tortiere.

[conuly]

That all sounds delish.

[sabotabby]

Confused because Thanksgiving was a month ago? I did Celebration Loaf (better than it sounds!), and my friend brought roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Then we all made bread pudding.

[conuly]

I'm American : )

What's Celebration Loaf?

[thewayne]

I like putting an effort in to Thanksgiving. Unfortunately after my dad's cancer diagnosis last year (he's fine, his first year followup showed zero problems, but he's still weaker than before) we've sort of fallen apart for the holiday. My wife is frequently working the previous weekend, which means we can't leave for Phoenix until Tuesday, which greatly limits shopping and prep. So this year, and I really hate to say this, we're ordering our dinner from a grocery store.

I'm almost tempted to drive down several days earlier, but I'm still recovering from this respiratory virus, but with my new job starting a week after we get back, I can't take the risk of re-igniting it.

I'll be making a pie or two and a soup (found a very intriguing tomatillo/avocado cold soup, should be a good appetizer) and aside from that, most everything will be made for us. I'd've preferred going to a good restaurant, but I was outvoted. And I'll also make tacos for my parents while I'm there: I intrigued my mom with talking about chopped golden raisins and toasted slivered almonds during my last trip but didn't get a chance to make them.

[conuly]

You have to take care of you! And I bet the grocery dinner will be just fine. After all, the important part is being together, even if you eat ramen noodle soup.

[lassarina]

Sadly, we won't be making Thanksgiving this year the way we want to due to lack of a kitchen and difficulties with people who will be eating, but usually my family makes:
--turkey
--ham, with cherries and pineapple rings
--sweet potatoes in brown sugar sauce with toasted marshmallows
--"jello mold," aka lime jello made with cream cheese, crushed pineapple, and pineapple juice
--mashed potatoes
--gravy
--rolls
--cranberry sauce
--Lima beans
--pumpkin, cherry, and pecan pie

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

We're having potluck Friendsgiving here, for all our friends who aren't spending the day with family. I'm'a buy a big ol' store-bought lasagna, some wine and fancy soft drinks; everybody else can bring salad fixings, side dishes, desserts or whatever.

You could make a big ol' home-made lasagna with all the very best stuff in it, plus garlic bread, a glorious big salad, sparkling cider, and pumpkin pie with real whipped cream for dessert. That would be plenty of delicious food, but also reasonably healthy, not too pricey, and a bit less likely than the traditional T-day fare to stun everybody into a carbohydrate coma after dinner.

[conuly]

I make a great lasagna, but nobody in the family but me is into tomato based pastas.

(And full disclosure? I can make a good pumpkin pie, and I can buy a good pumpkin pie, but I dream of Entemann's. Which is annoying, because for some reason their pumpkin pie does not show up in nearby supermarkets anymore. This is good for my waistline and great for my wallet, but... nooooooo!)

[silver-chipmunk.livejournal.com]

We go out for Thanksgiving, so I don't make anything, but as far as I'm concerned Thanksgiving is about having lots of different things. There should be a big main dish and then lots and lots of sides... and maybe more than one main dish, too. Of course it's easy for me to say it, cause I don't have to cook it, but that's what I feel.

[conuly]

I agree - I just can't figure out what sides I want!