LOL! I said to boil the dumplings in "chicken brother" LMAO! Take out that "er" at the end there, please. lol

We'll be at my son and daughter-in-law's this year. I know there will be smoked turkey, duckling, salad, mashed garlic potatoes, stuffing, and I don't know what else. I'm bringing the salad and potatoes, plus the ice-cream and a key-lime pie--the latter two items from Trader Joe's.
Other folks are bringing things, so some of this dinner will be a surprise.

LOL to chicken brother.
We are having turkey(roasted), Gravy, Bread stuffing, Mashed white potatoes, mashed with yougert garnet yams, broccoli casserole(with bernaise and bacon) rolls. Apple pie.

Tisha, your dumplings are made with just flour and water? No butter or veg oil? Maybe that's my problem...I've tried using biscuit dough which is what I thought my Mom used, and rolling out very flat, cutting into strips, then dropping into broth. They were good, just different from what I remember. I'll try yours but probably not until after T'Day.

Roast Chicken, cornbread dressing (nonsweet, of course!), candied yams, green beans almondine, and those little triangular Pillsbury rolls I can't recall name of but know I have a can on refrigerator door right next to can of wholeberry cranberry sauce...lol. No surprise dishes here. I bought pumpkin pie and as I told DH last night, as senior adults we can have a slice before Thanksgiving...LOL So we did. josh

Josh, yes, they are just flower and water. The problem is getting the consistancy right. It's really one of those things that you almost have to have seen or felt before to get it right. You don't want them too dry and you don't want them too wet. And you DO want enough flour down on whatever surface you're rolling them out on, or the broth won't thicken enough and you'll end up with dumpling soup. lol I guess the only thing I can say, is get them dry enough to JUST not stick to your hands. If they're too wet or too dry, just add either more water or more flour until they're just right.

And we roll the dough out to just about probably a 1/4 of an inch thick, then cut them into long strips (probably 2" by 12")

Dump some chicken broth into a large stock pot, add a whole stick of butter or margarine and turn that sucker on high. Start adding the strips before it starts boiling and then stir often. It usually takes about 2 hours to get them done. You can taste a bit periodically, since it's just flour and water it can't hurt you if it's still raw. When they're done, they'll be limp, but have a firm taste-texture and won't taste doughy anymore.

But I had the perfect chicken brother ;)

We never get to have our "own Thanksgiving", since both hubby and I are the youngest of six (both as a product of second marriages). It's at his eldest brother's house this year. If I made my own, it'd be

-turkey
-giblet gravy (gravy is my one thing I have to make at all family meals, so it must be decent)
-Martha White dressing (cornbread and dry white bread)
-mashed potatoes
-eggless sweet potato casserole (so mmm good with a pecan streusel brown sugar topping!!!)
-some veggie
-Cranberry-orange mélange looking stuff
-Pumpkin pie for me
-Apple pie for him. He makes the most spectacular apple pie. You start with a frozen one which you add a topping to. The topping is made by grating frozen butter and mixing it with spices.

I'm suddenly thinking how lovely a nasturtium dumpling might be!

We're not going anywhere or having anyone over for Thanksgiving, just the two of us, so really there's no reason we couldn't have beer and oysters for dinner.

Nevertheless, we'll probably make turkey even though I don't like it much (the cats will), maybe some shrimp remoulade (might even try to dig up a little horseradish from the garden), the savoriest dressing I can muster and maybe, if I'm feeling ambitious, pumpkin cheesecake for dessert, plus a nice salad with cranberries on it.

The dish that my family usually made, that I probably will not, is crabmeat remick. If you've never had it, it's lump crabmeat topped with crisp bacon, which is topped by a sauce that's made primarily with chili sauce, mayonnaise and some spices (and a splash of tarragon vinegar), all glazed a bit under the broiler. Sinfully retro and very good.

I thought the chicken brother was a turkey.

We have a big get-together at DD's, 14 to 18 tummies. DSIL does a humongeous [but organic] turkey and 3 different dressings, and mashed potatoes and gravy for 20. Others do salads, sweet potato casseroles, country-style green beans, pies, hors d'ouevre, and whatever they want.

I'm bringing

Cream-cheesed corn: 2 cans niblets corn drained, 8 oz pkg neufchatel or regular cream cheese, ½-stick butter, and 1 tablespoon mild chili powder. Dump everything in a small crockpot and simmer for 4 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally.

Sweet'n'saur red cabbage -- from a jar, but I add 1/2 cup applesauce and thin slices of fresh winesap apples.

Steamed baby carrots with pear slices glazed with gingered pear honey/jelly.

Cauliflower in a curried cream sauce. Friend just requested, so maybe next time I'll do the broc-cauli-cheese casserole.

Spinach squares, which are a sort of confused quiche: saute a couple large sweet onions chopped fine, along with a couple cloves minced garlic. 2 pounds frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed very very dry. In a separate bowl, beat 1 teaspoon nutmeg into 6 extra-large eggs and 3 cups grated cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan. Stir the onion/garlic into the mix and then stir in the spinach until everything looks evenly confused. Dump onto foil-lined 10x15 pan or very large pizza pan. Bake 350°F for about ½-hour. If you forget the Parmesan while mixing, sprinkle it on top before or while baking, lol. Cut into 2" sqaures and pile onto a platter. Leftovers freeze excellently.

Thanks, Tisha, for the detailed Dumpling instructions. I think my Mom added a cup or so of cream just before serving... Now I can't wait to try it. Thanks again!

And Meldy, your Spinach Squares sound delish and very "good for you"...freezing well is a plus, too. Thanks. josh

Don't you just love thanksgiving, it's the only day of the
year when BIG thighs are a good thing.

We're having turkey with dressing and gravy. Ham, garlic
cheese grits, mashed potatoes, squash casserole, broccoli,
green beans or peas. cranberry orange salad, strawberry
nut salad, pecan and apple pie (Cracker Barrel) and
Mrs. Shuberts yeast dinner rolls.

Tisha, you might want to try those rolls they are better than the brown and serve.

I bought some wine for us to have with thanksgiving dinner
but I need it now so as soon as I can get it opened, hey,
it's 6 o'clock somewhere.:0)

Janis, what is strawberry nut salad? It sounds wonderful!

Is Mrs. Shuberts a brand?

Tisha, actually it's Sister Shubert's, for some reason
I always call it Mrs. Shubert's. I buy the Parker House
Style Yeast Rolls. She also makes Angel Biscuits etc.
You should be able to find them in the frozen food section.

Strawberry nut Salad
Easy* Do Ahead* Serves 8

1(6 oz.)pkg. strawberry gelatin
1 cup boiling water
2 ( 10 oz.) pkgs. frozen strawberries, thawed
with juice
1 ( 1lb. 4oz.) can crushed pineapple,drained
3 med. bananas, diced
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (16 oz.) carton sour cream

Combine gelatin & water. Fold in remaining ingredients
except sour cream. Put 1/2 of the mixture in a large mold
or a 2 qt. glass dish, refrigerate til firm.
Top with sour cream & then add the remainder of the gelatin
mixture. Refrigerate.

I use a smaller can of crushed pineapple and also less sour cream.

I had to start hosting my own Thanksgiving dinner to get escape the kiddie table at my mother's, where I sat with my cousins into our twenties! Ther just wasn't enough room at teh "gorown-up" table.

Thanksgiving I don't want anything weird. I want the ultimate holiday comfort food.

--Fresh turkey w/ oyster stuffing
--Waldorf salad
--Those sweet potatoes with the mini-marshmallows
--Mashed potatoes & giblet gravy
--Suzanne's green bean bundles
--Linda C's cranberry jezebel
--Pies for dessert - pumkin, pecan sweet potato - whatever I can find at a church bake sale That way they're homemade, but we didn't have to make them.

Andie, right now I wish I knew a church selling pies :) ... I fell and know I have a broken bone/bones in the small of my right foot, just above the toes. Tomorrow's baking is going to be a whole lot of fun ... NOT !

We will have Turkey, and the green beans and corn on the cob I put up this summer just for this day, also roasted root veggies, cornbread dressing and cranberries. Pumpkin pound cake, squash pie (hubbard) and something chocolate :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Chinese take out eaten right out of the paper carton with disposable chopsticks.

Such are the joys of "alternate holidays" and no family.

Acorn! Apple Pie? We don't eat dessert - every year there is some dessert and no one wants any. She's making it up!
I am one of the three households participating in this meal, so I know.
However, I am really sad that there is going to be no Dungeness Crab this time, because of the spill of bunker fuel
(nasty stuff) in San Francisco Bay, crab season has been suspended until after 1 December - and then they are going to be expensive.

This year, the family is not going over the river and through the woods to my house. My daughter is doing it up and I'm thrilled. She's a good and creative cook. There'll be eight at the table.

She'll be doing the turkey and stuffing. I like oyster stuffing, but since my father died, I am the only one in the family who will eat it. So, it'll be a seasoned bread stuffing.

I'm assuming she'll do mashed potatoes, we always have that. She is also doing the green bean casserole. I think all of us prefer it in a non-casserole version, but we're doing it in remembrance of my mother, who always brought that, and this is the first Thanksgiving in our life-time she is not here to share or cook the meal.

I know she'll bake bread, as she is the family's bread baker. She'll also do the cranberries and a pumpkin pie with real cream she'll whip herself.

I'm bringing the candied yams since they make her gag to even look at them. I'll also bring the homemade noodles cooked in chicken brother. LOL. I'll bring deviled eggs thanks to the gals in the henhouse. I've turned several egg customers away today to make sure I have the raw materials. I'll bring the five cup salad a concoction of sour cream, mini marshmallows, coconut, mandarin oranges and pineapple, and another pie, likely pecan. I make a killer cheeseball so that too to snack on with wine before the meal.

My new DIL is also a cook at heart, and I suspect even if told she needn't bring anything..........she will.

Maybe that apple pie added at the end of Joanns post was a hint Lilo.

Nope Pamven - we have divided the jobs and I am VP in charge of turkey and stuffing - in addition I shall make a small amount of the mashed garnet yams with yogurt, because Jill is crazy about them...that's 'nuff.
Every year someone brings dessert and no one wants any. so next day it gets divided up and everyone take some home.

I'm going to my friends the McPhersons and I'm taking my lemon mashed sweet potatoes that by now are so famous I suspect get invited simply because of them. Though I say so myself, they heaven.

We're make a real effort to do a "slow food" dinner - as much as possible will have been locally grown within a hundred miles of where we sit down to eat...including wine. We're fortunate to live in an area of abundance.

Well, I've got 29 minutes left and I'll be heading home. Yay! Everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pot luck, at SIL parents' house. Outcasts take what they can get....