You're going to like roasting your bird breast-side down.
I won't prepare mine any other way. One thing I do is turn the bird over, during the last 15 minutes of cooking, to get a golden, crisp skin throughout.

Our traditional Thanksgiving table includes both, American and Cuban dishes, from turkey with all the trimmings, to black beans, white rice, and yuca con mojo (If I couldn't submerge everything in Cuban mojo, I'd pout. And that's no longer cute at my age).

My condolences for the loss of your dear mom.

Sol

Well, this year the DH and I are celebrating a Canadian Thanksgiving a little late (this coming weekend.) We decided to start celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving, well because we like the way we cook Thanksgiving! His sister always cooks the American Thanksgiving on the third thursday of November. Then, a friend of ours cooks a vagabond Thanksgiving on Black Friday. So by the time the weekend comes, we're tired of turkey!

Traditional for my Thanksgiving meal is roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (or dressing since I don't cook mine in the bird. My stuffing is a mixture of bread & sausage stuffing,) mushroom gravy, and homemade cranberry relish.

New this year will be green bean almondine. I'm also going to be making an Autumn Harvest Sweet Potato Spice Flan Cake (from Louisiana Cookin' October magazine.)

Usually traditional with the meal, but I'm not doing it this year, is that green bean casserole, a typical salad of greens, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers and a pumpkin or apple pie.

Sorry about your Mom. I'm sure she was smiling down on you when she saw you made the turnip puff!

Hi Sols! Long time no see.
Booberry, I'm glad we celebrate our Thanksgiving in Oct.
I'd be sick of turkey doing it in November and then again for Christmas.

Thanks for the condolences on Mom. She truly was my best friend. When everyone was eating the turnip puff they said it tasted just like hers, so she was guiding me! :-)

Thanks for starting the thread Jasdip! I think the turnip puff sounds interesting, I am off to check the "vegetable" thread.... I hope some more jump in, I love to hear about traditions and traditions in the making!

Alexa

Traditional, besides turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green veggie, cranberries.... calloped oysters. And in the past 10 years or so....cranberry jezebel sauce.
I am a guest for thanksgiving these past years....so I will have to see if I can talk my son's family into tryint the turnip puff....sounds heavenly to me!!
Linda c

I'm bucking tradition again this year. For appetizers - Hot and Sweet Jelly or Cranberry Orange Walnut Marmalade on cream cheese with homemade crackers and veggie sticks, then seared Ahi tuna, oven roasted carrots, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and apples, and overnight dinner rolls. For desert, baked Alaska and pumpkin pie (for DS). Last year I made duck a'la orange and leftovers were worse than turkey - too strong of a flavor for eating it for a week after. A few times a year I cook a turkey breast just so I can have my favorite sandwich - cold turkey, stuffing, and cranberry marmalade on toasted and buttered homemade bread. Oy, the carbs in that treat!

Nancy

Nancy, I need to know more about cranberry marmalade, please.

I have am less fussy than my kids about what appears on the table. They want stuffing, mashed potatoes, Alice wants ham, Daniel wants gravy, they both want jelled cranberry and white meat turkey. The "green" items can vary as can the "orange" items. Sometimes it's green beans, other times brussels sprouts or snow peas. We tend to be indifferent to gooey-sweet yams so I have served carrot-ginger soup instead many times. Other years I do a less sweet variant on yams or sweet potatoes.

This year will be a blended family gathering so it will be interesting to see what is served.

Eileen - I added 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts to the recipe on Free Range Living blog. It is from Joan Hassol's "Well Preserved" book. I chose it because I love marmalade but, as Cheryl said in her blog, "Many of the recipes I've seen take a couple of days to make, as the oranges either have to soak overnight, or cook slowly for ages."

I have yet to make a real citrus marmalade that sets up to jelly. This one does, thanks to the cranberries' natural pectin. If you don't want to can it, you can cut the recipe down to half and keep the 4 or 5 jars in the refrigerator without using a boiling water bath canner to preserve it on the pantry shelf. It should be used within a couple months if it is not canned. (I mark the expiration date on my refrigerated stuff to be sure.) It will keep longer if you do not add the nuts.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Cranberry Orange Marmalade

Thanks, Nancy. I've bookmarked it. I will make it when fresh cranberries appear. I also love the fresh orange-cranberry relish and I often make that since it's fast and easy in the FP.

I have made orange marmalade without added pectin. It does take a long time to cook down. I made mine with reduced sugar and a fair amount of white rind as I wanted it to be slightly bitter. I and a few of my friends like it that way. I am down to one last jar. I saw mandarins in the store the other day. I think I will make some mandarin marmalade soon.