That was a great article! I really enjoyed it. Thanks for posting it Triciae!! I wonder what Squanto would think if he could see us now???
Joann

I guess my family must have been odd, because we made our own cranberry sauce, gravy, and stuffing for as long as I can remember. I think my grandmother bought canned sauce and may even have used canned gravy...but she hated to cook and I don't think we had a holiday meal at her house since I was 4 years old.

But I don't think someone should feel shame because they use boxed stuffing or instant gravy, where does the author get off saying that? You could just as easily say, "if you're ordering take out food for Thanksgiving, shame on you," not that I would say such a thing either. Many perfectly good cooks use such packaged products on Thanksgiving precisely because that's what some of the family really like. Holiday meals are often set traditions in families, with everyone anticipating well remembered favorites and messing with the menu can be perilous! :D

It is interesting to think of millions of people, all sitting down to eat basically the same meal on the same day. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, veggies and likely some kind of pie. Many of us won't eat turkey from one holiday season to the next, but we've gotta have it for Thanksgiving!

Speaking of turkey, the author mentioned free-range etc turkeys...I have twice now bought a fresh, range fed turkey from a local turkey farm at more than 3 times the price of a frozen one from the grocery store because they were supposed to be so much better. I've been cooking the Thanksgiving turkey since I was 9 years old, and those two turkeys were the only ones I've ever had that were tough. The first time, I figured I must have done something wrong, it couldn't have been my very expensive turkey! So I tried again last year. I won't do it again.

I concur. How much you do yourself is arbitrary anyway. Should I feel guilty if I don't grow the pumpkin for the pumpkin pie? Should I get to make you feel guilty if I use fresh pumpkin and you use canned?

No, because that's dumb.

Thanks for sharing such an interesting article, although I don't know if it should make me laugh or make me mad LOL.

I know that food writers (and journalists in general) have bias and a slant to their articles, but at a certain level I find it offensive to read something that tries to make it sound like you're not doing it "right" if you're not doing it their way.

I consider myself a good cook (and so do my family and friends), but I make judicious use of packaged ingredients where it makes sense. Over the years I've made dressing from fresh toasted whole grain bread mixed with fresh herbs and homemade stock, but honestly, we all like the Mrs. Cubbison's seasoned dressing with plenty of fresh vegies, butter and Swanson's broth so I don't bother anymore. But I do make homemade rolls, gravy and cranberry relish because to us, that's where the extra effort counts. And I was amused to read the homemade vs bakery pies thread - to me, the crust is just a vehicle for the filling, so the boxed version works fine, although I do make ny fillings from scratch.

And I'm with rachelellen - the couple of times I've sprung for a fresh turkey I've been disappointed. To me, if I'm paying three times as much they should be three times as good, which was definitely not the case.

Becky

The only difference I can see from that article between "Then and Now" is then we bought our stuff from "Ye Olde Neighborhood Supermarket" and now the author recommends Whole Foods and other such high end gourmet groceries. I have nothing against store bought dishes made with care and good quality ingredients. They are totally appropriate for many situations. The emphasis should be on enjoying an oppourtunity to gather and give thanks with friends and family, so whatever works for your family to enhance that is all good. If there's travel and kids and work commitments involved, then why stress about it, bring something store bought and focus on having fun. If you hate cooking and are lousy at it, get some help from the local deli, your family will thank you for it. If you enjoy cooking, then by all means go all out. Or any combination in between. My favorite Thanksgivings are where everyone contributes. Luckily my clan has mostly pretty tolerable cooks in it. I make everything from scratch mostly because I want the quality and I can't afford the store bought versions. BTW, IMHO, that was the real reason for grandma making all that stuff from scratch. Grandma grew up in the Depression, if you wanted something nice you made it yourself.

A Thanksgiving meal really isn't that hard to pull off since most of the dishes are dead easy to make. I would say the only thing that takes any real finesse would be a homeade pie or homeade rolls. Oh, and the gravy, which is hit or miss like the author states, since a lot depends on what the turkey gives up. But then my family doesn't do mashed potatoes, we like baked sweet potatoes or baked idaho potatoes. And we never had green bean casserole, just some type of steamed vegetable. I do have a vague memory of succotash, but I don't think anyone ever ate it! And the same for the canned cranberry sauce. Later, mom got wise and got it from the deli, they made a good cranberry orange sauce, and later I made it from scratch. It is ridiculously easy. I would tend to just simplify dishes instead of buying at the deli given my current economic status.

Hmmm, I must be in a good mood today 'cause I don't get any sense of shame at all from the article. I just re-read the entire thing & it all sounds tongue-in-cheek to me along with providing useful info about where prepared items can be purchased & their cost.

/t

To each their own, as always. I always get a fresh turkey from a local Amish farm, I like them and don't like the Honeysuckle White/Butterball type injected turkeys with overblown breasts. They seem soft and mushy to me, not moist and juicy.

My girls love sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top, I hate it. Ditto the green bean casserole.

I've never tried the boxed stuffing, and make cranberry jezebel but my family would rather have a can of the jellied cranberry sauce, gotta be Ocean Spray.

No matter what you get from the turkey, I still make homemade gravy, we always boil the neck and giblets for stock for that.

I draw the line at potatoes and dinner rolls. I will not eat boxed instant potatoes. Ever. I'd rather do without. I feel the same way about brown and serve rolls, which are an abomination.

I know the author was trying to be funny, and I wasn't offended either. Some of us, though, live hundreds of miles from the nearest Whole Foods, so we make our own stuff.

Annie

It really is amazing how everyone has to have turkey on Thanksgiving. Holiday meals are meals we could all share together.

In the south (I don't know about other areas)on the fourth of July EVERYONE simply has to have slow cooked open pit pulled pork barbecue, baked beans and cole slaw. You can sit down knowing all of your fellow southerners are eating the same thing.

Tricia, this is the line I was referring to, "Is it that hard to cube some bread and chop up some fresh herbs? If you're still using the boxed stuff on Thanksgiving, shame on you."

I can't see anything tongue in cheek about that.

I also wonder how she might back up that the "average American Thanksgiving" of 30 to 40 years ago was, "for the most part, processed, cheap and convenient." I am going to be 50 in a little under two weeks, and have a fairly good memory, and I don't remember "processed, cheap and convenient" as being the norm in my family or any of my friends' families. In fact, when I was a kid, I'd probably have been far more likely to have found home made pies, rolls or condiments on a friend's Thanksgiving table than I am now.

You might think I'm nitpicking, but one of the things about modern "journalism" that really and truly annoys me is when the writer makes such broad, sweeping statements, based on assumptions and presumptions about things they haven't really bothered to check into.

We're so much more sophisticated now (or should be)than our parents or grandparents, the author implies. We didn't know any better than to enjoy canned green beans in a casserole with canned soup, when we could have had fresh green beans with wild mushrooms...except that to vast numbers of Americans of not so very long ago the only way they were going to get green beans in November was to open a can and wild mushrooms were something you found under cowflaps if you could get them at all. As for gravy, I'm sure some folks bought the jars, because they were offered for sale and wouldn't have been if they didn't sell, but I have never tasted gravy out of a jar and have eaten many holiday meals in the homes of many people over the years.

Well one thing's for sure, I dread going to anyone's house that's serving the old style Green Bean Casserole!
It seems like we always need green beans for Thanksgiving, but who has the time at the end to cook them? Not me! I've started making the version below because it's totally worth the trouble and most of the work can be done in advance. Want to shock your guests?? Give it a try! Read the directions through before you start. I always do everything I can the day before Thanksgiving. Don't skip drying the beans! I use clean kitchen towels.

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

The following recipe is from Cook's Illustrated: (my heros)

CLASSIC GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

Serves 10 to 12. Published November 1, 2006.

The components of the casserole can be prepared ahead of time. Store the bread-crumb topping in an airtight container in the refrigerator and combine with the onions just before cooking. Combine the beans and cooled sauce in a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To serve, remove the plastic wrap and heat the casserole in a 425-degree oven for 10 minutes, then add the topping and bake as directed. This recipe can be halved and baked in a 2-quart (or 8-inch-square) baking dish. If making a half batch, reduce the cooking time of the sauce in step 3 to about 6 minutes (1 3/4 cups) and the baking time in step 4 to 10 minutes.

Topping
4 slices white sandwich bread , each slice torn into quarters
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups canned fried onions (about 6 ounces)
Beans and Sauce
Table salt
2 pounds green beans , ends trimmed, and halved
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound white button mushrooms , stems trimmed, wiped clean, and broken into 1/2-inch pieces (see illustrations below)
3 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
Ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
1. FOR THE TOPPING: Pulse bread, butter, salt, and pepper in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer to large bowl and toss with onions; set aside.

2. FOR THE BEANS AND SAUCE: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Fill large bowl with ice water. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add 2 tablespoons salt and beans. Cook beans until bright green and crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Drain beans in colander and plunge immediately into ice water to stop cooking. Spread beans on paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain.

3. Add butter to now-empty Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add mushrooms, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook until mushrooms release moisture and liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Add cream, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3 1/2 cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated. Arrange in even layer in 3-quart (or 13 by 9-inch) baking dish. Sprinkle with topping and bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around edges, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

TECHNIQUE
Quicker Vegetable Prep For Green Bean Casserole

Breaking Mushrooms: 1. Using your thumb, pop the caps off their stems.

2. Squeeze both the stem and the cap between your thumb and forefinger to break each into pieces.

Trimming Green Beans: Line up about 8 beans in a row on a cutting board. Trim about 1/2 inch from each end, then cut the beans in half.