We also have creamed onions (in PA)-- No one I know ever had them so I assumed it was a swedish recipe. You can get pearl onions in the produce dept here but who wants to peel enough for a crowd? My dad uses jarred pearl onions.

I recently made roasted cippollini onions-- so easy and they were a huge hit. But, yes, they were pretty expensive. I think Smitten Kitchen's caramelized shallots sound wonderful.

Back when I made "whipped" mashed potatoes never had a problem with them turning gummy. Btw, some people swear by ricers. Now the only mashed potatoes I make are sweet potatoes. I like them with lumps, so a hand masher is the perfect tool.

Those caramelized shallots are excellent! I typically serve them with a grilled filet, but they'd be equally good as a Thanksgiving side.

The creamed onions came from my mother's side, English and Dutch, and they were from NJ so maybe it's a recipe from that area. I cut the ends off the pearls and briefly boil them, then slip off the skin. But you do lose a lot of onion. Oh well, it's only once a year.

I mash potatoes with a mixer and don't get gummy or lumpy potatoes. Just make sure the potatoes are dry. The Trader Joe's garlic mashed potatoes in a box are actually very good. Nothing like the instant potato buds of the 60s.

I'm going to do those shallots with rib roast for Christmas.

I used several delicious recipes from GW posters in 2011. Have repeated several each year.

Autumn Pork Tenderloin
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/autumn-pork-tenderloin/detail.aspx
Prep time 5 minutes, Cook time 40 min
Ingredients
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (3/4 pound) pork tenderloin
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 cup apple pie filling
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Rub salt and pepper over pork. Place in a large resealable plastic bag; add apple juice. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Drain and discard apple juice. Place pork on a rack in a roasting pan. Combine the pie filling, raisins, pecans and cinnamon; spoon over pork. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.
   
   10 servings
   
   Ingredients
   • 2-1/2 teaspoons salt
   • 1-1/4 teaspoons pepper
   • 5 (3/4 pound) pork tenderloin
   • 2-1/2 cups apple juice
   • 5 cups apple pie filling
   • 1-1/4 cups raisins
   • 1-1/4 cups chopped pecans
   • 1-1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
   
   Absolutely delicious. I substituted homemade apple pie filling for canned, and added walnuts and dried cranberries to the mixture. The pork came out incredibly moist and flavorful.
   
   one lady added more cinnamon and added brown sugar.
   
   can marinate in apple sauce instead of juice, for an hour
   
   instead of pie filling, use 3 apples, applesauce and cinnamon. She cooked 1/2 time w/o sauce, then smothered it on.
   
   

Everyone LOVES these:

Tori Spelling's Green Bean Bundles (I know, but they are good!)


Ingredients 
10 slices bacon 
1/2 pound fresh green beans

Sauce: (Usually double)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter 
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1 tablespoon soy sauce 
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Preparation 
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Cook the bacon in a heavy skillet over medium heat until partly cooked but not crisp. Drain on paper towels. 
2.Heat a saucepan of water to boiling and add the green beans. Boil for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Arrange groups of 4 to 5 beans in the prepared pan. Wrap each with a slice of bacon. 
3.Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the sugar, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce, and cook for 1 minute, stirring, until the sugar melts. Brush mixture over the bean bundles. 
Bake about 15 minutes, until the bacon is cooked through or beans start to shrivel.

Girls have already requested this too:

Pear Salad

Mixed baby greens (I use the 1/2 Spring & 1/2 baby spinach mix) 
Add craisins, sunflower seeds (opt.), thinly sliced red onion, cheese (I use either goat cheese or mango-ginger stilton cheese...more crumbly than a goat cheese, but maybe not available in all stores. Blue cheese would be good too. Add pecans as per recipe below.

For the pears, I just slice them and either throw in oven for @ 5-7 minutes (sprinkle a little br. sugar), but lately I've just been slicing and throwing in a frying pan for a few minutes (a dab of butter to pan, add pears and a sprinkle of brown sugar) (10 people = 4 pears)
Prep the pears just before serving the salad so they're warm when added to salad. (if 6 people, I usually use 3 pears)

In a skillet:
PECANS-these can be prepped beforehand and stored in an airtight container: 
1 cup pecan halves 
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1 Tbsp olive oil 
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar 
In a skillet,mix the oil, vinegar and sugar and stir for @ 3 minutes until sugar dissolves. Add the pecans and toss to coat. Stir/cook for @ 5-7 minutes (watch closely as can burn quite easily). When done, place on parchment paper to cool.

HONEY BALSAMIC DRESSING (From All Recipes): 
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 
1 small onion, chopped (I use only 1/2) 
1 tablespoon soy sauce 
3 tablespoons honey 
1 tablespoon white sugar 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil.

Place the vinegar, onion, soy sauce, honey, sugar, garlic, and red pepper flakes into a blender. Puree on high, gradually adding the olive oil. Continue pureeing 2 minutes, or until thick.

I don't have these typed out. Doing both this year:

Allison, love crostini with creamy goat cheese and roasted tomatoes.

lisa82, IMO, the best way to get really smooth and creamy mashed potatoes is to put them through a food mill. I have the OXO food mill. However, I like the skin in mashed potatoes, so that doesn't work with a food mill. I also like the texture using the manual masher creates; I don't just mash but also stir it while I'm mashing - no lumps.

The real key, though, is to soak the potatoes, cut up in large chunks, overnight in cold water. This releases a lot of the starch, and it's starch which can cause mashed potatoes to become gluey.

However, if you don't like the skins in your mashed potatoes, try putting them through a food mill. Perfect smooth, no-lump potatoes.

We also always had creamed onions at Thanksgiving. So good.

I don't soak my potatoes first to remove the starch, but I'm going to try it next time. I find just an ordinary hand-masher does a good job. There really aren't any lumps if you cook them right. I've always thought that mashed potatoes come back very nicely if made ahead earlier in the day and then reheated.

Our favorite is mashed potatoes too, but I use white potatoes because they have a really great flavor, but unlike their red counter parts or russets, they have a firmer texture and don't get gritty or stringy. If you prefer russets, a secret to help keep them firmer when cooking too is to add a little salt to the water. I also use a finely ground black pepper as opposed to course. After the potatoes are boiled I drain and let sit for a few minutes. I add the pepper and salt before I start the mixer (we do like ours pepper heavy) and then mash them with my kitchen-aid mixer until the lumps are gone. I add milk to get the consistency we like and a small amount of butter last. Sometimes I like to add crushed garlic too, it's heaven.

This year we plan on having roasted butternut squash, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. We usually try to find one new recipe to try; I'm hoping to find one that centers around acorn squash.

Allison, I think I'm going to have to make those mushrooms for my husband. Mushroom anything is his favorite and I'm sure he'd love those. The whole menu looks delicious and so well thought out. If not during the holidays I'm sure we'll be trying all your recipes some time! Thank you for sharing!

Must haves are always dressing, yeast rolls, pies, a green vegetable or two, cranberry sauce and crudite platter. Everything else is optional and while I love mashed potatoes, I stopped making them at Thanksgiving to cut down on so many carbs. I usually have a sweet potato casserole anyway and with the fore mentioned dressing and rolls, it was too much.

However, for big gatherings it all shows up including mac and cheese, carby appetizers and numerous carby sides like oyster pie.

Since buying and using aricer, I can't imagine anything else. It is also excellent for squeezing water out of shredded vegetables like zucchini, for zucchini pancakes which I am making tonight.

A worthy kitchen tool.

IMO, Yukon Gold potatoes make the absolute best mashed (or any kind!) potatoes. They are so buttery naturally.

Bottom line the holiday meal is not THE HOLIDAY MEAL unless everyone
has their favorite..and as discussed here that can mean specific things
to different people. Mostly it will be what they grew up with. The safest route to ensure everyone has one thing they LOVE, I would be asking each family to bring THEIR favorite to share.

There are soooo many dishes that need attention the mashed potatoes are easily done ahead, MIL's recipe with garlic and cream cheese is the favorite. Since the invention of the microwave mashed/whipped/foley food milled/riced WHAT EVER potatoes can be easily warmed up and no one will know you didn't just boil them. All that soaking and fuss concern over gummy can easily be dealt with by picking the right potato for boiling. If one sticks with Russets one will be perfect texture every time.

You're all welcome! The girls (adults) do not want the traditional Thanksgiving meal, but I am still doing it partly, then will do the tenderloin again for Christmas. DD1 actually loves the cornbread dressing we've always had. When she lived in San Francisco, I would make two 13x9 pans for her (one to freeze) when I visited, but she would eat the second as soon as the first was gone! I love my sweet potatoes (like eating candy), but they want healthier... so we will see what DD1 and DD2 are willing to help do this holiday season.

Will keep checking this thread to see what new recipes I might pick up for 2015!

My mom also made creamed onions for Thanksgiving--she grew up in California (and I grew up in Washington state), so not just a New England thing. Though she and my dad were of Dutch heritage, so maybe that's the connection.

I strongly feel that cranberry sauce should be homemade. It is really fast and easy to make, and you can doctor it up with a little bit of orange zest, or some spices.

One of my favorite things as a kid was my mom's raspberry jello salad. Yes, I said it, jello salad.

Make this in a container with plenty of surface area for the topping.

Dissolve raspberry gelatin in hot water, per package directions.

In place of the cold water, use applesauce. Add a package of frozen raspberries (12 oz).

Allow to set up firmly.

Spread sour cream over the jello and top with a single layer of mini marshmallows.

If you make this a day in advance and cover it, the humidity will dissolve the outer starchy layer of the marshmallows and they will be especially good (as a kid, we always had to wait for leftovers to get this effect).

I know, it sounds vaguely disgusting (sour cream?) or overly sweet (which it probably is, hence the need for the sour cream), but if you are expecting kids, it's pretty yummy.

Here's a link to someone's similar recipe and source of the above pic: http://www.ohsweetbasil.com/raspberry-jello-salad.html. I didn't get the recipe from her, but other than the fact that she mixes the marshmallows and sour cream and I layer them, it basically looks the same. I usually have a higher jello to marshmallow ratio than she shows (deeper pan? bigger box of jello?). I never measure the sour cream or marshmallows, just use enough to cover the surface.

Thanksgiving Day dinner is my favorite meal of year, with our oyster stuffing for the turkey being my very favorite side dish. Next is my homemade cranberry orange relish. And, for Thanksgiving Morning, my cranberry coffee cake.

I’m totally in synch with LynnNM - Thanksgiving is my favorite meal, oyster stuffing our favorite side dish, and I also make my own cranberry orange relish! Lynn, would you share your cranberry coffee cake recipe? I’m hosting a crowd for Thanksgiving and that sounds interesting.

We typically start the afternoon with sausage and cheese or pesto stuffed mushrooms and deviled eggs while my husband roasts oysters outside in the yard to keep everyone out of the kitchen. I cook a turkey that’s been brined for a couple days. Other regulars are sweet potato and/or butternut squash casserole, sausage stuffing for those who don’t do oysters, fresh rolls, whipped russet potatoes and creamed spinach. Everyone’s usually too stuffed for dessert, yet I’ll make a pie or two and my DIL often brings an overly sweet dump-style cake that everyone complains about, but always eat heartily!

CindyMac--

I love the Spinach Madeleine too! Here is the revised recipe that came out since Kraft stopped making the original cheese spread it called for:

Spinach Madeleine

I've been making it for years using a block of Pepper Jack cheese and it is still delicious.

Junco, I tried it a few different ways when Kraft stopped making the jalapeno roll, but unashamedly admit to buying Jalapeno Velveeta once a year just to make the dish. I also use fresh celery and garlic in lieu of the flavored salts. Oh, and half 'n half instead of evaporated milk.

This green bean dish is simple and delicious, and always disappears! It balances all the rich feast food of Thanksgiving. My cousin who always said "I hate green beans, they taste like dirt" tried one bean, then had a big helping and asked for the recipe :)

Sauteed Green Beans with Nutmeg, from Saving Dinner (Leanne Ely)

Steam trimmed green beans (or boil in a skillet half-full of water) until bright green. They will be a little undercooked. Strain.

in a skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons butter and a splash of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the well-drained beans. Add salt and pepper to taste and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add a generous dash of nutmeg and sauté another minute or so,me beans should be tender, but not mushy.

Allison, that sounds yummy! Do you think it would work with a pork roast, too? We do a Danish pork roast for Christmas, this might be a nice variation. I wonder how adjusting the cooking times for the meat would affect the sauce?

I have no idea - not a big cook. Maybe Roc will chime in.

4Heidesign: I am so glad that you asked for my Cranberry Orange Coffeecake recipe. I make it for every Thanksgiving Day breakfast and have kept it for years on my laptop . . . the one that crashed and died a few months ago. I thought I had a printout of it in my binder cookbook, but just looked and couldn't find it. I did a search and found it on MyRecipes.com. Thank you for saving me a major day-before-Thanksgiving panic!

Here's the link to it there. I substitute my homemade Cranberry-Orange Relish for the canned cranberry sauce. I also don't make it in a tube or Bundt pan. I use my 13x9" Pyrex baking dish and it comes out fine.

Cranberry-Orange Coffee Cake

I think it must be a generational thing Allison, because my daughter and SIL don't care for the traditional Thanksgiving either but my DH and I do. We alternate one year traditional the next none as a fair compromise. This year is none....so we may be going the pork loin route as well.

Tibbs, I've tried the Yukons and know most people prefer those but they just don't do it for me. My mother used to buy the small white potatoes in the summer when I was a kid and I've just always loved them. I'm so glad they can be found now in the colder months too.

Lynn, thanks for your recipe. It looks yummy and I can’t wait to make it next month! I’ll try it in a 9x13 pyrex dish, too.

Lukkiirish, I like to do the same thing, having traditional Thanksgiving then doing something different for Christmas.

I love bread stuffing!!! love it! I always make stuffing/dressing and cranberry sauce- usually with apples, a sweet potato casserole, and mashed potatoes.

then sometimes will make scalloped corn or a corn soufflé or some type of corn, and a green veggie- usually either roasted brussel sprouts or green beans or broccoli... sometimes I make creamed pearl onions because that's what I grew up with. I always make at least apple pie and some type of pumpkin chiffon pie for dessert and sometimes more depending on who's coming to dinner. sometimes cookies too, tho as we're all getting older, I have stuck with just the pies the last few years...

I'm never in charge of Thanksgiving -- we just show up and bring either desserts or appetizers -- but SIL has the typical sides. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, corn or carrots I think? Roasted Brussels sprouts, which I love. Cranberry sauce, which I hate. Someone on her DH's side always brings coleslaw, which seems odd to me. My favorites are mashed potatoes (and I don't care how they're made!) and stuffing. Oink.

For those who have trouble mashing potatoes, this Jamie Oliver Potato Masher works great. I got tired of the bent handle on my last masher and bought this one. The potatoes come out really fluffy, pretty close to the texture from a ricer.

Hadn't made white mashed potatoes in ages until last night. Tried a new pork recipe that called for an apple-potato mash. They were delicious!

That does sound good Cindy...can we talk you into posting the recipe?

Sure. I'll copy my post from the cooking forum.

This one's a keeper! First time I've
made mashed potatoes in ages. A few tweaks: Cortland vs. Granny Smith,
only used half a tenderloin, sliced instead of cubed. Used 10 ounces of
mushrooms, sliced instead of quartered. Reduced the cider and broth to
2/3 cup each. Reduced amount of fresh thyme. Didn't add the cornstarch
& water. There was no need. I didn't reintroduce the pork until the
sauce was thickened. I think it would have been overcooked otherwise.
Didn't bother with the garnish.

Source: Pork & Mushroom Stew Served Over Apple Potato Mash

Pork & Mushroom Stew Served Over Apple-Potato Mash
Adapted from Cuisine at Home

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1-1/2 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed, cut into 2″ pieces, dried with paper towels, seasoned with salt and black pepper
8 ounce cremini mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup sliced leeks or shallots
1/2 cup diced carrot (1 carrot)
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
3/4 cup apple cider or juice
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 Tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tablespoon water (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Diced Granny Smith apple
Fresh thyme sprigs

Heat oil and butter in a saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-high
heat. Add pork and saute until brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per
side. Remove pork to a plate; set aside.

Sweat mushrooms, leeks and carrot in same pan over medium heat until softened, 3-4 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.

Deglaze the pan with sherry, scraping up any bits on bottom of pan,
and reduce until evaporated. Stir in cider and broth; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Add pork with residual juices and 1
Tablespoon thyme. Simmer stew until thickened, 5 minutes. After 5
minutes I still wanted a tad more thickness so I slowly added 1
Tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tablespoon water to the stew.
Season with salt and pepper.

Serve stew over Apple-Potato Mash (recipe below). Garnish each serving with diced apple and a sprig of thyme.

Apple-Potato Mash

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup half and half
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and white pepper to taste

Boil potatoes and apple in a pot of salted water until tender, about
15 minutes; drain. Return potatoes to pot over medium heat to dry, 1
minute. Remove pot from heat; add half and half and butter. Mash mixture
with a potato masher, then season with salt and white pepper.

Great thread. I have seen so many of my favorites here. I love Spinach Madeline and since Kraft quit making the Jalapeno rolls, I've substituted a harder white pepperjack too. We had to have both mashed potatos and sweet potatoes because different family members had different favorites, until my DM came across a fabulous carrot soufflé topped with a prauline topping that satisfied the sweet potato crowd and everyone enjoys. This year I'll try Tibs recipe for the mashed potatoes. My Grandmother's recipe for cornbread dressing is, of course, a must and my niece usually requests my asparagus egg casserole. Sometimes green bean bundles as well. These days, I do most the cooking, but my DM still makes her fabulous rolls. Salad is usually a sherry congealed made with black cherry jello, bing cherries, and pecans or ambrosia. Pie and another of my grandmother's recipe, boiled custard for dessert.

Bumble, I don't have a ricer, but I'm going to get/try one. I use zucchini (grated) alot.

Allison, thankfully my family still loves the traditional (mostly) Thanksgiving dishes. I usually have ham along with turkey, so last year decided I did not want ham again for Christmas. I also did tenderloin. I understand your dd's thoughts on healthier dishes. Even though it is Thanksgiving and we will indulge (LOL), with my dad and BIL's sugar issues, it's a must for us. I love the sweet potato casserole, but don't make it anymore, at least not when they will be eating here. My dad loves it and I hate watching him try to avoid. Another reason we don't do mashed (white) potatoes.

I love, love, LOVE good dressing (cornbread), and it took me a few tries to get it right.

We also have chosen to forego appetizers. It's such a large/heavy meal. We prefer to go straight to the meal and then later we'll do desserts/coffee, etc.

I need to plan my menu and order the turkey and ham!

I've been pouring over sites trying to figure out something to make for my cooking club (this month the theme is Thanksgiving sides, as it is every Nov.).

I was thinking of a creamed corn cornbread recipe, but someone else is making sweet potato biscuits.

So I am thinking vegetable or salad. (so far there is a lot of gratin stuff, some soups, desserts, stuffing, turkey, green bean casserole).

At this point, I am thinking of making two recipes.

1) Roasted carrots and parsnips (with maple syrup, thyme, and bacon)

2) A salad of mixed greens with fresh fennel, goat cheese, toasted pine nuts and ... wait for it ... dried plums. Okay yes that is prunes. Still, I think it sounds good.

3) second runner up for salad is roasted beets with fresh ricotta and mint, but that is summery to me

4) first runner up is celery, pear and hazelnut salad but it's not very green

Anyway, I didn't want to bookmark all the contenders so I pasted the name or link into a file. Here they are, after combing thru about 500 thanksgiving recipes, in the event they might be of use to someone. If you are looking to make a salad or veggies, these might be of interest.

Martha Stewart site:

Carrot spoonbread

Maple glazed parsnips and carrots

Wild rice w dried fruit and nuts

Cranberry dried cherry relish

Food and Wine site:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shaved-broccoli-and-fennel-salad-goat-cheese

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pumpkin-hummus

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/warm-salad-of-winter-fruits-endives-and-pancetta

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/november-2008-roasted-beets-with-ricotta-dill-and-mint

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/arugula-fennel-and-dried-plum-salad

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/apple-salad-with-cabrales-cheese-and-toasted-almonds

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/celery-roots-with-apples-walnuts-and-blue-cheese

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lentil-salad-with-spinach-pecans-and-cheddar

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/layered-citrus-salad

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shaved-vegetable-salad

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/citrus-lentil-salad-with-kale-pesto

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/kale-and-apple-salad-with-pancetta-and-candied-pecans

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/apple-bacon-and-cabbage-slaw

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/celery-pear-and-hazelnut-salad

what a great and interesting list, Mtn.. I think you are on a good track. I like the idea of something green and/or fruity since so many dishes on rich. I think your group would appreciate something brighter. Fennel, pear, apple all sound great to me.

As for my favorites.. I used to love the stuffing and mashed potatoes but I've kind of grown out of them. I love turkey and the veggies and I just can't eat it all anymore so I load up on those (brussels sprouts, green beans, creamed onions) and cranberry sauce and I am happy... oh and a cocktail or two! :)

My speciality is the turkey itself~I buy a hen instead of a Tom, and it has to be organic. Up until a couple of years ago, it was the basic 'bird', but my entire family now 'tries' to eat as organic and natural as possible~my concern is the grands because of all the garbage the turkeys are fed. The hens are more expensive, and usually are no bigger that 15-16 lbs~last year it was $84 and worth every penny! Oldest DD has a new boyfriend .and he has a fryer as well as the oil, and wants to do that. Since no one in our family has ever had the deep fried 'variety' we're game. I'm sure he won't be buying a hen since he's very frugal.

Youngest DD will make her from scratch pumpkin pie, which is quite a treat......and real whip cream. I'm considering making cream puffs just to have a little something different. The standard fare of candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, a mix of fresh broccoli/cauliflower, green been casserole, dollar rolls from the bakery/whipped butter, cranberry relish as well as whole cranberries(plain), gravy, and dressing OUT of the bird as well as IN the bird. 3 of my kids think the dressing in the bird is gross, even though they ate it for years. As our family grew, I needed to make more, hence, the out-of-bird dressing. Things could change, but this is the plan at the moment. And we don't do appetizers since it's a lot of work fixing such a big meal, and have it ruined because everyone filled up on appetizers! I laid down the law last year. ;)

Corn pudding!

I just got this e-mail from Southern Living magazine, lots of ideas:

http://www.southernliving.com/food/holidays-occasions/thanksgiving-dinner-side-dishes/view-all

Lynn - How about the recipe for cranberry orange relish? I'd like my cranberry orange coffee cake to taste as good as yours!

Late to the party as we've already had Thanksgiving in October. But -

I've printed Lynn's cranberry-orange coffee cake recipe (I'm thinking for Christmas morning) but I do have to stop reading the nutritional info on recipes.

I grew up with creamed onions on the Cdn, west coast but unfortunately my husband doesn't like them.

With roasted vegies, if you're into experimenting, try pancetta instead of bacon. I find it tends to give a nicer non-overwhelming flavour to the vegies. Just a thought.

I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving dinners.

Just now seeing this request, as we've been out of the state visiting DD at college for their Dad's Weekend. Will get the recipe here this morning.

Corn pudding is a new-ish fave for us - my mom always asks me to make it for holiday dinners now. Originally from epicurious.com & then tweaked. I add fresh marjoram, parsley & green onions.

I also often do a sweet potato or winter squash bake w/ layers of sliced sweet potatoes or squash & apples, fresh ginger, orange juice & a bit of maple syrup.

1 of my personal faves is Brussels sprouts & roasted chestnuts sauteed in butter - originally from Martha Stewart.

I LOVE whole cranberry sauce made w/ a whole fresh orange, chopped up.

Rococogurl posted her recipe (and tips) for Buttermilk Cloverleaf Rolls that made my mouth water. And since she makes them, I know they are out of this world!

Carolb_w_fl, can you link your winter squash recipe?

Our Thanksgiving meal is so predictable. Turkey, old fashioned cornbread dressing, and typical sides, even though every year I try to introduce something new. The kids and grandkids always want the same things....sweet potato casserole (not the one with marshmallows) but the one with crunchy pecans and brown sugar on top, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn casserole (has bacon and sour cream in it), cranberry-orange relish, squash casserole, deviled eggs, and usually 1-2 other things we throw in. Pig-out time and loads of carbs, can you tell?

Our cooking club meets tonight, and every November our theme is "Thanksgiving sides". The host makes turkey, and guests bring everything else.

As mentioned, I am making the salad i linked above with baby arugula, fennel, goat cheese, pine nuts and prunes, which I will assemble on site.

I just finished the recipe for Carrots and Parsnips Roasted with Maple Syrup, Bacon and Thyme. I had some for lunch. Yum! The recipe is here: Glazed Carrots and Parsnips

A few comments. Make sure not to buy carrots in a bags; you want thin ones and a little bit of the tops. Some of the parsnips made need to be quartered to be comparable size to the carrots. You will leave a bit of the carrot greens on; wash the area where the carrot meets the top very thoroughly or even scrape with a knife to remove dirt. Use a LOT of salt and pepper.

Watch them closely; 450 degrees in the bottom third is a very very hot oven.

They say to discard the bacon (and it may be quite burnt). But I think the dish is a bit blah that way. I actually fried up 4 more slices again, in a pan with a bit of maple syrup, and garnished the dish with it.

Going into the oven:

More bacon, please!

I was tasked with bringing a few side dishes for our family gathering, one of which is corn. Thanks to this thread, I'm going to try corn pudding for the first time. Sounds delish!