$1.94/lb for Turkey Breast

I have a small family and we meet at my oldest daughter's home for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Her house is bigger than mine and she does most of the cooking (traditional Thanksgiving meal), but I bring a ham and mashed potatoes because "no one else can fix mashed potatoes like me". We only have two or three desserts since there are only 10 or so of us and we are stuffed anyway. For Christmas day, we have a breakfast brunch with eggs, biscuits, gravy, made from scratch cinnamon rolls, etc, etc. Makes my mouth water just to think about it. We don't get presents for the adults anymore, only for the two grandchildren.

One last thought - Thanksgiving is obviously a type of harvest festival (as is Halloween), just as Christmas is a type of mid winter festival (as is New Year's), and Easter is a type of "rites of Spring" festival, like May Day was before the communists claimed it. All of these types of festivals have existed for thousand of years. They have just changed and morphed into slightly different things in different cultures, but it is amazing how they continue and continue over the centuries. I'm sure they also exist in religions and cultures with which I am not familiar. I think it is because they speak to an ancient human concern with the seasons, having a good harvest, celebrating surviving winter w/o famine, and the rebirth of everything every Spring.

Jackie

Very true, Jackie, and very obvious in Scandinavia where we celebrate the change of seasons thoroughly. Midsummer is perhaps the most cherished holiday here, more important than Christmas for many and regarded as the real National Day and not the official June 6, generally ignored. It was felt as an outrage when the day was changed from the Summer Solstice to the nearest weekend in Sweden. In Norway they still celebrate on the proper day. Walpurgis Night is another great holiday here, a bonfire night to celebrate spring.

Thanksgiving for my family and the one I have acquired via marriage is a time of showing thanks for what is important in life, beginning by surrounding ourselves with loved ones and reaching out to those we know. It is also a time of showing compassion for others; especially those less fortunate.

My husband is one of six kids and he grew up in the small bedroom community in Ventura County, CA. We travel to his parent's home for Thanksgiving; actually arriving the night before. Most of his siblings live in the area although his brother lives up the coast a couple of hours. Those who have traveled to the area, sleep over at his parents home, and begin Thanksgiving day by making breakfast for the rest of the family who make their way to the parent's home after church or working to feed those at local homeless shelters. After breakfast, and by noon, all of the six siblings, their spouses, or anyone who wants to join in are working in the kitchen to create some part of the Thanksgiving meal ( tasks they can competently complete of course). There are appetizers on the table; the wine, conversation and laughter is abundant, as we gather around the kitchen island and connecting informal dining area preparing the meal. Every year, there are non-family guests, usually a close friend of the family and their divorced single parent, or last year a friend of my brother-in-law who was visiting from Alaska. There is plenty of food and everyone is welcome... just like Thanksgiving.

The following day, we all spend an hour or two working at a local shelter to feed those less fortunate, and then in groups we go shopping- Black Friday... throughout the day. We casually get together for dinner the day after Thanksgiving too and eat leftovers either for lunch, dinner or both:)

We usually spend Christmas with our nuclear family, the spouse's family, or travel to Hawaii for a few days.

Lynn

Mariannese - I forgot Midsummer! Of course that is the fourth one. Moving it from the Summer Solstice to a weekend sounds just like a Govt move. Here, several years ago the US Govt decided there were not enough official holidays in Oct, so THEY MOVED VETERANS (ARMISTICE) DAY to a weekend in October! Everyone was so enraged (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month...) that they had to move it back!

Jackie

Toolbelt, Thanks a lot for the turkey price info. :-) I hope the turkey farmers make enough money from the Thanksgiving sales. That's a lot of hard work, but if they only sell 48c/lb, they lose money I think.

Thanks to all the turkey farmers who make the Thanksgiving feast possible! :-)

One more thing, is Thanksgiving started for thanking God, or thanking American Indians? There are some different stories. Most people here were talking about family get together having a nice party, I am just wondering what really started Thanksgiving. I wasn't born here, just wondering. And, I got a turkey, will go with the flow. :-)

Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and friends are two important "times" in our family. Since I have a daughter and SIL who are both policeman we don't often celebrate on the same day as the rest of the world but "our" day is very important to us.

This year we will be celebrating on Thanksgiving day which is unusual for us. I will start cooking on Tuesday making pies, cookies, candy and cakes. Wednesday I will cook all the side dishes so they only have to be heated on Thursday. Thursday I cook the turkey and those few sides that couldn't be cooked ahead.

Right now I'm not sure how many will be here and I may not know until we sit down to eat. Everyone in the family knows it is okay to bring anyone they want to join us. Right now the number is 23 family and 6 guests. However my youngest daughter just called and said there might be 4 more guests so we will see. We set tables up anywhere we have space to put them and people are literally eating all over the house.

Before our meal though everyone who is present will gather in the family room and all are encouraged to tell of something they are thankful for. From the oldest who is 89 down to the youngest child everyone shares. It is a time for family and friends old and new to fellowship, indulge, laugh and enjoy the day.

Christmas is just our immediate family and we don't have a big meal. I usually make a few pots of chili and the 16 of us will gather, exchange gifts and relax. Again the day fluctuates from year to year and this year we will have Christmas on the 27th. Even though we don't all get together on Christmas Eve or Christmas day those of us who can go to church on Christmas Eve.

For us both holidays are about the family gathering together to fellowship.

Thanks to God, I think, and fellowship with the Native Americans.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

The commonly available "Butterball"-type turkeys often found frozen in grocery stores at this time of year are often sold very cheaply -- even below cost -- so as to attract customers to do their holiday shopping there. What the stores lose on turkeys they more than make up with all the other "trimmings" they sell.

As for what I pay, it's not really comparable. I get old fashioned types, not broad-breasted. Last year it was a Bourbon Red from a local producer -- Griggstown Farm -- and that was $8.40 per pound for a 14-pounder. I've also ordered through Local Harvest in the past, but the shipping can be pricey, so I'm happy that where I live now there's a local producer selling fresh turkey they grew and processed themselves.

I know it sounds crazy expensive, but if you're having a smaller gathering, the old breeds are awesome. Without that broad breast, the bird cooks more evenly, and I personally prefer dark meat, anyway. I cooked mine in a rotisserie oven I brought over -- yes, the "set it and forget it" one that used to be sold via infomercials, in the largest size available. That 14-pounder was done in 2 hours, and was as moist and juicy as any rotisserie chicken. Oh, and it meant the main oven was free for other things -- I set the rotisserie oven outside to cook.

I don't have pics of last year's bird, but here's the one from the year before. I want to preface by saying "It's not burnt!" I made my own seasoning mix to rub on the outside, and it included some sugar for caramelization. It may seem small for those of you doing a big feast, but it was more than enough for the six of us that year. Well, that...plus the ham....and about eight different sides.......oh, and the hors d'ourves, the salad, the parsnip-pear bisque......did I mention I like to cook?

The pasture-raised ham -- over red onions and apples, with a paste of apple cider, mustard, and cloves.

Some of the sides....we did it buffet-style that year, making plates and bringing them to the table. Being as I'm still "new in town", I make the rotations around for Thanksgiving, asking only that I'm allowed to cook A LOT of food. That year, my friends' home was small, so we kept the food in the kitchen and ate in the living room. They simply didn't have one table large enough for both at the same time.

Have you ever had stuffing made from whole-wheat pumpkin bread crutons? If not, I highly recommend it -- but you'll also have to bake the pumpkin bread. And for some reason, my pistachio-cinnamon-brown-sugar baked acorn squash didn't make it in this pic.

Oh, and desserts. I did a chocolate-swirled pumpkin cheesecake, my "you have to make this if you're coming" banana butterscotch bundt cake, and my pumpkin-pear-pecan strudel.

Definitely not lo-cal.

:-)

~Christopher

Oh, yum!

summers rhythm, I wasn’t there….. but I’m sure they thanked the Indians as well as thanking God for sending them.

Here is an eye witness account, written as part of a letter home by Edward Winslow on Dec 12, 1621 (about 1-2 months after the feast):

Our corn [i.e. wheat] did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown. They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms [guns], many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.

(The thanking God part would be taken for granted, and so not necessary to mention).

Jackie

In the US, Thanksgiving was celebrated at all sorts of different dates by different states, until 1863, when Lincoln proclaimed it a national holiday - proclamation below:

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Fall is my favorite season - I always put up my big tree September 1, drape it in gold and orange lights and wrap autumn leaves in a garland all around the tree. This year my son and family aren't coming and I was a bit tired of the big tree, so did 2 little ones in the living room and I love it - the raised dining room nearby has 2 tall pencil trees done the same way and decorations all over the room [actually, all over the house!] I adore Thanksgiving - my boyfriend goes to his parents so he can stay with me for Christmas - I take my 89 yr. old mother and her 73 yr. old friend to a beautiful country inn that decorates and serves a fabulous buffet. It is a beautiful drive - no cooking, gifts, hassle. Just a relaxed day to think about all I have to be thankful for. I get up, feed horses and chickens, dress up and 3 good friends will be joining us this year as well. It is my favorite holiday - I wish everyone a peaceful, wonderful day!

Judith

I greatly appreciate everyone's input! :-) Wow, Chris, are you're a chef?! Look at all those food you made! I thought you were studying something else. You would be an excellent chef. I am not good at cooking, food to me is like putting gas in a car. I am a Wegmans shopper, pretty much everything is from there. I just found the bread maker in the basement after reading your post, this Sunday's project-making a pumpkin bread, now I am going back to Wegmans hunting for the bread stuff.

You don't need a breadmaker to make pumpkin bread -- technically, it's a "quick bread" as opposed to a "yeast bread", so a breadmaker is going overboard. You just mix the wet, mix the dry, then fold the wet and dry together, pour in a loaf pan, and bake. When cool, dice the pumpkin bread into cruton-sized pieces, and toast in the oven until dry. Then, use that instead of "bread crumbs" in your stuffing mix. The stuffing I make with it has mushrooms and onions -- sounds like a weird combination with pumpkin bread, but the sweet-savory-salty combination is rather awesome.

This is the base I use for my pumpkin bread, with some modifications. I use whole-wheat flour instead of white flour, dark brown sugar instead of white sugar, butter instead of vegetable oil, and apple cider instead of orange juice or water. If you want an interesting texture, you can also use 2/3 whole wheat and 1/3 cornmeal for the flour part. I also use double the pumpkin pie spice and add two teaspoons of ground clove when making it for stuffing, so I can taste it through all the other stuffing ingredients. And I keep the dried cranberries in there -- it makes for an interesting "surprise taste" in the stuffing.

And for making the pumpkin bread into stuffing, I use this recipe.

I hope I caught you before you went to Wegmans.

:-)

~Christopher

I am actually familiar with how festivals and traditions morph and are co-opted by sucessive generations and subsequent powers-that be, Eostre to Easter for example. I stand by my point though that it takes an external observer viewpoint to see the dissonance in thanksgiving and how it is currently celebrated, divorced as it is from the subsequent events in many contemporary US minds. That's not necessarily a criticism of anyone who doesn't see it the same way, I promise I can differ and not condemn, but you know, it is my honest external view of it as a holiday and I'm sorry if it makes anyone uncomfortable but it is what it is.

Anyway, on to less potentially contentious topics in the thread - I again find myself out of step! In our family, generally the men do the cooking, and not just on special occasions. We're all competent in the kitchen of course (in the extended family it's considered a basic life skill and no child would be allowed to grow up without it) but it's not a passion for me or my sisters like it is for my brother and father. I believe there will be caramelised this and sous-vide that and turkey with all the trimmings. My sil is from CA so some of their Thanksgiving food will be incorporated and generally it'll be a big spread, although by UK rather than US standards!

However having just disclaimed foodie passion, I have to walk it back a little, in that I bake. So in addition to the traditional stuff, I just made several batches of thanksgiving themed patisserie for the freezer for them - including pumpkin and cranberry macaróns, turkey, and ham croustades, and bacon relish.

Incorporating thanksgiving as another family thing hasn't been an issue for us in blending the two tradions into the holiday season, at least in part because turkey doesn't feature heavily into our usual xmas menus. Everyone can easily stomach two big holiday dinners apparently, provided the menus are different.
;)

Also, next weekend will be more of a casual drop in affair, whereas xmas is close family only.

I think the difference between Thanksgiving and Christmas for a lot of Americans is that the former is for the extended family, the latter for the immediate one. Also I believe there's a general inclination for a traditional menu on Thanksgiving (what's traditional will change from family to family) while the Christmas dinner can vary more.

Jackie, thanks for your posts! Just as when Lincoln wrote his Proclamation, we're in a time of great instability, with a massive exodus of refugees from the zones of conflict. I'm sitting here very comfortably in my living room, full of an excellent breakfast, enjoying a crackling fire in the wood stove. DD has gone off to school getting her quality public education. There are millions of people who don't enjoy these blessings. How can we find a place for them in our society? What can we do to help? I feel extremely useless, particularly since my political representatives don't seem willing to take a positive approach to dealing with the refugees. My conviction is that a negative approach--ignore them and hope they'll go away, send them back where they came from, let them drown in the sea, leave them to rot in camps--will lead to far worse outcomes, for us comfortable citizens of the western world than will an intelligent, well managed welcome.

HelpMeFind lists 3 roses with the name of 'Thanksgiving'.

I'm still enjoying all these fascinating responses from you all, and I can only reiterate that I hope you all enjoy the holiday and your family meal arrangements...

...I will add though, that there is one thing that I find rather bizarre, and that's the Presidential pardoning of a Turkey.... sparing its life, when so many millions are destined for the ovens... I feel it's a bit like playing God too much for my taste... as if there's some kind of guilt complex going on behind it... this Wikipedia article here details the selection process... it appears that even the survivors don't live too long...

...not that we here have any reason to take a moral high ground, with so many poor creatures destined for ritual slaughter, a practice that, personally, should never see the light of day in a civilised country,... even a standard abattoir is too much for me to ponder, and why I'm virtually 100 percent vegetarian these days..... cous cous and salad I'm afraid....

Thanks Chris! I didn't see your post soon enough, I have to remake the pumpkin bread. :-) Will have to go back to Wegmans tonight get more stuff for your recipe. It's not easy to make a loaf bread! :-) Baking is like working in a lab......:-)

Yes! We get together with family, I flew from California to Texas to be with my daughter's family. One of my sons and his wife and my husband will fly in before Thanksgiving. Our other son and his wife can't make it. We prepare a huge Turkey, and all the trimmings and have pumpkin pie and apple pie. This Christmas our children will go to their in-laws, we alternate years. We do not cook Turkey for Christmas, usually a goose or more lately Prime rib.

With out having read all the replies, I wish a day of Thanksgiving would spread around the world with all celebrating what we have to be thankful for.

This year Thanksgiving is a breakfast with 2 sons, a dinner with just 3 of us and then a big meal on Sunday when the other son gets back from his MILs

Melissa - you're welcome. Did you notice that Lincoln included "fellow citizens.... who are sojourning in foreign lands.."? So, find some expats and go for it!

Jackie

For some people here in the US it's a family get-together without the insane commercialism of Christmas. For some, it's a yearly reminder that they don't like their families all that much. ;^)

Watch the film "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" sometime.

Thanksgiving is about sharing a meal with friends and family. Sitting down together and being thankful that we've made it through another season together and hope we can all make it through the next.

Whether it's people from different cultures (as originally the case) or different interests, ideas, etc...we all come together to share this one meal. In our area, we have a very large Thanksgiving drive that feeds thousands of families.

Like Christmas, in that we take a bit of time to think of others and what they need. It's not just the meal, but it's the state of mind. If all you're thinking about is Black Friday....you probably have a different state of mind (former SIL) but we still had the meal together :)

Part of what makes the US great is its diversity. The idea that we can and should help others. Yes, there is a class system...but most people still want to be in the middle. And still find a way to help those, who are having a tough year.

ETA: We do brunch on Christmas! Easier to sit together around the tree and watch the kids open gifts. Although I enjoy gifts, it's not the main reason for Christmas. If we can't convey that to our younger members of the family....we probably need to break out "It's A Wonderful Life" again!

Wow! What a wealth of wonderful info and traditions here! I really like these kinds of threads because we learn about each other. I like knowing about all my friends here!

The ladies in our family found the secret to getting the men to cook...DEEP FRYER! Ever since the Food Network started showing how to cook turkey in a deep fryer we women, who spent years in a stifling kitchen roasting a turkey for hours, have been freed. The men have taken over cooking the bird. You know, men and fire, they just can't resist it! And it gets them away from the TV. The guys in the family have built elaborate wind blocks and stands and all manner of contraptions to prefect the task. It's really quite amusing to watch the process through the window while sitting at the table with a glass of wine, lol!

Speaking of TV and football. You have to remember I'm in Detroit. The Lions game was the original Thanksgiving Day game long before the NFL let everyone else play to. Sad as it may seem, from the Lions very long years of losing, it's very much a part of our Thanksgiving traditions along with the "Hudson's" parade. I don't even know who sponsors it now because to me it will always be the Hudson's parade.

Looking up kugel, that seems similar but more like a custard or casserole. From what I've been able to research the Hungarian version is called dios teszta (don't have a clue how that's pronounced) and while it is baked to melt the sugars I wouldn't call it a casserole as the noodles are loose and don't really "set". Most of the recipes I found on line use powdered or granular sugar but Gramma always used honey in hers so that's what we use.

Go LIONS!

From just about the only Detroit fan in eastern Washington :)

Oh, and I do believe Martha will turn things around!

Thought I would chime in again, as I just finished doing all of my Thanksgiving cooking, which consists of one dish - creamed onions. Many years ago when my DH's Aunt used to do the family Thanksgiving, I, newly married into the family, asked her if I could bring anything. She said "oh, yes, please bring creamed onions. There will be 20 of us, but of course lots of other side dishes." I gulped, and said "fine, I will do that". PANIC! I had barely ever tasted creamed onions in my life - no one ate them in my family except my father, so my mother always made a small dish of them for him. Her version used medium size onions, and what I would charitably describe as a white sauce, not a cream sauce. Luckily I had a copy of Julia Child's book on French cooking, and I knew her recipes were fabulous, and always successful the first time you made them, as long as you followed the sometimes involved directions. To my great relief and happiness I found the recipe in the book.

Well, I have been making it every year ever since, and even with lots of practice it took me over 3 hours today. I use those itty bitty pearl onions, and start off with about 90-100 oz of them. Then my DH helps me peel them - that took us an hour. Then they cook for about 50 minutes (tip - mine come out extra yummy because instead of cooking them in water or chicken broth, I cook them in 100% white wine. Then I reduce the oniony wine and add it to the cream sauce.). The cream sauce takes a while - it is one of those recipes which requires looking up 2 other recipes earlier in the book. At last, TA DA! - I am very grateful that I only had to cook ONE dish!

The extra fun part today was that we turned on the TV while we were peeling the onions, and turned on a new PBS special on.....the Pilgrims! Very well done, based on all original sources. A perfect show to accompany my cooking. Now I have 2 dishwashers full and running, and another 2 dishwashers of bowls and pots which aren't washed yet.

Jackie

There are some great posts on this thread. So interesting to learn about everyone.

Christopher, your spread looks fabulous.

Thanks Marlorena!

Just watched The Thanksgiving House on Hallmark. Some good insights for Thanksgiving and the history :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FfzcXjk-Ms

Jackie, those creamed onions sound delicious. This is the very first Thanksgiving I am not doing all the cooking, am at my daughter's so will direct, but not do. And my newest daughter-in-law worked as a prep chef so says she is excellent at chopping veggies quickly! Ah, all those years, coming to fruition! Our one signature dish is the mashed potatoes you make ahead of time with peels on and lots of butter, sour cream and cream cheese. Sometimes we add garlic, sometimes not. Not a dish for the calorie counting. :)

..being allergic to onions, I would have to decline Jackie's sumptuous dish, but I do like the idea of cooking with wine, I always think it makes such a huge difference to the flavour of any sauce like that... I always used red wine when making meat gravy for instance...

...peeling some 8 lbs of onions would not make my day, but I suppose split between 2.... 4 lbs each.... makes it doable... and I'm sure it will be delicious...

...I believe it's this Thursday.... maybe I make something just to join in from afar....Bread Pudding and Victoria Sponge.... I can do that....

...I should add, I hope some of you will get the time to take photos of your meals and show us here...I should like to see some more... I know we've had some already...

Thanksgiving Day is here at last. Tom and granddaughter Jordan made pies yesterday, safely tucked away in a cabinet where the dogs Archie and Nero cannot reach them. Tom has fired up the smoker. We have two smallish turkeys this year, one to go on the smoker and one to go in the oven. Some family is here already, and the rest of family and friends will arrive in about four hours. Then the feasting will begin! I'm hoping to keep it at reasonable level this year.

..well, I hope you're all having a lovely time with lots of fun and plenty to eat...

...my modest contribution is an afternoon tea, which we've just enjoyed... there are only 2 of us...

...Wholewheat Lemon Victoria Sponge, filled with a Raspberry conserve and whipped cream with Prosecco...

..Banana Bread Pudding, filled with dried fruit steeped in Single Estate Malt Whisky, Armagnac and Amaretto, topped with flaked Almonds and served with a Vanilla Liqueur cream...

What a boozy tea! I'm sure you enjoyed it, who wouldn't?

Marlorena - that looks luscious! I love the tradition of High Tea - we don't have it over here, except in pseudo English places. I will try and take some pics later this evening at my SIL's house.

Jackie

I would like to say happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends.

Being from Atlantic Canada I can tell you that we do indeed celebrate Thanksgiving. (I live in Nova Scotia.) Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year. The gardens are almost always finished and the meal is cooked with fresh veggies and fruits from the garden. I also do a lot of preserves. I try to have as many family as possible come to the big meal. WE have the traditional turkey meal, dressing, mashed potatoes, carrots, turnip, sweet potato, cranberries, coleslaw, corn and whatever else anyone would like to have. After the meal we usually go for a walk along the beach, take family pictures, laugh and visit together. It is a very relaxed holiday and I cherish it. I do all the cooking. Mom might bring a pumpkin pie bought at the grocery store if I don't have time to cook pumpkin for pies. After we eat and clean up everyone gets a few bottles of preserves to take home. My way of sharing the harvest. It is a very special family day with no pressure on anyone for anything and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This has been an interesting thread. I have enjoyed reading it this evening.

Valerie

Valerie, your Thanksgiving meal sounds delicious and your day exactly what Thanksgiving should be. A corner of my mind had often wondered what "N.S." stood for: now I know. I went on a bicycle tour of Nova Scotia many, many years ago, and your post brought back memories of that trip.

We had a fine Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. Our guest came, bringing her dog along (of course): a Manchester terrier mix with personality plus. We ate well, talked a lot, and enjoyed each others' company. We were not a group of big eaters, so our vegetarian meal supplied abundance of leftovers. The meal: pasta e fagioli, steamed broccoli with homemade mayonnaise, mashed potatoes, Indian spiced carrots and onions, mixed wild and long grain rice, and pumpkin and quince pies. We got as far as the carrots before our stomachs ran out of room. That evening DH's daughter and her husband called on Skype, with video, and we talked for an hour. Modern technology can do wonders for family togetherness. DH's first family is somewhat fractured, but this daughter, after passing a rebellious adolescence, has shown a desire, growing through the years, to maintain close ties with her father and his second family. She got married this year to a great husband. Theirs was a perfect Thanksgiving visit.

Marlorena - you asked for more pictures, so here they are.

We had too many people for one table, so in addition to the one in the dinging room, there was one set up in the library:

Here's the turkey:

and the stuffing:

and mashed potatoes and a savory sweet potato casserole:

and rolls:

and the creamed onions:

and peas:

and the pies: apple, pecan, and pumpkin

All of these pictures (except the turkey - I took its portrait before it was carved) were taken by me leaping in front of the 5 teenage boy cousins who were lurking in the kitchen while the food was being put out - we managed to restrain them for just enough time to take the pics.

Jackie

...oh wow Jackie...great photos and luscious food,.... even I could really tuck into all of that... thanks for taking the time and trouble to do this, I've long wanted to see what a traditional Thanksgiving meal looks like... and how you organise it all... probably not too different from our Christmas lunches here, perhaps different choices in accompaniments...

...if I might put forward one query, it's that your Turkey looks a little smaller than I imagined...although I know it's surprising how much you get on a bird, but not everyone likes leg meat...

...did you have enough to go around..? I might have worried about that considering you needed two rooms for your guests... and lots of young hungry mouths to feed...

...I have a tablecloth very similar to yours....

...I should add that, at Christmas time over here, it's quite often you find people cooking more than one joint these days.... not only a large Turkey, but a joint of Pork or some other meat, so as to give their many guests other options... it's something I always used to do when cooking for family...

...perhaps that's not something people do at Thanksgiving...

...I should also thank bellegallica and Christopher for posting photos from previous seasons of their culinary skills - and all very delicious...

And thank you again, Marlorena, for starting this most interesting and hunger inducing thread. I'll briefly mention that I cooked Southern fried chicken, and the traditional trimmings for my non turkey loving family, which was just a small group of us.

I think I have that tablecloth and napkins, too. Along with a dark red one that's quite similar. Diane

Oh, wow, that all looks yummy folks!

Here's a couple of pics of the spread at our Thanksgiving.

We had the usual WAY TOO MUCH FOOD for the 22 people there (that's just the immediate family!), lol! Two turkeys, one roasted, one deep fried, a ham, two different types of dressing, a bread stuffing and our family one which is a vegetable stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn pudding, green bean casserole, squash, cranberries, rolls and assorted relishes and crudites. Dessert was 3 pumpkin pies, a pumpkin cheese cake, a chocolate layer cake and assorted chocolate candies. No wonder I felt like the Goodyear Blimp driving home!

Marlorena - yes, there was plenty of turkey, especially considering all of the other stuff. Here is the turkey platter after the bird was carved:

Melissa - so glad you had a Thanksgiving meal - it sounds wonderful.

Jackie

..aah ok... plenty for everyone Jackie,.... I always used to panic a little when serving a big meal for family, that I would not have quite enough to go round... so I'm always thinking along those lines...

Seil.... thanks for showing photos of your Thanksgiving party... I know it's awkward when you're busy in the kitchen.... I'd love a piece of that chocolate cake...!

In my family, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States the Thanksgiving meal always included:

A big plate of crudites with onion dip. a crystal platter with black olives, enough for every child to slide a big black olive over each of her fingers.

a big roast Turkey, when Grandma was alive it would be a 24 pound bird.

with stuffing made with toasted bread cubes, onions, celery and sage and other herbs and chicken broth.

gravy made with giblets.

Mashed white potatoes made with butter and cream.

Sweet potato sliced and baked with lots of butter and with small marshmallows baked on top.

Cranberry sauce. One puts this on the turkey. I saw a movie set in England where someone very kindly tried to reproduce a Thanksgiving meal for his American wife and he served raspberry jam with the turkey. a heartfelt sentiment which is more important than food. If I were in England and couldn't find cranberries I'd look for lingonbery jam, for they are a bit closer to cranberries in taste, though the berries are smaller.

Brussels Sprouts

Rolls or biscuits and butter.

and for dessert pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top.

Now that I've lived in California for 30 years I've seen many Thanksgivings that had all of the above foods but also had in addition to pumpkin pie, a very rich pie made of pecans. Most of , no- all of the African Americans I've known always have sweet potato pie in lieu of pumpkin pie and in my opinion it is a far superior pie. Nowadays we usually start with a big salad often a Caesar salad as it is simple and the rest of the food is so rich.

I love Thanksgiving, it is such a heartwarming holiday with none of the commercial stress of Christmas when one is rushing around trying to find a parking space and then the right gift for every one. Although it takes a large effort to cook a large Thanksgiving meal.

I often feel closer to God on Thanksgiving for God is Love, and love is a familiar feeling on that day along with gratitude. Most Thanksgivings I've been at have always had one or two persons who were invited at the last minute when someone found out they had no family locally to go to . I have been that person myself several times when new to an area.

Thanks for asking,

Lux.