Dressing and turkey gravy, my favorite!

For me, it's stuffing and gravy that I can actually eat! I look forward to it all year.

Stuffing with pumpkin pie following as a close second.

We made stuffin' muffins for the last two years. Mound stuffing (pack firmly so that stuffing holds together) into well oiled/greased muffin pans and bake at 350 until the tops are crunchy. Let cool for 15 minutes and remove from pan. Not only do they look like muffins, but the muffins are a form of portion control too.

Cornbread dressing.

Creamed onions. Peeling small onions is too much work for any other meal.

The first thing I thought of was my in-laws cranberry relish, which sounds very much like yours! Their version doesn't have celery or nuts, but it has an apple. So good and it definitely wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it.

Turkey and dressing. Even though I may have it at other times of year (and I do cuz I love roast turkey), it is an absolute requirement for Thanksgiving dinner. Everything else is flexible.

I can happily do without the turkey and dressing - much prefer roasted quail or pheasant, served with wild rice. But it must have cranberry sauce, Sister Schubert rolls, sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows!), and pumpkin pie. I've had different veggies over the years - we now do slivered brussels sprouts with pancetta - fabulous.

Raisins in the dressing.

You want me to portion control my dressing? Blasphemy, I say, blasphemy. :)

Cranberry sauce (never cranberry jelly), dressing and turkey.

I too love pancetta with the brussels sprouts, it's also nice with roasted asparagus.

I know it's a couple of weeks away still but Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We have ours near the beginning of October.

Scalloped oysters. It's never better than when the oysters are fresh.

Ha, ha, blfenton! Noooooo...I want me to portion control my dressing! I consume way, way, way too much otherwise.

Well, so far it sounds like the consensus is food rather than a person or a traditions that makes for the perfect Thanksgiving dinner! Beside the cranberry relish I adore turkey, gravy, and cornbread stuffing. Preferably, all in one bite!

Turkey and candied sweet potatoes, and the list goes on!

Sue

Sweet potatoes and stuffing.

Savory bread/sausge stuffing, preferably with oysters in the mix. Giblet gravy and fresh cranberry something. The rest - I don't care much about.

Mashed potatoes. Why do I say that? My sister's mother-in-law always made potato salad. Even at Thanksgiving one year. I made my own turkey and mashed potatoes the next day. The next year, I brought mashed potatoes to the party. Gravy is great on turkey, stuffing/dressing, and potatoes. Not on potato salad.

wouldn't be TG without the 8 hour drive... to spend it with my daughter and her family!

Turkey and dressing, plus Pumpkin pies.

When Thanksgiving weather used to be chilly-cold, fire going in the fireplace. Miss it! And raking leaves after the big meal.

We don't cook on Thanksgiving weekend. Instead, we go to our local upscale market and buy all of our favorite foods that they prepare fresh like grilled teriyaki salmon, all manner of salads, chicken romano, etc. We use the time to wrap presents, watch football, nosh, plan our Christmas parties, write Christmas cards, decorate our house for Christmas and relax. We love this special time that's just for the two of us before the rush of the holidays begins.

turkey, homemade stuffing, gravy and homemade cranberry!! i also love it all in one bite!! YUM! and lemon meringue, pumpkin and dutch apple pies, cheesecake and cannoli's....!!

mayflowers... i cheat and buy frozen pearl onions!

I love creamed pearl onions topped with chopped peanuts

Rita, that's really a special tradition! Thanks for sharing it!

Cheat? Never! I tried it with the frozen pearls once but the cream doesn't get oniony enough. I used to be able to buy small white boiling onions that were larger than pearls but where I live now they only have pearls and there's not much onion left after peeling.

Cranberry relish!

Besides my kids and grands which is a given...I'd have to say our Thanks around the table. After we say grace we go around the table and everyone shares something they are thankful for. Last year Tim was thankful that I'm his grandma and Chip was thankful that grandma is a good cook....so sweet these boys of mine. Last year was going to be my last year cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner, but than I thought how sad that the boys would lose out on a family tradition at too young an age soooo I will continue to cook and have the family all gathered around Mama's apron. I'm nothing if not dramatic...LOL

Sometimes due to work or travel needs we agree to have Thanksgiving on Friday or Saturday, instead of on the Thursday holiday. Family members who insisted on watching the football game have passed on, so that's no longer part of our tradition. The meal must have turkey, gravy, sausage-bread dressing, and cranberry relish; other dishes can vary from year to year. Everyone looks forward to taking home a selection of leftovers.

Mamapinky, how sweet that your boys appreciate you -- that can make it all worthwhile. Long may you cook :-)

rob333....potato salad! That's crazy talk.

Potato salad goes with all holiday menu's. My kind of food.

Going to Aunt Carolyn’s. Every year on Thanksgiving Day for more than 30 years now. She’s now 81 and widowed this year, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. (My youngest son, age 28, said the other day that he’s never NOT been at Aunt Carolyn’s on Thanksgiving.) We carry in most of the food, but she will roast a turkey and make dressing, gravy, and potatoes.

Praline topped sweet potato casserole and Cajun dirty rice are a couple of items we always have at our Thanksgiving and Christmas. I prefer fried turkey but next would be a smoked turkey. We usually have potato salad too. I am not big on cranberries but I have developed a taste for the salad made with fresh berries and orange and nuts, my mother in law had made it a few times.

Next Thursday we will be having our Garden Club Thanksgiving luncheon at our usual restaurant, they prepare it just for us, and it's always wonderful. We are losing so many members because of the floods I am not sure if we will have another Thanksgiving event.

Cornbread dressing made ‘just right’.

Turkey! Went to my SIL's one year for Thanksgiving. I guess turkey and stuffing was too much work so we had a ham and potato wrapped in foil. Worst Thanksgiving ever but made for some good stories over the years......it wasn't just the food, the whole experience was very memorable!

Ravencajun, My favorite New Orleans food is boudin, which we first tried when we met two couples from NO while we were sitting on the beach in Destin. One went up to their unit and came back with boudin, mustard, crackers, and napkins, and we all sat there in the sun and wind and surf, and ate boudin washed down with ice cold beer, until we were about to pop!! They described it as sort of like dirty rice in a casing. Can you tell me the difference between the two? The only dirty rice I've every had is the Zatarains brand, and I really like it!