I ordered a BBQ smoked turkey from a local BBQ restaurant. It comes with gravy, mac and cheese, and collards It needs to be reheated. . We had it last year and everything was greatread. MIL will bring deviled eggs, sweet potatoes, and a salad. I usually make Guy Fieri green beans and a Dutch Apple pie. I fell the other day and have a small radius fracture, so IDK how much I will be able to do with a splint. I may need to see if I can order a pie.

Oh no! I'm so sorry!

Hopefully this feels quickly.

I'm going to look up GF's green beans.

We are traveling this year. Oldest DD and her DH will meet us in Colorado where DS lives. We'll all share an Airbnb for a few weeks, and youngest DD will fly in for 4-5 days at Thanksgiving. The day before is a milestone birthday for my DH, who has had a really difficult last few years with his health, so we are celebrating! I've made an iPhoto slide show set to some of our favorite songs, a birthday cake from an all GF bakery in town, and an adorable banner from Etsy with his face on it, and just can't wait!

I've ordered a roast turkey dinner from Sprouts (stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce) and we will make the rest. There are at least three good cooks among us, so it should be a fun day preparing our feast. Thank goodness for curbside grocery shopping! We won't arrive at the Airbnb until late Tuesday night, and I have a thing about avoiding the grocery store in the days before Thanksgiving, so was thinking, "ugh," but now I've got my Safeway order in progress, and will just hit the button closer to the time. Since we are driving, I'll be taking some of our favorite spices, etc. (Airbnb's can be a little hit and miss). I've just added the GF green beans to our list -thank you! Can't wait to make a few more discoveries in this post.

My DD requested Mac-n-Cheese for Thanksgiving, so I test-drove Smitten Kitchen's recipe last night. My mom was famous for her mac-n-cheese, and I've become pretty well known for mine as well, but THIS is my new favorite recipe. Really, really good. You bake it all in the oven (no stove prep), and the pasta goes into the mixture uncooked. In her recipe, she suggests sour cream or cottage cheese -I used the sour cream. The recipe also asks you to dot butter on the top halfway through, and I imagine that's what gave it that luscious crisp top. Smitten Kitchen Mac-n-Cheese

Mine:

Oh yeah, that Guy Fieri Green Bean Casseroleis something I’ve made for probably at least 10 years now.

Our tradition for many years, since the kids were toddlers, was to go to our lakehouse on Thanksgiving to ski, the first day of the season there. Since it was just our immediate family, and 3 toddlers to 2 adults Thxg dinner was always on the simpler side, and that is what my kids are accustomed to. Carrot stuffing, baked yams in the skin, mashed potatoes, a big green salad, that awful jello-y cranberry sauce, and pumpkin custards (no crust). Even though we no longer have the lakehouse and it's too early to ski in either CT or Maine, and we have a bigger crowd most of the time, the simple menu prevails. Heavenly halibut will be an addition this year.

Using my new Derian napkins and salad plates this year, and hoping to copy a (lower) version of this for a centerpiece:

We are having stuffing with sausage and apples, green beans with lemon butter, and a pear salad on greens with toasted pecans cranberries and vanilla vinaigrette drizzle. I am also making cranberry compote for the turkey and of course gravy with a splash of cognac.

This year I am not making potatoes or rolls, and I am getting away with this as Mother is spending Thanksgiving with SIL and fam. Lately I’ve been buying ground pork and making my own sausage so will probably do that again, and yesterday I got turkey necks from the store and made almost four quarts of turkey stock. I watched Chaire Saffitz’ make it on the NYT cooking channel on YouTube and was inspired! Instead of roasting all the ingredients first I browned them on the stovetop instead (necks first, then the veg) before adding water. I am pleasantly surprised at how good the stock is and the turkey neck meat is a great treat for our dogs.

Desserts are morphing…i planned to make a pumpkin mousse but am now veering towards the pumpkin cream cheese pie in a chocolate crust that Mtn posted. I’m still planning to make gingerbread cupcakes with orange frosting as well.

I had foot surgery last month and am still non weight bearing, so im not cooking anything. We’re going to my father and stepmother’s house. My contribution will be a pecan pie that a friend who owns a pie business dropped off along with dinner a couple of weeks ago. I put it in the freezer since we had so much food. I’ll have to coach DH through making whipped cream!

In addition to the turkey, I’m guessing she’ll have cheese straws and candied/spiced pecans as an appetizer, stuffing/dressing with apples and sausage, sweet potato casserole with praline topping, green beans almandine, cranberry sauce, gravy, and rolls.

She often makes squash casserole and corn souffle, but I’m thinking she won’t since there will only be six of us. I usually bring mashed potatoes and gravy. I’m not sure if she’ll make them or not. My father likes my gravy. I feel a little bad that I’m not making it.

She’ll probably make some sort of cake and brownies.The brownies have become a tradition because one year, when they were little, she asked my boys what they wanted for dessert on Thanksgiving, and they said brownies!

Roast chicken

Stuffing (no sausage)

Gravy

Mashed potatoes

Whole cranberry sauce

Roasted brussels sprouts

Pumpkin pie

I don't love or even particularly like green beans so it will always be something else.

We go to a friends lake cabin (near ours) for TG and I always bring a yummy sweet potato dish that's sweetened slightly with maple syrup. I usually bring some kind of brussels sprout side but since most of my kitchen is packed and we're moving the next day I may do a green bean dish instead - simple green beans not the casserole kind of thing. There's always so much food at TG that I like my sides to be relatively light.

I am so basic. Ordered two turkey breasts from a local place, as well as their gravy and mashed potatoes because my friend insisted the potatoes are amazing. I think I will make stuffing, carrots, and simple green beans. I am not generally a baker, but since I'm not working too hard on the meal, I suppose I can make a couple of pies. Pumpkin and apple...and maybe a friend's recipe for pecan pie bars.

I have kids arriving late-ish the night before Thanksgiving, so I might make that mac & cheese to have for them when they arrive.

We just have the three kids, one DDIL, one BF, and my dad. Easy group. Except that everyone (except my dad) is here til Sun so I've gotta feed them all through the weekend! Actually we are going out for DDIL bday on that Fri. so I think Thanksgiving leftovers might get us most of the way through Sunday.

I’m taking deviled eggs and a brown butter bourbon pecan pie plus some other side (maybe a green bean or brussels dish) to our family dinner.

Gscience, if you have a costco or sams near you, they sell a huge apple pie that is pretty darn good for around $11. So sorry about your fall and injury! Take care!

I'm trying a new recipe, pumpkin pie with cream cheese topping. Then trying a butter crust, no lard. We purchased a 26.5 lb turkey today. I'll stuff it with a bacon/celery/onion/white bread stuffing. Whole cranberry sauce. Mashed potatoes, gravy. I usually get up at 5am and start cooking...it's a tradition.

The only time I like canned green beans is at Thanksgiving for green bean casserole, And dried corn pudding/souffle. These two things I would never eat at another meal during the year.

The former pastry chef usually makes pumpkin pie, pecan pie and Jewish apple cake, but we have the pumpkin pie and the Jewish apple cake all through the fall and winter as well. The pumpkin pie is apparently an old family recipe from the early 19th c. and is not sweet like current pumpkin pies but is a bit on the savory side.

bacon/celery/onion/white bread stuffing

That sounds really good. Would you share your recipe?

I love corn pudding/soufflé.

That's the other thing, the top of the turkey gets covered with bacon.

Stuffing recipe: For mtn....

16 oz bacon, cooked & diced (use the drippings, do not discard)

1 med yellow onion diced

1 bunch celery/washed, sliced into 1/4 pieces, use the leaves, do not discard

2 cups chicken broth

1 loaf sliced store brand white bread(light & airy), dried, cubed(I leave it sliced and lay it out in the pantry for 2 days, turning it after 24 hrs, then cube it)

1 heaping TBL ground sage

Salt to taste

Put everything in a HUGE bowl, mix. Stuff turkey or pat into a large roasting pan 2" deep @ 375 cook for 30 minutes. Brown off before serving.

This is one of my favorite side dishes:

Sarah Richardson’s Sweet Potato Salad

YIELDS

6-8 servings

Roasted sweet potatoes are served on a bed of baby kale and topped with sweet pomegranate seeds, pecans, green onion, cilantro, and pumpkin seeds.

INGREDIENTS

Salad

3 medium to large sweet potatoes

¼ cup olive oil

2 cups baby kale, washed and dried

½ cup pecans

1 pomegranate

4 green onions

½ cup cilantro

½ cup roasted shelled pumpkin seeds

Dressing

2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ cup olive oil

⅓ cup maple syrup

Freshly ground sea salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Wash the sweet potatoes, trim off the ends, then chop into bite size cubes or pieces. Toss them in the pan, season with salt and pepper, and spread them out evenly on a nonstick baking sheet. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes or until they look browned, but remove them before the edges start to burn. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F. Allow the sweet potatoes to cool. (They do not need to be served hot, which is another reason I think this dish is a winner for entertaining.)

Step 2

While the potatoes are roasting, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Line the bottom of a wide shallow serving bowl with the baby kale. (You can do this without kale, but I enjoy the crunch and freshness of some greens with any meal, and this makes a nice presentation bed too.)

Step 3

Place the pecans in a baking dish and roast in the oven for about 10 minutes, then remove the dish and allow the pecans to cool.

Step 4

Remove the pomegranate seeds from the shell and keep in a bowl until needed. Chop the white and light-green parts of the green onions and add the pomegranate seeds. Roughly chop the cilantro and add to the bowl. (This gives the salad a fresh and vibrant flavor.)

Step 5

Combine the ginger, lemon juice, oil and maple syrup in a measuring cup or jar and mix well.

Step 6

To assemble the salad, spread the sweet potatoes over the kale, followed by the pomegranate seeds, cilantro, green onions, pecans, and pumpkin seeds. Evenly distribute the dressing over the entire dish.

Step 7

Season the salad with salt and pepper, toss and serve.

That loks excellent, Fun. Thx Nicole

We try new things as time goes by. Nothing seems to stick so our meal is pretty traditional and not ABUNDANT in side dishes. I have issues with more items than fit on one plate. hahaha

The idea of apple pie for Thanksgiving seems appropriate to me. Especially if a neighbor has shared fruit from their trees. Unfortunately I hear my MIL saying in response to "Ill bring apple pie", (knowing how much a BIL loved apple pie and I had beautiful apples from a neighbor. ) "Ok but do we have to serve it for the Thanksgiving meal" It's not special she said. I came across this recipe a few years ago and it's been a keeper. I think even she would have served it for Thanksgiving. My family always insists it be included.

Apple- Pear Praline Pie https://docs.google.com/document/d/14R3J4cOcK8QUUqnaxIg--b8Da-P4TD4Rkp2z5-UO31o/edit

DD#2 will bring my mom's Brown Sugar Pecan Pie--soo rich. I make pumpkin bars for snacking/other meals that weekend so we do get our fill of pumpkin.

DD just said she’s going to make two pies! Yay. Crossing off my list.

My DD just offered to bring mac and cheese and squash casserole…I guess she knows that is what the kids will eat.

This one is easy and a little different. From Rachel Ray. (What is she up to anyway?)

2 lbs fresh green beans, 3/4 cup apple cider, small onion chopped, olive oil.

Drizzle olive oil in a medium pan, add onions and cook until brown and yummy. Add cider and simmer until the cider thickens. While the cider is cooking down, prepare green beans in microwave until crisp tender. Toss green beans in cider and onions, generously salt and pepper, cook for a few minutes longer.

Easy, pretty, not too heavy and very Thanksgiving-y.

Having Thanksgiving with DD et al. She has asked for a very stripped down version. DSIL will smoke a turkey. Sister will make Mother’s dressing.

I’m making sweet potatoes (1/2 with pecan and brown sugar streusel and half with marshmallows) and cranberry sauce with orange zest and port. We are also having the green bean casserole that everyone loves to hate except DBIL who requested it. And even though everyone talks bad about it, there is not a spoonful leftover!

DD is going to make an apple pie. Save me…she won’t put enough sugar in it! I don’t think she puts any sugar in it! We go through this every year. Everyone hates it but no one is rude enough to tell her that her apple pie stinks.

bbstx, can you "accidentally" make extra of your streusel crumble and offer it for the apple pie or supply some whipped cream to put on top of it? Your DD must like what she makes, would she be offended if others zhuzhed it up?

deegw, good idea about the streusel crumble! We usually have Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream which is pretty sweet. So dessert becomes a sliver of DD’s apple pie and huge scoop of ice cream…break up the pie, move it around the plate, eat the ice cream, hope that it looks like you ate some of the pie. btw, she makes an excellent crust! It is very flaky and tender. But she refuses to follow a recipe for the filling.

We are having Thanksgiving with my husband's aunt and her daughters, their children and a few great-granchildren, including almost 2 year old twins! I am so excited since for the last couple of years we have had small holiday get togethers. The twins are so cute and very entertaining ha! We love the aunt, she has only girls and my husband has long been loved and spoiled by her. She has been like a mother to me. She is ill and we are so thankful to be with her this year. It will be quite the spread with turkey, ham and crab cakes! I believe one of the daughters may do some type of beef also. I will be taking a sweet potato casserole/souffle (whatever you want to call it), a cream of coconut cake and cranberry salad (cranberries/pineapple, banana, nuts and whipped cream). I will make a small bowl of cranberry salad for us sometime over the weekend, along with ham, corn pudding and other side so it will feel like leftovers for a couple of days!

My favorite is dressing; I can't wait! I make mine with cornbread.

My favorite holiday!

Sadly, my in laws, well mostly my father in law, are too old to travel now. They live in NYC and we live in central NJ, but the trip is really just too much for him now. Brother in law will stay in the city with them. While it's sad, it does make our lives somewhat easier. BIL is vegan and FIL is pescatarian so we always had to make a separate entree for them. We will send them a Thanksgiving dinner so that my mother in law does not have to cook.

On the positive side, my friend and her daughters who have always come to Thanksgiving up until covid are finally coming again. I'm so excited. The last Thanksgiving we were all together, my daughter was pregnant with her 2nd child, my niece was pregnant with her first, and my friend's daughter was also pregnant with her first. We were all so excited that the next year we would have so many babies in the house. Of course, that never happened. Damn covid! But it will happen this year and my friend's daughter had another baby since then. So 5 littles between 6 months and 8 years!

The menu -

appys:

borecas (there are 100 of them in the freezer; made a couple weekends ago)

spinach frittata

shrimp cocktail

charcuterie

veggie platter (brought by friend)

spinach dip

spinach ricotta puffs

yes, it's spinach heavy. Especially after I type it all out! But it always goes over well, so keeping with tradition.

dinner:

turkey

stuffing

cajun sweet potatos (the one dish that would cause a mutiny if we didn't make it every year)

cranberry sauce (homemade)

some yet to be determined vegetable

desserts:

pecan pie

apple pie

vanilla streusel coffee cake

tiramisu

praline cookies

lemon bars

chocolate cookies

fruit salad (brought by sister in law)

I make/assemble the appetizers, and bake the desserts. DH does the main meal

I know I’ve never made it, and I don’t remember ever even eating it, but after watching the NYT’s Eric Kim, I am considering making green bean casserole. My menu has to start somewhere and that might be it.

I won’t make turkey anymore so my sister will make that and bring it over. I don’t like the taste, smell, or greasy mess it creates. I’ll take care of everything else. I can happily dine on just sides and desserts.

There will be just 4 of us for T-day, so keeping it simple. My BIL has celiac, so I have to keep it strict gluten free. I've been cooking my turkey spatch cocked for the past few years. Cooks quicker and evenly. I would skip the stuffing since GF stuffing is problematic, but my DH would be majorly disappointed. Candied sweet potatoes(no marshmallows). Green beans almondine. I buy GF rolls. My sister is bringing orange cranberry relish and making dessert.

Just some simple cheeses, olives and nuts for appetizers.

Sweet potatoes, always. This year it's maple bourbon sweet potato.

Hhireno, my one DD insists that turkey ” tastes like feathers.”

I'd love the Cajun sweet potato recipe!

Mtn, not only do I get what she‘s saying, I’m stealing that line for the future. 😆

Here's the sweet potato recipe. I mixed up the name. The cookbook we got it from is one we bought in New Orleans many years ago. Called "Cajun Cuisine"

We bake the sweet potatoes a day or two ahead and put them in baking dish in fridge. And we put all the topping ingredients in a large ziploc in fridge. Heat that day of put on top of potatoes and bake (need to bake longer than recommended 10 minutes to heat potatoes since they're cold). Really very easy. I don't even like sweet potatoes but I love this.

Warning: not healthy! But we only eat this once a year.

Praline topped sweet potatoes

8 sweet potatoes

2 cups chopped pecans

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bake sweet potatoes at 350 for about 1 hour

Peel, slice and place in buttered 9x13 baking dish

Mix together pecans, brown sugar, butter, salt, vanilla in a sauce pan

Bring to boil and cook for about 2-3 minutes

Pour over potatoes and bake at 350 for 10 minutes

@hhireno I saw Eric Kim on IG talking about GBC; then I went to You Tube and watched the full video. I would love to try some of the recipes he tried, particularly Millie Peartree’s (can you imagine having that name around Christmas time?) that made him swoon. However, my crowd wants a mash-up of the Original and the Betty Crocker.

Warning: This is a 21 minute video.

🙋‍♀️ Another turkey-hater here, although I’m sure I’ll eat a dab of it on T’day ”just to be polite.” I just don’t like the flavor. If I can, I’ll substitute chicken every time.

1) Wasn’t it smart and kind of you to add the video, @bbstx. Why didn’t I think of that?

2) Dinner is at my house so I don’t have to be polite. 😆

3) You’ve probably read this story before, but when I was first dating my husband we attended a picnic at his parent’s house. They only had hot dogs, which I don’t eat. I filled my plate with other items but didn’t take a hot dog. I hadn’t noticed that my FIL had only cooked 5 hot dogs, for 5 people, and he asked “who didn’t take a hot dog?!” I was trying to be discreet but got caught in a commotion anyway. Hot dogs were his favorite food so he couldnt imagine someone not eating one. You might think me leaving one meant he, or someone, got an extra and it would endear me to him, but I think it had the opposite effect. He never understood me, and I certainly never understood him (starting with who invites people for a picnic and only provides one hot dog per person?).

I agree, hh. Who fixes 1 hot dog per person??? I would throw the whole package on the grill and feast on leftovers for the rest of the week. I love hot dogs!

I have to tell the turkey story. DD was in grammar school, probably about 7. She wanted to take turkey sandwiches for lunch. I went to the deli and bought turkey. Nope, she didn’t like that turkey. I bought a different brand of turkey. Nope, not that one either. I bought a different flavor of turkey, a different thickness of slice. Nope nope nope. My exasperation was mounting. Finally, I took DD to the grocery with me to pick out whatever it was she liked. She was baffled by the deli display. Turning to me, she said, ”I want dry turkey like Grandmommy makes.” And that probably explains a lot about my dislike of turkey.

I love roasted turkey breast that isn’t overcooked and dry. So, all you turkey haters, send yours to me! :-)

bbstx, I'm glad someone else still says "grammar school."

I like turkey mostly for the sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving.

Laughing at the hot dog story. I mean, at least make all 8 from the package, right? I can’t imagine serving only hot dogs. The only time we ever have hot dogs is when kids are here and we’re grilling burgers and hot dogs. I eat a hot dog about once a year, only grilled, and “well done”. A burned hot dog is so yummy. 😎

”I want dry turkey like Grandmommy makes.”

I understand what she means, and it is why I am very finicky about deli turkey. It, like most deli meats, is injected with sodium and water, I believe. I only like "dry" deli meat, which usually means roasted in house. My local market makes "Thanksgiving turkey" which I find to be perfect. It turns to sawdust in about 24 hours, though.

Yes-- my local store also has "thanksgiving turkey" and also a line of in-house roasted deli meats without the sodium etc... "Just Turkey" "Just Roast Beef". I'd rather add my own flavors-- like pesto on turkey, yum!

Thought the fridge was on the fritz, so scheduled a service call for Friday.

There may still be an issue, but even if all is fine, it got me rethinking Thanksgiving this year.

Decided I don't want to take a chance thawing a turkey and dry brining. Instead we're grilling filets. Sides will be a nod to the holiday -- baked sweet potatoes, cranberry Jezebel, caramelized shallots, and a green veggie yet to be determined.

Initially thought I'd move the turkey to Christmas, but now I'm thinking of omitting it all together this year. I always make tiramisu for Christmas, so lasagna might be a better choice with Caesar salad and homemade bread.

I love roast turkey! Our “traditional” side dishes are mashed yams with Grand Marnier and creamed spinach (Joy of Cooking recipe), also green beans and mashed potatoes. My mom always made two turkeys and two kinds of stuffing- chestnut and dried fruit. When I was growing up we had huge Thanksgiving gatherings with two other families- 30+ people! Often there was a third turkey, smoked. Now my adult kids and I always enjoy the holiday at our closest friends’ home, typically 8-12 people, depending.