Much better than rolls.

where they add sugar!

themselves just to slap me if I ever put sugar in cornbread. However, I have learned how to make it without massive amounts of Crisco.

would climb out of the grave and smack me in the mouth!

just the usual bacon grease.

I'm in complete agreement about sugar in cornbread. Yuck.

Green bean casserole is common as is squash casserole. We don't have mac and cheese for Thanksgiving, and I live in the South. Mac and cheese is a dish prepared by a lazy cook. We might have salad, but it will be a specialty salad, like shrimp salad. We'll have rolls, but who really wants a lot of bread with all that heavy food?

by loading up on salad and bread? Pass the stuffing, the gravy, the potatoes and the turkey. Here, pass me the gravy again, actually

I didn't realize that is was Thanksgiving fare. I have had a mac and cheese casserole with ham and other goodies at Thanksgiving dinner.

nt

And for heaven's sake, put braised celery, a bit of garlic and onion in the dressing!

Baked ham
baked turkey and gravy
for the mashed potatoes
and cornbread dressing
green beans
fresh creamed corn
sweet potato casserole
spinach in a cheese and cream sauce

Pumpkin pie
Chocolate pie
Apple pie
Pumpkin bread

What would be the point of a salad since we're going to be stuffed anyway? LOL It's not like that salad is going to help me eat light and healthy.

Turkey and obviously gravy
Mashed potatoes
Cornbread Stuffing (Mirepoix - not Cajun holy trinity, I detest bell pepper - + garlic)
Green Bean Casserole - I make it from scratch with real mushrooms, green beans, half and half - only thing processed is the crunchy fried onion on top
Corn on the Cob

and ... hmmm. Spinach in a cheese and cream sauce? Like creamed spinach? Could you pm me the recipe? I LOVE creamed spinach, and have yet to find a decent recipe where it doesn't come out mushy and weird!

I'm not sure what pies are going to be available beyond pecan pie, because I tend to eat so much of the goodies that I'm too full to even think about dessert! (dessert is not my department )

I don't know how to make the spinach. Sorry. We all each bring a couple of dishes, but we do have it every thanksgiving!

I'm bringing the corn. (I have 18 ears waiting for me to clean.)

Pumpkin and fruit pies are traditional Thanksgiving for us, but we have pecan pie and bread pudding with whiskey sauce for Christmas!

I LOVE bread pudding . It's my favorite dessert!

I'll see if I can coerce a relative to make bread pudding if you can coerce your relative to give up their spinach recipe .

What? It's Thanksgiving! I'll give thanks for bread pudding, and TMWAH's relative's cream spinach recipe!

Salad?

Squash is on the menu in the NE. Butternut squash, pumpkin, etc.

seen salad served on Thanksgiving in my life.

but not any other kind!

It's just not very "thanksgiving-y".

Squash - no way, not at my house. But we tend to put gruyere cheese on things. Yum! And stuffing! When else would you eat something like that?

Salad for dessert, a pretzel rod for an occasional snack and he can still fit into the clothes he bought when he was 18. Don't you want to hit him?

That would have been mashed potatoes and gravy, or wild rice.

it's probably all the WEED.

but I don't recall that being a major thing at all.

It's so good.

Usually if I cook, I will serve all of those options, with the exception of Mac and Cheese.

Squash I usually do a double soup of Roasted Butternut Squash and Roasted Cauliflower soups... You pour both soups into the bowl from opposing sides, so you end up with two different colored soups in the same bowl split up the middle. It looks neat.

Can't have a Thanksgiving without a green bean casserole (you have to make the mushroom soup from scratch).

Biscuits and Cornbread... It would be a sin to omit either. Both must be cooked in cast iron.

I see no mention of glazed carrots, homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing, or cheesy broccoli...

with the homemade bacon dressing, but I've never even thought about making it for Thanksgiving. I'm in charge of the green bean casserole, though, so I always know what I'm making.

use it over spinach and add crumbles of bleu cheese and sweet onion.

Never had it during Thanksgiving, though. Never thought about it.

Green beans and shallots, usually the classic peas/small onions in white sauce, maybe squash. I loooove veggies. Plus the other classics like turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie.

You are going to be disgusted, but this year I'm making a raw brussels sprouts salad with apple and a dijon vinaigrette. It's sooo good.

I'm a big fan of brussel sprouts and apple.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

That might be very tasty. I love everything in the cabbage family!

Take out the little too-hard cores, and slice them into very thin slices. I have also blanched them for a minute and then dunked them in cold water just so they're still basically raw, but not quite all the way raw.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
1/2 cup thinly sliced apple

Preparation

Preparation
Combine first 7 ingredients in a small bowl. Place Brussels sprouts, pistachios, and apple in a large bowl; toss to combine. Add vinaigrette; toss to coat.

I think it is nice to let it sit for awhile and let the flavors blend.

Did I say YUM?

Oh, boy I have to try that. I love pistachios and all of that. I'm going shopping tomorrow afternoon and you can be sure that I will be acquiring some Brussels sprouts.

I have everything else!

Hope you enjoy it!

I was thinking of trying adding a bit of thinly sliced raw fennel, too, just to mix it up a bit.

some sliced radishes in there. I like the bite they provide.

There's a variation on the salad where you use toasted pecans instead of pistachios and add bleu cheese bits at the end. I'll bet that would be good for Thanksgiving, too.

I'll stick with the pistachios, but I might add a little crumbled feta

I was browsing DU at work, saw your username, said what the heck, and gave it a shot.

It wasn't that bad! Arugula's got that spicyness, so it made a good garnish. I put orange peel into the milk to soak before pulling the shots, so it was an orange arugula latte. I only made an 8oz one so the coffee flavor was nice and strong.

Overall, I'd give it a 5 out of 10. Suprisingly good, but there's no way to nicely incorporate the arugula without having to chew on it. Flavor ain't bad though. Wouldn't do it without the orange peel though, that really balanced it.

it's actually super-easy to grow, particularly in cooler climates like the Pac NW. Plant some, pick the leaves, let it go to seed, you'll never have to pay those snobby effete whole foods arugula prices again. It's basically a weed.

And the spicyness seems to make it unpalatable to the more aggressive garden pests around here, i.e. foot-long slugs and the like. Plus those long thin stalks are hard for the fuckers to climb, I think.

I'm honored!

Glad you liked it.

I'm not inspired to drink one.

served at Thanksgiving here in the South. Cornbread and Green Bean casserole every year, but salad?

since even in California most people don't want a pile of raw greens taking up plate room.

But with everything else being "traditional" must-haves, most soft, bland and similar (delicious musts, but!), the salads can be a way to bring in little special pops of flavor, even unexpected surprises, like a bit of good seafood, shavings of better cheeses than we normally have around, pomegranate seeds, whatever.

Now, that beloved gloppy green bean casserole. I was not raised with it, so judged on its own without the transforming effect of nostalgia -- eww, really? It's a must on the extended-family table, though, so fortunately someone's always happy to bring it or I'd have to make it myself.

Native Californian here. This year we'll have two salads for our guests. The first is a fennel-cranberry salad (baby spinach/arugula/fennel salad with cranberries, toasted pecans, and blue cheese in a honey/apple vinegar dressing), and a pear/cranberry/walnut spinach salad (those ingredients plus red onions in a mustard dressing).

We'll have sauteed zucchini and onions as well, but the salads are the main sides after the turkey and stuffing.

And they are GOOD.

"salad" means some sort of wilted iceberg lettuce deal with shredded American cheese product sprinkled on top. Bleeecgh.

Not everyone can be so fortunate as to live a stone's throw from Salinas.

wonderful variety, freshness, flavor, price, until we moved to the Deep South. Just imagine my surprise when I discovered mac and cheese is a Thanksgiving treat here! Or the way even a lovely California-style salad just sort of lay there untouched when someone was so ignorant as to serve one.

Fortunately, we do like mac and cheese, although I did toss in some crab and scallions to dress it up a bit last Thanksgiving.

is a sampling that's too small to determine much of anything. 931 for the whole country isn't enough. 931 per state would have been better.

all the heavy stuff beautifully. Just like cranberry sauce but lighter and...a chance to bring in more special stuff.

We have people in our extended family now, though, who basically only eat turkey set off by turkey gravy, giblet dressing with gravy, and mashed potatoes with gravy. I do do a good turkey gravy when it's at our house, but!

I've had more success down here with a traditional crab and avocado salad than something like a dainty pear and pomegranate seeds with weedy-looking greens and peelings. Bless their hearts...

I feel slighted.

I will communicate with my sisters via cell phone and will have lots of fun doing so. But my car is over 20 years old and is in no condition to make a long trip -- the fucking heater does not work and I live in fucking Michigan, fifteen fucking miles from the nearest grocer -- and I have no money for air travel.

But I am thankful that I have a full tank of heating oil, a full cupboard of food, and my life.

So life is grand. For now.

Happy week to all my good DU friends.

I value solitude and many times it's been by choice.

I still spoil myself with a turkey, STUFFING, and whatever else I want!

So spoil yourself and enjoy the day.

However, maybe I will do something special, like a mass of spaghetti. I always make a pig of myself with that. Oink!!!

And there are books to read!

My regards!

I'll find a nice restaurant and have an excellent meal.

if you would silently do me the honor of reciprocating on my behalf.

My best to you. I hope you enjoy your meal. I will certainly enjoy mine, even though alone.



Skäl!

Remember that a nice glass of Pinot Noir will be rasied to you on Thanksgiving.

On that day most likely, the latter.

To you, my friend.

Late afternoon to early evening?

Last year I got a small rotisserie chicken, figuring it was at least poultry plus I didn't have to cook. This year I was thinking I might microwave a frozen turkey dinner but they all seem to come with mashed potato, my least favorite side.

For what it is worth, you and others living through this holiday alone will be in my thoughts. Because you're not alone, not really.

Seriously, why don't the rest of yall wake up and smell the cornbread?

In the South, you gotta have corn bread dressing with homemade turkey gravy.

It's my favorite part of the meal! Damn, I can hardly wait to eat!

which explains why all of this is on our menu.

Eating fake meat. Is it because you miss meat?

I'd have to be starving to death to eat Tofurkey again for - any - reason. I lived with a raging vegan.

I couldn't fathom doing that to myself!

Yay consumption!

We do have salad, green bean casserole, & my mom's fabulous homemade sourdough rolls, though.

I'm surprised mashed potatoes didn't make the list. Turkey gravy!

I've never heard of mac & cheese at Thanksgiving either.

I spent a year in Texas for work once and was invited to a big "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner. Being raised in Ohio, I am a northerner. (Or "Yankee" as they called me.) Of course I never let on, but I was so disappointed that there were no mashed potatoes or even gravy. In fact, the only part of the meal that was hot was the turkey and stuffing. And to make things worse it was cornbread stuffing. (no offense but I'm a northerner and LOVE me some white bread stuffing at thanksgiving.)

Happily the company was good and there was plenty of hard liquor. And it was a good lesson in social studies.

It's a potluck staple tho.

He'd get a few green beans down (but didn't like them), maybe a roll, and that was it. So, mac n cheese made every day. He took it to school for lunch in a little insulated container, along with green peas, or else he had peanut butter on saltine crackers. Very odd, that boy. Now of course, he eats everything. Except deviled eggs.

Our menu doesn't really change much, and we have mostly the same things at the winter holiday (Yule) as well:

roast turkey (cooked with white wine, from scratch poultry seasoning, olive oil/butter, salt and pepper)
dressing (my recipe, with dried cranberries, golden raisins, walnuts, whole wheat bread, eggs, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper)
cranberry sauce from fresh
mashed potatoes
gravy (Aldi brand -- it's awesome)
green beans
brown and serve rolls
deviled eggs
mac n cheese

Dessert varies. This year, it's going to be apple pie and key lime pie. Homemade whipped cream to top as desired.

Never had Mac & Cheese for Thanksgiving.

I'd never seen mac and cheese on a Thanksgiving table until I moved to Georgia, but it was in Florida at a large potluck Thanksgiving that four families brought mac and cheese as sides. There was a true Thanksgiving abundance.

I have never served or been served cornbread on Thanksgiving.

up here,it was delicious.

Cornbread dressing! No stuffing in the south, please. lol!!

I make mine with the turkey drippings, of course. Add celery, onion, boiled eggs, sage, salt and pepper, cream of chicken. Bake 45 minutes till top is golden brown. Don't over cook it; it will be too dry. Yum!!

Out here in green bean casserole country there is usually a salad or 2 buy no traditional salad I am aware of....unless you consider cranberry relish or various jello dishes (thinking orange jello with shredded carrots) to be salads...I never have

I think we have the same grandma.

Also, lime jello with shredded cabbage and carrots with a dollop of mayo for the topping

I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole because I detest Mayonnaise and loath Jello.

You just reminded me that there are worse things to eat on Thanksgiving than Tofurkey (but it's a very close second).

my entire life-not only have I never been served a salad (except for that icky green Jello salad with celery, carrots..Blech) at Thanksgiving..I don't know anyone who has.
Sweet Potatoes, Homemade Buttermilk Rolls, Wh. Wheat and Sourdough rolls, Ham, Turkey, Salmon, Goose and when we were lucky..an Elk or Moose roast.
Families each brought something above

The holiday meals so the people who got hungry when dinner ran late could nosh on healthy stuff and stay out of the kitchen.

At our house we had Turkey, dressing, biscuits, rutabagas (Dad's family was from Upper Peninsula Michigan and it was tradition - I'm the only other one who would eat more than a courtesy cube), green beans (NOT in a casserole), turnip greens (leftovers went in the turkey soup Mom made from the stock from the carcass), and sometimes sweet potatoes (NOT mashed, just baked and served in the skins) or peas.

When I make a turkey dinner I leave out the turnip greens. This year I'm trying roasted winter vegetable dish involves butternut squash, delicata squash, sweet potato, rutabaga, potatoes, carrots, onions and herbs. Basically you cube the vegetables, toss with some olive oil and herbs and roast until done (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/230437/christmas-roasted-vegetables/).

I might make that the day before, then take some of the vegetables out, puree and make a squash biscuit recipe I found (http://www.pbs.org/food/kitchen-vignettes/delicata-squash-and-sage-biscuits/). I'll probably leave out the sage in her recipe since there will be herbs with the squash already. Since the biscuit recipe only calls for 1/2 cup, I figure I will have plenty of vegetables for the two of us.

Delicata are the very best of winter squashes, imo. Your roasted veggie dish sounds delightful. My dad was into parsnips (Family from Wisconsin).

I don't Dare side-step the usual meal and ingredients we've established over the years.
I once tried a different dressing recipe than the one we'd used forever. My kids about "lost it". Deviating from the "norm" was damned near criminal in their eyes. I learned my lesson
Traditional turkey and ham.
I make roasted garlic mashed potato's, spicy, Asian green bean dish-traditional sweet spuds, a multi-mushroom based dressing (Shiitakes - Chanterelles - Oyster - Lions Mane mushrooms), homemade cranberry/blackberry or raspberry sauce (local ingredients) and for snacking...raw veggies, various cheeses, homemade dips and when I have time...homemade crackers and dinner rolls etc.
My "Holiday Season Meal" goal is to find locally grown "stuff" or grow it/raise it myself-in the spirit of my ancestral Oregon pioneers having to "make do"-hence the traditional wild game when I was a kid.

Hubby and I are cooking for 14 this year...While I have prepped a lot of food and my shopping is done---today we'll be in the kitchen ....well, pretty much all day............
And thanks for reminding me about the greens for soup...I still have a bit of Chard in the garden....

Have a wonderfully Happy and Safe Thanksgiving Everyone!
(today we All must locate and place in a convenient place-that favorite pair of "thanksgiving stretch pants" lol)

I left out the cranberry sauce - I make the version on the back of the cranberry bag. I've tried making the orange version and the spiced version but my husband doesn't like them and he's the cranberry sauce eater. I don't much like it.

There are various versions of the roasted vegetable dish - one has parsnips, turnips and other stuff.

Our in laws are serving something between seven and fifteen - we don't know how many. If everyone from their family is there it would start at seven, but one niece is in India and one of the other kids won't be there. So that five and the two of us at the minimum, but there is a SIL and her husband, BIL and his wife, MIL and another brother, a niece with her husband and three kids, then an outlaw sister (sister of BIL's wife) and her father - and that is just the ones that live in Florida. I have no idea who will be there.

And I never am sure what we'll have - or what we had. Everybody brings something and sometimes the dishes get mixed up or I don't hear what they are. It's an adventure - too bad they are not adventurous cooks, LOL!

Got to go start making pies - pecan and key lime, the easy ones.

Have a great Turkey Day, everyone. Give thanks and be safe.

your deserts I have never tried to make a pecan pie....nor key lime - I love them both but again, I am pressured by "the boys (and now grandkids)" to keep the status quo. lol
Though I may have to surprise them for Christmas this year

Have a wonderful day-Happy Thanksgiving everyone .....

Key Lime Pie

3 egg yolks
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces?)
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 8 or 9" graham cracker crust

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together egg yolks, milk and lime juice until slightly thickened. Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes, let cool for 15 minutes, chill. Serve with whipped cream.

I've gotten so I double the recipe for a 9" pie shell. Sometimes I make a meringue with the egg whites and put over the top - then I just use one recipe.

You can get bottled key lime juice in the stores here. I've never in my life tried to juice a real key lime, LOL!


Pecan Pie

I just use the recipe on the Karo Syrup bottle with these changes:
Cut sugar to 1/2 cup
Increase vanilla extract to 1-1/2 or 2 teaspoons
Add 1/8 teaspoon salt.
Increase pecans to 1-1/2 cups of broken pecans, not halves or chopped
Use a deep dish 9" pie shell


If I don't put a meringue on the key lime pie I use the egg whites to make meringue cookies. This year I have some chocolate morsels with mint in the middles - those would be great. Pretty much you make standard meringue, mix in nuts, crushed candies (mints or candy bars), drop by spoonfuls on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake at a low temperature until crisp. They are a great "diet" cookie since they are mostly air. Your eyes tell you you're eating big cookies, but there really isn't much to them.

me to try....these recipes look easily doable. I'm going to do these for Christmas, I think. I need to toss the family a curve ball once in awhile

Thank you so much for sharing!

The most time consuming part is breaking up the pecans - but you can pulse them in a food processor. I just generally put to many in at once so I end up with everything from pecan meal to uncut halves. So for more consistency I like breaking the halves by hand into large pieces (about four pieces for each half).

My key lime pies are chilling now and the pecan pies are in the oven. I made fresh cranberry sauce the other day and that's ready to go.

Next the hard part - lasting through the actual Thanksgiving Day!

I do love mac/cheese though!

every stinkin' holiday. My dad is from Alabama--he swears you eat EVERY holiday. I think it's just cuz he loves mac n cheese.

My husband has gotten to be just like him. So we make it, mashed taters, candied yams...etc. Corn bread & biscuits.

Christmas...mac n cheese, New Years...mac n cheese, Easter....mac n cheese, and every bbq has mac n cheese.

I can eat me some mac n cheese, believe me!

But not on Turkey day, because I'd be too full for the other stuff, and I love STUFFING more than anything, even more than mac n cheese!

OK, I'm from N.E. Tradition abounds.

Turkey w/home made(!) gravy
Mashed potatoes
Stuffing, using Bell's seasoning and cubed bread. Or Pepperidge farm Stuffing mix
Butternut squash
Green beans
Parker House rolls
Cranberry sauce, Ocean Spray is good.
Caesar Salad or some other salad greens w/a light dressing

Dessert:
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Cream pie

AlkaSeltzer

You nailed it! Whats up with these people who have never had squash or salad?! They cant be trusted!

I have had Green Bean Casserole which is friggin addictive.

I am in MD.

Now they're just making shit up.

Which makes sense considering it is a local vegetable that is in season

Never heard of those for Thanksgiving.

I just read descriptions in this thread of Jell-o with veggie bits in it. Eewww.

Our traditional dinner (in PA or NY - it depends) is pretty basic:

Turkey
Cranberry Sauce (ew)
Stuffing (ew)
Stuffing balls
Candied "yams" (ew)
Mashed potatoes
Mashed sweet potatoes
Green beans
Corn
Gravy

Pies - Pumpkin pies and Pudding Pie. Ew.

Mac n cheese is just the beginning.

I like Mac n Cheese - just hasn't been a Thanksgiving staple in my (actually my wife's) family. Nor mine in years past.

Oh well - I suppose its not ALL about the food anyway. We should really be focused on the important things like ..... FOOTBALL!

chicken/rice, cornbread, and creamed spinach, and then homemade ice cream for desert. Then a movie and bed.

I feel hungry at the very thought, but I have to do turkey so I can make up a big pot of turkey, barley and shiitake soup. Enjoy, closeupready.

I've lived in New England my whole life, and I've never had squash on Thanksgiving.

(squash country) and the only thing on that map we have is rolls. In my family we seem to have a rule (not endorsed by me) that we can't eat anything made from soup, so no green bean casserole. Although I personally do love it. I also wouldn't mind corn bread.

people who use Thanksgiving for Polish and Italian foods.

My grandparents were from Ireland, and we tended to be suspicious of squash. I don't really recall Grandma serving vegetables at all. My other Irish Grandma served 24 hour salad: canned fruit cocktail and tiny marshmallows in a sweet sour custard and whipped cream dressing. (It tastes way better than it sounds!). Mom branched out into brussel sprouts and creamed onions. And of course - home made dinner rolls and peanut butter rolls.

My MIL was of German ancestry modified by Depression farm cookery. She served an array of overcooked canned vegetables, but no one touched the squash.

either, now that I think about it.