What''s on your Thanksgiving menu?

[gailrmv]

It''s my first year hosting the holiday! I''m excited. It''s me + DH, MIL, FIL, GIL (grandma), + 2 friends. I plan to make a turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes (I think), several green vegetables. My family always has green peas so definitely them. We will bake a pumpkin pie and probably buy a pecan one. Would love to hear what others are cooking especially neat family traditions!

 

[diamondfan]

I am having about 15 people, most of whom will be staying with us! I am not a total whiz in the kitchen so I am having it catered. There are things I had to have, such as sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, but otherwise I made general suggestions to the caterer. I love the menu he is proposing, and love that I can just get the turkey in the oven and baste it, since I get very frazzled with big meals like this and no one really helps me!

 

[somethingshiny]

My mom and I do Thanksgiving together. This year there'll be 22 people. She does the turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie. My sis does those onion green beans. I'll do baked beans (my dad's gotta have them!), deviled eggs, corn (we froze this fall), roasted potatoes (red ones so they're festive!), banana bread, apple pie.

mmmm. all yummy, no hassles!

ETA-Oh, I forgot to mention. My mom grows pumpkins. My little sis was in the shower and my dad had to pee, so he went outside. RIGHT on the pumpkin patch!!!! My mom will be buying her pumpkin filling this year!!

 

[Kaleigh]

We will be spending Thanksgiving in Nantucket in our new house. Never spent Thanksgiving there before. Kind of scary since, we are getting there the day before.

It will be the 4 of us, plus MIL, FIL, SIL BIL and nephew. I am doing the turkey, getting the gravy, pies , dressing and cranberry sauce from the local gourmet market. SIL is doing scallops wrapped in bacon, ( they go scalloping all the time, so they will be super fresh) mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Two pies, pumpkin, and the other is apple cranberry, served a la mode. Can't wait to use my new oven, it wasn't installed last time I was there. I pray it goes well.

 

[diamondfan]

Kaleigh, just in case, is Toppers taking reservations?!

I am sure it will go well, but in a new setting with new appliances, it never hurts to check!!!!

Have a ball!

 

[Skippy123]

DiamondFan, great idea! I always get overwhelmed w/big meals too, hence, that is why I don't cook for Thanksgiving. heehee

Kaleigh, you will do great! Sending good vibes and please post pics of your new house in your Who's Who if you get a chance!

I am not cooking. I will probably buy the pies and bring a side dish. We buy the rolls, pie and ham from Costco, seriously good food! Then my sister bakes the ham and turkey and we all bring a side and dessert. My hubby loves to make the green beans. I am glad my sister is a born Martha Stuart because I'm not; she loves to cook and decorate the table w/cutsie name cards and a lovely table. I have done Thanksgiving one year and made ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, pumpkin pie and green beans but was stressed the whole time. Since my sister is good at it and she seems to enjoy it I say sure when she does the inviting.hehe I usually do the dishes to help her out after all the cooking.

 

[diamondfan]

Skippy, I am a bit Martha-ish in that I want it all perfect. I have gorgeous flowers coming, and am using my new dishes, which I cannot believe are almost a year old now! I am setting out nice appetizers, instead of a big lunch, because most of the people will be here all day and I figure they can sort of graze during the day. The thing is I want to enjoy my guests, and not panic that the turkey is under or over done or that the sides are not heated well, and I hate being the one to do all of the shopping and prep and clean up and serving. I am even having the caterer bring all of the platters for the food, so I am not digging out all of my things and having to put them all away afterwards. Just think it will be more enjoyable for me this way. The food is great, less work for me which equals less stress, and I get to enjoy my guests. I am a bit type A so when I do meals like this I spazz myself out too much to have fun! (plus the mother in law is coming and this eliminates her abilitiy to criticize MY cooking!!!!)

 

[Mara]

we're hosting this year for my family, and also we are doing our own mini thanksgiving the night before as we have the last few years. our neighbors are coming over for dinner as well this year for our mini thanksgiving with their 4 month old baby...he's super cute.

our mini thanksgiving is organic brined turkey, sausage mushroom wild rice stuffing, green beans with lemon and garlic, whole foods natural cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes made with sour cream and parsley, with gravy, and pilsbury biscuits (love those and we only have them like 2x a year). pumpkin pie for dessert! very traditional and i like experimenting with new recipes on our own mini thanksgiving.

then the one with my family and cousins is a bit more of a mix. everyone brings a few things. we're having organic roasted turkey, stuffing (my mom makes a diff one), a few veggie dishes (most likely glazed lemon carrots, and some sort of green veggie), pinto beans, spanish rice, 7 layer bean dip, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread rolls, salad, and multiple desserts!

i love thanksgiving!!! lots of yummy food and great company, family and friends. what more could anyone ask for? (diamond turkey?)

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 11/14/2007 12:11:32 AM
Author: diamondfan
Kaleigh, just in case, is Toppers taking reservations?!

I am sure it will go well, but in a new setting with new appliances, it never hurts to check!!!!

Have a ball!

Haha, don''t I wish. MIL and SIL would never go for that. They are amazing cooks, so they believe everything has to be done from scratch. HA!!!

I''m so happy Bartlett''s has gone gourmet and I can cheat a bit.

 

[marcy]

We are going to my nephew''s house. There will be about 22 of us. They are having traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. I sadly can''t eat turkey though it makes me really sick. I love it too. I take myself a piece of chicken so it looks like I''m have turkey. We always take the wine and I bake candy cane cookies to take.

 

[diamondfan]

Mara, my caterer is brining my turkey. I usually cook it breast down for the first hour or so, but he told me brining it wil keep it moist and not to bother. He really came up some some yummy things, I tweaked them, but overall it is a very traditional menu! Our neighbors, who are very good friends, will come for dessert with some of her family, which should be really nice, and then we will all sleep in on Fri and see lots of movies!!! I want to see Enchanted and August Rush so hopefully we will get there!

 

[Miranda]

I don''t know the details of what I will cook yet, but, it will be a turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans and mushrooms sauteed in bacon drippings (just a little

), candied sweet potatoes, and for dessert...apple and pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream. It will just be the 5 of us and MIL and FIL at my house so I''ll make small amounts of each. I can''t wait. I love Thanksgiving food!

 

[Mara]

DF i brined the last 2 years and really liked the results. we did breast side down too but interesting to know it doesn''t matter as much! we typically go see a movie after our thanksgiving meal, not sure what we''ll do this year. i am so excited for the holidays as usual. can''t wait to pull my xmas pallet out from under the storage area the week after thxgiving.

 

[surfgirl]

Kaleigh, I''m jealous...I love Nantucket...I used to stay there a lot when I dated an islander once...

We''re hosting for the first time...Our home is really small so we''re taking out a 36'' sloop (hopefully go for an afternoon sail if the weather permits) and we''ll do TDay on that. Anyway, I''m ordering a turkey breast from Whole Foods since hubby is vegan and I cant cook it at home. Then I''ll make Cornbread Dressing with chestnuts and veg sausage, garlic & rosemary smashed potatoes with blue cheese and parmesean; brussle sprouts cooked in orange juice with shallots, greenbean casserole, cranberry sauce. And some pies, which I shall not make. I dont do deserts very well!

 

[Gypsy]

We're having some Thanksgiving issues I'm staying out of. All I know is whenever I'm supposed to be where ever I'm supposed to be (all in doubt) I'm going to show up with a brined turkey (just reserved my Diestel Turkey from Whole Foods) for baking, my 'special' (*snort* it's the easiest thing and always gets rave reviews. I don't get it) stuffing, and homemade cranberry sauce, and baked stuffed potatoes.

My grandmother is making an awesome jeweled rice dish she makes every year. There's a rumor of ham. I think someone is going to try the sweet potato casserole recipe in my Cooks Illustrated issue. I assume there will be a green veggie of some sort as well that one of my aunts is making. My other aunt will be doing dessert as she always does. I was toying with the idea of a cauliflower gratin, but it depends on where and WHEN it will be. If I were hosting (I'm not) I would make this awesome pumpkin soup FSIL makes, but it's too much trouble considering everything I already have to transport... somewhere.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/14/2007 12:03:03 AM
Author: somethingshiny
My mom and I do Thanksgiving together. This year there''ll be 22 people. She does the turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie. My sis does those onion green beans. I''ll do baked beans (my dad''s gotta have them!), deviled eggs, corn (we froze this fall), roasted potatoes (red ones so they''re festive!), banana bread, apple pie.

mmmm. all yummy, no hassles!

ETA-Oh, I forgot to mention. My mom grows pumpkins. My little sis was in the shower and my dad had to pee, so he went outside. RIGHT on the pumpkin patch!!!! My mom will be buying her pumpkin filling this year!!

 

[misysu2]

FI and I are alone ths holiday.

I just bought a frozen turkey breast for the two of us, and I''ll whip up some powdered mashed potatoes and jarred gravy. Maybe heat up some frozen rolls. I WILL make my famous cheesy green bean casserole, Dutch apple pie, and pumpkin pie-- yummy!! Two pies for two people!

 

[Beacon]

We''re totally doing it the easy way this year! Our work schedule is hectic, so we are going to a buffet Thanksgiving dinner at the Four Seasons. I love the look of the menu, many vegetarian dishes. I can hardly stand to eat turkey and I don''t eat red meat, so this is an important consideration. I can''t wait - no work, just enjoy.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

This is the first year FI and I are having Turkey-Day together, and it''s the first time we''re hosting a holiday in our house together. I usually go to the West Coast to visit my brother and SIL for Thanksgiving, but we decided to stay home this year and invite my parents to RI instead. So my mom, SD, and little brother will be joining us. So there will be 5 total, but Lil bro is a 14 year old football player so he actually counts as 2 or 3 people strictly on the amount of food he eats. Our menu is as follows:

Munchies throughout the day
Crudite
Mediterranean plate-hummus, feta, olives, pita bread
Cheese plate-brie (possible baked with apricot preserves and walnuts), cheddar, chevre, crackers, and fruit
Mango salsa and chips
Possibly 7 layer dip (someone mentioend it above and it sounds yummy).

First Course
Butternut squash bisque

Second Course
Waldorf Salad in lettuce cups

Main mean
Turkey-stuffed with apples, onions, sage, and thyme and basted with hard cider.
Dressing "stuffin-muffins"
Green bean casserole
Baked yams with marshmallows
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Peas
Rolls

Dessert
Apple pie
Pumpkin bread pudding

 

[surfgirl]

Gypsy, your post about your turkey made me remember my last TDay here in the US (ironically, my best TDays have been in developing countries, where the procurement of all the TDay elements is always a feat of amazing proportions...expats ordering Turkeys via Fedex, etc. Always entertaining!)...Anyway, two years ago we went to my aunt''s house and let''s just say she didn''t inherit the jewelry gene or the cooking gene from our family. I should have been suspicious when we walked into her house at T-2 hours and counting and I didn''t smell anything cooking. In the end, she called the "Jennie-O Hotline" 4 times to get emergency assistance on cooking her turkey. It was sort of done 2 hours past when we were supposed to eat...and she refuses to do turkey ever again. I think she''s emotionally scarred from it. Well, that plus I rag on her mercilessly about it ("So now I know who the people are who actually call a Turkey Hotline on Thanksgiving...heh...").

 

[misysu2]

Date: 11/14/2007 11:55:00 AM
Author: surfgirl
Gypsy, your post about your turkey made me remember my last TDay here in the US (ironically, my best TDays have been in developing countries, where the procurement of all the TDay elements is always a feat of amazing proportions...expats ordering Turkeys via Fedex, etc. Always entertaining!)...Anyway, two years ago we went to my aunt''s house and let''s just say she didn''t inherit the jewelry gene or the cooking gene from our family. I should have been suspicious when we walked into her house at T-2 hours and counting and I didn''t smell anything cooking. In the end, she called the ''Jennie-O Hotline'' 4 times to get emergency assistance on cooking her turkey. It was sort of done 2 hours past when we were supposed to eat...and she refuses to do turkey ever again. I think she''s emotionally scarred from it. Well, that plus I rag on her mercilessly about it (''So now I know who the people are who actually call a Turkey Hotline on Thanksgiving...heh...'').

So funny, surfgirl! I think it''s easy to underestimate how long it takes to cook a turkey! I didn''t even know there was a turkey hotline! Props to the Jenny-O people for working on T-day!!!

 

[surfgirl]

I know misy! Those people manning the Turkey Hotlines on TDay deserve a big thank you from the very desperate people calling them. Though I have to say they weren''t all that helpful...the convo went something like this:

Me: "what did they say?"
Aunt: "they said to turn up the heat."
me: "what did they say now?"
Aunt: "they said to turn up the heat more."
rinse and repeat...

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

The viewing of Alton Brown''s "Romancing the Bird" episode of good eats should be mandatory for every first-time turkey cooker. He discusses everything from temp to length of time, to tenting and brining.

 

[eks6426]

I just worked out my menu last night. Thanksgiving will be at my house this year. My hubby, 2 kids & my parents. We used to go to relatives big Thanksgivings with 30+ people but we have decided to stop traveling 3 hours plus each way through Chicago traffic.

My husband is in charge of the turkey. He does it using the indirect cooking method on his Weber Grill. It's amazing--best turkey I've ever had AND I don't have to tie up my oven with it.

Here's the rest our menu:

First Course
salad with pears, dried cranberries & cherries & toasted pecans & cherry baslamic dressing, feta cheese
sweet potato & apple soup (I am probably the only person in the US who hates the traditional sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows)
cranberry muffins

Main Meal
Turkey--Weber Grill
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Stove Top stuffing (the only thing my 10 year old requests...can't even change the brand!)
pickled peaches---family tradition
Sauted green beans with pine nuts & garlic
cranberry jello with pomegranate--just had this at my husband's family reunion so I'm going try it instead of the traditional fresh cranberries.
homemade butternut squash bread--my mom loves to make bread.

Desserts:
apple pie--freshly made by my mom
pumpkin cheesecake--I'm going to follow a recipe I saw in the Cuisine at Home Magazine with a gingercookie crust and a sour cream maple syrup topping.

We'll probably have white wine & mulled cider around as well.

 

[amy_dub]

My Dad & I saw this receipe on Rachel Ray''s 60 minute thanksgiving special... They look EXTREMELY yummy!
Machego Mashed Potatoes
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_34928,00.html

 

[Ellen]

Oh Gail, don''t buy a pecan pie, make the one I just posted in the Holiday thread. It''s SO easy, and you can make it the day before, which is even better. I''ve never met anyone who didn''t like it, and I''ve sold it at public functions before.

I''ll be having my mom over, I do Tday every year. No other siblings here, and she can''t deal with cooking anymore.

 

[zoebartlett]

Everyone''s menus sound scrumptious! My FI and I will be going to my parents'' house and it will be just the four of us. My sister and her husband usually visit his family in NYC but we''ll get to see them for Christmas. My FI and I are going to make apple crisp and we might also make butternut squash. Other than that, we''ll have the usual turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (my mom''s is SOOOO good!), homemade cranberry sauce, veggies of some sort, and probably a pumpkin pie. Since we''re doing apple crisp, I doubt there will be apple pie. Just as well, I''m not a huge pie fan.

The only tradition my family has on Thanksgiving is to watch the Macy''s parade and the dog show afterwards (I''m not really sure why but this has become a tradition/habit). After dinner my FI and I will probably take a long walk. We''ll probably see a movie also if we can all agree on what to see.

The day after, my FI and I are going to his parents'' house for his mom''s homemade turkey soup. Yum!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Island Dreams, we may have a small club of Sweet Potato haters, but I''m with ya!

 

[gailrmv]

Yum, I love reading about everyone''s menus, keep those ideas coming! I think I am jealous of the people having it catered or eating somewhere posh like the four seasons! If I had anything catered, I don''t think in in laws would approve!

Ellen, I would LOVE to try your pecan pie recipe, but we had someone volunteer to bring one, so I''ll have to try it another time!

 

[zoebartlett]

Have you seen Ellaila''s recipe for pumpkin bread pudding (I think it''s in the holiday desserts thread)? It sounds delicious and I''m dying to try it.