Gobble gobble! (And then gobble some more.) Via Road Fun @ Flicker
It’s hard to believe we’re nearing the end of November already. While part of me wants to stop the clock so I can catch up on all I meant to have done by now, some other parts (primarily my mouth and my stomach) are getting all het up about next week, when we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the US, and the “holiday season” officially begins. (I do not want to hear Xmas carols before then, dig?)
The Dude and I live too far from our families to see them at both Thanksgiving and Xmas, so we’re doing our own thing for T-day. Except that we haven’t decided what that thing will be: do we go the traditional (for us) route: sweet & mashed potatoes, green beans, fresh yeast rolls, pies (apple and pumpkin), cranberry relish, herbed stuffing–all home-made–and maybe some faux-meat product in place of a turkey; or do we switch it up a bit, and try cooking a different kind of special meal, say from a different culture? A couple years ago we did our take on an Italian T-day: 2 kinds of homemade ravioli, broccolini w/ garlic, focaccia, some squash dish I can’t recall, and tiramisu. And good wine, of course. It was excellent, and not quite as relentlessly carb-tastic; we actually stayed awake after the meal.
Maybe this year we try making Thai food from scratch? Or perhaps some Mexican dishes? But ohhhhh, stuffing! I don’t know yet, but I need to decide soon, so I can start making lists and running errands.
While I’m thinking about it, please join in the Friday Fun Thread: what are your must-have-’em Thanksgiving dishes? What do you like to make? What can’t you wait to see on the table? (And what do you think we should cook?)
I know we have quite a few international readers who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving–or have your own holidays for gratitude and feasting–but don’t let that stop you from weighing in on your favorite festive dishes.
As MM previously mentioned, we’re having a heritage turkey…she’s nervous, but I am confident in her (superlative) cooking skills.
My grandmother brings my other favorite, the mashed potatoes. When I was in high school and had more time, I used to bake pies sometimes (lattice crust: difficult) but this year my only contribution will be several of these: http://www.beekman1802.com/how-too/decor/orange-rind-votives.html
Okay, I cannot stand turkey. But stuffing? BRING IT THE FUCK ON! I usually have double the stuffing and skip the turkey. Last year, my stepmother served homemade macaroni and cheese in lieu of turkey, but my main parental units (mom and stepdad) with whom I’m spending this Thanksgiving are too conservative to skip the turkey. However, I have convinced them to make challah stuffing instead of using regular bread. I highly recommend challah in any form, but with stuffing? It’s SO good.
And I’m sure there will be a brie wheel to keep my crazy grandfather too occupied to actually open his mouth to speak (and inevitably offend someone). So cheese! Brie cheese!
I am lucky enough to have still have all four of my grandparents still living, (and they live conveniently 10 minutes from each other) so we have TWO Thanksgiving meals! The first one is at my paternal grandparents and we eat at 3 PM with plenty of appetizers before hand, shrimp and veggies, and for some reason, bagel bites. My grandma cooks everything from scratch and because of my food issues, cooks separate stuffing and gravy for me. Then at 6:30, we go to my maternal grandparents, where the entire side of the family (All 30 of us) have another meal, this one with SPECTACULAR desserts made by my grandma all from scratch. My favorite part? Three pies! She actually makes 5, but my favorites are the cherry, apple, and blueberry. She also makes a lemon meringue and a mince meat. I have special Thanksgiving pants with a drawstring to allow for all the food!
Mashed potatoes and gravy. Definite must. Plus a few years ago part of my families traditional Thanksgiving group found a deep fryer on sale at home depot or something so we’ve been deep frying a turkey. I know it doesn’t sound healthy, and it’s not, but it’s GOOD.
AMBROSIA!!
Yeah, all the usual stuff, but really the thing I look forward to, and only eat at Thanksgiving; ambrosia salad. I should probably put salad in quotes. Those mini-marshmallows! Fluff! Coconut! Mandarin orange segments! Just like the green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup and those crispy onions on top, if it didn’t have the nostalgia factor, or if it was on the radar more than once a year, I’d probably more likely be grossed out than looking forward to it. But, as it is, I kinda can’t wait!
My favorite thanksgiving-specific food that my family has is cornbread stuffing with oysters. OMG, so good. The oysters, like, melt into the stuffing.
Cranberry sauce and stuffing! Turkey I can kind of take or leave because the white meat is always too dry, unless you deep fry it, which we have done a couple years with excellent results. And when you fry a turkey, you have a couple gallons of boiling oil and can improvise by throwing stuff in, leading to mounds of homemade onion rings, potato chips, etc.
And pie. There must and shall be pie! DaddySharper and I have pie for breakfast and lunch all weekend.
@PhDork (and anyone else looking for recipes).
Mark Bittman did a great round-up of yummy, seasona, Thanksgiving sides that are different from the usual mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. Some of them look really delicious and could be entrees. I’ll be trying them some other time, though, since my family does not like to deviate from the traditional menu:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/dining/18mini.html?_r=1&ref=dining
For me, it’s all about the quadrifecta of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes! Gotta have lots of all of them so the leftovers do not get imbalanced. I don’t really have any special recipes, but may try the challah stuffing since that sounds really good.
I’m cooking this year and bought a 21 lb turkey. Wish me luck!
Cranberry sauce! We make this homemade spiced cranberry sauce from fresh, whole cranberries, cooked with sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and other spices I can’t recall (my sis always makes it). It’s out of this world! My family’s stuffing recipe (with giblets) is great, too, though I can take or leave the turkey, and can’t stand yams or sweet potatoes.
YES to ambrosia. mmmmm
Ah, Becky, I was just scrolling through that Bittman piece! Lots of good stuff. I’m thinking we need to do brussels sprouts this year… And I’m with you on the pie. The Italian year we missed having pie terribly.
I find that stuffing is the thing people are most particular about: white, wheat, corn bread, and now challah? oysters, chestnuts, sage, apples? Baked in the bird or baked in the dish? Baked so the pieces remain, uh, piece-y, or combined into a kind of bread-puddingy-or quiche-y casserole? The dry crunchy parts or the moist gooey parts?
(for the record: white/wheat blend, celery and onions, baked in a dish, piecey, and all the parts! AHHHHH! OM NOM NOM NOM!)
My family never does cranberry sauce, we’ve always prepared a raw relish of cranberries, oranges and sugar. Sweet and tart and fresh and light, compared to a lot of the other stuff. (Also really good on sandwiches.)
To answer your question: cornbread, cooked in the bird. Although it’s not bad when cooked outside the bird. White bread is acceptable, although not desirable. Oysters are neither. And I really think sausage and nuts in stuffing is overkill. Like you don’t get enough protein from the turkey?
We also do a cranberry relish in my mom’s family, consisting of one 12 oz package of raw cranberries, 1 cup of sugar, one raw juice orange and a couple spoonfuls of Grand Marnier. Throw in blender to obtain desired consistency and leave overnight–it gets better with age.
For my dad’s family I make a cooked cranberry sauce with spices. I love them both. But hell, I love the jellied cranberry sauce from a can that has the little ridges on the sides. You just can’t go wrong with cranberries.
Since it’s just me and my mom rocking T-giving this year, and we haven’t seen each other in seven months (damn you, graduate school), we decided to forgo the whole spend-all-day-cooking deal and just cater the whole freakin’ thing from Whole Foods. Individual vegan Gardein roasts stuffed with cranberries and wild rice, yes please! We will, however, be making our traditional Famous Kindergarten Pumpkin Bread, that my kindergarten teacher gave out the recipe for and we’ve been hooked on every holiday season since.
Cornbread dressing, cooked in a cake pan in the oven and nowhere near the bird.
Watergate salad: tapioca pudding, cool whip, marshmallows, and crushed pineapple.
Leftover turkey incarnations, dark meat sandwiches with mayonaisse and turkey and dumplings.
Stuffing.
In my family we actually have three types of stuffing (only one of which actually gets cooked in the bird). My aunt represents the Sicilian part of the clan by making italian sausage dressing (which is like traditional bread dressing, only 50/50 meat/bread), my mom’s homemade bread dressing (which actually gets stuffed in the bird) with currants, apples, spices, sourdough bread crumb, etc, and then a vegetarian version of the bread dressing (yay mom for accommodating her picky veg daughter). SInce I don’t eat meat, its all about the sides on Thanksgiving. Besides stuffing, my plate will also be heaping with my aunt lynn’s candied yams, my green bean casserole, and our great grandma’s cranberry relish recipe, which she passed on to my aunt before she died. Oh, and pie. PUMPKIN PIE!
Sausage in the stuffing! I say sausage in the stuffing! Yum.
::refrains from making a sausage/nuts/stuffing dirty joke::
I got your sausage stuffing right here, lady.
(sorry, I’m not as classy or restrained as you, s.o.a.l.g)
We do a big extended family thanksgiving (we had 90 people one year) and it’s pot luck so there are always new things every time. My stand-by favorite however is still my mom’s cinnamon salad: apple sauce, cranberry or cherry jello, and melted cinnamon red-hot candies. It’s festive and tasty!
Anything that sops up gravy. My plate is always a flood.
I also love my mom’s cranberry relish. It consists of: two packages of whole cranberries; 2-3 peeled, cored, roughly chopped granny smith apples; 2-3 peeled, roughly sectioned oranges; and sugar. You basically grind the fruit up to your preferred texture in batches in a food processor. Add sugar to taste and preferably let it sit overnight in the fridge (it sweetens up as it sits, and you can always add more sugar before serving so consider that when adding the first does of sugar). It’s a refreshing counterpoint to the heavier, traditional Thanksgiving fare.
Finally, in the spirit of gratitude-focused holidays everywhere, I’d like to say thank you to the Harpies for putting in the time and effort to run this space, and to the commentors who, like the editors, always have smart and interesting things to say.
Right, so on the suggestion of Mr MM (who will never get his hands on the food section of the paper again if I can help it), I’m making a heritage turkey this year. It seems to have a completely different cooking method than the regular ones, as it’s physically very different. Has anyone ever made these before? Can you give me any suggestions?
Other than turkey adventures, it’s going to be the usual menu with the customary stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and so forth. I did do broccoli marinara last year to bring some tang, and I’m doing it again. Oh, and lots of desserts and I make my own whipped cream.
We’re only having about 11 this year-so small! I love T-day, and the more people who come, the better.
I echo Tall-I am grateful for smart, funny, thoughtful women like the Harpies and all of you who post here!
About ten years ago, my sister made a gorgonzola broccoli casserole from Sunset Magazine. I promptly stole the magazine and made the recipe my own. It’s way too unhealthy to cook on normal days, so I always make it for holidays.
Aw, thanks Tall and MM! We are thankful for such an awesome group of smart, thoughtful, mouthy women to share with!
MM: The heritage breeds are leaner and don’t have that big white Dolly Parton breast (which has usually been brined in commercial breeds), so you’re supposed to cook them for a shorter time in a hotter oven than you would for a Butterball. Check on-line, I’m sure there are some good resources that will tell you how to do it right.
It’s Thanksgiving with the super conservative (“don’t call me a republican!”) in-laws. So the main item on the menu is hot cider with a heavy helping of brandy.
Happy Turkey Day, y’all!
Because i have to eat turkey with all the trimmings about a month after thanksgiving, this year I’m completely avoiding the turkey thing on Thursday as i’m in charge of the cooking. So my guests are getting pumpkin and goats cheese tarts to start (my nod to pumpkins as er I don’t like pumpkin pie, i know sacrilege) followed by quails marinaded in whiskey and marmalade and cheese for dessert (why yes i lack a sweet tooth in case you wondered). Plus wine, lots of wine, which I can’t really drink as I’m breast feeding.
Btw, challah also makes great French toast, so save some for that!
And thanks to Ph.Dork for this thread-I love reading about everyone else’s traditions. And to Becky for the Bittman link-he’s great. Yeah, I have an on-line set of directions to use for the turkey, but after 20 years of doing it the other way, I may need therapy afterwards, especially if I screw it up. However, one of our guests also brings a turkey (so everyone will have leftovers), which means that there will be a backup.
Pumpkin and goat cheese tarts??? I MUST HAVE THEM. Also broccoli gorgonzola ANYTHING. Egad, I’m ready for dinner.
@Becky and s.o.a.l.g: It took every ounce of restraint for my bf to not make that joke at the thanksgiving table last year when he first learned about sausage stuffing. And, though I no longer eat meat, I have to say, sausage stuffing is pretty devine. Oh jesus, now everything just sounds dirty.
Also, challah makes a great crust for pizza type toppings, broiled in the oven.
And every other good thing.
This will sounds strange, but my family every year serves a Turducken. Its a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey, with stuffing layers. Do not judge, it is amazing. The juices are outstanding. We cut it open and layer it, then sew it up. It cooks for three days, seriously. Marinates in its own juices, and it is amazing. Paula Deen made one on her show.
@drahill: I absolutely LOVE turducken! I’ve only had it twice and never had the courage to make it myself because you have to bone all three birds (hee hee) or have someone else do it. It’s a lot of work.
I also love stuffing. I need a good recipe for it that doesn’t require turkey though. I tried making it once and it was good but not amazing. If I found that recipe, I might not even wait to have stuffing. I didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving this year (it’s in October in Canada and I was working), but Christmas has the same kinds of food. Now I’m excited.
Lyndsay, I think the trick with non-turkey stuffing is using cornbread, because white bread stuffing is inherently blah and gets most of its flavor from turkey juices. So if you want a veggie stuffing, I’d go for cornbread with cranberries, nuts, jalepenos, etc. (there are some good recipes for cornbread stuffing on AllCooks.com or in the Bittman article I linked to upthread). You can use veggie stock to moisten it and give it some flavor, then bake in a casserole dish.
My favorite favorite favorite thing in the universe is mashed butternut squash mixed with mashed apples, plenty of butter, and Frangelico. Ohhhhhhh so good. Another Thanksgiving tradition: mimosas all morning while you cook. I don’t like to eat turkey, but I’m starting to worry I’m not going to have enough turkey to feed my guests (I only have about a pound per person, but it’s only the breast, so that’s not too many bones…right? Should I order another breast? Yikes). I also love to eat turnips and carrots mashed together, and mashed potatoes with the skins on. I’m trying Mark Bittman’s buttermilk herb biscuits (actually, I already tried them this past week. Out of this world, seriously) for the bread instead of cornbread, because my cornbread recipe absolutely must be served fresh out of the oven and, um, things will be a little hectic Thursday. Really, though, the butternut squash is what I’ll be eating the most of. And don’t forget: It’s Beaujolais Noveau week!
Cranberries…lots of cranberries. I’m gonna borrow some of the relish recipes here, cuz they sound awesome. I usually throw a package of fresh cranberries, juice and pulp from one orange, one cup water, one cup sugar, some cinnamon, and maybe some apple pieces too into a sauce pan and let it simmer for 5 or so minutes. Chill and eat. On everything. And a cranberry tart.
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes too.
Did I mention cranberries?
All these comments have persuaded me that the traditional menu is where we’re headed. And yes, mashed potatoes must have skins. The squash-n-apples thing sounds great, too.
@kithkin: A pound per person is plenty, especially with everything else that’s on the table.
Ha, if I drank mimosas while I cooked, I’d sleep through dinner.
My cranberries are straight from the can, with orange peel and ginger. The ginger gives it a nice bite, and I make it the day before so it can flavor up.
The best part of Thanksgiving? Our daughter will be home! Yayyayyayyay!
TVille: I always add booze of some kind to my cranberries. Usually an orange liqueur, but even if you get creative, it’s awesome.
Also, people who are deeply suspicious of cranberries are much more likely to try them if they know it has alcohol.
When I was growing up my family was completely vegetarian, so we always had a stuffed pumpkin.
Of course, you have to buy your pumpkin around Halloween (we would usually get a few) and keep it some place cool and hope it kept.
You can also stuff different squashes.
I like bread stuffing, but we always use a honey wheat bread from a local bakery. It’s a little to dry for me to like it every day, but it holds it’s texture remarkably well in stuffing, and is much more flavorful than white bread.
My immediate family has postponed dinner til Sunday, when my brother is off work, so on Thanksgiving proper I’ll be hanging with the boyfriend. I’m going to make a small turkey breast, some mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes with pecan praline topping, and chocolate chip cookie pie. After we nom that, we’re going to volunteer at a big community dinner to serve folks in need. For Sunday, I’ll probably make a good ole southern-style corn pudding.
Nom!
At this time of year in Australia, there isn’t a general celebration where huge feasting occurs – unless it’s Christmas.
When I was living in the tropics, about this time of year the build up* starts, and its when mangos** ripen and taste their best. So there was often “mango madness” season celebrations.
Mangos are ambrosia – taste good on their own, in alcholic and other kinds of beverages, and as part of a recipe for everything from chicken to tofu.
Though the best mango experience, has to be mango daquiris, with fresh mango pieces and mango juice.
Whilst I no longer live in the tropics, at this time of year, I still celebrate the build up by finding the first season mangos that come in, and reminisce over how much fun the “mango madness” celebrations were. Especially this one time, where we all danced around the mango tree…
* build up is one of the three seasons experienced where relative humdity builds up and up and up, but there is no relief because there is no rain.
** I don’t know who is familiar with mangos. A tropical fruit, with a massive seed in the middle, check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango