Thanksgiving Dinner - Your Menu?

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Ok, it's a finalized menu.
Before we get started, we will give thanks for what we have as a family.
1. Smoked Turkey from the Webber
2. Sage flavored bread dressing, maybe made in a bundt pan
3. Slow cooker smashed spuds with salt, butter and cream
4. Mashed rutabaga with butter, brown sugar, and black pepper
5. Turkey Gravy
6. Ripe, black olives
7. Lime Jellow with cottage cheese and pineapple (I like adding chopped walnuts too)
8. Frehsly steamed green beens with butter
9. Pumpkin Pie
10. Deviled Eggs

Let the food settle and play with the munchkins.

Day 2:
1. Turkey and dressing sandwiches on fresh, sourdough bread (for lunch)
2. Turkey and mayo sandwiches (for those who don't like dressing)
3. Leftovers
4. Start the dirty-sock soup with the turkey carcass (turkey carcass, pearl barley, rice, onion, sage, pepper, salt, celery, fake dirty socks (made from cheesecloth and stained with soy sauce)
Pumpkin Pie with Chantilly cream

Let the food settle and play with the munchkins

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[pacanis]

I'm thinking turkey, "stuffing", mashed potatoes and gravy, but probably not what you are expecting
I have no time for a traditional dinner on Thanksgiving, so have been hashing around something for the person on the go.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I'm thinking turkey, "stuffing", mashed potatoes and gravy, but probably not what you are expecting
I have no time for a traditional dinner on Thanksgiving, so have been hashing around something for the person on the go.

Sounds like a version of Thanksgiving day 2 at my house.

I make a version of this casserole using the remnants of Thanksgiving dinner.

It is a little different every year.

Company Chicken Casserole Recipe | Just A Pinch Recipes

 

[Whiskadoodle]

It looks like everyone's plans are shaping up.

I took Dx to an afternoon movie today. To keep her away from more shopping. I think she is first-name friends with every grocery store in town. Thwarted. Her sister stopped over w/ a bag of fruit to put together a fruit salad ( us put it together for her - what's with that !?!)

I guess we are having fruit salad for thanksgiving. That's a good treat.

 

[pacanis]

I made a Thanksgiving leftovers casserole one year... the one year I cooked a turkey dinner. I can't remember what it was called right now, but it was pretty good.

 

[Dawgluver]

I like to put a T'giving leftovers casserole in the freezer. It's a wonderful surprise to pull out and cook when I don't want to mess with the whole bird and trimmings.

 

[GotGarlic]

Welcome to DC, ModernCat

That's a pretty ambitious menu - I'm guessing you're not new to cooking My friend told me this afternoon she's serving a cranberry sauce over baked brie. Just thought I'd mention it in case it sounds interesting to you.

 

[Dawgluver]

My darling cousin, who is probably one of the world's worst cooks, has lots of holes in her potluck menu. The offerings sound hideous so far. Last year we took DH's brother with us to Cousin's, and on the drive back to BIL's we all chuckled, as the food was the worst we'd ever tasted anywhere. DH and I are driving up with dressing, my way, and I may even make gravy. We're about 4 hours away, but luckily I have a huge selection of crock pots and it's really cold out.

Thankfully, we love the company, if not the food!

 

[ModernCat]

Chantilly cream: Never heard of it (newbie to dessert cooking) Now I have to try it instead of the traditional whipped cream. thanks

 

[ModernCat]

Thank you GotGarlic
I am hoping to learn hints and tricks. I have been reading different recipes for weeks to find simple yet delicious recipes. I think the stuffing is going to be most difficult. Timing is my worst enemy. I am horrible at that and wasting. So with all the different FRESH herbs needed I went out and bought $3.00 herb plants instead of buying herbs from the grocery store. I think I may considering something like a cranberry sauce on the side. That sounds delicious, cheese and cranberries. thank you! oh and I am not a good cook I am just not afraid to try anything . I "need" to follow recipes, I can't make anything on my own without a recipe.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

First time cooking Thanksgiving EVER. We alway go out. But here it is..... Was this TMI?

Actually, you seem to be missing one vital piece of information: what time do we all show up at your house this Thursday?

Welcome to DC ModernCat! Good luck with dinner. Be sure to let us know it all turned out perfectly. Even if it isn't, it's still perfect if you enjoyed the company.

 

[bakechef]

My darling cousin, who is probably one of the world's worst cooks, has lots of holes in her potluck menu. The offerings sound hideous so far. Last year we took DH's brother with us to Cousin's, and on the drive back to BIL's we all chuckled, as the food was the worst we'd ever tasted anywhere. DH and I are driving up with dressing, my way, and I may even make gravy. We're about 4 hours away, but luckily I have a huge selection of crock pots and it's really cold out.

Thankfully, we love the company, if not the food!

We invited a couple that we really think a lot of, but she isn't a very good cook. She offered to bring something and really wanted to contribute so I put her in charge of beverages. Thing is, she loves to "cook" but she is what I call an assembler, she combines pre-made ingredients.

She invited us to Christmas eve dinner last year. She served Honey Baked Ham straight from the fridge with instant potatoes, that's it, nothing else. We had a great time anyway!

Rob ate dinner at her house once and she served "lasagna", beef-a-roni layered with mozzarella cheese and baked. Her heart is in the right place though!

 

[ferris]

My sister is cooking this year! Usually we go to my parents but they decided to fly to Paris for a holiday - really hope she manages to do a good job but I have confidence in her.

 

[CarolPa]

My darling cousin, who is probably one of the world's worst cooks, has lots of holes in her potluck menu. The offerings sound hideous so far. Last year we took DH's brother with us to Cousin's, and on the drive back to BIL's we all chuckled, as the food was the worst we'd ever tasted anywhere. DH and I are driving up with dressing, my way, and I may even make gravy. We're about 4 hours away, but luckily I have a huge selection of crock pots and it's really cold out.

Thankfully, we love the company, if not the food!

I don't understand how anyone can screw up a basic turkey dinner. To me, it's one of the easiest meals to make. Once you stuff the turkey, it cooks itself. While it's cooking, you make the sides. What's so hard? I guess the hardest part is having everything ready at the same time without anything being cold.

A friend once told me that her SIL said she would bring the pumpkin pie. She walked in on Thanksgiving with 2 frozen pies that she probably picked up on the way to my friend's house and said "These will need to be baked." The least she could have done was to bake them at home and at least pretend they were home-made. LOL

 

[GotGarlic]

I don't understand how anyone can screw up a basic turkey dinner. To me, it's one of the easiest meals to make. Once you stuff the turkey, it cooks itself. While it's cooking, you make the sides. What's so hard? I guess the hardest part is having everything ready at the same time without anything being cold.

A friend once told me that her SIL said she would bring the pumpkin pie. She walked in on Thanksgiving with 2 frozen pies that she probably picked up on the way to my friend's house and said "These will need to be baked." The least she could have done was to bake them at home and at least pretend they were home-made. LOL

You have to forget everything you've learned about cooking in the last 50 years and then try to imagine doing it for a crowd of people expecting a Norman Rockwell painting in your dining room.

 

[pacanis]

Getting everything to come together at the same time is why I don't cook big holiday meals. It's just more thinking than I care to do on an already busy day. I've only made myself a turkey dinner once, so it's not something that comes second nature to me.

My one turkey dinner meal.



And a closeup of those mashed taters

 

[Andy M.]

You think doing something once a year makes it second nature? Man, you don't know me. I replan the whole thing every year.

 

[pacanis]

You think doing something once a year makes it second nature? Man, you don't know me. I replan the whole thing every year.

Well yeah. Once a year, 60-70 years in a row...
Just kidding of course.
I would think some aspects become second nature. Little tricks to make the big day go smoother.

 

[Aunt Bea]

You think doing something once a year makes it second nature? Man, you don't know me. I replan the whole thing every year.

Same here, it goes back to my days in the working world.

Every year I rough out a mini project plan on the back of an envelope so I can see the timing, oven space, number of stove burners required, pans needed, serving dishes etc...

The nice thing about a turkey dinner is the resting time for the bird, it gives you a big window to cook vegetables and make gravy etc...

The main thing is never apologize and never let em see ya sweat!

 

[Andy M.]

Well yeah. Once a year, 60-70 years in a row...
Just kidding of course.
I would think some aspects become second nature. Little tricks to make the big day go smoother.

The trick is to not leave it all for Thursday. I'll make a roux for the gravy, butternut squash, pies, stuffing, brine, etc. before Thursday. Then it's just the turkey in the oven and a few other things plus reheating.