Oh DEAR! It's Thanksgiving again - do you have a menu yet?

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TATTRAT said:
Thanks hun. I don't mind the rain, and I LOVE Washington, but that would make one heck of a day trip!:LOL:

Virginia? Is that what the VA stands for? It can't be tooooooooooo far from me - sort of! I'm near Charlotte, NC but about 1 hour north. Hey, Maidrite and Barbara L were talking about coming one Thanksgiving - maybe this will be the one!!!
 
TATTRAT said:
This will be my second year alone for thanksgiving. I will be dining at the Formosa Buffet. last year I was the only caucasion in the place but met some great people. Looing like that is whats gonna be happenin for me. No sense in doing a thanksgiving feast for 1 I guess.
b


Hey, Tatt. Come to western Kentucky. We will be more than happy to have your join Katie E and me for T'day. Katie always makes the most wonderful meal and there's certainly going to be enough for more than 3. Come, really, and enjoy fun, food and fellowship. We've got plenty of room.
 
Thank you ALL so much for the warm hospitality! I wish I could get away but the "post thanksgiving" business is really what is dominating this whole holliday season. I can't believe I have a banquet for 480ppl the day after t-giving day. I thought every one would be "food-ed" out!

Seriously though, the best of karma to all, thanks soo much!
 
Buck said:
b


Hey, Tatt. Come to western Kentucky. We will be more than happy to have your join Katie E and me for T'day. Katie always makes the most wonderful meal and there's certainly going to be enough for more than 3. Come, really, and enjoy fun, food and fellowship. We've got plenty of room.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeey - you stealin' my T'day guests? :glare:

:chef:
 
I make the salad dressing differently depending on the meal I'm serving it with. For Thanksgiving it'll be probably half and half white wine vinegar and vegetable oil (say a third a cup of each), two tablespoons of sugar, LOTS of S&P, and maybe some dill (say a half teaspoon). Mom used to make it with plain old distilled vinegar, and if you do that make it 1/3 vinegar rather than half. Two small or one large cucumbers, sliced thin. If I can get European cukes, they're my favorite. If not and they're too fat then I seed them using a grapefruit spoon. A can of sliced mushrooms (yes, you can sautee fresh ones, and I do on occaision, but holiday meals are too hectic and I take the shortcut). When I was a kid, mom opened a can of baby shrimp and tossed them (we were living in land-locked states in the 60s, trust me, fresh or IQF weren't available; the latter wasn't even invented). I now buy IQF ready to go and depending on the size allow 4-6 per person. I toss in the shrimp at the last minute so the entire dish doesn't taste fishy.

When my meal isn't Thanksgiving, but something more Asian, I use rice wine vinegar, and no dill (chives, parsely or cilantro). Mom now uses some kind of fake sugar, and now that hubby is diabetic, I'm experimenting. We eat so little sugar anyway that it isn't an issue in this case.

I put it in small bowls and have hubby serve it while I'm finishing up last details in the kitchen. Do not overdo the shrimp, you want your guests to still be hungry for the main event. People have forgotten what appetizers means. They are supposed to make you hungry for more.
 
We don't have appetizers at Thanksgiving. It seems our problem is the reverse. With so much food, it isn't easy to get around to everything so I usually have to choose which ones I will eat and let the others do as they like. I usually eat only one dessert, but we have about 4 different types. I enjoy the leftovers at least as much as the Thanksgiving Day meal.
 
Although I am a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving meals, I must do something different this year. I have a unique problem, for me, I have a glut of meat in the freezer and can not even consider buying a turkey. So for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it will be smoked ham roast for one meal and boeuf bourguignon for the other. It looks like a beloved cousin of mine will be spending Christmas with us and considering she is a recovering alcoholic, I should make the boeuf bourguignon for Thanksgiving. So the tentative menu is:

boeuf bourguignon (via Licia's recipe!)
yukon gold potatoes, (another glut) probably fixed two ways, mashed and baked
sweet potatoes, (DH abhors anything sweet on them)
green beans with bacon, garlic and onions

for dessert?? we are really short on butternuts this year, so no pumpkin pie, but I am eyeing the slice of sin recipe!
 
Sweet Sides

If you're not set on a cranberry sauce, I posted a recipe for one given to me a few years ago which became an instant favorite. My family enjoy it on toast or over ice cream... as well as nestled up to the turkey slices.
Cranberry Sauce
Also posted "Grape Salad" - another dish added to our Thanksgiving menu in recent times.
Grape Salad
 
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Wait... It's not thanksgiving?
I thought that already passed.
What did we just celebrate then?
We had turkey dinner at my house a couple weeks ago.
 
If guests are arriving early, I do put out a plate of things like carrot & celery sticks, olives and pickles. It is mostly to give people something to munch with drinks, but not filling them up. The cuke salad is more a first course than an appetizer, and when Mom made it, it was just on the table with everything else. I'm 51 years old, and most of my Thanksgivings were not just family-oriented, but more community oriented.
 
I always have dinner here at home for my kids at Thanksgiving...
MY MENU will include:
deep fried turkey
dressing
baked mac and sheese
greens
squash casserole
yaddied yams
corn on the cobb
biscuits
pumpkin pie
and of course cranberry sauce...
:chef:
 
I love Thanksgiving. We are invited to a friend's home every year. It's quite a large gathering and everyone brings a dish as requested by the hostess. She keeps the menu pretty traditional. I like to make an appetizer or dessert. Something I can tweak a little bit.
 
Thanksgiving?

what are you cooking?
invited to an early holiday dinner Sunday; may cook apple dumplings.

Thanksgiving days, Grandpap cooks turkey, maybe ham, taters, desserts, other dishes.....
Happy Holidays!
 
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With the exception of the meats and cheeses for the antipasto, I finally finished food shopping. It's amazing how much food we buy for one meal...and then there is nothing in the refrigerator to eat for three days before Thanksgiving!

I have dinner for tonight and tomorrow, but after that, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there is nothing. (not like I cook all that much during the week, anyway, but at least there is something for my son to throw together if he's so inclined)
 
Traditional Thanksgiving will be a day early this year.

We're going to my paren't house in the PA Poconos this year. I love visiting, but my mom is one of the rare few who doesn't like turkey or stuffing or mashed potatoes! So Thanksgiving there this year is country ham, sweet potatoes, roasted pineapple, creamed spinach and lots of dessert. A great meal for sure, but I'll miss the annual turkey and stuffing and mashed pots. So I'll be cooking a "small", yet traditional Thanksgiving dinner at home on Wednesday night for my husband, my 3-year old and my mother-in-law. I'll do a turkey (breast only), my favorite mashed potatoes with butter, chives and cream cheese mixed in, creamed onions, sausage apple herb stuffing (an idea from the stuffing thread), brussel sprouts with bacon and rolls with butter. Of course, pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert. I'm sure we'll have plenty of leftovers.

My only worry is the gravy.
I've always cooked a whole turkey, however this year I'm a little worried. I'm anticipating it may be difficult to get enough pan drippings from a turkey breast portion only, unlike all the great drippings from a whole bird.

Does anyone here make just a breast? And if you do, do you find that you get enough drippings from it to make a gravy?
 
Run to the store tomorrow, buy a small pkg of turkey wings; bring 'em home, and preheat oven to 425. Cut wings into sections, put in a roasting pain with a quartered onion, a couple of chopped carrots, and a couple of celery sticks. Roast for about an hour, til you have a lot of brown 'fond' on the bottom of the pan; note you may need to add a tiny bit of oil to keep it from burning .

Take the wings and veg out of the pan into a stockpot; put the roasting pan on the stovetop, add some water just to cover the bottom and scrape up all the browned bits; add that to the stockpot, and then add water to cover. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for about 2 hours.

Now you've got wonderful turkey stock to make gravy! For your gravy, I'd use the pan you roasted the breast in; just add some oil or butter and your flour to make a roux, then use that wonderful stock for your gravy - you'll love it!
 
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