Just for fun: What does and does not belong at a Thanksgiving feast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again, just for fun. If you can't play, don't bother posting. I'll start:

Yes, must:
Turkey
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Dressing
Cranberry sauce made from actual cranberries
Green bean casserole
Corn casserole
Some type of simple green vegetable, like steamed asparagus

Heck no:
Creamed onions
Rutabegas
Sweet potatoes of any sort
Canned cranberry sauce (I said it)
Stuffing stuffed inside a bird (gross and never done properly; if both are cooked to a safe temperature, the turkey is ALWAYS dry)
Sausage in stuffing: NO

Take it or leave it:
Rolls

Who hurt you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Creamed onions are the food that I most associate with Thanksgiving because I've literally never had them outside of Thanksgiving.

+1. Never liked them or squash as a kid. Now I look forward to creamed onions (served in their own special side dish!) as well as butternut squash. But still not hubbard squash which tastes like a mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My normal Thanksgiving is:

Turkey
Stuffing (yes sausage, obviously)
Mashed potatoes
Cranberry sauce (both canned and homemade)
Green bean casserole (all components homemade: fried shallots, and a mushroom cream sauce in lieu of soup)
Rolls

Also pies, you need a variety of pies. We usually do three types, even if we've only got like five people.

Some years we've done
Corn pudding
Sweet potatoes
Turnips

My only real hard no is salad and soup, I think they work badly with the rest of the meal and its weird for Thanksgiving to have courses (apart from maybe some deviled eggs and nuts put out while the food cooks). That said, I think the biggest rule of Thanksgiving is that any thing anyone brings goes on the table. If you bring a salad, I'll put it out happily, I just don't want any.

Am I the only person who actually likes having some kind of green salad, to balance out all the heavy stuff?

I like it but my family won’t eat it so I just forego it since (IME) most green salads don’t make great leftovers.

That is why you have a relish tray with these items: celery sticks, sweet pickles, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, and pickled beets.

Omg are you my mother?! That was our exact relish tray...

Where are your canned black olives, you monsters?

THANKSGIVING TRADITION!

[Anonymous]

Hard no on the macaroni and cheese. That does not belong. At all.

Must have: Stove top stuffing. In these low carb times, we don't eat stuffing for normal dinners ever. So the stuffing needs to be the best stuffing that ever existed: Stove Top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok can someone tell me what’s up with these creamed onions? Never even heard of them and now I’ve seen them on 2 different Thanksgiving boards. What am I missing/not missing?

Traditionally a jar of onions, drained, dumped into a baking dish, covered with white sauce/bechamel, sprinkled with bread crumbs, and baked. Why? I have no idea. I'm a hater.

Various sources will come up with variations on creamed onions (roasted with sherry! baked with brandy!), but it's putting lipstick on a pig. And it takes time that could be spent in a jillion better ways.

Those sound better than the New England version I grew up with, which was just done on the stovetop in a white sauce. No seasoning, no crumbs, no fanfare. I never liked them but I do now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mac n cheese (there's already stuffing and mashed potatoes on the table!) and no chocolate desserts.

This, 100%.

[Anonymous]

My thanksgiving:

-Turkey
-Smashed gold potatoes with cumin, garlic, olive oil
-sourdough stuffing with sage, celery, onions, carrots
-gravy
-cranberry sauce homemade, just water, sugar, a splash of rose water
-roasted root vegetables (carrots, beets, turnips, parsnip)
-roasted Brussels sprouts OR green beans almondine
-pumpkin pie and chocolate silk pie

What I skip and would Passover every time

-rolls
-canned cranberry
-pickle tray
-casseroles with canned soup or creamed anything
-sweet potatoes with marshmallows
-green salad

[Anonymous]

Yes:
Mashed sweet potato casserole
Greenbean casserole
Corn casserole
Stuffing (real homemade, not Stove Top w/ cranberries)
Cranberry sauce (we purchase from TJs, but not canned)
Sautéed Brussels sprouts w/ pancetta & garlic
Chocolate pecan pie

No:
Mashed potatoes (boring - we eat these often anyway)
Salad
Fruit/Jello salad combinations
Creamed peas

Take it or leave it:
Turkey
Rolls
Gravy
Pumpkin pie

[Anonymous]

Fun thread. It’s once a year so like the traditional list.
No to: green bean casserole, creamed onions, I’m not a fan of sweet potatoes but the kids like them.
Also for you mashed potato lovers: there are several techniques to make them even more delicious.
Pies: a necessity for the next days. We are too lazy to cook the rest of the weekend until Chinese on Sunday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Macaroni and Cheese does not belong anywhere near a Thanksgiving table. It’s an every day food, not a special food.

-1

Mac and cheese is a relatively new addition to our Thanksgiving table in the past years. You definitely don’t serve Kraft dinner or shells and cheese. This is the time for rich, gooey, baked Mac and cheese, made with at least 2 types of cheese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Thanksgiving: macaroni and cheese

Is the "macaroni and cheese on Thanksgiving" divide Black/White or Southern/other parts of the country?

My very white Midwestern in-laws serve it at every holiday. They have a special family recipe. It’s very good

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hard no on the macaroni and cheese. That does not belong. At all.

Must have: Stove top stuffing. In these low carb times, we don't eat stuffing for normal dinners ever. So the stuffing needs to be the best stuffing that ever existed: Stove Top.

Au contraire. I make the best stuffing, from scratch. No recipe, I just wing it. But I always use plenty of butter, wine, and fresh herbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard no on the macaroni and cheese. That does not belong. At all.

Must have: Stove top stuffing. In these low carb times, we don't eat stuffing for normal dinners ever. So the stuffing needs to be the best stuffing that ever existed: Stove Top.

Au contraire. I make the best stuffing, from scratch. No recipe, I just wing it. But I always use plenty of butter, wine, and fresh herbs.

I’m happy to be the judge of this. And any other stuffing entries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard no on the macaroni and cheese. That does not belong. At all.

Must have: Stove top stuffing. In these low carb times, we don't eat stuffing for normal dinners ever. So the stuffing needs to be the best stuffing that ever existed: Stove Top.

Au contraire. I make the best stuffing, from scratch. No recipe, I just wing it. But I always use plenty of butter, wine, and fresh herbs.

I’m happy to be the judge of this. And any other stuffing entries.

Years ago my nephew judged and basically told his mom she wasn't allowed to make the stuffing anymore, that was going to be my job (which she happily conceded).

[Anonymous]

DH's family put hard boiled eggs in the gravy. It was a thing. His forebears started out in Iowa, then Minnesota, then North Dakota, then Missouri (his grandfather was a federal admin judge in St. Louis) then Oklahoma where they got into oil. I don't know where the hard boiled eggs came from. It's been years and I don't recall very well but I imagine they were broken up?