Hosting Thanksgiving for mostly seniors, very traditional

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This might be a stupid question... but how do you get smooth mashed potatoes like you'd get in a store/box? I know two of the guests won't eat lumpy mashed potatoes. But I've only ever done chunky/skin on roasted garlic mashed potatoes because that's what we like. I don't have a hand mixer. Would a stand mixer with the hard metal paddle be good for potatoes, or would they go gluey? Or is the trick to add more liquid?

My boomer parents peel, boil, and use salt, pepper, milk, butter. But the key is best the snot of them with an electric hand held mixer/beaters

[Anonymous]

My family likes spicy food but ILs don't. How about just make an extra load of garlicky, spicy stuffing? Last year I made a good one that included hot Italian sausage. All the other sides can be vegetarian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just make regular mashed potatoes without the skins. If people like mashed potatoes, they like mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes with skin does not equal adventurous eating by the way. I'd keep the kale salad and serve it along with whatever traditional items the elderly like.

Mashed potatoes with skin and pepper would be adventurous for the older in-laws.
Is cornbread or dinner rolls "safer"?
Part of the problem here is that I grew up eating non-american food (parents are immigrants) so I'm not sure what is "standard." But I know the inlaws will not want to eat anything "different."

Presumably you know how to Google, and you still can't figure out what a "standard" American Thanksgiving meal typically entails?

Honestly I don't think there is a standard. There are regional differences, for sure. Some areas will put sausage or oysters in their stuffing. Some will use cornbread instead of bread. Some will insist on calling it dressing.

Some will insist on having mac & cheese on the table.

Is that some sort of faux pas? I hosted one year and I made Mac and cheese as a side.

It's expected to have mac and cheese in some parts of the country

[Anonymous]

Rutabaga. The olds love rutabaga, plain with butter and salt and smashed. Don’t ask me why

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rutabaga. The olds love rutabaga, plain with butter and salt and smashed. Don’t ask me why

First time I’ve heard myself called an old!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your Kroger will carry Bob Evans mashed potatoes. They’ll be in a refrigerated case with other prepared heat-and-eat foods, like macaroni and cheese. I’m sure your store carries them year round and you just haven’t shopped that section. In my grocery store, this refrigerated case is not too far from the meat. Just make sure you’re getting the original mashed potatoes. Old Bob has a few tricks up his sleeve and now has mashed potatoes with sour cream and chives and garlic mashed potatoes. There might even be a cheesy one.

Making real mashed potatoes is pretty easy though, with the ricer. Add butter and sour cream, a little milk or half & half if you need to thin them, and salt. You could probably add a tiny bit of pepper without adding a kick, even for those who keep their food bland. You can’t get blander than skinless boiled potatoes. The trick is to remember that potatoes need to be salted more generously than other vegetables.

There is a zero percent chance someone who shops at Kroger doesn’t actually know that pre-made mashed potatoes exist and where to find them. OP isn’t actually asking for practical help. She just wants to complain about her backwater ILs and how awful they are.

I agree with this.

Maybe they don’t eat mash potatoes. I can’t stand mash potatoes so I would not know if a store carried them or not. It is seriously one of the worst sides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your Kroger will carry Bob Evans mashed potatoes. They’ll be in a refrigerated case with other prepared heat-and-eat foods, like macaroni and cheese. I’m sure your store carries them year round and you just haven’t shopped that section. In my grocery store, this refrigerated case is not too far from the meat. Just make sure you’re getting the original mashed potatoes. Old Bob has a few tricks up his sleeve and now has mashed potatoes with sour cream and chives and garlic mashed potatoes. There might even be a cheesy one.

Making real mashed potatoes is pretty easy though, with the ricer. Add butter and sour cream, a little milk or half & half if you need to thin them, and salt. You could probably add a tiny bit of pepper without adding a kick, even for those who keep their food bland. You can’t get blander than skinless boiled potatoes. The trick is to remember that potatoes need to be salted more generously than other vegetables.

There is a zero percent chance someone who shops at Kroger doesn’t actually know that pre-made mashed potatoes exist and where to find them. OP isn’t actually asking for practical help. She just wants to complain about her backwater ILs and how awful they are.

I agree with this.

Maybe they don’t eat mash potatoes. I can’t stand mash potatoes so I would not know if a store carried them or not. It is seriously one of the worst sides.

NP. FYI that it is "mashed" potatoes, not "mash" potatoes. The potatoes are mashed (squished, crushed, squashed). Just pointing this out so you know in the future and aren't embarrassed by using the wrong word in public.

[Anonymous]

Do you people really not know any midwesterner rubes? The kind who can only tolerate salt, pepper, and garlic salt, and exist on meat and potatoes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you people really not know any midwesterner rubes? The kind who can only tolerate salt, pepper, and garlic salt, and exist on meat and potatoes?

Lol. I know. My family is from PA and they are like this minus the pepper and garlic salt. Oh - and now my mom no longer eats salt. I come on this board to read about all the wonderful food people are planning, knowing I will be eating tasteless food on thanksgiving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you people really not know any midwesterner rubes? The kind who can only tolerate salt, pepper, and garlic salt, and exist on meat and potatoes?

Lol. I know. My family is from PA and they are like this minus the pepper and garlic salt. Oh - and now my mom no longer eats salt. I come on this board to read about all the wonderful food people are planning, knowing I will be eating tasteless food on thanksgiving.

Thank you! I’m quite disappointed that PPs piled on OP for saying her ILs have a very limited palate but it is a thing for those from the Midwest. I know Gen X Midwesterners who won’t even try shrimp and just find the slightest thing to be “this is so spicy…my mouth is burning”. I don’t know how people can live without experiencing the different flavors in their lives but then I see the same people downing soda and Mac and cheese so I figure they just like sugar and cheese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family likes spicy food but ILs don't. How about just make an extra load of garlicky, spicy stuffing? Last year I made a good one that included hot Italian sausage. All the other sides can be vegetarian.

Sorry but how is garlic spicy? How do you not like garlic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you people really not know any midwesterner rubes? The kind who can only tolerate salt, pepper, and garlic salt, and exist on meat and potatoes?

NP. I know plenty of “rubes,” but geographic location has nothing to do with it. The pickiest adult eater I know is from hunt country Virginia. He is exactly as you describe above. Another picky eater I know is from upstate New York and is as meat-and-potatoes as they come, and also doesn’t like cheese or pizza. Picky adult eaters have one thing in common—immaturity—and it has nothing to do with where they are form or where they live. My faux-vegan SIL who literally eats bacon “because she can’t resist it” is from Berkeley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My elderly relatives range in age from 55 to 75. I make the standard Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, candied sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie

I do a festive cranberry and orange peel sauce in the crockpot and roasted Brussels sprouts in the oven

Is 55 considered elderly? I thought I had a few more years before being called that. Guess not.

I think 55 is old but not “elderly.” But certainly not young or even middle-aged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rutabaga. The olds love rutabaga, plain with butter and salt and smashed. Don’t ask me why

First time I’ve heard myself called an old!

If you love rutabaga, you are old, no matter what your age is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rutabaga. The olds love rutabaga, plain with butter and salt and smashed. Don’t ask me why

First time I’ve heard myself called an old!

If you love rutabaga, you are old, no matter what your age is.

LOL. My 2 year old is going to be surprised at being called old!!!