THE REAL Thanksgiving Food Thread 2021

[Anonymous]

I don't really eat until the big dinner (though I'm not Burger King Lady and I don't starve guests). I usually bring in bagels and cream cheese for breakfast (and there's always cereal and fruit around). Lunch is DIY sandwiches and I'll usually put out some light snacks like veggies/hummus and cheese/crackers. The only meal I am actually cooking/serving on this day is the Thanksgiving dinner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if you have houseguests or just people coming over to spend the day, what appetizers/snacks to serve to tide people over until the big meal at 5 or 6?

I spend pretty much the whole day making the Thanksgiving feast so need something that requires minimal prep. Oven and stovetop will already be in use.

Breakfast = muffins, hard boiled eggs and fruit

Lunch = appetizer buffet! This always goes over well. People want the variety and specialness of the apps, but don't want it to ruin Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe add a soup if you feel like something more substantial.

Dinner at 5, like proper civilized people. I hate "dinner" at 2 p.m.

We do a big cheese and cracker board along with a veggie and hummus spread. Add in some mixed nuts and you're golden. You can also make soup beforehand, freeze it, and put it in a crockpot in the morning on high for 4 hours so it will be ready for lunch. Substantial without needing your oven or stovetop!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm making:

Turkey
Gravy
Cranberry sauce
Green beans with shallots
Dressing

Having trouble narrowing down the starchy sides: Potato gratin, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted butternut squash, mac and cheese, corn casserole? Which 2 or 3 of these?

Open to other suggestions but I'm not a great cook, so I try to stick with familiar (or simple) recipes.

MIL is covering desserts.

I would vote for potato gratin plus mashed sweet potatoes. I think I'm going to try Ina Garten's chipotle smashed sweet potatoes this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm making:

Turkey
Gravy
Cranberry sauce
Green beans with shallots
Dressing

Having trouble narrowing down the starchy sides: Potato gratin, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted butternut squash, mac and cheese, corn casserole? Which 2 or 3 of these?

Open to other suggestions but I'm not a great cook, so I try to stick with familiar (or simple) recipes.

MIL is covering desserts.

I would vote for potato gratin plus mashed sweet potatoes. I think I'm going to try Ina Garten's chipotle smashed sweet potatoes this year.

Those do sound good!

The PP's corn pudding sounded good, too.

I always want to add a salad because I feel like something cold and crisp should be a nice complement to all the hot foods, but anytime I've done a salad nobody really touches it. Like it's too "everyday" for Thanksgiving or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s THE best stuffing? Cornbread? Chestnut? Oyster? sausage?

Giblets dressing, followed by sausage.

Cook the giblets in a few cups of water with poultry seasoning. Save the broth for the gravy.
When they cool, pick the meat from the neck-bone and chop with the giblets into small pieces. Reserve some of this meat for the gravy.
Chop onions and sauté in butter until the onions are translucent. Mix in the chopped giblets and any additional seasonings.
(Add cooked sausage, mushrooms, or anything else you want to add.)

I start with a package of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix, adding additional lightly toasted bread. I follow the package directions, tweaking as necessary. This makes enough to stuff the turkey, with dressing left over.

Sorry that description of giblets made me queasy. Those goes straight into the trash in my house.

Best dressing is to keep it simple. Use a the best quality sourdough bread you can find (not grocery store). Cube it and let sit out overnight. Sauté onions, carrots celery, some garlic in butter plus salt and pepper liberally. Add fresh chopped sage in there the last minute. Add some broth and scrape up the brown bits. Toss in the bread cubes and add some more broth until everything is coated but not too wet. Bake in buttered dish covered with foil until through, then uncover and turn to broil to get the top crips.

[Anonymous]

For salad I often make endive boats with apples, goat cheese, dried cranberries, watercress - people can take a boat and put it on their plate... it works a bit better than a regular salad I think. And it's a bit more fancy.

[Anonymous]

Vegan side/main suggestions? We have two vegan guests coming. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s THE best stuffing? Cornbread? Chestnut? Oyster? sausage?

Giblets dressing, followed by sausage.

Cook the giblets in a few cups of water with poultry seasoning. Save the broth for the gravy.
When they cool, pick the meat from the neck-bone and chop with the giblets into small pieces. Reserve some of this meat for the gravy.
Chop onions and sauté in butter until the onions are translucent. Mix in the chopped giblets and any additional seasonings.
(Add cooked sausage, mushrooms, or anything else you want to add.)

I start with a package of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix, adding additional lightly toasted bread. I follow the package directions, tweaking as necessary. This makes enough to stuff the turkey, with dressing left over.

Sorry that description of giblets made me queasy. Those goes straight into the trash in my house.

Best dressing is to keep it simple. Use a the best quality sourdough bread you can find (not grocery store). Cube it and let sit out overnight. Sauté onions, carrots celery, some garlic in butter plus salt and pepper liberally. Add fresh chopped sage in there the last minute. Add some broth and scrape up the brown bits. Toss in the bread cubes and add some more broth until everything is coated but not too wet. Bake in buttered dish covered with foil until through, then uncover and turn to broil to get the top crips.

Where are you buying your sour dough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s THE best stuffing? Cornbread? Chestnut? Oyster? sausage?

Giblets dressing, followed by sausage.

Cook the giblets in a few cups of water with poultry seasoning. Save the broth for the gravy.
When they cool, pick the meat from the neck-bone and chop with the giblets into small pieces. Reserve some of this meat for the gravy.
Chop onions and sauté in butter until the onions are translucent. Mix in the chopped giblets and any additional seasonings.
(Add cooked sausage, mushrooms, or anything else you want to add.)

I start with a package of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix, adding additional lightly toasted bread. I follow the package directions, tweaking as necessary. This makes enough to stuff the turkey, with dressing left over.

Sorry that description of giblets made me queasy. Those goes straight into the trash in my house.

Best dressing is to keep it simple. Use a the best quality sourdough bread you can find (not grocery store). Cube it and let sit out overnight. Sauté onions, carrots celery, some garlic in butter plus salt and pepper liberally. Add fresh chopped sage in there the last minute. Add some broth and scrape up the brown bits. Toss in the bread cubes and add some more broth until everything is coated but not too wet. Bake in buttered dish covered with foil until through, then uncover and turn to broil to get the top crips.

Where are you buying your sour dough?

Not in DC anymore, but Raven Hook bake house is a great place

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vegan side/main suggestions? We have two vegan guests coming. Thanks!

Roasted root vegetables.

1 inch pieces of beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips..any combination any color variation. Whole head of garlic, cloves separated but not peeled. Toss all olive oil, salt, pepper, a couple springs of herbs and splash of balsamic. Bake 425-450 until well roasted but not burnt. Makes tons of steam, careful when opening oven

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTH does one do with rutabegas? My DH says his grandmother used to feed them to her horses and refuses to allow them in the house.

My mom always peeled them and cut them into circle slices. She'd then boil them in just enough water to cover them along with a big dollop of butter and a pinch or two of sugar to bring out the sweetness. She always added a good amount of pepper at the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s do this. I want it all. I want boring questions about food prep, I want “this is the best recipe ever” links, and I want your flouting-traditions menus AND your embracing-traditions menus.

I want people to start fights over what appetizers are “trashy” and which ones “set the right tone.”

I want people to tell people who do a wet brine that they are absurd, and that dry brining is the only way to go.

And finally, I want people to praise Tante Marie’s sage advice:

I see what you did there. Very good.

Also-thanks for introducing me this cook- love her!

[Anonymous]

I've tried all the recipes and I can never get that crispy, golden brown turkey skin. Just one year I want to have that amazing turkey photo for my Instagram!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vegan side/main suggestions? We have two vegan guests coming. Thanks!

You can make the stuffing/dressing vegan - just use a normal sage stuffing type recipe, use veggie broth and don't add egg.

Sauteed green beans, or roasted brussels sprouts, or glazed carrots are sides that would work.

Maybe a squash stuffed with a wild rice pilaf for a main?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTH does one do with rutabegas? My DH says his grandmother used to feed them to her horses and refuses to allow them in the house.

My mom always peeled them and cut them into circle slices. She'd then boil them in just enough water to cover them along with a big dollop of butter and a pinch or two of sugar to bring out the sweetness. She always added a good amount of pepper at the end.

This was always on our thanksgiving table as a kid! My grandmas peeled, chopped, then boiled and made like mashed them as you would potatoes. But I never liked them and don’t make them.