Anonymous wrote:I did a stuffed turkey breast, really a roll, and that came out great: keep on rotation
Collard greens (first time): keep
Sauerkraut (always): keep
Potato dumplings (always): keep
Mac& Cheese (first time): keep
Stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy: keep x 3
Can you guess our ethnic background lol

Like a roulade? I had a turkey roulade at Bistro L'Hermitage in Woodbridge several years ago -- I think on Christmas Eve -- and it was so good I'm still thinking about it.

Anonymous wrote:Ate out, at J. Gilbert's in McLean.

Rolls and butter -- skip
House salad -- skip (I love salad, but it wasn't great--if I had it to do over, I'd order the crab bisque)
Turkey -- keep (but only because you can't really skip the turkey; it was thinly sliced breast, almost like deli meat, didn't love it)
Stuffing -- keep
Gravy -- keep
Mashed potatoes -- keep
Green beans with shallots -- meh, on the border between skip/keep
Sweet potatoes -- skip
Pumpkin pie -- skip (we ordered chocolate cake but once it was time for desert they were out)

Things I miss, having gone out: green bean casserole (yes, with the fried onions ... the object of much derision here), and creamed pearl onions (my grandmother always made them)

I mean, tbh, just give me a plate of stuffing and mashed potatoes and pour gravy on it and I'd be happy as could be.

Oh, PP here, I forgot: There was some cranberry relish too. Keep that.

Ate out, at J. Gilbert's in McLean.

Rolls and butter -- skip
House salad -- skip (I love salad, but it wasn't great--if I had it to do over, I'd order the crab bisque)
Turkey -- keep (but only because you can't really skip the turkey; it was thinly sliced breast, almost like deli meat, didn't love it)
Stuffing -- keep
Gravy -- keep
Mashed potatoes -- keep
Green beans with shallots -- meh, on the border between skip/keep
Sweet potatoes -- skip
Pumpkin pie -- skip (we ordered chocolate cake but once it was time for desert they were out)

Things I miss, having gone out: green bean casserole (yes, with the fried onions ... the object of much derision here), and creamed pearl onions (my grandmother always made them)

I mean, tbh, just give me a plate of stuffing and mashed potatoes and pour gravy on it and I'd be happy as could be.

Ours was perfect! Just the right amount and probably my best rendition.

Herb roasted turkey
gravy
Sautéed green beans
Mashed potatoes
Stuffing- I used everything bagels as the bread and it was awesome!
Libby’s recipe pumpkin pie in a homemade butter crust and whipped cream
Cranberry sauce

I made everything from scratch but because it was a smaller menu it wasn’t overwhelming

Just three of us - two adults and a teen.

3 perfectly “roasted” turkey thighs in the slow cooker
Smashed potatoes
Boxed stuffing (see the don’t sneer thread)
Mac’n’cheese
Steamed broccoli

Homemade sweet potato pie

All are keepers, and not far from meals we regularly have (who says Turkey is only for Thanksgiving!?!).

Easy to make, easy to clean up, just enough leftovers to not consume the fridge.

I was thankful to have a delicious meal with my family. 🥰

Anonymous wrote:I did a stuffed turkey breast, really a roll, and that came out great: keep on rotation
Collard greens (first time): keep
Sauerkraut (always): keep
Potato dumplings (always): keep
Mac& Cheese (first time): keep
Stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy: keep x 3
Can you guess our ethnic background lol

I'm going to try this next year. Stuffed with regular Thanksgiving stuffing?

I'll keep mine simple:

Turkey breast -- ok, since it was turkey, but still better than the whole bird.
Shaved Brussels sprouts with leeks and bacon -- keep
Acorn Squash -- no thanks, back to sweet potatoes next year
Baked Potato -- same as above, back to mashed potatoes next year
Cranberry sauce -- fail, wouldn't set for some reason
Gravy -- best gravy of all time and I have no idea what I did to make that happen
Ice Cream topped with roasted Pumpkin-pie-spiced pumpkin seeds -- YUM, keep, way better than pie
Everything else -- same ol, same ol

I loved our Thanksgiving meal this year

Turkey Breast dry brined and roasted with tons of butter on top of carrots - Keep although I may use a whole turnkey next year. The Turkey Breast doesn’t balance well for presentation without the legs.

Mash Potatoes- classic. Keep

Stuffing - I used a bag but I may try to make my own next year

Roasted cauliflower and Brussel sprouts - keep

Cranberry sauce - used spicy honey and puréed. Keep

Mac and Cheese (we have a few vegetarians among us)

3 kinds of chutney: tamarind, tomato, and apple. All spicy and added a great zing to the meal (my in laws are Indian) and better than gravy

Rolls - personally I prefer cornbread but with so much food I couldn’t eat bread and the bread eaters prefer rolls so I guess keep

I ate sooo much and only two of us could eat any dessert (which was apple pie, blueberry pie, and a red velvet cake).

Tons of leftovers so I’m happy today.

I did a stuffed turkey breast, really a roll, and that came out great: keep on rotation
Collard greens (first time): keep
Sauerkraut (always): keep
Potato dumplings (always): keep
Mac& Cheese (first time): keep
Stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy: keep x 3
Can you guess our ethnic background lol

Turkey breast-eh, it’s turkey. I guess it was fine. Did nyt buttermilk brine. I would prefer to do duck or something but this year was low effort.

Cornbread dressing: keep. This was hit.

Pies; of course keep. Pecan apple and pumpkin

Green beans- simple steamed with butter , fine kids eat them but nothing to see here. Would do something else next year


Spinach salad with dried cranberries walnuts and goat cheese- good, might sub a drier goat next year. Not a huge keeper though.

Anonymous wrote:if you ate a “woke Turkey” $100 turkey, did it taste better than my $25 dollars (free after discount at Safeway spend over $500 in 4 weeks)

You are incoherent and posting on the wrong thread.

My in laws ordered and the food was meh.

Turkey and ham were both terrible, stuffing was gelatinous. Green beans and potatoes were fine

if you ate a “woke Turkey” $100 turkey, did it taste better than my $25 dollars (free after discount at Safeway spend over $500 in 4 weeks)

Posted above that we eat the same thing every year. Everyone wants that and if we miss a favorite fish it's all we talk about.

The appetizers are where we mix things up. We gather early afternoon to eat at six pm and those are the best foods and the places people show creativity in what they bring.

this year:

A ton of homemade dips, keep
Crudites, keep, especially the endive and cucumbers felt nice and light compared with everything else so rich
Homemade bread bowl for spinach dip, keep
Cheeses, including baked Brie, Delicious but could skip to save room/calories for everything else
Homemade spanikopita from a Greek guest, keep
Chili, SKIP! guest brought chili, seemed like a bizarre choice
Cucumber round with dill, and smoked salmon, keep
Grapes, keep
Assortment of fried stuff (mozz sticks, ravioli, egg rolls), skip, way too heavy
Something with lentils but I can't remember the name, keep

Turkey, eh not my favorite but feels required
Dressing for vegetarians with lots of mushrooms, fruit vegetables, Chestnuts, keep!
Dressing with the above plus sausage, maybe keep but not essential
Mashed potatoes, keep
Gravy, keep
Sweet potato casserole with Ginger and Orange, keep
Homemade cranberry sauce, keep
Broccoli, keep
Roasted Brussels sprouts, keep
Stuffed mushrooms, keep
Salad, keep

We have never done rolls or bread on Thanksgiving and I'm fine with that.

Pies:
Tart cherry
Apple crumble
Pumpkin
Lemon meringue

Still need to keep all the pies or someone's favorite would be cut

We basically have the same things every year. The only thing that I don't love is the turkey.

List the dishes in your meal (whether you cooked or were a guest) and what you would keep/skip.

I'll go first. I was a guest and the meal was:

-homemade sourdough bread: KEEP
-brussels sprout w/ balsamic: skip, meh, they did not add much to the meal
-roasted broccoli w/ lemon and chili flakes: KEEP
-green beans, don't know how they were prepared b/c I did not try them: skip, do we really need a 3rd green vegetable?
-butternut squash with some sort of apple cider glaze: KEEP
-honeybaked ham: KEEP b/c one of my kids doesn't eat turkey but loves ham
-turkey: KEEP, not b/c I love it but b/c we need it for the gravy and I am all about the gravy, although ours was well-prepared and flavorful
-homemade cranberry sauce: KEEP
-stuffing: KEEP
-mashed potatoes: KEEP, obvi
-gravy: KEEP

Personally, I only care about the mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy, but I think the squash, broccoli, ham, cranberry sauce and bread rounded out our meal nicely for others.

Overall I felt like it was too many dishes for a small group of 7 (which includes one child who doesn't eat much and 2 80+ year olds who don't eat much) which also makes it harder to serve many of them warm.

Dessert was good: choice of pumpkin pie or pound cake with ice cream or homemade whipped cream.