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.

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

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:

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.