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rainbowgardener
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What is the menu for Thanksgiving dinner?

I'm interested to hear what people are doing for their Thanksgiving dinner, with emphasis on anything non-traditional.

Ours will be just six of us. Basically your traditional T-g dinner, with a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey. But for the vegetarian in the crowd (me) and as an extra dish for everyone else, I made nutmeat pate en brioche. It is a recipe from vegetarian epicure cookbook. It is a very rich pate of various ground nuts with onions, garlic, mushrooms, seasonings, gruyere cheese wrapped in a brioche, a very rich bread with 10 egg yolks in the dough. (I actually had to go buy eggs from the store-- our chickens have slowed down their production a lot lately and we just didn't have 10 egg yolks, + 2 whole eggs in the pate + 2 more eggs in the pumpkin pie).

Jamie is doing the turkey and she made whole berry cranberry sauce with oranges and apples and nuts in it.

I did the nutmeat pate and I'm working on homemade pumpkin pie (with canned pumpkin). I will do a green salad with lots of garden greens.

Other folks are bringing all the rest of the sides, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc.

So what will be on your table?

Incidentally:
happy thanks giving.jpg
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applestar
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I am not making anything this year. Not even Dessert. :> Looking forward to finding out what we are eating at the in-laws, but it will probably the traditional turkey and sides, pies, etc.

I did start a yeast sponge to bake some kind bread for tomorrow morning’s family breakfast, and we are going to my parents’ senior community to have lunch together along with their long-time friend on Saturday.

Image

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digitS'
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Oh Good Heavens, RainbowGardener! There's no moving to the non-traditional with the small group gathering in this home! The smallest changes have met with resistance over the years!

Maybe it's because we feel so invested in the traditions. I know that there is a facet of Thanksgiving that I have committed to for over 50 years - pumpkin pie. My grandmother died on Thanksgiving when I was a kid. We didn't celebrate the day for several years. When we began again, I made a contribution - pumpkin pie. I might have been 12 but was probably even younger.

Okay, that is this Olde Guy's contribution and my feelings go into those pies. If they are ignored, passed over - even if it's for a slice of my apple pie - well, you can have both! And, thank you.

Have you noticed that young people have certain expectations of olde people? I suppose that it is okay. Maybe it is just that we are appreciated. Isn't that wonderful?! Of course, with expectations come responsibilities. Dang! I don't really want to have the turkey gravy, do I have to make it??

Apparently so ... young people should have the right to their opinions on what is of value ... So! I can change the stuffing? Not unless I want to witness the suffering at the table and see the stuffing go untouched ...

What if I was tired of the green bean casserole by 1970? What if Watergate salad drug on wwaaay too long? Must I be resigned to their continued appearance on the table? Yeah, there is no relief. Except for my mashed potatoes with celeriac and cream cheese! And, some simple greens that DW fixes, probably just for me ..! And, allow me to have a second slice of pie. Please. And, Thank You :).

Steve

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rainbowgardener
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Yes, when I used to have Thanksgiving with my in-laws, it was like that. If I just tried to make a home-made and fancier version of macaroni and cheese, no one would touch it.

But family has scattered and our T-g is not with them any more, so I can be a little more experimental.

imafan26
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We will have too much food because that is always the case and full garbage cans afterwards.
I am going over to my sister's house. My mom is making the turkey, and stuffing with gravy. My other sister is making a ham, I was assigned the sweet potatoes. My sister's friend makes the dessert. Cranberry sauce, my mom's favorite. We don't do mashed potatoes all that much, we will have potato mac salad and rice which is more traditional here. We usually have grilled meat and sometimes crab legs.

I will be attempting to make some namul. myulchi bokkum (seasoned dried anchovies), daikon and carrot namasu (in vinegar and sugar dressing), long beans with bacon, olives, garlic and oyster sauce, bok choy in garlic and ginger (maybe, I haven't decided on that one yet), tofu with bonito flakes, green onion, and ginger, taegu, rakkyo, and sinigang na hipon and pechay ( tamarind soup with vegetables and shrimp because it is cold and a long time til dinner.)

It is kind of jumbled with many different ethnic dishes and mixed with Hawaiian tradition (rice, potato mac salad, Korean namul (small side dishes), Japanese namasu, rakkyo, and cold tofu, and Filipino Sinigang na hipon

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Some of you will be getting a workout tomorrow shopping for black Friday or wearing out your fingers shopping on line or leafing through catalogues. Don't forget to stop by the gym or work outside to burn offsome of those calories before dinner tonight.

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Well, my meal starts with what's considered traditional here, but I'm sure not in other places. Most of my guests hit the big pot of chicken/sausage/okra gumbo over rice to get the feeding frenzy started.

Then the rest of it is fairly standard fare with green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, cornbread dressing, mirliton/shrimp casserole, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, 2 fried turkeys, pecan and apple pies and enough various spirits to keep everyone happy---er.

I'm having between 15-18 folks over by days end and that is a good bit fewer than last year when out of town family arrived at the last minute unannounced pushing the number close to 30. Good thing I cook with the intention if you go home hungry, it's your fault and had enough to feed everyone.

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rainbowgardener
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We always tell guests to bring containers, so they can take leftovers home with them. That way the leftovers get shared around and the hosts don't get stuck with too much..

Yup, Mon, Wed, Fri are our regular gym days unless something throws the schedule off. Worked well for this holiday. We were at the gym yesterday and will go again tomorrow! Today we relax!

imafan26
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We put it left overs in ziploc bags instead. The bags fit more compactly and less risk of the containers opening up before they get home. That way they are ready to get tossed in the freezer.

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Gary350
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We had a Smithville spiral cut honey basted ham cooked in the crock pot. Sweet potato casserole, garden green beans, Acorn squash casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce. Sour dough dinner rolls. Pumpkin Pie with Moose tracks frozen yogurt topping. There was 6 of us for Thanksgiving dinner. I usually make a chocolate pecan pie but not this year. Dinner was small this year we down sized, we did not want left overs.

Last year we turned all the left over turkey into turkey salad for sandwiches. We realized we could not eat 20 turkey salad sandwiches so we gave most of it away. The dog and cats ate some of the left overs.

imafan26
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I used to do chicken instead of turkey. It is not as tough or dry and chicken or cornish hens are just right for a couple of people.

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applestar
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Gary350 wrote:We had a Smithville spiral cut honey basted ham cooked in the crock pot.
My MIL has always made ham for Christmas Dinner, and she/BIL would get the ham from a local farmer’s market. But for the last few years, she has been complaining that the quality of ham is not what they used to be. The kind she uses is salty, needing to be soaked first.

Years ago, she tried Colonial Williamsburg Virginia ham — I think we brought it back as souvenir — but either she didn’t follow the soaking directions or even so — found it to be too salty (and weird).

She was injured last year and Other BIL bought glazed spiral ham, but we all agreed that was too sweet...it was baked/reheated in the oven per instructions that came with it. How does your crockpot recipe turn out, Gary350?

I wonder what we are getting this year....?

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My mother (RIP) had a frequent tale to tell about a 1950's era T-day or Cmas meal she prepared for her inlaws among others. She roasted a turkey, had oyster stuffing in the neck cavity and black walnut stuffing in the body, baked a large bluefish with crab stuffing, and pan fried a steak for an uncle who eats "nothing that swims or flies." The bluefish was for my paternal grandfather, who only ate fish and only drank whiskey. She sounds like a patsy, but she really wasn't. Product of the times, and she did learn from that mistake. (Most people don't like the taste of black walnuts.)

I'm at my sister's home temporarily. I would have preferred dinner with imafan or maybe gumbo, but my sister insisted on traditional items including the infamous green bean casserole. And five pounds of potatoes, mashed. For six people. We had five pies, only one homemade (2-crust apple). My sister did her best Blanche from Streetcar Named Desire imitation and depended on me to do nearly everything. I don't like peeling raw butternut squash even if it tastes good in a mixed roast vegetable platter. I prefer people pick their own pomegranate arils.

No one touched the sweet tea and iced tea I made per request, but they drank all the port and all the bourbon.

At least she and her husband will be at a daughter's home for Cmas. The daughter is a whiz with catering menu and a credit card, but I know they do some Gulf Coast traditional things.

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rainbowgardener
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I never peel raw butternut squash. Poke a few holes in it and cook it in the microwave for maybe five minutes. Then peel. So much easier.

I use Alton Brown's whole fresh foods based version of green bean casserole. Way better!! :)

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Gary350
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applestar wrote:
Gary350 wrote:
My MIL has always made ham for Christmas Dinner, ham from a local farmer’s market. But for the last few years, she has been complaining that the quality of ham is not what they used to be. .

Years ago, she tried Colonial Williamsburg Virginia ham — I think we brought it back as souvenir — but either she didn’t follow the soaking directions or even so — found it to be too salty (and weird).

How does your crockpot recipe turn out, Gary350?
Crock pot is a mini oven it gets 350 degrees. If you cook a ham in the kitchen oven you catch the dripping in a pan, meat dehydrates a little bit but crock pot holds all the drippings and meat is not so dry. You need to buy a ham and cook it to see how it turns out some ham is better than others. Find a ham you like. Same thing with chicken or turkey. I think fatty meat cooks better on an oven rack so fat can cook out.

There are several people selling meat at the farmers market salt cured ham is very salty. The meat you buy in the store is not as good as it use to be I have been having a very hard time finding good pork chops. I would love to raise 3 pigs to have good meat. You have to try meat from several people at farmers market to find meat you like. People that cure their own meat all have their own recipe. Some people raise their own meat and some don't.

TN is well known for Country Ham it is loaded with salt. Best way to cook a slice of ham is fry it in a pan of water. The water pulls out some of the salt, fry the ham several minutes in 1/2 cup water then dump the water and fry the ham golden brown. If ham still has too much salt try again with 1 cup of water. You need to experiment to learn how to cook it the way you like best. I usually soak ham in water for 1 hour then fry it with no water.



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