Thanksgiving Recipes

[mcoperryl@gmail.com]

If Thanksgiving is an American Holiday do other countries have a comparable day and if so, what are the "favorite" meals to celebrate with?

[swissgirl]

In Switzerland we don't have / know Thanksgiving. Once I was invited in California for that holiday, and my favorite meal was sweet potatos. It was the first time I ever could taste sweet potatoes!

[Judy]

Must have: fresh cranberries relish with apples, oranges, a bit of cinnamon and clove and of course sugar. Skip the quantities, just add until it looks about right and tastes great!. I put the apples and cranberries in a food processor or coarse grinder. Oranges will smash easily. Tangerines work also in place of oranges. My mouth is watering just reciting the recipe.

[lalou]

Just got together with my sisters (6 of them) today to decide what we are all making for Thanksgiving, we each make a couple of dishes. I found a recipe i want to try it is Sourdough with apples and sage dressing. I will do a test run on the recipe this week:)

[carolivy]

Since it is just me and my OH now at home for Thanksgiving, we go to the American Legion for their Thanksgiving Dinner. They have some reallllly good food and the company is terrific too. Best of all...I don't have to do any of the cooking OR the cleanup.

[Antiquarian]

I've never been a big Turkey Day fan. It's a holiday to celebrate gluttony IMO. One of the best TD's I ever had was the year my husband, his mom, and I made Lumpia (Japanese version of an burrito) and pot stickers.

[rsmre]

Canada celebrates Thanksgiving, but it is celebrated on the second Monday in October. A friend of mine visited her in-laws in Nova Scotia for Thanksgiving. She was expecting some exotic dishes, but they served the same foods that we have here in the states.

[Susan B T]

It is a time when my husband and I love getting in the kitchen together and making the turkey, beans and mashed potatoes with the trimming together. This is the first year it will only be the two of us so, we are renting and house on the California coast. We will take most of the fixings with us, but are this year we are mail ordering a Turduckhen.
Here is a link to a Turduckhen http://www.cajungrocer.com/fresh-foods-holiday-dishes-turducken-c-1_15_24.html?source=google&gclid=COmY6JP8nqUCFSdtgwodC00_Ig

[celticflame99]

My favorite things at Thanksgiving are my moms stuffing, which has all sorts of dried fruits and nuts in it, and our before dinner before dinner drink we always have, which is a scoop of lime sherbert with some cranberry juice on top. My family always has it before Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, and nothing else makes me think "holidays" so much as that drink.

I also love the "holiday in a sandwich" leftovers, where you make a sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and left over veggies in it. So good the next couple of days.

[mcoperryl@gmail.com]

It is a time when my husband and I love getting in the kitchen together and making the turkey, beans and mashed potatoes with the trimming together. This is the first year it will only be the two of us so, we are renting and house on the California coast. We will take most of the fixings with us, but are this year we are mail ordering a Turduckhen.
Here is a link to a Turduckhen http://www.cajungrocer.com/fresh-foods-holiday-dishes-turducken-c-1_15_24.html?source=google&gclid=COmY6JP8nqUCFSdtgwodC00_Ig
Have you had that before or are you trying it for the first time? Please let us know how it turns out.

[mcoperryl@gmail.com]

My favorite things at Thanksgiving are my moms stuffing, which has all sorts of dried fruits and nuts in it, and our before dinner before dinner drink we always have, which is a scoop of lime sherbert with some cranberry juice on top. My family always has it before Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, and nothing else makes me think "holidays" so much as that drink.

I also love the "holiday in a sandwich" leftovers, where you make a sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and left over veggies in it. So good the next couple of days.

The only time my family loves plain white bread is for the turkey sandwiches from left overs. Don't know why, it's tradition and the bread has to be very fresh....with mayo, plain yellow mustard and bread and butter pickles.

[Susan B T]

It is the first time we have had a Turduckhen..... Will let you know how it comes out.

[Judy]

Oh Lord how I will miss the holiday sandwiches. Its the biggest problem with going to a restaurant buffet.... they don't let you take all those samples home to make that famous day-after sandwich.

[Judith Connors]

I've celebrated only one Thanksgiving. It was with American friends in Lyons in the centre of France some years ago. My favourite recipe (which I still bake) is pumpkin pie.

[carolivy]

Oh Lord how I will miss the holiday sandwiches. Its the biggest problem with going to a restaurant buffet.... they don't let you take all those samples home to make that famous day-after sandwich.

Going to the American Legion I miss the leftovers too, but my Diabetes doesn't. I won't be counting anything (carbs, calories or anything) on Thanksgiving, but I can only do that for an ocassional day, not how long it would take to get rid of all of the leftovers of the day. sigh

[mcoperryl@gmail.com]

Oh Lord how I will miss the holiday sandwiches. Its the biggest problem with going to a restaurant buffet.... they don't let you take all those samples home to make that famous day-after sandwich.
Several years back we went to a buffet for Thanksgiving and that was the only thing we knew we would miss. Boy were we pleasantly surprised to see that they provided "take out" containers and people were putting together a sampling of their favorites for later. I know there was a charge but how nice to know that you could still make the sandwiches the next day. Hope your restaurant offers the same for you.

[themadtatter]

I always make a great deal of food (although it is just the 5 of us). I go all out with making my special rendition of green bean casserole (adding lots of different creams, cheeses, bacon, spices etc) Plus LOTS of sweet potatoes with molasses, coca cola, orange juice, wine, a full pound of the best butter and lots of other yummies.
But nothing says lovin like a turkey in the oven!

P.S. For the moistest, most flavorful turkey ever: Brine your turkey 24hrs before hand, rub fresh herbed/seasoned butter under the skin, insert 1 cored apple{stuffed with fresh herbs}, half an onion and a pierced orange in the cavity, 2 cups Chardonnay, 1 cup each celery, onions, carrots chopped in roaster and most importantly.......
ALWAYS COOK YOUR TURKEY BREAST SIDE DOWN!!!!
Trust me, it may sound weird and doesnt look as pretty but it really is the best way for moist turkey breast!

Happy gobbling!!

[crazytatter]

Thanks for the tip.

[mcoperryl@gmail.com]

I always get so excited the day before Thanksgiving. Even though there are only six of us this year (and there have been 30+ years back) I still love to start preparing on Wednesday and love every minute of the preparation. My son-in-law deep fries the turkeys which is fabulous and not at all like I thought they would be. Cornbread dressing, pumpkin pie, Mississippi Mud, and deviled eggs are my contribution to the gathering. The best thing about the day is not even the food...it's getting together with my

Brining the turkey sounds very interesting to me!

[gahorsley]

I've been cooking all day today for lunch here at my house tomorrow. Family and friends will load up on chicken and dressing, ham, chicken and dumplings, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, peas and various desserts. I hate to cook and we eat out most of the time or my sweet husband cooks for us, but Thanksgiving is my time to reign in the kitchen. I love all the hustle and fuss that comes with preparing the day's meal and then love to see my husband and 2 daughters and an assortment of friends around our tables. We have so much to be thankful for.

[Lynn]

Thanksgiving in my family always meant hickory smoked hams, corn bread dressing, peas and carrots cooked together with tiny onions, homemade German sausages and kraut, German potato salad, sweet potato pies, German chocolate cake, pecan pies, biscuits and gravy. . . I know I'm leaving stuff out. There were usually about 90 of us all together. The smorgasbord started in the kitchen and stretched through the house, onto the porch, and sometimes onto the lawns, weather permitting. Who eats like that now? I certainly don't!

[gahorsley]

aaah lynn-I forget that you come from the South!! much of what you ate is what we will have tomorrow!

[Lynn]

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving celebration, Georgeann. Glad to know that folks do still eat like that. You may have noticed the German foods. I was born and bred in Georgia, but from sound German stock! I've always been fascinated by the melting pot facets of American culture. This thread has highlighted several of them delightfully.

[carolivy]

Mmmmm! The buffet at the Legion was great! I got Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Lots of gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, sausage and sourkraut, squash, some kind of corn thing...real creamy with bread crumbs on top...delish! Also some cherry fluff made with cherry pie filling, and cheesecake. They had pumpkin pie and other pies, but I have pumpkin at home and will make up some custard soon (pumpkin pie sans the crust) I went hungry, but came away very stuffed....lol Didn't eat anything for the rest of the day! (we went at 2pm)

[themadtatter]

Our TG was awesome too! This year I added a touch of JD to my yams and the sauce was so yummy I accidently made too much. While munching on a piece of bacon(for the GB casserole) I dipped it in the yam sauce and WOW!!! I knew I was on to something! I then added bacon to my yams and they were the best I had ever made!
We dished out some plates for all of the hotel staff here and had to promise some leftover plates to housekeeping that had the day off (plus a couple guest/friends that were gone for the holiday). The gravy got messed up and we forgot the cranberry sauce but I made a "bread" bowl and bread buns to go in and all in all it was an enjoyable holiday. I fell asleep completely exhausted about 7ish and didnt wake up till 6 this morning and feel completely hung over (but had NOT touched a drop of liquor!) I guess from all the hard work and heavy food.......
Hope everyone had a great time and ate lots of food!