Thanksgiving Menus and Recipes

kwanfan1818

RIP D-10
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37,644
I wish it were like the last pre-cv Thanksgiving, which I spent in Vancouver, and where I had the prix fixe American Thanksgiving Dinner at one of the hotels near the waterfront.

But, that not being realistic, I just put everything in the oven to slow cook for a couple of hours -- it's a chicken, not a turkey -- until it's time to crank up the temperature to get some crispy-ish skin. And, in the meantime, I get to :swoon: to the aromas...
 

aka_gerbil

Rooting for the Underdogs
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4,713
I’m not eating until 7:30, but I can add the rolls being done. I also did the prep work for the Mac and cheese. Green beans are easy, and the chicken isn’t hard either.
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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29,784
We are fini. We went to my niece’s for dessert. The choices were apple pie, pecan pie, and triple chocolate cookies. I was really hoping for my niece in law’s trifle, but they didn’t arrive until this morning and proper trifle takes 2-3 days. She promised one for Christmas,
 

maatTheViking

Roxaaannnneeee!!!
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5,637
My in-laws are visiting, and I think somewhat puzzled by the whole thing. I was not excited about planning and cooking the whole thing, so we split it up.

Mr. viking is doing the turkey - he got an heritage one and spent a long time researching how to cook it (apparently no brining, less time at higher heat), and the sauce. I'm doing a cranberry chutney (done yesterday) with ginger and orange - it tastes more gingery but it's good, and a stuffing with ciabatta, pecans, bacon and cranberries. Baby-viking and I did a double cornbread.

My in-laws were sent to buy a pie, but didn't like the look of any of them, so my MIL made an apple tart/pie. She's also making a salad and a veggie dish.

We're not big turkey people, but mini-viking REALLY wanted a turkey. He doesn't really usually eat meat unless it's ground meat, so I'm perplexed, but we will see how it goes. My FIL is a fairly big meat eater so that's good.

Soon we will see how the heritage turkey turned out! Happy thanksgiving everyone!
 

genevieve

drinky typo pbp, closet hugger (she/her)
Staff member
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A friend that I have spent most of the last 20 Thanksgivingses with came over and we had:

Roast turkey (I managed to score a bone-in breast instead of having to buy a whole bird! WIN) - I will still have tons of leftovers.
Stuffing - sadly, my favorite stuffing brand has been MIA the last 2 years, I hope C19 didn't close them down for good. Got another brand that had pre-seasoned bread cubes that I didn't love, but I added some other stuff. Cooked separately just because of timing and due to not having a whole bird.
Green beans - an Asian-style dish sauteed with ginger, garlic and soy sauce, with tofu cubes breaded with nutritional yeast. Not a tradditional T-Day dish, but we hate green bean casserole.
Apple Pie!

Friend brought a simple green salad, some mandarins, and a cheese board. I also had some hot cider for after.

We did an afternoon meal - I killed my kitchen but also did the clean-as-you-go, so it really wasn't that bad for clean up.

It was such a good day that the crummy weather is kind of soothing.
 

Matryeshka

Euler? Euler? Anyone?
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16,550
First off, I love this thread. A few days ago, a "friend" on FB posted some meme about how no one needs to see your T-day picks, it's the same thing. BAH. My favorite posts are always food ones. I need to see some pics of birds and STUFFING. The wrong things y'all do to stuffing fascinate me. :p It's just me and my mom this year--my younger brother decided he'd rather take all of his time off for Christmas, and my older brother invited us, but he and his children and their children's politics are...interesting and extreme and not based in reality or facts in at least the nearest ten parallel universes.

On the rare occasions it's been just the two of us before, we've gone to the casino but neither of us are quite ready for that ready of return to normal. Neither of us likes turkey and even though I now have a house, the kitchen is small and our dining room table is still covered in random crap from moving (even though that was September. I blame Ida :shuffle: ).

So, menu:
Rock Cornish game hens. I made a brine with water, sugar, peppercorns, garlic, salt, and I put butter under the skin and basted it. I read about that on food network. Sunny Anderson told me to do it and she was right.

My mom's stuffing (homemade cornbread, sage, celery, onion, thyme, an egg, and and gravy, which is AMAZING and I feel sorry that all of you can't eat it.

Asparagus with olive oil, lemon, and seasoned salt.

Corn, cause we like corn.

Homemade cranberry sauce.

Caramel apple martinis

Prosecco

The whole thing was soooo gooood--I have no idea why anyone would cook turkey unless you have a huge crowd--the hens make such a dramatic presentation too. Everyone gets a whole freaking bird. A WHOLE BIRD. No fighting over the white/dark meat. No leftovers. No huge turkey taking over the fridge for three days and even then you hope that it is actually defrosted. I brined those things for two hours only. And it was so pretty and brown from the constant butter basting, and it made enough drippings to make gravy. Plus, they were on sale because everyone was buying nasty turkeys. Plus, no leftovers, except the stuffing.

The only downside is Wal-Mart was out of key lime pie and apple pie from our pick-up order and there was no dessert. On Wednesday, we decided we were fine with it, we have candy if we want something sweet. But today we realized...we need pie. We have chocolate chips, Milky Ways, and even chocolate truffles from Trader Joe's, but NONE OF THAT IS PIE. I NEED PIE. PIIIEEEEEE. A friend of mine is a baker and I shared my lament with her. She lives literally two miles away. She did not bring me pie. She is a bad friend. :mad: :p

But seriously y'all, rock Cornish game hens are where it's at.

I just finished maxing out my Kohl's credit card so now big Christmas shopping is done, and am watching The Bracebridge Dinner episode of Gilmore Girls and adding extra lights and garland to the tree to get into the spirit of things. And more Prosecco cause that also helps with the spirit of things.
 

Japanfan

Well-Known Member
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25,532
How to cook a perfect turkey.

We always cook a wonderful turkey - after brining the bird.

No spatchooking (spatchcocking? SP?). There is a never an issue with the white meat being overdone or the dark meat underdone, not that I've noticed.
 

Vagabond

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25,385
It was just another beautiful day here. I went on a walk, took photographs, conversed via text messages with a friend in Berlin, and cooked for one while listening to classical music on BBC Radio 3. I enjoyed cooking new things. The pheasant was delicious, as was my mixed salad with roasted cranberries and chestnuts. I will have leftovers tomorrow evening and still have enough fresh cranberries to make Mama Stamberg's cranberry relish as a topping for fritters for Chanukkah. 😋
 
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Spun Silver

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12,130
Hubby and I had our little Thanksgiving dinner. He was happy with his turkey loaf. My popovers stuck to the pan and I have no idea why. Otherwise they were tasty but not as delectable as I remembered them. My big achievement, and I do mean big, was the carrot cake, my first one and a total success. We each had a slice and then I thought, What the hell? I wanted to do something lavish, but what am I going to do with a whole cake? But then I went to Adoration at midnight as per usual on Thursday nights. The person who relieves me at 1 am is a young father with three kids, so upon ascertaining that all his family like raisins, walnuts, and carrot cake, I dashed home, packed up half the cake, and dashed back to the chapel. Problem solved to our mutual delight.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. I'm enjoying your menus and may borrow some of your ideas and methods in the future. I've slid out of the habit of real cooking (as opposed to quick stir-fries and such) and was surprised to find it quite fun.
 

Sarah

Well-Known Member
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2,629
We had a really simple thanksgiving at my mom’s house. Casual, eat in the kitchen affair. It was really nice and stress free.

Turkey
Rice stuffing (gluten and dairy free — really good)
Regular stuffing
Mashed potatoes (vegan and I’m happy to say everyone said you could not tell the difference)
Asparagus
Cranberries

In addition to making the potatoes, I made a gluten free, vegan Boston cream pie for dessert. I’m thrilled how it turned out!
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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29,784
Are most people in a food coma? I always am with our thanksgiving and Christmas is insane. All I want to do is eat salads for a week afterwards 😂. Seriously my family is insane with food..
I was craving salt and acid today, but I will limit my eating to a turkey sandwich at supper time.
 

Japanfan

Well-Known Member
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25,532
The whole thing was soooo gooood--I have no idea why anyone would cook turkey unless you have a huge crowd--the hens make such a dramatic presentation too.

We do a 12-14 pound dinner for two. We get two dinners out of it, and I love the chicken legs cold. The rest goes to the freezer for sandwiches at some point.

Also, we cook the chicken in a wine/chicken stock/garlic/spice broth bath. It makes wonderful gravy, and there is lots left over to freeze for a soup base.

But I like cornish hen too. Haven't had that for years and years, should cook one up soon.
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
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29,784
I did a 6+ lb. breast for two. We had sandwiches on Saturday and the first breast is 100% gone. The other is in the freezer with cooked bread and meat stuffings, ready for Christmas!
 

kwanfan1818

RIP D-10
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37,644
I went to friends' house last night for turkey/cranberry sauce/green beans/dressing Thanksgiving leftovers, but the highlights were the desserts: a beautiful apple tart and a creamy blood orange mixture in a glass. He-friend kept apologizing for it not setting or something, but it was so, so good...
 

Stefanie

Well-Known Member
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3,283
After attending a Friendsgiving last night (along with another Friendsgiving earlier in the month with a different group of friends and then Thanksgiving with family), I think I am done with turkey for a long while. :scream: Well, after I finish the leftovers the hostess sent me home with last night. 😆
 

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