Thanksgiving!

[channlluv]

Forget the roasted veggies. I want that pumpkin butterscotch cheesecake recipe, Kacie!

I just bought a cheesecake pan. I've never made one. Anyone got a healthy cheesecake recipe?

Roxy, currently enjoying leftovers from my mom's traditional Thanksgiving dinner that we had on Sunday because DD and I are here with her in Florida and leaving on Wednesday. I love her dressing and my grandmother's sweet potato casserole. Yum.

[PamNY]

I cannot tolerate the smell of roasting turkey, so I'm planning my favorite holiday tradition -- going to a restaurant with a close, sympathetic friend.

I hope the turkey smell will be cleared out of my apartment by the time we get back. Unfortunately, one of the guests who is coming won't tolerate the windows being open even a little bit.

Ah well, the whole thing gives me a good excuse for biking all day Thursday and Friday while the place airs out.

I love Brussels sprouts and beets, by the way.

[shootingstar]

I love Brussels sprouts and beets, by the way.

I've seen a recipe on roasted brussel sprouts with pistachios.

[colby]

We're doing the usual....

Turkey, possibly brined, possibly not. We do the Martha Stewart 90 minutes breast-side down and the remainder of the time breast-side up to keep the breast from drying out.
Quorn roast for the veg among us (I have alternated between Quorn, Tofurky, and Field Roast, back to Quorn this year)
Cranberry sauce
Stuffing/dressing (made with veg stock and finished in the oven)
Green beans with cranberries
A small sweet potatoes sweet dish (no marshmallows, but pineapple)
Mashed potatoes - sweet and boring varieties (I pretty much don't eat potatoes, but my siblings are picky)
Gravy - tofurky for the veg, and turkey gravy made fresh from the turkey

[withm]

TG is at my sister's and the menu has not varied one iota in 20 years, or more. PRobably 12 people and a couple of dogs will feast on

hors d'oeurves & crudites
Roast turkey, stuffing, gravy
Mashed potatoes, a very sweet sweet potato casserole
Brocolli casserole (I love it but am sooooo tired of it)
Green salad with grapefruit, avocado slices, and cream cheese balls w/ chives
2 kinds of cranberries
Spiced peaches (I make these, home canned)
Home made rolls (I bring these as well)
Apple, pumpkin, and probably another pie
Sour cream cookies
Spiced sugared pecans
various wines and champagne

It's getting to be so much food that I am almost sickened by it all. But everyone wants to bring something and when you have 12 people - well you end up with a ton of food. It will all be home made, some home-grown, and all delicious, (well if you like sweet potato/marshmellow/syrupy casseroles that is - LOL) but I sure would like to lighten up the menu.

What I would like to see earn a place on the menu is roasted sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts. So much so that Tues and Wed my dinner will be just that.

But it will be fun to see everyone and visit over the weekend. I'm bringing my bike though and hoping the weather holds out so I can go for a ride on Fri or Sat, or I may stop in St. Michael's for a ride on my way home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[shootingstar]

Canada has its Thanksgiving in Oct. Our home meal:

squash-carrot soup
roasted beets, parsnips and celery root
gourmet sausages (bison, venison)
heirloom tomatoes marinated in some oil, vinegar and garnished with fresh basil
salmon fillet lightly sauteed with orange sauce and herbs
dessert focaccia (embedded fresh cut figs, plums, grapes and blueberries. Dessert was my contribution. He added wine-flavoured whipping cream as topping.)
red & white wine

[Bike Chick]

It's so interesting to see what other's serve for Thanksgiving in other parts of the country. Ours is a pretty traditional dinner. I'm doing the cooking and my parents, in-laws, children and grandchildren will be here---it's my grandson's 7th birthday on Thursday, too.

Turkey
Ham
Sweet Potato Casserole
Stuffing
Gravy
Cranberry Salad
Apple-grape Salad
Broccolli
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
and Ice Cream cake for the birthday boy!

I'll be so sick of it all by the time we eat that I won't want to look at it much less eat any of it.

[Catrin]

Going to a friend's house and they always have a TON of food. I will be taking the beer

[limewave]

The last few years I've made a vegetarian dish to share at Thanksgiving, usually a recipe from 101Cookbooks.com

This year I was assigned dinner rolls. ONLY DINNER ROLLS (they were very specific). I guess if it isn't deep fried turkey, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, and cheese with some broccoli--they aren't happy

[redrhodie]

The last few years I've made a vegetarian dish to share at Thanksgiving, usually a recipe from 101Cookbooks.com

This year I was assigned dinner rolls. ONLY DINNER ROLLS (they were very specific). I guess if it isn't deep fried turkey, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, and cheese with some broccoli--they aren't happy

That's obnoxious. So because they don't want it, you can't have it? What, is there no room in the house for one more dish?

Being who I am, I'd somehow fill the rolls with spinach, just to bug them.

[indysteel]

I am so jealous of all these wonderful dishes. DH and I are going to my parents on Thanksgiving. My mom is a decent cook, but a couple things work against her on Thanksgiving: (1) A blind adherance to the dishes she's been making for the past 50 years of married life; and (2) a tendency to overcook things. Her dishes are not exactly inventive or fresh tasting. Think green bean casserole and lifeless peas and carrots.

I've offered over the years to contribute some dishes, but my mother is also a control freak and will have none of that. DH and I will try some things for our New Year's dinner together instead.

At least it's what I'm used to. DH and I spent the last two Thanksgivings with his family and family friends, and they don't do much more than microwave premade food. It's a crime against humanity. The first year I actually found myself pretty offended by it. Nothing says the holidays like Stovetop Stuffing.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all. Enjoy the day!

[jessmarimba]

I'm going to make a pecan pie and green bean casserole but I'm probably going to get dinner to go from the Chili's up the street. It's just me, and I'm trying to clean the house to put up Christmas decorations, so I don't feel like cooking for myself!

[limewave]

That's obnoxious. So because they don't want it, you can't have it? What, is there no room in the house for one more dish?

Being who I am, I'd somehow fill the rolls with spinach, just to bug them.

Lol. Good idea!
It wouldn't be the holidays without obnoxious relatives

[MomOnBike]

I'm not cooking this year, just going to a friend's house. I'll be taking butterhorn rolls.

On the years I do cook, the menu is very specific - I am NOT allowed to get creative. My family has decreed that there be:

Turkey with a chorizo/veggie corn bread stuffing - I make the bread a few days before, it's a raised bread with a lot of corn meal and whole corn in it.

Mashed 'taters and gravy. It is almost impossible to make enough.

Cranberry Chop-Chop Good Stuff - that is, cranberries chopped with jalepenos, red onion and lime juice. Sounds like it should be awful, but we eat it plain by the spoonful.

Brussels sprouts with mustard lemon sauce

Butterhorns - complete with a call to my brother bragging about how my butterhorns are better than his. (They are)

Cranberry pound cake. I think it weighs in at 1,000 calories a crumb, but it is so worth it.

Wine. In the cook. In the stuffing. In the gravy. In the icing on the cake. In glasses on the table. (Oops, I think I spilled some. That's OK, have another glass.)

That's what I have no choice but to serve. Guests are free to bring any dishes that make them happy.

[jessmarimba]

Wine. In the cook. In the stuffing. In the gravy. In the icing on the cake. In glasses on the table. (Oops, I think I spilled some. That's OK, have another glass.)

My family makes wine Jello for holidays. Pretty good