thanksgiving

[peggy]

So, what is everyone fixing for Thanksgiving? I just didn't want to do another turkey, and my sister laughed (cruelly) at my suggestion of ham. (apparently it is reserved for another holiday) so I decided on lamb. Gonna do a leg roast. With a potato casserole, (gotta have potatoes) some salad greens and maybe carrots (it's just three of us this year). Oh , and of course pumpkin pie (I think it's actually the law).

So what are y'all doing this holiday?

I actually hate it when people call it turkey day, cause it isn't. Not at our house. We actually sit around and say what we are thankful for. Corny I guess, but there it is.>8)

[bae]

Roast goat, and a dozen Greek-ish side dishes, and whatever all this dough I just made turns into.

[treehugger]

I never call it turkey day, either, even though I definitely prefer to eat turkey on Thanksgiving. But, I think it's such a beautiful holiday and I don't want to lose sight of the thankfulness aspect.

As I said in the Cook at Home thread, we are going out to eat tomorrow (not our choice), so I made a turkey and mashed potatoes on Sunday. Gotta have those turkey leftovers in my house! And depending on whether the dessert at the restaurant is any good or not (I do not have high hopes; it's an Italian place that does much TV advertising in a run-down town. *sigh*), I may have to make a pumpkin chiffon pie with gingersnap crust on Friday.

Kara

[redfox]

We're going out with my elder parents & my sis. Here's the Prix Fixe menu:




Thanksgiving Dinner


Starters


Mushroom Soup


Wild foraged mushrooms; truffle oil


Winter Beet Salad


Beet carpaccio, orange & grapefruit segments, frisée &


citrus vinaigrette


Poached Pear Salad


Shaved fennel & arugula, candied cranberries


Bleu Cheese Salad


Whole leaf romaine, hazelnuts, julienne Granny Smith apples, pomegranate seeds;


house-made Roquefort dressing


Winter Squash Soup


Squash from the Chef’s garden, crème fraiche, fried sage


Entrées


Pan-roasted Free-Range Pheasant


Roasted Muscat grapes & caramelized shallots, French beans


Painted Hills 8oz Filet Mignon


Sautéed winter squash, Merlot essence


Vegetarian Cassoulet


Winter root vegetables, fennel & leeks, flageolet beans


Carlton Farms Rack of Pork


Swiss chard, Cabernet essence, apple puree


Pan-Seared Salmon


Apple-wood smoked with sautéed apples, apple cider reduction & beurre blanc


Free-Range Roast Turkey


Sausage sage stuffing, Brussels sprouts, cranberry compote, fried sage


House-made Gnocchi


Saffron tomato sauce, shaved Parmesan cheese


Winter Squash Ravioli


Sautéed squash, sage butter sauce fried sage


Dessert


Apple Pie


Cinnamon caramel ice cream


Pumpkin Pie


Cranberry compote, whipped cream


Lemon Sage Flan


Sage tuile & sage syrup


Hazelnut Cake


Pear quince compote


Cider Fruitcake


Pecan caramel sauce & whipped cream


Trellis Cookies


Peanut butter thumbprint & chocolate crinkle cookies

[treehugger]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure our meal out tomorrow won't resemble yours at all, redfox. Take pictures and share them, please! Where are you eating?

Kara

[awakenedsoul]

I'm making a stuffed free range chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, and green beans with butter and garlic. I have some spritz cookie dough made, so I'll probably bake some cookies, too. If I get inspired, I'll make an apple cranberry cobbler. Can you believe I'm making all this for myself? I love the leftovers. I don't go home anymore. When I was growing up, I'd help my mom make the meal. We'd cook all day. My aunt would always help and bring something. Now that my mom's older, and my aunt has passed away, I was doing it. None of my three brothers or their wives would do anything. It finally got old. This year my dad, who's in his eighties, is going to try and make it. He bought a lot of pre cooked stuff. My brother's wife just won't cook or do anything domestic. She values education...

[Square Peg]

We have decided to go completely non traditional. It is just our family of 5, and dh has to go to work at 3 (restaurant). So we are doing an all day pizza bar with a sci fi movie marathon. I made pumpkin cheesecake though.

[SteveinMN]

It's been busy the last couple of weeks with MiL going through a very rough patch after a hip replacement; a planned vacation going south as a result (no hard feelings; just had to undo several things); and finishing up some time-appropriate tasks (get winter tires on the cars, finally put away the patio furniture, etc.). Since we were not planning to be in town, our families made other plans, some out of state. We may go down to share Thanksgiving with MiL and SiL at transitional care, though we've been down there most days this week and it'll be kind of crowded there. My mom is making lasagna for my brother and my sister and her SO, but I'm not quite in a lasagna mood, so we may just visit over dessert (besides, who needs to eat Thanskgiving dinner twice?). We're emotionally tired enough that we might just find takeout and stay in. I wonder where we could find a takeout Thanksgiving dinner? :idea:

[redfox]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure our meal out tomorrow won't resemble yours at all, redfox. Take pictures and share them, please! Where are you eating?

Kara

The restaurant is called Trellis. It's in Kirkland, WA, inside a hotel. I'll take pics!

[Blackdog Lin]

redfox: wow! It sounds incredible. Let us know if it tasted as good as it sounds.

Square Peg: a sci-fi marathon sounds like just the ticket.....though i imagine we'll go traditional with football instead. I would prefer sci-fi.....

We did the casino buffet today as our big Thanksgiving meal, and it was wondermous. The catfish was beyond supurb. And so tomorrow am gonna fix toasted club sandwiches, with bacon and shaved turkey, and the last of the garden-grown tomatoes and romaine. Told DH hey, it involves turkey, so it's a Thanksgiving thing, isn't it? Close enough.

Made him a pecan pie, though, too. Some traditions you just can't get away from.....

eta: and Steve: hoping you find a way to enjoy your Thanksgiving. Forget the family. Well, forget those beyond your immediate. Hoping you can find a Thanksgiving that can celebrate your own little family. The rest of 'em.....you know. Forget 'em.

[iris lily]

redfox at first I thought that you were cooking all of that! But having someone else cook--lovely!

I told DH this is simple as always: turkey & dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans.

I've got a cool recipe for brussel sprouts with cider glaze, so that will be the one dish I am excited about. I mainly want to get through the day without having tons of clean up, and we will.

I don't know what we will do for dessert, I'll leave that up to DH, he's the dessert guy.

[AmeliaJane]

I go to a sibling's extended-family-by-marriage. They are a very kind and welcoming clan but not all that interested in food or cooking. Everyone contributes, but the food is always pretty basic. However, there will be six homemade desserts, so that's something. I am planning a special day at home over the weekend and I think I will make myself something damn-the-calories fabulous for my own personal holiday.

[redfox]

redfox at first I thought that you were cooking all of that! But having someone else cook--lovely!

I told DH this is simple as always: turkey & dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans.

I've got a cool recipe for brussel sprouts with cider glaze, so that will be the one dish I am excited about. I mainly want to get through the day without having tons of clean up, and we will.

I don't know what we will do for dessert, I'll leave that up to DH, he's the dessert guy.

Dear God! Never... This is the first time I've gone out for T-Day. I am looking forward to it, even though it is a bit pricey. My parents are both 85, my sis works tomorrow, my DH has worked 3 ten hour days, & I am just glad to be able to gather in a stress-free environment.

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday!

[try2bfrugal]

We are going out to some place nice with a moderately priced special turkey dinner menu.

[Square Peg]

I thought you were cooking all that too! I love Kirkland, so swanky :) Enjoy!

[Kat]

This is my first year cooking. I've decided to go the traditional route:

Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Scalloped Corn
Green bean casserole
Candied sweet potatoes
Pumpkin muffins
Coconut cream pie (okay, this isn't quite as traditional, but it is FIL's favorite)

[Rosemary]

We're having Thanksgiving dinner at our church with a few other small families. This is our second year doing this, and last year everyone who participated really enjoyed it. We'll have about 12-14 people, and everyone will bring some of the dinner. I'm roasting a free-range turkey at the church and will make the gravy, as well as a salad.

[lhamo]

One of the perks of my job is an annual Thanksgiving dinner buffet for our program participants, staff and families. We typically finish the last round of interviews for the parts of the Chinese side of the program on Wednesday afternoon and then decamp to the hotel where the dinner is hosted. The spread is amazing, the company great, and I get the next day off while the kids have to go to school.

On Saturday I'll do a mini-Thanksgiving for the family -- planning to roast some chickens, as turkey is ridiculously expensive her, along with sweet potatoes and brussel spouts. I'll probably do some kind of dessert, though we really don't need any more than we ate last night!

Happy holiday, everybody! Hope you have as much to be thankful for as we do....

lhamo

[Merski]

Doing the turkey thing but on a less high drama way. It will be me and DH and live in MIL. Calling it "lunch" so she won't get anxious. SIL will come for sandwiches in a day or two. Love her much but she's the one who wants to amp it up to a high drama, everything needs to be perfect mode. I'm going to love today! May all your meals satisy you. May you all be grateful for "enough". May you share if you have "too much".

[cdttmm]

We're hosting this year and it should be interesting. My partner is frying the turkey, which has become the tradition. I'm a vegetarian so I stay out of the turkey side of things. We're also having stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, wild rice, green beans, Brussels sprouts, and red cabbage. For dessert we're having pumpkin pie, apple pie, and mincemeat pie. Thankfully my mom, who is the pie baker, was up for the challenge of making a gluten free, dairy free pumpkin pie for me! :D

[catherine]

We are very traditional, and I love it. I'm vegetarian, but it's one of the two days I fall off the wagon--Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day (gotta have that corned beef!). However, I do get the turkey at a local poultry business.

I'm so bound by tradition that I STILL carry a little resentment that my husband doesn't like mince pie, so I haven't served it on Thanksgiving since I left home and got married :)

So, we're having good old Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, mashed turnip, homemade cranberry sauce, and a few side vegetables.

[CathyA]

Is it January yet?

We're going to relatives, but I'm taking a memphis corn pudding, roasted vegetables (carrot/red potatoes/parsnips/red onions/green beans with balsamic vinegar/olive oil/salt/pepper/thyme/garlic/rosemary), a pecan pie with whipped cream. Then DD who is vegan is taking a corn casserole, a green bean casserole and a pumpkin/pecan pie with vegan whipped cream.

[peggy]

Yum! All these sound wonderful. Being with friends and family, that's what it is all about. The food is secondary.;)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am truly thankful for this vibrant on-line community. The interesting discussions, time-sucking links, and the friendly disagreements. I love them all!

[Miss Cellane]

We aren't having Thanksgiving until Friday, because my brother won't see his kids until then. So today I'm spending with my sister. Homemade pizza and a Star Wars movie marathon. Those poor kids--they have to eat two Thanksgiving dinners. (Although I'm not sure that the teenaged boys mind too much.)

Tomorrow, Big Brother is cooking the turkey and stuffing, I'm doing a huge pan of roast vegetables and potatoes, there'll be some corn and green beans (but not in a casserole), homemade Parker House rolls, pecan pie, pumpkin cookies, carrot cake and more cookies (because the official start of Christmas Cookie Baking Season is the weekend before Thanksgiving.)

We'll be Skyping with the two brothers who are stationed overseas in between rounds of turkey and stuffing.

[Simpler at Fifty]

We make a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, crockpot stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, can of cranberry jell stuff for DH, corn or peas, green bean casserole (not the standby recipe) and pumpkin pie with cool whip. I used to make a cucumber/red onion salad with pomegranate seeds and buy special pumpernickel rolls. It is just 4 of us this year so I doubt anyone will be hungry.

Whatever you are eating today I hope everyone enjoys the day.

[Kestrel]

We had our family Thanksgiving on Saturday afternoon, as it was the only time we could all be together. Ham, with lots of potluck side dishes. There were ten of us -- DH and me, the patriarchs :), #1 son and his son and daughter, #2 son and wife and their son and her son and girlfriend -- we're a small family. Today #1 son and family will be with some of their very good friends, #2 son and family will be with DIL's family, and we will be with good friends from church at one of our community dinners. There will be about 10 of us there. We'll be taking our special and traditional dill potato casserole -- wouldn't be Thanksgiving (or Christmas) without it. As a side note, our granddaughter is the only girl born in DH's family in at least five generations. So ... I guess I better get busy cooking ...