Are you planning a nice menu if celebrating? Mine is nothing out of the ordinary but I do love this Holiday. Food coma for sure.

Brunch will be:
- Lasagna
- Greens Salad
- Garlic Bread

Late afternoon dinner will be:
- Roast turkey breast
- Sauteed string beans with pearl onions.
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Pepperidge Farm stuffing
- Au Gratin potatoes
- Sweet potato casserole
- Pumpkin Pie, Boston Cream Pie from our local bakery
- Some type of cookie that DD's will be baking with Nana

We will watch the parade, watch "Babes in Toyland", football and feel so very, very blessed.

We were invited to spend Thanksgiving Day with mil. Weather permitting, we will drive to mil and eat her menu of:

- fried chicken
- cole slaw
- mashed potatoes and gravy
- pie (I think she said some sort of cream pie. yum!)
- we offered to bring other items, but she said no- she can hit up KFC and handle everything. Go, mil! We will still offer to do the dishes and take out the garbage when we leave.

I do not know whether we can get there, and I do not know what time we will eat.

If we stay at home, we will make enough of a few foods to last a few days. I have planned to do massive amounts of work on my projects, and I do not want to cook on every day of a five-day weekend. ! !!!!!

- new-to-us stuffed chicken recipe
- ham
- baked sweet potatoes or yams without all the sweet add-ons
- Brussels sprouts with whatever we can get to make them colorful and zingy (supply chain shortages, you know
- homemade cranberry relish (if we can get cranberries)
- dunno about dessert. we should focus on other foods.
- repeat butternut squash soup, if I can get the recipe right today and repeat it then.


We had appetizers, chicken, ribs, lots of salads and veggies, and dessert. It was sooooo gooood!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/2021 04:51AM by Shop-et-al.

I'm going to my brother's. He usually smokes a turkey and has roast beef. My niece is going to be doing a lot of the cooking. She's only 11. She wants to be on Gordon Ramsey's kid chef show but my brother says no way. Last year she made all the desserts - chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, carrot cake. They were all really good. She started cooking when she was just 5 or 6 using a kid cooking book but she outgrew it really fast and within a year called it a baby book and started using regular cookbooks. This year, she promised all the desserts and she will do all the side dishes.

We will be halfway across the country visiting children. I'm sure there will be some type of Thanksgiving meal but I have no idea what form it will take :-)

Wowza! What a darling young chef. We love Gordon Ramsey and all of his shows. They're scripted just like most shows. He is most kind and endearing to young chefs. I actually had the pleasure of meeting him while waiting for a commutér train.
Please let us know when she gets on show provided your brother changes his mind. ;-). Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!


quote=roflwofl]
I'm going to my brother's. He usually smokes a turkey and has roast beef. My niece is going to be doing a lot of the cooking. She's only 11. She wants to be on Gordon Ramsey's kid chef show but my brother says no way. Last year she made all the desserts - chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, carrot cake. They were all really good. Shstarted cooking when she was just 5 or 6 using a kid cooking book but she outgrew it really fast and within a year called it a baby book and started using regular cookbooks. This year, she promised all the desserts and she will do all the side dishes.[/quote]

I will be making for my brother and myself, and will also take some of everything to a neighbor. She has had heart problems and was in the hospital for 8 days,and is still recovering and her husband has his hands full taking care of her, they are both in their mid 80's.
Menu:
Turkey
Stuffing
candied yams
baked potatoes
sweet potato casserole
brussel sprouts in cheese sauce
ambrosia salad
homemade cranberry sauce
deviled eggs
stuffed celery
homemade pumpkin pie & pecan pie

@sueac101, so delicious! Moreover, how kind and thoughtful. :-)

My neighbor's son does the fried turkey thing every year in the yard. He practices safety and has the entire setup and process down. Think Alton Brown when he aired his fried turkey episode.

For the first time ever, we're going out for Thanksgiving dinner. I usually do up a big dinner from scratch, but I was in the hospital recently and also might need to drive up to NY the day after Thanksgiving, so I'm not up to doing the cooking thing. The menus you all are posting sound great, except I would leave out the sweet stuff on the yams (nothing like a fresh-baked yam with just butter, salt, and maybe a little cinnamon) and the heavy sauces and/or casseroles on the veggies. I usually do baked yams, mashed white potatoes, and sauteed fresh green beans almandine or fresh steamed broccoli dressed with a bit of olive oil and butter.

The place we're going for dinner has turkey breast, leg of lamb (which I love), and ham; three kinds of pasta with various sauces; made-to-order omelets; breakfast meats; buffet with chicken, salmon, potatoes, vegetables, green salad, etc.; raw bar (yum); and dessert bar with wonderful-sounding choices.

I never thought I'd want to go out for dinner on a major holiday, but the thought of cooking a huge meal for the three of us, on top of everything else this year, isn't appealing. I understand now why some people go out. The guys are saying they want some leftovers, though, so I'm going to cook up four Rock Cornish hens on Wednesday or Friday (if I don't go to NY). They're so easy to do, I won't mind!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2021 08:49PM by BirdyC.

The neighborhood I used to live in does a Turkey Fry every year the day before Thanksgiving. They line up multiple fryers, and ask for a donation to cover the cost of the oil, kitty litter, etc.

@Madetoshop wrote:

My neighbor's son does the fried turkey thing every year in the yard. He practices safety and has the entire setup and process down. Think Alton Brown when he aired his fried turkey episode.

My preference has always been to spend both Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day outside the US. Once the pandemic is over, I'll resume that. This year, I haven't decided - Chinese or Pizza?

@Rousseau wrote:

My preference has always been to spend both Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day outside the US. Once the pandemic is over, I'll resume that. This year, I haven't decided - Chinese or Pizza?

Chinese--Peking Duck! LOL.

Ohhhh! what a good idea. I need Peking Duck !

@walesmaven wrote:

Ohhhh! what a good idea. I need Peking Duck !

Who doesn't?

Get a pizza with extra cheese, LOL!

@BirdyC wrote:

Chinese--Peking Duck! LOL.

I prefer pressed duck. I've always thought Peking duck to be underwhelming and overrated.

@Rousseau wrote:

@BirdyC wrote:

Chinese--Peking Duck! LOL.

I prefer pressed duck. I've always thought Peking duck to be underwhelming and overrated.

I've only had Peking Duck once, and it was pretty good. But I'd rather cook it at home with the glaze I make with white wine, orange marmalade, and fresh orange juice. The marmalade-only glaze is too sweet for me. But cut with wine and juice, it's just right.

Ultimately, I'll take duck pretty much any way I can get it! I love duck confit, and we have a local restaurant that does it to perfection--but it's so expensive....

My mom made and bought so much food. She made the lasagna that must have weighed 10 lbs., garlic bread topped with 5 cheeses, asparagus because the ladies love it, spanakopita and 2 bakery pies; apple and pecan. We were in a food coma. Amazingly, everything gone except for 2 halves of a pie. I know or hope you all enjoyed.

DH made sandwiches, pasta, and fries with pumpkin pie. I should fall sick more often. He CAN cook!!

My son made a sous vide turkey. It took him the better part of a day, because he did the boneless breast meat separately from the rest of the bird. When it was cool he cut everything up and put it in a casserole dish for heating before the big meal. I can't believe how much different the texture is when poultry is simmered at a low temperature in a vacuum sealed bag.

I have had Peking Duck at both the Quanjude and Bianyifang restaurants in Beijing which both claim to be the original restaurants serving Peking Duck according to the recipe required by the Imperial Family. In the US, the restaurants often say that they serve every part of the duck except the quack. In Beijing, they really mean it.

@BirdyC wrote:

@Rousseau wrote:

@BirdyC wrote:

Chinese--Peking Duck! LOL.

I prefer pressed duck. I've always thought Peking duck to be underwhelming and overrated.

I've only had Peking Duck once, and it was pretty good. But I'd rather cook it at home with the glaze I make with white wine, orange marmalade, and fresh orange juice. The marmalade-only glaze is too sweet for me. But cut with wine and juice, it's just right.

Ultimately, I'll take duck pretty much any way I can get it! I love duck confit, and we have a local restaurant that does it to perfection--but it's so expensive....