<p>I do not eat frozen and reheated meat and soup is only good if it is done from raw not pre-cooked meat. Then you can taste the real broth. Frozen bread does not taste good either. Vegies & pies are OK to me. But nobody can beat Costco pumpkin pie in my opinion.</p>
<p>One thing I will say is that you don’t need to make lots of different dishes and multiple pies. I used to but have cut down to save my sanity.
Turkey, Gravy, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole (no marshmellows but sweetened with pecans on top), Roasted Asparagus, Salad, Cornbread, Cranberry, Homemade Pumpkin Pie…that’s enough! I have some vegetarians at my table so I’m thinking of making my stuffing with sh_take mushrooms instead of sausage this year.
I always make the gravy ahead. My mashed potatoes are a casserole with sour cream and cream cheese…made in the morning.<br>
Still, it’s a lot of work but I think it’s better to have home cooked if you can manage. My MIL starting getting ACME prepared foods (including a premade turkey) after she was too tired and old to cook. Ummm…not the best. That’s why I took over!</p>
<p>I bought a precooked thanksgiving dinner from a local grocery store once (I think it was Albertsons at the time - it has changed ownership so many times that i lose track). Unfortunately it was really gross. I am sure there are good precooked ones out there but I am too scared to experiment again!</p>
<p>I am curious what you all do for Christmas? The traditional dinner for Christmas in England (where I am from) is turkey (though not the sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, pecan pie). Except for the one thanksgiving we have always gone elsewhere for thanksgiving so I have continued to do turkey at Christmas. Now it looks like I will be having Thanksgiving and I’m thinking I don’t want to do the whole same meal for both holidays. I’m thinking of starting a new tradition for us of a standing rib roast for Christmas. My son and husband are on board and like the idea. Of course I might chicken out at the last minute - difficult to change the habits of half a century! What are everyone elses Christmas dinner traditions.</p>
<p>kleibo…one more thing…turkeys carve much better when they’ve been out of the oven for a while. You can even go as much as an hour (I use towels and foil…lol). That gives you plenty of time to warm some dishes in the oven. Or roast some veggies.
For Xmas, we usually do beef, usually a tenderloin roast. I’ve gotten kinda picky about my beef lately though…only buying organic grass fed. This could get expensive…maybe I’ll move to an nice pasta dish…</p>
<p>MiamiDAP - well then it is good we are not related! :)</p>
<p>Just in case no one has mentioned them: Ore Ida Steam and Mash. Plain old russet potatoes peeled and cut up–just pop the bag in the microwave for 10 minutes and proceed as usual making mashed potatoes.</p>
<p>Every other year I host Thanksgiving for 12 or so. I get up early and bake pies-which is my favorite part of the meal to fix and eat. I make Brownberry stuffing with turkey sausage, onion and cranberries, and do put some in the turkey. When the pies are done, the turkey goes in the oven. Everyone in my family is in charge of a certain dish, and friends bring the mashed potatos, rolls, cranberry sauce, vegetable dishes, and of course the GARLIC heavy artichoke dip. </p>
<p>The most irritating parts of the meal prep are the potatoes and gravy. I try to make gravy in advance, but it does need the pan drippings. Usually I siphon some off while the bird is cooking. Heating mashed potatoes brought by a guest works just fine, and saves last minute fuss. Setting the table the day before is very helpful. </p>
<p>On roasters-my BF has a Nesco roaster that he uses for everything, as the thermostat is broken on his big stove. It works for everything, amazingly enough. I got him a countertop convection oven, but he prefers the Nesco. Come to think of it, I may borrow that convection oven for Thanksgiving. </p>
<p>Swimcats-I have played around with various alternative Christmas entrees. In my (British) family of origin, we tended to have duck or once, goose. I like things that are less fuss than birds that need carving and stuffing. Brisket one year was a great hit, and very easy to slice and serve. I’m not usually fond of ham, but most Americans seem to see it as traditional for certain holidays. My Southern friends often cook a very high quality ham that is lovely, and I’ve come to enjoy it. </p>
<p>I don’t miss the plum pudding, but do miss the trifle of my childhood. Maybe now that the kids are of drinking age, I’ll do a trifle.</p>
<p>For Christmas, I make Cornish game hens for my (small) family. Half of one is plenty for each person.</p>
<p>For Christmas, our traditional (since we moved to CA years ago) is fresh Dungeness crab, sourdough bread, caesar salad, California wine…and artichoke dip–with garlic!</p>
<p>When the kids were young and I needed to make Christmas dinner after working all day, I’d splurge on King Crab legs and baked potato. Can’t think of anything I’d rather eat, holiday or not.</p>
<p>marigold…I have used an electric roaster for several years. Works great! Haven’t had any problems with turkey being dry. DON"T use a turkey oven bag… it will melt if it touches the sides.(I learned the hard way!) I use a rack on the bottom of the roaster.</p>
<p>Since I do two turkeys some years, I do one turkey in an electric roaster, it is easy, very moist and will stand for a long time if guests are running late. It does not get deep golden brown, which doesn’t bother me at all. DH carves the “roaster” turkey before the oven turkey. Really, that roaster turkey is soooo moist. I’m thinking of only doing the roaster turkey when I only need one turkey…depends on how many guests.
Oh, and DH makes the gravy a day or two in advance–I think it is this receipe:
[Make-Ahead</a> Turkey Gravy - All Recipes](<a href=“http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Make-Ahead-Turkey-Gravy/Detail.aspx]Make-Ahead”>http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Make-Ahead-Turkey-Gravy/Detail.aspx)
I’d get the turkey wings now, toss them in the freezer until needed.</p>
<p>If you enjoy sweet potatoes but you feel that it’s starch overload to have them along with mashed white potatoes and stuffing, the solution is butternut squash! Poke some holes in the squash with a big knife and put it in the microwave for 15 mins. or so. Then just scoop the seeds out and casserole, mash, or marshmallow the flesh as you would sweet potatoes. This way you get the sweet flavor (and vehicle for cinnamon/marshmallows if you love those) with a less starchy texture. All of these squash preparations will freeze well.</p>
<p>I agree with roasting the green vegetable, but asparagus is out of season in November. Brussels sprouts are my choice. Halve them, toss them with olive oil, and roast them on a cookie sheet at *425 till they are golden and crisp. Then toss with lots of black pepper and kosher salt. These will win over a lot of sprout-haters, and sprout-likers will adore them. Plus they are easy as pie and you can do them in advance and stick them in the fridge.</p>
<p>“I have yet to find a stuffing recipe I really like.”</p>
<p>Good stuffing is all about CORNBREAD! You don’t have to make your own, though I enjoy doing it. Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing crumbs are excellent. Don’t stint on the minced, sauteed onion/celery/mushroom mixture. And if you are going for broke, it is impossible to add too much melted butter to the stuffing.</p>
<p>Thanks Posters for the roaster info. Think I will go ahead and buy one. One last question: in your experience, do they cook faster than a regular oven, or about the same?</p>
<p>Hmmm, I love roasted brussel sprouts. I love roasted fennel. I can’t believe how sweet they are when you roast them!!</p>
<p>I recently made roasted cauliflower for the first time and it was delicious!</p>
<p>I have started buying mashed potatoes at Whole Foods for holiday meals. They are a total time suck on an already busy day…though after reading about the mashed sweet potato balls a change to the menu might be in order.</p>
<p>I would never make standard mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. No way, too last minute.
I make a mashed potato casserole in the morning , really creamy and good. Get lots of raves.
You know, I don’t like brussels sprouts but maybe I should give the roasted ones a try.
I just adore roasted cauliflower…but my “boys” won’t touch that vegetable so I stay away. I think I need to make it for myself though.
To the OP, good luck with the roaster. I thought about grilling our turkey this year but I chickened out…lol. But I will make an extra turkey breast in my Showtime rotisseirie ( I only do this a couple of times a year but it comes out GREAT).</p>
<p>The roaster cooks about the same as a regular oven. Try Target or Walmart, they are not very expensive—around $20/$25 or so. I think mine is a Rival. I bought it several years ago…but saw some in Target recently.</p>
<p>Cornish hens! Haven’t made them in years, but when first living in Boston, had my cousin over for this traditional meal. just the 2 of us, both doing internships/residency.</p>
<p>Now get together with friends from S’s elementary school at the park. My contribution is potato pancakes. Since they feed 30 people, I made them big, using all my omelet pans. Some fresh applesauce on side goes well.</p>