Neither my mother, nor my MIL have many talents in the kitchen. But it would not be
Thanksgiving without my Mom’s cranberry sauce or my MIL German stuffing. The funny thing is my husband and sons hate them both.
Tough call. We are side dish fans. I think I’ll go with the cranberry sauce.
We grill steaks, and skip the turkey altogether.
Stuffing by far! Nothing fancy, just my mom’s plain white bread shredded by hand, lots and lots of Bells Seasoning (just smelling that makes me hungry), lots of butter, an egg or two, some garlic salt and onion powder and that’s it. As much as will fit goes in the turkey the rest goes in a casserole dish. I will eat it for days - I even eat it cold as the first plate heats up in the microwave!
If I got to pick a few more it would be, in order of importance, gravy, sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes.
Sausage stuffing/dressing and homemade gravy. The stuffing recipe is from an old Pepperidge Farm cookbook (yes, really. It was a place and my mom had a huge cookbook). Sausage, celery, mushrooms, onions, carrots. We make a lot, cook a little in the bird and the rest in crockpots.
The gravy is a combo of a makeahead from Cooks Illustrated and freshly made. It’s the only way I know to have enough for both the meal and leftovers.
A sister does mashed potatoes, which are delicious, but I can make those any time so not #1 on my list.
Another PA Dutch household. There has to be dried corn and potato filling (mashed potatoes baked with egg and “schmutz” which is sautéed onion and celery and bread pieces).
I need in the bird dressing of just bread, onion, celery and poultry seasoning.
For those saying wine, I doubt it’s a once a year thing for you. 
Too hard to pick one. I’d say stuffing but then it’s so much better combined with cranberry sauce on the side and the gravy and mashed potatoes. And then you’ve got to have the turkey to make the best in-the-bird stuffing and the gravy. So, I’m already up to 5 items and I haven’t gotten to dessert yet. 
For me, Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without mashed potatoes and gravy, as well as stuffing. But since I have mashed potatoes throughout the year, and I only have stuffing on Thanksgiving, I’ll have to go with stuffing.
Tough call…but probably sweet potatoes - plain with just butter and salt:)
My true favorite are the leftovers, I make stuffed shells with them, freeze the pan and we have it for Christmas Eve!
Fabulous idea. D2 is “famous” for her chicken pot pie. I’m putting her to work for Friday dinner (leftover turkey) with Thanksgiving round 2 (a fact of life for families affected by divorce).
@eyemamom said:
That sounds wonderful and intriguing. Any possibility of getting the recipe?
My H makes an awesome smoked turkey in the ceramic smoker. Yum!
Corn pudding is my favorite. If I only ate one food on Thanksgiving Day, that would be it:)
Ditto on sausage stuffing with lots and lots of sage in my house. I love the smell when I am making it and immediately am transported into holiday mood. I make a double batch also. No mushrooms in mine but chestnuts or if I can’t find chestnuts easily I have used walnuts.
This sounds interesting, what’s the old recipe?
Mr. would say Mrs. Bunsen turkey on the grill! It is not mine… it is Reluctant Gourmet’s turkey on the grill.
For side dishes, Mr. would say “pan-finished sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar.” 
@happymomof1 , I’d never heard of this corn and looked it up. Sounds intriguing!
What do you think of this recipe?
https://www.pageneralstore.com/product/CopesCornRecipe
What was the original?
I’ve never heard of dried corn for cooking. Is it similar to grits?
Apparently some recipes grind it up before cooking, and some keep it whole. It is also toasted. Sounds delicious.
Here is the recipe I use. It was on the boxes when I was a kid, and for a few years was on the back of the bag that the corn now comes in. The packages now have a different recipe with the same name.
My mom used to bootleg John Cope’s Dried Sweet Corn from Pennsylvania to Iowa at the end of every family visit. In Maryland I have occasionally found it at local supermarkets and more reliably at Amish markets. I remember my grandmother drying her own sweetcorn in the oven. She sliced it off the ears into a baking pan, and set it to dry at a low temperature overnight.
John Cope’s Dried Sweet Corn
Baked Corn Supreme
Ingredients:
1 package (7.5 oz. 213 grams) John Cope’s Dried Sweet Corn
5 cups cold milk
3 ½ Tbs. melted butter or margarine
2 tsp. salt (optional)
3 Tbs. sugar
4 well beaten eggs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F
Grind contents of the package in a blender or food chopper.
Add all of the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Bake in a buttered 2 qt. casserole for 60 minutes at 375F.
Notes:
If you are using your own dried corn or a different brand, one package is 1 2/3 cups. Yes, I did measure it one year in fear that I wouldn’t be able to find it where I lived.
No one in my family has ever ground the corn. I have no idea why the recipe calls for this step.
The result is a slightly sweet custard with slightly chewy corn bits through it, and a barely crunchy top. The corn floats upward making a gradient with the top more corn-dense, and the bottom more corn-free. Assemble the casserole just before you are going to put it in the oven so that the corn stays suspended throughout more of the custard. If you wait too long and forget to stir it again, most of the corn will float to the top and the very top can end up somewhat scorched and super crunchy. This will make everyone sad.
Save yourself a step by melting the butter in the casserole in the microwave, and swirl it around to coat the sides before you mix in the rest of the ingredients. Mix it all in the casserole itself and save yourself some dishwashing.
Check for doneness as for a custard. If the knife comes out clean, you are OK.
Do not try squeezing this into a 1 ½ qt. casserole. Trust me on this. You need at least a 2 qt. casserole.
Best served warm. If there are leftovers, they heat up well. Usually there aren’t leftovers because the non-PA-Dutch cousins are so happy to see it on the Thanksgiving Dinner table that they scarf it all down.
Cranberry sauce made with whole berries. No canned stuff at my table.