I’m waiting for the year I can no longer cook a turkey. I stopped eating meat early this year and haven’t bought or cooked any since. In recent years I’ve bought the smallest turkeys I can find and added pasta to the menu. Our family is all about the sides. I wonder what they would all say if they showed up to no turkey?!
We have recently started experimenting with a smoker and trying the right woods and rubs for various meat. I’m going to cook a turkey breast in the oven but this year we are adding a smoked Brisket to the mix.
I’ve decided to buy a new crockpot and make my green beans in them using this recipe. I already use one crockpot for mashed potatoes. I like the thought of the beans not getting boiled to death like I normally make them.
https://www.momontimeout.com/slow-cooker-green-beans-bacon-recipe/
I’ve got a lot of challenges. Like mathmom, I have to cook gluten free because of my DIL. Our dinner will be at our recently acquired second home, where I have very few dishes, pots, and pans. I have less than 2 days to buy everything I’ll need. I’m going to try to pack a large platter in my suitcase. I just found out there will be 2 additional guest, so 8 of us will be crammed around our table for 6.
Thanksgiving is pretty much the only holiday here where my foodie sisters and I stick to the cherished favorites. Long ago I introduced a balsamic onion with pomegranate seeds side dish that is requested every year now, grapefruit-cranberry conserve, and sauteed shredded brussel sprouts. Other than that it’s turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables and pretty much a pie for every person present. Thing is, around 1pm we first gather for an appetizer spread that makes the turkey dinner pretty superfluous. I make some iteration of a squash soup (this year it’s butternut squash and apply bisque), we have a charcuterie board, pigs-n-blankets, crudité, and some sort of surprise addition - still not sure what that will be this year. Love reading about some of the apps here, I may try one of those. Anyway, we end up sitting down to dinner at like 7:30 since no one is hungry before that!
@mathmom What GF bread recipe are you using? I have recently started a GF diet and am planning on making GF bread stuffing and could use a good bread recipe for it. I tried one recipe that turned out like a rock. Have found one grocery store GF bread that is ok. Has anyone else made GF bread stuffing that worked out well?
I can make pretty much anything GF but bread escapes me. Every one I try turns out, like @cellomom2 said, like a rock. For stuffing purposes, I’d think one of the good bakery or store-bought breads would work fine. GF pie crust is also tough (no pun intended). Since the filling is more important to our crew than the crust, I’ll also use a store bought crust for my DIL’s favorite pie. She is allergic to gluten but does not have celiac so minimal cross-contamination doesn’t impact her which makes cooking a lot easier. Let me know if you find a functional GF bread recipe @mathmom!
The bread I’m going to try is a mix that came highly recommended from the woman who runs the library cookbook club. She has a niece who is gluten free and agrees it’s hard to find a good bread, but she thought this one was very good. It’s made by https://breadsfromanna.com/ I’ll let you know what I think.
This celiac thing came out of the blue. We thought he’d gotten so thin out of the stress of finishing up a PhD and looking for work, but the last time I saw him he looked gaunt. So I’m glad they’ve figured out the problem.
Last year I practically killed myself trying to accommodate everyone - my mother only likes dark meat turkey with dressing cooked inside the bird, one niece is vegetarian, one niece vegan. I did not enjoy the holiday. This year none of them are joining us and the meal will be much easier.
I like @abasket’s sprout salad - that’s a definite contender. I am also making roasted rainbow carrots with harissa - I saw that in a Whole Foods catalog that came to our house and it sounds really good to me. I always make peanut butter pie but want some type of fruit pie this year too. I guess I better get it in gear.
Re: the turkey - has anyone ever ordered one of the Willie Bird turkeys from Williams Sonoma? I’m actually thinking about it this year. Yes, horribly expensive and indulgent but I’m just really trying to make things easier this year.
This recipe is for southern style green beans which will result in “boiled to death” green beans. I’m sure they’ll be tasty but definitely not al dente. 
This year Thanksgiving will be very small, likely only 3 of us since S1, DIL, and grandkids will be staying home after having baby #2 maybe 1-2 weeks before the holiday (due any day now). Since we’ll be going there for the bris, we’ll likely only be back a few days before Thanksgiving which will make prep rushed. And S2, who’ll be celebrating with us, isn’t big on sides.
Next year, hopefully we get back to a typical Thanksgving.
Regarding the gluten free. I would accomodate with some gluten free dishes but would not make everyone else skip favorites. The Indian vegetarians always get their proteins but I will cook chicken (not fond of turkey) and other dishes they are warned about (chicken in the stuffing, gravy with beef broth…). It is not fair to disallow favorites because of one person. Make the waffles as usual and have available liked foods for the nephew. He needs to learn to avoid foods available that he can’t eat.
I love green beans- properly cooked- NOT al dente. Likewise for pasta. I don’t get Brie- it seems to be the cheese of the times. Certainly not my favorite flavor. Likewise Brussels sprouts- they were never on the family menu and I prefer regular cabbage for flavor regardless of the flavors added.
One year we had several people over- a couple of partners of H’s where one of a family was on call. The Indians were no big deal as I always did both cultures veg/nonveg. I warned the American that there would be no turkey since we didn’t care for it that much. However, that morning our son won a fresh turkey in a race. Unknown weight (grocery store sponsor did not prepare their sales labels). Cooked it as there was no room for it in the refrigerator or any time I would later want it. Made sure people took the leftover turkey home with them. And had more leftover Cornish game hens I had already prepped for the oven.
Thanksgiving dinner is/should be a meal with so many different choices one can easily have plenty and avoid disliked foods.
I have recently made several GF pies using the America’s Test Kitchen GF piecrust recipe. It was amazing! My very picky French Mom couldn’t tell it was GF, my H and I also loved it. I used Cup4cup flour once and BetterBatter the other time, both were good. Going to use it for all my TG pies. My BIL makes waffles every vacation for us all and the last few times has made them GF just substituting GF flour in his usual waffle recipe. No one could tell the difference.
@toledo is mailing ahead some supplies or shelf-stable ingredients an option for you? I did that for a commencement lunch when one of my sons graduated a plane trip away from us.
re GF breads for either stuffing or eating, my mother has celiac and has been happy with the King Arthur GF bread mix. She makes it as instructed. She’s had it with egg substitute as well (if vegan guests) but it’s a little denser that way. DIL’s father also has celiac and likes it a lot.
@runnersmom - how do you make your sauteed, shredded brussels sprouts? We all love brussels sprouts here.
@HouseChatte Yes, I bought 4 place settings and a casserole dish online and had them shipped to my son’s house, because no one is living in our house. I am going to ask them to pick up the turkey, too, as it will need 4 days in a refrigerator to thaw. I’m going to try to order gluten free pies from a gluten free bakery to save some time. EDIT Just called the gluten free bakery and besides pies, they also have gluten free bread cubes and 3 different ready-made gluten free stuffings. My lucky day!
I think if I had to accommodate people with a gluten free stuffing, I’d go the cornbread stuffing/dressing route or wild rice.
We don’t think we can trust our waffle iron to be gluten free. I don’t really like cornbread that doesn’t have some regular flour in it.
Ohhhhh, speaking of those Thanksgiving mules… This looks interesting.
https://camillestyles.com/food/a-gin-tonic-bar-is-your-thanksgiving-cocktail-solution/