Just read like the last page. I don’t cook but my wife is an absolutely great cook /chef.
My son(junior college) started doing a Keto diet but said he will go off a bit for Thanksgiving… Well my wife is making him keto stuff
My daughter is vegetarian and she’s bringing a school friend home (senior college) that we are not sure what she eats yet. I am my wife will eat just about anything.
Once it’s finalized will post the dinner plans. She’s trying out new recipes. All I ask for is Candied sweet potatoes with marshmallow melted on top and Pumpkin pie but thinks it’s going to be made with a keto crust…
Tiling of my floors is going a little slower than expected. It’s looking like I will be up all night Wednesday cleaning up the dust which is EVERYWHERE! I have already delegated all desserts to others. May not have time to wash and iron the new tablecloth I was looking forward to using. This might be our first paper-plate Thanksgiving!
^^ @musicmom2015, if no one in your family is doing this, I’M going to say it - one day is not worth wearing yourself out for! Host the dinner even if it’s in the midst of some extra dust and a wrinkled tablecloth. Goodness, T-Day should not be about perfection, but about “thanks” plain and simple. This project is out of your hands and will be done when it is done - if you are going to still host just send your guests a text and say, “it might not be dust and wrinkle free of a day, but we will be together and that is what is important”. Maybe give them permission to dress down - relax and enjoy!
Thanks, @abasket . Hopefully they will be able to move the furniture back in on Wednesday morning and I can get the mess cleaned up. They used a jackhammer to remove some old tile and that really stirred things up. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but I just enjoy setting a pretty table and using one of my four sets of nice dishes this one day of the year.
Inspired by this thread, I asked H and S if they had ideas for something a little different. So, I will be making shoofly pie this year instead of pumpkin pie (my dad makes a pumpkin roll that is delicious so no great loss).
Coconut custard pie stays on the menu along with our usual stuff: turkey, mashed Yukon gold potatoes (the 5 lb. bag cost almost as much as the 21 lb. turkey), stuffing with sage sausage, green beans with garlic and bacon, carrot casserole (slightly sweet and custardy) and canned cranberry sauce.
My sister just informed me that we will be substituting her lemon merengue swiss roll (filled with lemon curd and lemon mousse) for our usual attempt at lemon merengue pie. The family joke is that we never know if we’ll need a fork or spoon for that pie, so we’ll try an updated version. Same flavors, different package.
My good friend’s mother may not make it to Thursday, so her friends and I will be making extra of whatever we’re making so her family will be able to be together and have some traditional holiday foods. I’m making a GF pecan pie (because my DIL is gluten free and my friend and her daughter have celiac), and will send over butternut squash soup since I’ve made plenty and it’s in the freezer. In this case, the adage that it takes a village, could never be more true. Be thankful.
Tried to tone it down for just three old folks (H, me, his mother) but that vegetable dish got added back in. Just no extra quantities to feed an army. And no predinner veggies to hold off hunger.
I have usually cooked essentially two feasts (I like to cook and have been hosts for decades now)- Indian and American favorites so likes/dislikes/tolerances not an issue. Just don’t eat what you don’t like/tolerate. Fortunately never food allergies among guests to worry about cross contamination.
It took awhile to figure out why we always had red cabbage (jar) for Thanksgiving -and never any other day- growing up. Came from my father’s ethnic culture but obviously not liked enough to have any other time. Turkey once a year (father had it more often later on), likewise sweet potatoes. Some other items that were expensive for the limited budget were the once a year treats.
Currently can afford anything. And can make items any time. Dropped the traditional turkey (never had) since neither H nor I were fond of it (hurray- that’s the biggest determiner of when can eat/must start- chickens a lot smaller and easier). But include favorites even though could just have them another day in the week…
My in laws can’t understand why we aren’t having turkey, or why I am not making rolls. Most of those who will be there don’t like turkey, and we are having hummus with Middle eastern bread. Good that the in laws won’t be there to bring down the mood. (My SIL & her family will be with them - I am not being heartless!)
I was correct, lunch was 90 minutes late. So plentiful appetizers, including plenty of low carb items, were brought and all was good.
I used Buffalo Trace bourbon for the Thanksgiving mules, it’s not an every day drink but was good enough they may make it into the rotation again before next year.
Side note:
First low carb Thanksgiving for W went really well. It was definitely a high carb day for her, but still low by most standards. And she said she was pretty satisfied and didn’t feel deprived.
It’s helping her attitude quite a bit that the clothes she wore today don’t really fit anymore. Weight loss was a secondary motivation for the diet change, and it had definitely happened. So the fact that she is 20# lighter than she was a few months ago makes passing up the potatoes and rolls a bit easier.
Brussel sprout/bacon/pomegranate salad posted in post #5 of this thread was really good! I poured the warm vinaigrette dressing on the salad about 15 minutes before serving - still kept the salad crunchy!
Ham. Delish. Thing is, D1 and FSIL did all the cooking. their new apt is small but awesome, must be 12 ft ceilings. And, I can still decide if we make turkey or roast chicken or filet for Xmas.
My mom used to do most of the cooking. This year, she is older and in a tiny kitchen in a new apartment. She is used to having two fairly large refrigerators and now has one small one which is packed full. At least that is her excuse for making me do the turkey. I bought a large breast that was plenty big enough for us, but it wasn’t really very good. Parts of it were a little tough. Mom didn’t say anything, but I’m thinking I will be relieved of my turkey cooking duties!
Our gluten free Thanksgiving is going well and our nephew is grateful. (He’s celiac so we need to be serious - all the wooden cutting boards and utensils were retired for the weekend.) I made a gluten free bread from Breads from Anna, and also bought a loaf from Trader Joe’s. I thought the stuffing was a little mushier than I like, but fine. I might try adding a bit of cornbread to it next year. SIL brought the GF pies. Some were pretty good, but I did miss a good crust. I write down what we cooked and how many attended Thanksgiving most years. Every year I say that the yams/sweet potatoes were eaten and the regular potatoes were hardly touched. But SIL really wanted both and I let her be in charge of them, and yes once again the regular potatoes were hardly touched. The turkey took an hour longer than it had the last time I had this size bird - different oven though.
I wasn’t in charge of these but all our mashed potatoes were gone because the sweet potatoes weren’t done in time! Not sure what happened there. They still looked raw (in a slow cooker) shortly before eating. By the end of the evening they were done and my SIL scooped up containers for people to take home.
The vegan pumpkin pie pudding was a huge hit - with vegan and non-vegan, alike!
One of my guests thought the 5lb standing prime rib roast, was intended just for him, so that irked me a bit! Other than that, everything went well and the food was delish (even if I do say so!)
@mathmom Don’t know if your dressing (stuffing) recipe included an egg but I use one or two when I make my GF dressing. Never did that before I was diagnosed but I think it helps it firm up since GF bread doesn’t have gluten structure. FWIW for next time.
