This is a chatting thread for people hosting Thanksgiving Dinner this year, or bringing a homemade dish to somebody else's home.

What are you cooking?

Are you making any special family recipes?

How is your prep work going?

Today I'm making homemade cranberry sauce. I'm also making a gravy base for a largely make-ahead gravy. After "da bird" is cooked on Thursday, I will just pour off the fat, add my pre-made gravy base to the juices and caramelized pan drippings and then whip up some "instant" homemade gravy. It is a neat trick that guarantees you lump-free gravy and also makes the gravy come together lickety-split.

I don't think I can do much else in advance as early as Monday. I've already been to the grocery store to buy all the shelf-stable products needed for cooking. I've pre-ordered a fresh turkey and some shellfish for a special fish dish my mother used to make.

I've also accepted more help from relatives than I typically do. My sister and my sister-in-law are each bringing an appetizer and one of my cousins is baking two pumpkin pies. Usually I try to do everything myself. Must be a sign of my advancing age that this year that I'm letting relatives in on some of the cooking fun.

So, hosts and hostesses - how is your prep work going?

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More good tasting rich food, more visits as David says to the ..., that and/or imodium...

Lets see I have a bird in the freezer(a 1-2 lb chicken w/directions, amazing), blueberries(no idea what to do w/these, pie maybe? They're frozen too), canned cranberries in the fridge(due to a shortage of space elsewhere), powdered potatoes, canned corn, green beans and peas, all from a food pantry, except for the berries, I don't need to spend a dime, the berries would require a pie crust, I'm glad Yogi isn't around, I don't even have a picnic basket anymore...

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

If they have a fresh turkey Wednesday when I go shopping, we will get it, and grill it. Last year I charcoal grilled the turkey, and it was the best turkey I ever ate. If they don't have any fresh ones left, then I'll just have to suffer and go for steak! Yummy!

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

I've always been tempted to try to BBQ or smoke a turkey, but I'm too much of a chicken to do that on Thanksgiving when the pressure is on to create the perfect bird. Steve, I salute your bravery!

My cranberry sauce turned out sweet and uni-dimentional, which is exactly what my guests will want. I have learned the hard way not to mess too much with Thanksgiving. Mine is not an "orange zest in the relish" type of family.

Quite a few years ago, I tried to "shake up" Thanksgiving. We still cooked a turkey, and I served all the flavors you would expect to have during the Thanksgiving season, but I shook them up in terms of their placement. For example, I served pumpkin soup instead of pumpkin pie. I made cranberry pie bars instead of cranberry relish. I made sweet potato pie instead of sweet potato casserole. I put apples in the dressing instead of into a pie.

There were quite a few of these little swap-er-roos and my guests were not impressed. Even though each one of my dishes seemed like it would have stood well on its own, they all came together in unexpected ways and that was not what my family members wanted.

Since then, Thanksgiving at our house has been pretty traditional and I limit myself to only one or two extremely mild "twists", just to keep things interesting for me as a cook. For example, this year my twist-dish is a winter slaw that includes some shaved, raw Brussels sprouts, dinosaur kale and red raddicchio, instead of a pan of roasted Brussels sprouts.

I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving!!!

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I only cook for my wife and I, so if I screw up, it's no big deal. For those who may wish to try grilling a turkey, here is how to do it.

Take a rectangular baking pan maybe 2 inches deep. Put it in the grill directly under where the turkey will go. You may have to remove an upper grill rack if it will be in the way. Load up the charcoal all around the baking pan. Pile it high, but not so that it falls back into the pan. Light the charcoal, and let it get going. Put the turkey on a grill rack just over the baking pan, so it catches the juices. Put down the grill cover, and wait for the little pop-up to release.

The flavor is out of this world, and the turkey will be a smoked brown color when done.



Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

I have to say I am a canned cranberry fan. I like the jellied type that plops out of the can, and you slice it. Tradition.

Just bought our turkey. 11 3/4 pounds. Plenty for two people. ;~} We make hot Browns from the leftovers. A Hot Brown is so-named after the local hotel where it originated many moons ago. It's simple: Take a couple slices of lightly toasted white bread and slice diagonally, and lay down some leftover turkey on top, then prepare a Mornay sauce to cover everything, then lay down a few slices of tomatoes, a little more Mornay, and finish by placing in your oven on Broil until it gets a little browned(not too much). Lastly, after removing from the oven, place a couple strips of crispy bacon on top. Voila! (We have Corning Ware serving dishes that can go in the oven. Don't do this with your regular fine china)

I bought some pecan pie ingredients, and will add dark chocolate chips for a sort of Derby pie twist.

I also have a pumpkin pie in the freezer, ready for Cool Whip.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

My mom used to serve canned cranberries with turkey. I know they have a big following.

Those hot brown sandwiches sound delicious! We never seem to have much left-over turkey meat by the time we send "care packages" off with various older relatives who don't cook much these days.

Gordon, heavy cream is not that hard to whip. Take a walk on the wild side!

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That is a beautiful bird!!!

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Gordon, heavy cream is not that hard to whip. Take a walk on the wild side!

I suppose I could give it a whirl. And maybe add in some cinnamon and nutmeg?

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Gordon, heavy cream is not that hard to whip. Take a walk on the wild side!

I suppose I could give it a whirl. And maybe add in some cinnamon and nutmeg?

I wouldn't, as dried spices are not very good in freshly whipped cream.

I recommend 1-2 tbsps of white sugar per cup of cream (most people prefer it sweeter so maybe go for two), a splash of vanilla or, better yet, a tablespoon of brandy!!!

Wait. You and your mom are in Kentucky, right? I suppose you could substitute bourbon for that brandy.

You could use brown sugar instead of white sugar, but personally I don't care for the molasses tones that brown sugar brings to whipped cream. Also, it muddies the color... but then again so does brandy, but the flavor advantages of brandy far out-weigh the mild color distortion, IMHO.

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brown sugar

Vanilla extract, brown sugar and bourbon actually sounds like a good combination to whip in. Speaking of bourbon, she likes Happy Balls.

What about adding cherry syrup to the cream?

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Speaking of bourbon, she likes Happy Balls.

OMG - who wouldn't???!!!

What about adding cherry syrup to the cream?

Cherry and pumpkin seems like an odd combination to me, but there really are no "rules" when it comes to taste.

If your mom likes cherry with her bourbon, perhaps you should start the meal by mixing her a Manhattan?

Whee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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a Manhattan

That's her favorite drink, actually.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

a Manhattan

That's her favorite drink, actually.

Eric's too! I find Manhattans to be too strong for me, but Eric absolutely loves them.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I don't cook Thanksgiving dishes in our house. Mom takes care of most everything, and dad helps when she asks him to. My sister likes the canned cranberry sauce; however, I HATE cranberries. Thankfully, my mom introduced us all to a Swedish condiment called Lingonberries. They look like cranberry sauce, (fresh stuff, not canned), they come in a glass jar, and they are sweeter than cranberries.

I'm still on the Atkins Plan; however, WILL be partaking of Stuffing, Yams, and Pumpkin Pie... I WILL be skipping the mashed potatoes. My sister wants asparagus as a side, I want Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and sauteed Onions!!! Mom hasn't told me which she will be making. I'll eat either asparagus or Brussels Sprouts; but prefer the Sprouts.


TL

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TimeLord04
Have TARDIS, will travel...
Come along K-9!
Join Calm Chaos

This year, I've got a pass, but some years I've done it all.

The relish plate is an easy thing and it gets the guests out of the kitchen. broccoli, cauliflower, celery, radish, carrot, olives (black and green), cherry tomato, bell pepper, pickles, cheeses, grapes, apples you name it and a bowl of ranch. Even deviled eggs. Depending on the time of dinner and the crowd, dare I say it, chips and dip, beer and football on TV.

Sides, if you have cooked them sometime other than Turkey Day, you know exactly what to do. I've see all kinds of veggies, broccoli, green beans, asparagus, lima beans, brussel sprouts, peas, mixed, what ever your family likes. Yams and sweet potatoes seem big in many families, but rarely get served except on T-Day. Mashed potato and stuffing are traditional musts.

Some kind of dinner roll or bread to sop up that wonderful gravy.

Main dish most places is a bird, but some go for ham, roast beef, leg of lamb or some traditional feast dish from the home country. Obviously sides get adjusted to the main dish.

Desert is usually pie. Pumpkin seems to be a must, but apple, cherry, mince and pecan all have adherents. Have vanilla ice cream to make it à la mode and of course whipped cream and maybe even some chocolate syrup.

Tips. If you have people bringing things you will need to reheat. Have a hot plate ready for this. Otherwise you may find yourself without enough space on your stove. As your oven will be busy with the main dish, a second, even a third, oven comes in very handy, even counter-top. Shocking as it seems you may even use the microwave to do some reheating. Sometimes getting all the food hot at serving time is the real trick. Oh, keep in mind with all these extra electric load, you may need to have them on separate breakers.

If you have people bringing stuff, find out if they are bringing it in a serving dish. You don't want your good china and one or two things in plastic on the table. Count your trivets and serving dishes forks and spoons. Make sure you have cheap plastic ware to send people home with leftovers, and you need it too and zip lock bags. Have your fridge clear of other stuff because it will be full after!

Of course you already polished the silverware, took off the water spots from the crystal stemware, gave all the serving dishes a rinse to get the year of dust off, you know where the wine bottle opener is and that it is working.

If this sounds like a lot of work, welcome to running a restaurant. The reality is don't try and do too much. Even if Mom did 10 sides, you don't have to. Do a small number and well and it will be better remembered than a bunch of things done mediocre. If someone in the family is great at a dish, have them do that and don't worry about it. If you have a huge crowd, get another cook to help, but go over the plan the day before so each of you know what they are doing and when. It can be a great bonding experience.

The most important thing is to have a plan so you know what you should be doing and about when. That way you don't stress out and do things in the wrong order and suddenly have to fix it and there isn't time.

Now about that bird you just dropped on the kitchen floor .... ;-)

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you know where the wine bottle opener is and that it is working.

Ours sees extremely regular use, so no worries there !)


Great post, Gary! One of the things I had forgotten to add to my master plan is to wash and dry serving pieces that haven't been used in a while, for example my turkey platter that gets used every other year, along with a "vintage" cut glass bowl given to me by one of my aunts. I only use that bowl for cranberries, and now I have to remember which closet I stuck it in the back of two years ago!

I've added "find and wash serving pieces" to tomorrow's TO DO list, thanks to your wonderful, memory jogging post.

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you know where the wine bottle opener is and that it is working.

Ours sees extremely regular use, so no worries there !)

I just hope you haven't worn it out :-)


Have a great Thanksgiving - remember "Turkeys don't vote for Thanksgiving or Christmas"

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

you know where the wine bottle opener is and that it is working.

Ours sees extremely regular use, so no worries there !)

I just hope you haven't worn it out :-)


Have a great Thanksgiving - remember "Turkeys don't vote for Thanksgiving or Christmas"

Will Trump give a turkey a Presidential Pardon next year?

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