# Thanksgiving



## resident1fan (Sep 29, 2009)

So thanksgiving is quickly approaching us, so the question of the day is how do you mix the holiday up? What exotic twist do you guys apply to the traditional "thanksgiving" dishes? I grew up with parents that always made a plain dinner so recently I just started making home made gravy, from stock fat and a thickening agent. So basicly I would find any different traditions or dishes interesting.

thanks in advance:chef:


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

Thanksgiving is the one holiday we don't mess with. We make the same things every years because we all like them. I have one sister that always tries to "shake things up", and it just irritates the rest of us. One year she put garlic in the mashed potatoes (not good with turkey gravy). Last year we made the mistake of letting her do the green bean casserole. She "tweaked" it and no one was happy. No one said anything to her face, but there was talk of where we were going to bury the body. We always have turkey (masterfully cooked by my brother-in-law). Sometimes we have duck too. There's always a second meat as my step dad doesn't like any kind of fowl. This can vary from ham to prime rib to BBQ ribs. Then there's mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry fluff (a salad made of ground raw cranberries, crushed pineapple, grapes, marshmallows, whipped cream and walnuts or pecans), and either green bean casserole or scalloped corn. Other dishes may be added, but the core things never change. There's always pumpkin and pecan pie, and whatever other pies or desserts anyone feels like bringing. Olives, both black and green and and pickles. There's enough chaos and insecurity in the world. Thanksgiving dinner is not to be messed with. The sister who always wants to change things says we always eat the same thing every year. The rest of us say "Yeah, that's the point".


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## indianwells (Jan 2, 2007)

I'm always over in the US at Thanksgiving but there are only 4 of us so I don't buy the whole bird. I find the smallest crown I can and roast that. We have roast potatoes, veggies, cranberry sauce, gravy and Yorkshire pudding!
Not a fan of turkey to be honest, would rather have roast beef but when in Rome and all that, we like to join in the celebration.
Definitely going to try and make a green bean casserole this year.


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## happyfood (Feb 24, 2009)

We always try to make a meal made almost entirely from foods indigenous to the Americas. Not very hard, I must say, as most traditional Thanksgiving foods feature indigenous foods. 

I hate that yucky green bean casserole the fried onions that everyone makes and do one that my Mom always made with french-cut beans, ricotta, sour cream and Swiss cheese. I know, not indigenous, but everyone likes it so I keep making it.

Other dishes I like to include are: spicy succotash, fresh corn spoonbread, or macque choux. Wild rice is also really yummy cooked with wild mushrooms and cattail roots (when I can sneak into the swamp and dig some up.)

My partner complains that Thanksgiving dishes while always good with complex flavor, tend to be too heavy on the carbs. Well, why not just eat more turkey to balance it all out?


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

For the past few years, we've had a pescatarian guest, so we do sauteed marinated squid! Not that I'd expect anyone to do _only_ that, but the year I did that plus turkey, all the squid got eaten up! :lol:

People who come to my house expect me to do something "different" and I'm happy to oblige. The year I had to make everything kosher (no dairy products, no pork), I made mashed sweet potatoes with coconut milk instead of butter/cream. Wow, was that good! And when I was expecting a vegan to join us, the soup was a mushroom-chestnut puree (mushroom stock, mirepoix, lots of fresh and dried mushrooms, all blended together).

I too like to make succotash, with beans, corn, and squash (the Three Sisters) plus Jerusalem artichokes and lots of chopped onions. When I made it in a kosher version, I added chopped kosher smoked turkey; when I can use nonkosher ingredients, it's either smoked pork or smoked turkey. Even in a vegetarian or vegan version without the meat, it's substantial enough to be a main course.

Now I have a stovetop smoker, so I'm thinking about making a smoked turkey breast instead of a whole bird (too much for just the few of us). I've been practicing and had some really good outcomes, esp. since I've got a farmers' market nearby where I can get excellent fresh turkey.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

I'm one of those that fall into the "don't mess with it" crowd. I cook/smoke the turkey on the weber. We serve mashed potatoes, dressing, corn, another vegetable, usually beans of some sort buth changes up a little, homemade noodles (if we are with my parents as my dad makes the noodles), cranberry relish, gravy, pumpkin and pecan pie. Pumpkin pie is always on the menu but sometimes we change up the pecan pie. The one place where things change up and we get creative is with the relish tray. Pickled eggs, pickled beets, pickled onions, dilly beans and other various items make the rounds. 

We change up Christmas dinner quite often but Thanksgiving is very traditional in our family. We still don't let dad forget the year, when we owned the restaurant, he did a turkey roll and an abridged menu for T-day. We closed the restaurant and the last thing he wanted to do was cook. He never made that mistake again!!!


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## bubbamom (Jan 30, 2002)

I'm in the "don't mess with a good thing" group. Our Thanksgiving dinner is pretty much the same every year (I fear a lynching if there were any major changes) and includes oven roasted turkey, dressing, mashed and sweet potatoes (not the marshmallow type, but cooked with orange slices, brown sugar and butter) home made gravey, buttercup squash, rutabega, home made jellied cranberries, cranberry relish and, of course the pies - pumpkin, butterscotch and apple. To top off the meal, there's plenty of hot coffee, Frango mints and salted nuts. :crazy: The meal is the same regardless of the number of family and friends are together.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Why sugar with vegetables?

Being from outside the US, and not brought up in the tradition of Thanksgiving eating/cooking, I can't understand why sugar is involved with the cooking of say, sweet potato or pumpkin. It's just an honest question, I'm curious is all...my palate can't begin to imagine the result of that combo...maybe I should just try it  and hush up lol


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

You've brought up a subject i've often wondered about DC. BTW this is not a rant, and i'm certainly not knocking the food in America. I've enjoyed enough of it for years.

...But I do wonder why so much of the food is sweet... It seems sugar is added to things i wouldnt ever expect. ie sliced bread is actualy sweet. (Unless of course you but artisan breads ) And far more sugar than seems required is added to recipes.

I do like glazed carrots, but on the whole, veges with sugar and marshmallows just seems a bit OTT.

My youngest (16) is on holiday from school for a fortnight, and he's been creating some lovely dishes. His Risotto Milanese the other day was fabulous. He made sweet potato pie today which was a great success, but we all agreed it was way too sweet. I dont think the pie would suffer from reducng the sugar by half, as its basically a custard. But if you know better, do tell.

Finally, I just googled Thanksgiving to see when it was and i find that Canada has one too on the 12th October. News to me. So happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian friends on Monday.

Do you celebrate the same as Americans?


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## thekitchensink (Aug 4, 2009)

I come from a diverse background. One way my family mixes it up each year is by incorporating different ethnic dishes. Usually, we have a bunch of different cultural palates being represented but I could imagine it being fun to focus on one culture each year - say this year we'll put an Italian spin on the meal, next year it'll be Spanish...something like that.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I don't mess with the Thanksgiving recipes much. that's for other times of the year and for dealing with leftovers. 

Seriously, why do so many people only cook turkey once a year? Lots of good ways to eat it and reasonable pricing is available year round if you frequent ethnic markets.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

>and reasonable pricing is available year round if you frequent ethnic markets. <

Or even supermarkets, Phil. 

Day in and day out, turkey is probably the least expensive protein going. Last whole turkey we bought, sometime back in early summer, was 78 cents/lb. Friend Wife recently bought a turkey breast and paid 98 cents---about what we pay for chicken. I'll be smoking that this weekend. 

We do eat it year round, except at Thanksgiving. Only time we have turkey then is if we're invited to other people's. At home we do Thanksgiving based on it's orgins---a celebration of the bounty of the earth. Generally that means dishes based on fish, game, and edibles we've foraged, and veggies from our own garden or otherwise locally grown. 

I do find it a source of some amusement that the Thanksgiving dishes we associate as "traditional" mostly date from the post-WW II period.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I don't mess with the "core" things for Thanksgiving. These are turkey, turkey gravy, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turkey dressing, cranberry sauce, green beans with slivered almonds, rolls, pumpkin pie and whipped cream (I don't always make all of these). I'll usually do a few things extra that are different--side dishes or desserts or something like that.

As far as sweet veges--I am not a fan of adding sugar to veges, though I add a little maple syrup to sweet potatoes. Marshmallows--never, though my wife is used to those. She can make her own stuff if she wants to use marshmallows :smiles: I find a lot of pies are made too sweet for my taste--especially pecan pie, for some reason.

Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite desserts, if it's made the way I like it. I like to eat it warm, with whipped cream on it.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

When I lived in Atlanta I had a large group of friends that were from other places also, so for Thanksgiving I would invite them all over (anywhere from 15 to 30 people throughout the day). I would make the turkey, the gravy, and the dressing, then I asked everyone to bring their favorite dish from their home Thanksgivings. Used to be a blast seeing what people brought.


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING TO MESS WITH. THIS IS _AMERICAN_

We have the same menu our parents had. Once a year is not exactly repetitious. We have a farm-raised, fresh turkey with my mother's Missouri/southern dressing of stale cornbread, bagged croutons, herbs, and _Brazil nuts_ smothered in my Mother-in-Law's giblet gravy. Mashed potatoes, candied sweets (no marshmallows), green beans (no fried onions), and pumpkin pie.

This is a tribute to our family heritage, and we ain't going to fool around with it. It would be disrespctful.

Mike 

Afterthought...
In 2005, Rotary celebrated its 100th anniversary, with 40,000 people from all over the world at their International Convention in Chicago - where Rotary was founded.

My Hinsdale IL Rotary Club hosted a catered barbecue for about 400 people from overseas and then, as a special event, invited about twenty people from overseas to a member's house for a traditional and complete... American Thanksgiving Dinner. eace: (This was in June.) Our club provided the whole thing, as described above. We brought the dressing and gravy. It all went over very well, although the weather wasn't quite typical.


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## amazingrace (Jul 28, 2006)

*If it ain't broke...don't fix it!*

I've been making Thanksgiving dinner for the past 45 years. The only time anyone complained was when I decided not to make a certain dish, or if I tinkered with the recipe. The family expects at least 2 turkeys. One for dinner, the other(s) for the leftovers. Everyone looks forward to enjoying the time-honored recipes...no "gourmet specialties" or "designer foods"...just everything the way it's always been. I have the rest of the year to "impress?" people with new or different offering. But we don't mess with Thanksgiving.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Other than tweaking the stuffing recipe that I got from my mother it is traditional turkey, stuffing, gravy, corn, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

I've messed with Thanksgiving. Well, sort of. My wife's family, as I've mentioned before, is not very adventurous when it comes to food. Both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners usually involved dry, overcooked turkey, canned veggies, instant potatoes and such.

It has been a long, slow process [ we celebrated our 22nd anniversary a bit over a month ago ] but things are improving. Real mashed potatoes, fresh veggies and such. Last year at her sister's house I did the turkey for T-Day, with a garlic herb butter rubbed under the skin, the cavity filled with rosemary sprigs, citrus and more garlic. Not too much though, I don't want to scare them! They liked the stuffing done outside the bird with a turkey stock, baked in a pan to provide lots of nice, crispy crust to go with the savory softness.

This year Christmas dinner is at our house. Still over two months away, but I'm already starting to fret and fuss about it. I'm thinking that in addition to the turkey I want to put a beef rib roast into the mix ...

mjb.


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

This thread reminds me of how my brother-in-law and I "messed" with T-day. My mother traditionally cooked whole fresh cranberries with sugar for the cranberry side. Sometimes she'd make cranberry relish with oranges because my sister liked it. my brother-in-law and I, rubes that we are, like the jellied cranberries in a can. (Stop laughing, I can hear you way over here.) My mother, although she's mellowed some, was a person who if you didn't like the same things she did, considered you to be the equivalent of a communist. She flat out refused to get us our cranberries, so we brought our own. She wouldn't let us put them on the table, we had to keep them in the kitchen. Eventually she gave up and let us have them on the table. Sort of. While everything else was presented on Lenox china and lead crystal, our poor cranberries languished in a Tupperware bowl. But at least they were on the table. Now we have T-day at my brother-in-law's house. Lenox china gave way to chinette as no one wants to do all the dishes. Everything else comes to the table in whatever we can fit it in. Except our jellied cranberries. They are presented on a long polished chrome tray with gold handles in all their perfectly sliced glory. We won the great cranberry war.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

Mike I both agree and disagree with this statement. I agree that I am a traditionalist then it comes to T-Day, meaning I follow my families traditions, but really the traditions do not go that far back. Thanksgiving has only been observed since 1863 when President Lincoln started the tradition, but it did not become a federal holiday until 1941. As far as tradition goes, I imagine our modern, "traditional" Thanksgiving is a far cry from what the pilgrims ate on that first "Thanksgiving."


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

>observed since 1863 when President Lincoln started the tradition,<

A common error, Pete.

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day proclamation did, indeed, lead to it becoming an annual, national holiday. But the fact is, George Washington had issued a similar proclamation, naming November 26 of that year as the date.

In both cases, however, Thanksgiving Day was not a day of feasting and celebration. It was a day of prayers and spirituality.

The main imputus to Thanksgiving as we know it came from FDR, who, among other things, promoted the idea of a turkey dinner as part of his own economic stimulus package. It was a way of helping out the turkey farmers, who were not doing well at all.

BTW, despite what we learned in school, it is doubtful that wild turkey was part of the harvest festival held by the pilgrims. Waterfowl were the more likely birds served.

And, while we're talking about "traditional" Thanksgiving Day foods, the ubiquitous green bean casserole was invented in the '50 by Campbells, as part of their constant barrage of ways to use their condensed soups as a gourmet ingredient.

>I imagine our modern, "traditional" Thanksgiving is a far cry from what the pilgrims ate on that first "Thanksgiving." <

It is. But you don't have to imagine it, Pete. That meal is fairly well documented.

Among the things they didn't have was cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie (there was no sugar available to make them). Pumpkin was certainly part of that meal (which was more a state dinner than a tranksgiving celebration), but not in the form of pies or sweet puddings.

Waterfowl and upland birds were on the menu. Turkey is not specified; so, while possible, food historians consider it unlikely. Although Winthrop had detailed four hunters to go into the woods specifically to harvest provisions for that meal, it's more than likely they brought back venison rather than wild turkey.

Ovens hadn't been constructed yet, which means fowl was either stewed or spit-roasted; thus, no dressing (stuffing).

Potatoes---both Irish and sweet---were non-existent. Irish potatoes had not yet migrated to North America, and sweet potatoes were a product of the Carribean, with whom trade had not yet been established.

And, most assuredly, there was no green bean casserole! :thumb:


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Interesting, the intensity of responses this thread has evoked. Lot of fun.

KYH - thanks a lot for the historical background; I enjoyed it very much.

Pete - as far as my family - and my wife's - goes, there is plenty enough background to be traditional! :lol: You should try adding sliced Brazil nuts to your dressing (maybe not if your tradition uses oysters) and maybe make a little adjustment to your tradition. 

Mike


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

Nobody touches my sage stuffing, at Thanksgiving!!!!  My grandfather, on my Dad's side was big into oyster dressing. No one else really cared for it, so there was always a small dish of oyster dressing sitting along side the big dish of sage stuffing.

Actually, while I prefer simple sage dressing on T-Day, I don't mind changing it up every once in awhile, though that is what I consider Christmas for since dressing usually makes an appearance there also.

And while I might be a "traditionalist" when it comes to T-Day, I am not a die hard fanatic about it. In fact, one year, after working the restaurant for most of the day on T-day my wife and I went out to eat. Having seen my fill of turkey and all the trimmings we opted for Benihana's for our Thanksgiving dinner!eace:


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

In response to DC Sunshine and bughut: not all Americans like supersweetened vegetables! :lol: In fact, some of us can't fathom the "too much of a good thing"-ness of candied sweet potatoes or casseroles with marshmallows on top.  Someone in the family introduced a mashed sweet potato casserole topped with what's basically a streusel -- nice texture contrast, but still waaaaaaaaaay too sweet for me. The sweet potatoes with coconut milk I mentioned upthread had Asian junk-food candied lemon (from Aji Ichiban) added -- which is much more lemon than candy, so it made a nice tart contrast.

As for what's "traditional" -- I'll bet that in many families it doesn't go back much more than one or two generations, and that most families personalize the feast more than they realize. While part of the whole idea of T-Day is to blend into the "American way of doing things" (or "Canadian" for that matter), many still find comfort in keeping something their family had in the "old country," wherever that was, however long ago.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

One other thought from the iconoclast: when I was in culinary school, I was assigned the turkey for our T-Day buffet. I boned it out and stuffed it with a stuffing that started the usual bread-and-herbs way, but also had cranberries and chorizo for the sausage. So it ended up like a ballotine. I loved it -- and I got a good grade, too. 

In fact, I loved it so much that I did pretty much the same thing that year at my in-laws, although I used lots of mushrooms instead of sausage. They were polite, and everybody ate plenty, but I think they expected the usual whole bird. Oh well.

But one of the neatest things is to borrow from others' traditions, I think. Like having PA Dutch 7 sweets and 7 sours alongside your usual standard stuff. Or prosciutto bread instead of dinner rolls. Just a little change-up can make what may have become a boring meal into something a lot more fun (at least for the cook!).

BTW: This year my pescatarian friend suggest we do Jamaican or Mexican, like jerk fish or chiles rellenos. Sounds good to me -- but I still might have succotash on the side. :lol:


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Leave my sweet potatoes in caramel sauce with marshmallows alone!! :lol: Once a year I like it that way.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

The "History of Thanksgiving" part of this thread is a little garbled. There was something of a tradtion of Thanksgiving -- with a meal much like the one we now have -- by the early nineteenth century. In the mid 1820s a fairly influential magazine editor named Sarah Josepha Hale started camaigning for a national day of Thanksgiving based on the Plymouth Colony tradition. 

In 1863, Lincoln declared the third Thursday in November as a National Day of Thanksgiving, partly as a morale booster during the dark days of the war, partly as a way to unify the country, and partly (no doubt) for all the reasons advocated by Hale. But had the tradition, or one much like it, not been common, Lincoln would not have had much effect. He made it more popular, yes. But mostly he standardized a date.

In 1939, Roosevelt changed the date to the fourth Thursday of November -- additionally, federal business was suspended for the day (and later for the weekend) giving the holiday another dimension.

As for the menu -- that's been around for a couple of hundred years too. Not that different ethnicities didn't add some traditions, but the turkey - pumpkin thing has been around since dirt. Always a good, traditional choice, Turkey got a substantial boost in the late eighteenth century from Franklin, and became THE TRADITION in 1854 when Governor Bradford's (Plymouth) papers were recovered from the Brits. 

In case you cared, 
BDL


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## kirstens (Jul 3, 2009)

I agree with everyone who says Thanksgiving dinner is nothing to mess with. Stuffing, my favorite and even better the next day cold, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries (nothing fancy, straight from the can and sliced), turkey and gravy and sweet potatoes. I am not a sweet person. I would much rather have the savory than the sweet but my mom's sweet potatoes......forget about it. Topped with brown sugar, butter and marshmellows burnt but not too on the dark side. I look forward to the appetizers too. Spinach dip, pizza puffs, and pigs in a blanket.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

When I say that I am a "don't mess with it" kind of person, I'm talking about me, personally. I have friends from many different backgrounds and they celebrate T-Day with foods they are familiar with. I am all fine with that. I am also perfectly fine with others wanting to change it up a bit or a lot. Personally, I like our family traditions and usually about mid October as the weather starts to turn colder, I start looking forward to our Thanksgiving feast. I never find it boring, even when cooking it, nor do I find it repetitive since we only have some of these foods once or twice a year. For me there is something comforting in having the same meal every year. But again, this is my personal preference. But I am also easy going enough that if I were at someone else's house for T-day I would be thrilled with whatever they served for dinner.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I would be really surprised to find 2 families' Thanksgiving dinner almost exactly the same. Even turkey and dressing, which are almost universal--almost--there are so many different family-traditional ways to make them. I stick to my "traditional" ways for the things I consider essential.

When I cook a ham, I make it the way my mom makes it. On the fatty side, I cut through the the fat in a criss-cross pattern, press brown sugar onto it, and stick a whole clove into each square (each square being about 3/4"). Then I bake it. That's my "traditional", but not everybody's. I like it so much this way that I almost always cook it like that, whatever time of year.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I'll happily admit to having experimented with cooking turkey, making stuffing and all at different thanksgivings. I got feedback from my family (wife) and have made further adaptations. I've even had some out and out failures.

So while I would describe it as tradtitional in that it is roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc, I don't make any of it like any of my family or friends do or did. And it is now to the point where I don't use recipes. It's all by eyeball, memory and instant read thermometer.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Pete, a true gentleman .

As for the HISTORY of T-Day, this has been an interesting thread from all perspectives.

I enjoy the origin of a topic.


Petals


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

Just googled Succotash Susanne. Up till now, i've only known it from bugs bunny cartoons when the Moustached baddie Cries Suffering succotach. Forgive my ignorance. Your recipe sounds grand.

Obviously we dont have thanksgiving in Scotland.

I know from bitter experience re. chrismas, how stuck in a rut families can be and against all forms of evolution. But we've all evolved over the centuries. Surely the food great granny is tucking into now, is majorly different to what her own great granny would have enjoyed. And so on, back to the earliest days. I know Victorian/Edwardian Christmas dinners were a far cry from the supposed tradition we passionately strive for now and for what. The huge majority are bored with dried out turkey and all the trimmings. 
I'm quite sure peasants in the middle ages would have been chuffed to bits with a chunk of anything resembling meat. Let alone a stuffed turkey.

So many of these posts resemble my husbands family attitude to christmas, but we've knocked it on the head. They always want to come to us for the holidays. And if they want our abundant fare. And they do. Believe me...roaring fire/presents and general ambience, they also enjoy curry. (we've done it twice and they've enjoyed it. Reluctantly at first, but eventually loved it) They've also had venison steaks with a red wine and rosemary reduction.

Mind you, they have also had (with the steaks) Crisp roast potatoes, mashed potatoes 3 or 4 veges and a clootie dumpling (Trad Scot) and mince pies. Shortbread with a cup of tea later to show i'm not entirely a heathen 

Surely christmas and Thanksgiving are about being grateful for what we have. Some folk are stuck in a groove they will never get out of, and see it as a way of continuing a comfort zone with their family. Maybe its the only time they see their kids, or the only time they cook. Maybe its their first thanksgiving/christmas together and they want to make a show of it...

AT the risk of sounding cheesy, Enjoy. If you make an effort and cook with love your friends and famly will enjoy it too.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

I know a chef who stuffs the cavity of a turkey with a small ham....
Has anyone heard of this technique ? 

Then I met another chef.....who stuffs a different way.....
He said a turkey should be stuffed towards the neck end only leaving the cavity open and takes legs off . Does anyone do this ?


What is your technique ?

Petals

ps. Do you have a stuffing of choice ?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I don't stuff the turkey. Slows things way down, complicates things and is difficult to cook to food safe temps without overcooking the bird.

I do cook a small turkey a month or so before Thanksgiving so I can make turkeystock to freeze for the big day. This helps me prepare a good stuffing outside the bird that still tastes authentically of turkey, improves the gravy and can help out with the bird too.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Yes, very good idea.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

If you aren't organzied enough to do a whole turkey in advance, legs and wings make good stock and can be done the a day or two before. Having a good stock on hand really helps bring out the best flavors in lots of the traditional dishes.

mjb.


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## order_fire (Oct 12, 2009)

I resist the temptation to get too creative with my Thanksgiving menu. Fresh food with thoughtful preparation works best for me.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

I don't "mess with" Thanksgiving, but I have pared it down a bit. Up until about a decade ago we always got the family together and my aunt prepared an epic spread. We're talking the usual turkey and dressing, potatoes, yams, etc but also ham, four or five kinds of salad, three veggies, several casseroles- basically a ridiculous amount of stuff. Now our get-together is usually just immediate family. It's more about being together than having a huge spread so I keep it simple. I always make the turkey (with stuffing in the bird and a small pan on the side with no onions for my idiot brother who won't touch them:lol. There's always gravy & mashed potatoes, and I generally make one other veggie. We always have bread and jelled cranberries chilled from a can (what can I say, everyone likes it). Desert is usually pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream. Often the pie comes from Sam's Club.

It's enough work to do dinner without making it a two day ordeal.


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## bubbamom (Jan 30, 2002)

growing up, a friend's family didn't care for turkey (GASP), so for Thanksgiving, her mom made lobster - - two tails apiece, one for dinner and one "for later". Whatever floats your boat. :thumb:


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

I'll just sous-vide the turkey parts I have left over from easters "free supermarket turkey" i think this year.


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

When I talk about tradition, I don't mean any tradition other than your own. Most people have turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy. I know people who take those items and roll them all up in a lefse. That's Thanksgiving tradition to them. If you have lobster, fish, ham or any other thing, that's your tradition and that's what I'm talking about. A basic meal that you can count on to be the same year in and year out without any surprises. As for the original, I don't know or care as I wasn't there. The origins of the Thanksgiving most people celebrate is based on Squanto and his tribe bringing food to some starving pilgrims. What the pilgrims labeled a Thanksgiving dinner came some years later and they were celebrating something entirely different, which I won't go into as I don't want to tarnish a holiday that is celebrated for the right reasons. I am Cheyenne, Irish and Norwegian in equal parts. The rest is composed of Dane, Romanian and other European goulash too numerous to mention. Indians generally don't celebrate Thanksgiving as they regard every day as Thanksgiving. They don't understand setting only one day a year aside for it and kind of resent everybody associating that holiday as originating with them. And sure, they didn't have green bean casserole at the first Thanksgiving. Neither did we. I think somebody made and brought it sometime in the '80s. Before that by about two years my mom melted Velveeta with some green beans and we loved it. Prior to that, we never had any green beans on the table. Now, we always do.This thread made me so hungry for green bean casserole that I have some in the nuke as we speak. It comes out fine in the nuke in 5 min. Pass the jellied cranberries please, I'll eat 'em right out of the can.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Speaking of green beans, friend of mine is involved with a group that does a Thanksgiving potluck every year. Usually a pretty good spread, the host for the year does the turkey, the guests provide everything else.

I didn't attend the year in question, they are 900 miles away, but it was green beans. The host did the turkey, and *everyone* brought some sort of green bean dish. No potatoes, no bread, no salads, no cranberries, no pies - nothing but turkey and green beans. An amazing variety of green bean dishes, so I was told, but still....

mjb.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday aside from the weather, partly due to my dislike of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and yams. I could eat any one of those things by itself but somehow when they present themselves in combination I don't want them.

Since most of us didn't care much for turkey we ended up doing a pork roast or a prime rib for the main course and roasted a turkey breast as a side dish. That was our tradition.

Starting with Columbus Day through Thanksgiving I'm a little iffy on these American holidays and don't care for them as happy celebrations considering the truth of history. I do however like to think of this time as a celebration of the harvest and focus on that - thank goodness it's apple pie time in NY!


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## theresa (Jun 6, 2006)

The only thing I change on Thanksgiving is the sweet potatoes. Since there are only 4 of us, from 12, who eat them, I try to do them differently every couple of years. Two years ago I added a praline topping to the potato chunks.

We're not fans of turkey, so we only get a twelve-pounder. Our main meat is ham, with the secondary actually being a lasagna with meat sauce. The turkey is considered the third meat, and is there mostly for the two diabetics in the family.

Theresa


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## katiefrank (Sep 22, 2009)

I don't mess with my Thanksgiving meal either. I have considered mixing up my desert though.


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## tangy (Aug 27, 2009)

I got 5 words for you to put a twist on your thanksgiving:
apple zucchini pumpkin muffin stuffin'
enough said!


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## billrchef (Oct 11, 2009)

I agree with those who enjoy the traditional turkey dinners, my "twist" is more on display than ingredence or technique.
First I remove the breasts from my roasted turkey by running my knife down the breats bone and follow the ribs on both sides to get out the whole meat breasts. Then place the bird on a large serving platter( larger than the turkey by about 1/3rd or more). Next fill one cavity with mashed potatoes(Reserve some potatoes to finish the display),the other side with stuffing, to create the shape of a whole turkey.
Then slice the breasts and shingle them down over the potatoes and stuffing and continue to fan them out in front of the turkey on the platter.with my reserved potatoes in a pipeing bag, pipe them down over the breast bone, then set scallion poms and/or steamed carrots, and mabey some herb stems to finish it off.
the reast of the platter can be filled in withyour cooked vegetables, crudite, or grapes and strawberries. The presentation is both beautiful and functional as a one dishe family style service.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Just found a flavor combo that's freakin me out it's so good... this year's turkey will be rubbed with smashed coriander and cumin. eace:


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

A winning combination, Koukouvagia. Don't forget to dry-roast the seeds before crushing them. 

You might want to consider addition some crushed allspice berries to the mixture as well.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Do I need to toast them if they are already going to be roasting?

Allspice sounds perfect, in it goes.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

You don't _have _to roast the seeds, ever. But it intensifies their flavors when you do.

People seem to have trouble roasting spices, and tend to burn them (same with pine nuts, btw). My solution: Use a small, dry frypan heated until very hot.

Pour inthe seeds and remove from the heat, stirring or flipping the seeds while the residual heat of the pan does the job.


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## oldschool1982 (Jun 27, 2006)

Not to sound too corney but..........Tradition is as tradition does.

For my tradition...... I've either celebrated the day with family at my Aunt's home (funny how that occurred in two different states with two different Aunts), with friends at our home or at theirs or with family (extended or otherwise) at our home. Being Italian, the ironic thing is and was......there have never been any of the typical family Italian dishes served. Never any pasta, never any seafoods (other than the raw oysters, clams and shrimp cocktail for appetizers. This was the only Holiday meal where we served what was suggested as "traditional" Thanksgiving day foods.

Since we arrived in Virginia, it's been just my Cousins family but this year we add 2-10 ppl from another family/friend celebration that has gone array.

As far as the food goes, since probably the 90's I started doing the turkey like Suzanne mentions. Always a hit! Best thing too is that the stuffing doesn't become toxic after the meal and can be saved. Bird seems to be much juicier too. Also this year...... we add a smoked country cured ham from Adams Peanuts and smoke house. It's a tradition here in VA (and I'm sure other areas too) and is the tradition of the added guests.

Anyhow, I was the only one to ever "tweak" the foods but never found myself straying too far from the original dish. It was easy because things were never served to the family that the traditions were started with. We're scattered all over from Virginia to Chicago to Atlanta to Denver to Tucson

For the Turkey......other than deboning the bird, I like to take a compound butter and stuff it under the skin (between the meat and skin everywhere except the back) whereas my family and friends always just basted it with butter pan drippings. I still use the pan drippings to baste.

Stuffing was always a sage/gizzards and breakfast sausage where I've made it into a melange of fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme), chestnuts, morels and low country sausage (although this year I'll be using Surry sausage. This is a smoked country sausage from Surry Virginia.) By the way, I've removed the gizzards and they go into the stock with all the rest of the gibblets.

Cranberry relish was always of the canned variety but I never liked that so I opted for fresh made. I started to add real maple syrup instead of all the sugar as well as cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, lemon and orange zest as well as some orange segments from the fresh oranges. Since I made those changes......we never have any left over. Hehehe

Green bean casserole is hard to leave off and....... as yuk as it can be.........we just like it. Plus it wouldn't be the same without it. Most of the time..this is brought by a guest although.......... I have made this entirely from scratch (non Campbell's soup/Durkee fried onion recipe and it does improve it to the point where everyone has some.......

Sweets (Yams) rotate from a candied pecan casserole type (yes....with marshmallows and all) to a Makers Mark roasted and mashed variety. Both have their niche and the funny thing is those that eat one won't touch the other. Have thought of just serving baked sweets and have butter, cinnamon and sugar available .....we'll see this year.

I quit doing a salad because of all the other foods. We have one person (one of my Cousins kids) request just some lettuce with french dressing so we always have that available. Corn is fresh sweet (when we can get it) cut off the cob and just buttered. Have thought of leaving it on the cob.....we'll see. Sure would save a step. This year we may add Greens too.

Breads are home-made white bread and biscuits. We had yeast rolls on the menu but since we left KC (BIL made these) we have just used the bread and biscuits. Made Croissants first year out of culinary school.....funny....haven't had them since.

Pies are homemade and typical of the season. The pumpkin is as basic as possible but with fresh, roasted pumpkin instead of canned. We also have apple pie but usually a Caramel apple variety. Home-made ice creams' usually accompany these. Last year the choices were Vanilla bean or Spiced Jack Daniels/Cinnamon. This year I'm not sure.

Then there is the late evening snack of leftover turkey. This is served either on the bread (as a sandwich wth lettuce and mayo) or biscuits (hot browns style with the biscuits) or pulled and dipped in a bowl of just mayo.

That's our day of celebration in a nutshell. As with all....waayyy too much food. Good thing we have a month before Christmas to recuperate.

P.S. I shared a lesser known factoid about the day in last years discussion. Here is a link to info on it. (Not the discussion) 
Virginia Fall 2009: First Thanksgiving


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

I like making a galantine. That way there is no bickering over who got more dark meat. eace:


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## mattie405 (Dec 9, 2006)

Our meal has evolved over the years too. Hubbys family consisted of his parents and 15 kids and had the smallest of meals ever, usually a 15 pound turkey, instant mashed potatoes, canned green beans and canned cranberry sauce....and never any kind of gravy for the overcooked dry bird. My dinner was always spent at my aunts, she had a nice traditional meal. Once we married and I started making our meal I changed some things, I make gallons of turkey stock in the weeks before the holiday to be used for stuffing and gravy, I bake herb breads to dry and use for stuffing and make lots of side veggies all fresh. I also make usually a lasagna and a ham too. Over the years attendance at home has steadily increased to numbers up to 50 with people coming in at all times during the day and evening and included our 3 kids friends as well. Now with all the kids grown and married off they usually go spend the day with their wives parents and then come by here to pick up the dinner they are used to from their youth for the next day.....yes, I roast them each a smaller turkey and they take the leftover lasagna and ham too, the grandchildren love it all and I normally babysit them the next day while their parents do the madness of black Friday shopping. I love spending my time in my kitchen and it's all worth it just to hear the 8 year old grandson say "my nana loves me cause she cooks me such good stuff". I picked up 2 turkey breasts during this weeks grocery shopping to get a start on the day, the prices are dropping here on them so I stock up because we eat turkey all year long, I roast them just for sandwiches too when the prices drop down so low.:thumb:


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Mattie-
What a lovely tradition. We're about the same stage of life as you, but only one of our three kids is nearby. We do something of the same, with a couple grandkids - on a smaller scale - plus a cousin and his daughter every year.

Hope you have a warm and busy T-day this year!

Mike


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

What a great Grandma you are to lovingly prepare such a feast for your family, starting weeks in advance. I'm floored that you bake each family a little turkey to take home with them, how ever do you manage that in a home kitchen?! I wish my family was close by to share this holiday with them.


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## mattie405 (Dec 9, 2006)

I love doing it or else I sure wouldn't so that helps immensely! The grandkids love to cook and they are hungry to learn everything, their mother (our DIL) was not allowed near the stove when she lived in her parents home so consequently she never learned to put even basic meals together, I find that to be a horrid situation and she is embarassed by it, her mother loved to cook and wouldn't let her children take away from her own pleasure by being in her kitchen when meals were prepared........the kids were, however allowed to do all the clean up, our DIL always calls me for suggestions of things to try and she has come a really long way and also now enjoys being in her kitchen. Our kids on the other hand (3 boys) were all constantly in the kitchen with me, also in my sewing room, they can all run a house better than most young people of today, they cook almost anything and can sew clothing and drapes too, they are in other words pretty self sufficient, on several occasions their wives/girlfriends have thanked us for their having to do everything during their years at home with us.

Back to the dinners, I do a large 20-25 pound bird for us here at home and usually 2 12-15 pounders for the boys that live here in town, I make lots of extras of all the side veggies so it's just a matter of packaging up some for them. I roast our turkey overnight and when it is done I put the other two in to roast, my stove has 2 ovens and I also have a countertop convection oven so it all gets used all day. I do a lot of preprep of the veggies and such, sometimes I blanch them a week or two in advance, season them and then bag them with a Foodsaver and freeze, then they can just be heated in the bags in a large vessel of boiling water on the day. All the bread for the dressing gets baked weeks in advance and left to dry out, stock is made and containered and frozen. The only item that gets no prep done until the big day is the fresh mashed potatoes. The kitchen here is actually as small as my old apartment in NYC but my stove is bigger and I have some counter space and a spare room to store all the equiptment needed to cook for a crowd, if you have the right equiptment it's not such a big job, although if I tried to do it all in one day I would probably hang myself.

The kids really appreciate it and it keeps this old lady busy and happy, I hate to think of the day when I might not be able to do it, but the best of all is watching those grandchildrens eyes light up around the table and they are really a joy to cook for, they will literally eat anything I prepare and at their ages I find that wonderful, they are 8, 4, 3, 2. 

If there is any part of the meal that is lacking it is the desert area, I'm not big on sweets so I usually only make one or two simple cheesecakes and hubby makes a pumpkin and an apple pie and depending on how many we think are going to show up for the meal and how much prep I have done, there have been years when I didn't even make the cheesecakes, it all works out because everybody always asks what they can bring and I tell them something for desert if they insist.
All this just brought back a memory of my apartment in NYC when in 1991 I made dinner for the crew I was working with and when they all arrived we realized how really small my apartment was, they all made plates and proceeded to eat on the stairs in my walk up building, pretty soon all the tenants wandered in too and started to eat, I got to meet all my neighbors that day, it was one of the best days ever.:smiles:


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## oldschool1982 (Jun 27, 2006)

Mattie.....Heart and soul is definitely what you've got!!!!!! Personally those are the to most important ingredients to any menu/meal prep. Nice to see the effort to make it special for the family in attendance and those not. I'm sure the boy's that you have in town are happy campers!

By the way........still have that sheet of Teflon you sent me. Haven't had to replace the first repair as of yet but it hasn't seen the same usage as in years past. That was really a great thing and I can't thank you enough. So I can say from my own personal experience that the Hear and Soul comment is the real thing.:thumb:


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## mattie405 (Dec 9, 2006)

Thank you, OldSchool!!! I am so happy that the teflon worked out for you, was thinking about it the other day when I got out the 2 Foodsavers here and dusted them off to start getting ready for the holidays.

I love to feed those I love and even sometimes those I don't. I hate the thought of people being hungry or alone so our door is just about open to all who need a meal. Our oldest son lives back east with his wife and kids so he misses out on the free for all here with his brothers and us and we miss him terribly but they all do a conference call from here on the day just to harrass him so we always have lots of laughs with the ribbing that goes on among them.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday and may your table be full with good food and family and friends!eace:


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## epi (Apr 29, 2009)

Expecting some fish from the BVI next Sunday, so this Thanksgiving I'm including fish on my menu. 

eace:


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## cyberdoc (Nov 1, 2009)

Going really original eh? Yes, the Native Americans did bring fish to the original party. What fish are you thinking of?


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## clarkdavid (Dec 24, 2009)

The date and location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is a topic of modest contention. The traditional "first Thanksgiving" is the celebration that occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621. According to tradition, the Pilgrims hosted a delegation of Wampanoag led by a chieftain Massasoit. The Wampanoag were but one of a multitude of distinctive nations already living in areas subjected to colonization that eventually became the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Although organized violence, epidemics and rampant discrimination often characterized interactions between European colonists and peoples whose ancestors arrived thousands of years earlier, the peaceful harvest festival that became the Thanksgiving prototype creates a much more benevolent model for understanding relationships between the two groups—even if its history is idealized and perhaps in significant parts pure fiction.


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