What’s on your Thanksgiving menu?

[Midway]

I’ll wet brine and smoke a turkey, make garlic mashed potatoes, Candied Yams, and the herb, butter, celery, onion, bread etc. dressing our family has stuffed our turkey’s with before I started smoking them. My wife will prepare vegetables and rolls or bread and guests will bring salad and desert. One of my sisters and my wife usually collaborate on making gravy.

[bordercollie]

I plan on having a brined turkey smoked on the HB . I usually put just a dash of liquid smoke in the salt pepper and gp brine. Last year it was moist and tender but I'll definitely wrap the legs after a bit so they won't overcook.
I'm also thinking about some smoked mac and cheese. We'll have pecan pies and another undecided- probably sweet potato. Green beans and homemade rolls too, Probably a sweet potato( the small kind grown here in MS. ). I've made the rolls ahead before and froze them. I may do that again if the cows don't cooperate. Hopefully won't have a breach delivery or such !

[ecowper]

This year will be small …. My cousin, who lives in Ocean Shores, WA. And his son, who is in the Coast Guard and stationed at Port Angeles, WA. Plus Stacy and I. The menu is

Appetizer - Roma caprese boats (see pic)

Smoked Spatchcocked Turkey - My own recipe, but riffed on Meathead’s as a starting point.
Smashed Potatoes - My own recipe I’ve worked out over the years: Yukon Gold potatoes, salt, butter, cream and there must be some lumps left
Skillet Stuffing (DeBuyer recipe)
Smoked Turkey Gravy
Haricots Verts Amandine
Glazed Carrots with Olives (A Jacques Pepin recipe)
Boozy cranberry sauce
Cornichons
Magnum of Sparkman Cellars Holler … a Cab Sauvignon from Columbia Valley

Dessert - Persimmon Cookies
Dessert - Apple Pie

also going to craft a holiday cocktail, not sure what that will be yet. Consulting David Lebovitz’s “Drinking French” as a starting point.`

[Panhead John]

I haven’t decided on a menu yet, but I thought I’d share some of my past Thanksgiving cooks with y’all. If you need any cooking tips, feel free to PM me.

https://youtube.com/shorts/3C-izaSW3Jk?si=yQBRxxXAJIRqBkWu

[Donw]

I still get shivers remembering the Thanksgiving late morning when our volunteer fire company’s siren sounded because someone had set their deck on fire trying to fry a turkey. This repeated on and on as we responded to more deck and patio fire, and burns, all related to turkey frying. Then we got the house fire call due to turkey frying in the garage. I finally got to eat dinner after 10 PM. That is also the day I realized that most people have no common sense.

[Carolyn]

My nephew always wants fried turkey. I don't like turkey enough to bother with gallons of oil and the risk of 3rd degree burns.

[SheilaAnn]

Carolyn if breaking down the bird is an option, fry up just one wing!

[Purc]

Years ago, we decided to let our local upscale grocery store on Signal Mtn, TN supply our Thanksgiving meal with a fresh fried turkey with all the sides as per their ads. Both sons were in college with 4.5 to 5 hour drives to get home. I picked up the meal and our upscale butchers fried the turkey with the plastic bag filled with the neck, liver, etc still inside the turkey. The sides were very frozen commercially made items. Our worst meal ever. Both sons said we drove home for this....? We now can laugh about this meal.

This year I'll be with pasmom for Thanksgiving and we will have a stuffed roasted turkey with sides, maybe. Her DIL is expecting their first child due around Thanksgiving, so our meal could be delayed.

[jfmorris]

Our kids had schedules that forced our family T-day to be Friday. So on Thursday we are going to my sister-in-laws. I'm waiting word on whether I can supply a rotisserie cooked turkey to the Thursday crowd over there. Otherwise, the only food I will personally be involved in is a single rotisserie turkey on Friday. And it was already at the bottom of my deep freeze, as I bought two 20 pounders last year, and forgot about one until this week. Pulled out to start the long thaw in the garage fridge this morning...

Yvonne always makes sides like:

• Dressing
• Gravy
• Rice Consumme (sp?)
• Green been casserole
• Sweet Potato casserole
• Cranberry crisp something. Not sure what it is called, but to ME it is a dessert, not a side.

She is NOT a dessert maker, aside from that dish with the cranberries and pecans, or a bread maker. The kids will bring those and other sides on Friday.

[MarkN]

Still in the planning stages but so far:

Hang a Turkey in the PBC - Me (with continuous supply of hot toddies due to expected high of 36⁰F)
Everything else delegated out
Cornbread - "The Mrs."
Classic Bread Stuffing w/ sausage - Chef TBD (likely #1 son)
Cranberry Sauce from a can - #3 son (it's a family tradition to hear the slurping noise as it slides out of the can)
Real Cranberry Sauce - #2 son and wife
Slow Cooker Garlic and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes - #2 son and wife
Cauliflower Gratin - Daughter
2nd Vegetable - TBD with Chef TBD (likely #3 son)
Apple Pie - Daughter
Pumpkin Pie - TBD (likely Costco)

[yakima]

Years ago, my father convinced Mom to do a fried turkey. It remains a miracle that we all survived.
Dad was a Senator, Nebraska legislator. Every fall there was a turkey hunting trip, Senators and lobbyists. Dad got a wild turkey, declared we would have it for Thanksgiving. We were visiting from Washington state.
So an old fashioned pressure cooker was put on the gas stove top, filled with lots of oil. Dad had learned about this from a guy from Missouri. This was long before ubiquitous turkey fryers.

So, we fried that scrawny bird. Mom, muttering in the background, you boys better be careful.
It was excellent. Did not burn the 1894 house down.
Subsequently, I bought a frying rig, did numerous turkeys on a sheet of plywood in yard.
No more. Too dangerous. Pain in the butt clean-up.

[tamidw]

At this moment, here is our menu. Other snacks and sides may be brought that I am unaware of right now.

Brisket
Ham - just in case we need more meat
Mash potatoes & Gravy
Green beans & bacon
Deviled eggs
Loaded cauliflower
Baked beans
Brussels sprouts
Olives

Apple pie
Pumpkin pie (Costco)
Pecan praline cheesecake(?)

[Michael_in_TX]

My sister cooks and teaches cooking for a living. I will never understand why she always wants to do Thanksgiving, but here is our menu as of tonight:



She may be doing Pavo Salvadoreño this year with the turkey legs and thighs. This is a traditional way of doing turkey around Christmastime in El Salvador (her husband is Salvadoran). It is quite different than the United States.....it has carrots, tomatoes, garlic, capers, dijon mustard, olives....it's a really interesting dish.

[Michael_in_TX]

(Also, my sister is getting her money's worth out of that notepad lol.)

[klflowers]

Next year I'm inviting me and Panhead John to your house

[klflowers]

I am making banana pudding and a couple chuckies. Probably burnt ends just for something different - they have never had them. My daughter/SIL and the grands are coming to my sisters house in Conyers this year and she volunteered to do the turkey - she likes to cook. My sister is doing greens and my niece is making mac and cheese. My cousin from Nashville is showing up with a ham. Somebody is making a sweet potato pie I think.

[Panhead John]

What time homie?

[klflowers]

Panhead John, come on down! Or up in your case

[Johnny Booth]

Carol and me do a traditional Thanksgiving every year. We used to have all day/night bashes with 10-15 fiends and family. We moved, and several people have passed on. The past 5 years have been just us. This year my MIL will join us.
Carol runs the show, with my meager contributions below.

Publix turkey
Italian sausage dressing - standard stuff, Pepperidge farm stuffing, Johnsonville Italian sausage, celery etc.
roasted pecans/apples/squash thing - I do the prep
grilled bacon-wrapped green beans - my thing. homemade bacon and fresh green beans.
mashed taters. Carol gets the pre-cut frozen potatoes from Trader Joe’s. Saves a lot of time and effort.
homemade cranberry sauce - water/sugar, boiled, reduced, garnished with Orange rind

Dessert is new this year. No pies.
We will try a homemade apple, cinnamon, with brown sugar, candied bacon topping thing on homemade ice cream in little baked ice cream cone cups. (Cups are store-bought).

Don’t forget to say Thanks. 😎

[Pobeque]

Spatchcocked bird cooked on the kettle
Sausage stuffing with fennel and apples
sweet potato casserole with marshmallows
pomme puree
brussels with shallots and balsamic
homemade parker house rolls
cranberry sauce (cinnamon, orange, vanilla bean)
Gravy (duh)

[Draznnl]

It’s just the two of us this year, so nothing big and fancy. I’m going to smoke a turkey breast and make some dressing. My wife is in charge of the mashed taters and the crispy green beans. And Publix is handling the pumpkin and pecan pies.

[LA Pork Butt]

That’s a workable plan!

[Jfrosty27]

Well we decided to just punt on the whole thing. We’re alone this year, and the Packers/Lions game is at noon so we (read I) don’t want to be busy cooking during the game, so we ordered a fully prepared meal from a local grocery store. It’s a higher quality store in general but it will probably still suck. I would be ok with a ham sandwich from fixings already in our fridge. But the wifey wants a turkey dinner so we ended up here. I’ll report on how things turned out. 🤷♂️😵💫

[LA Pork Butt]

You can focus on what is importantly - the game!