Thanksgiving menu.... dishes.... recipes.....

Is it too early for a post like this.....

I have been sitting at my kitchen table this morning, thinking of what i will be preparing for our Thanksgiving meal.

I let everyone choose something that they want me to make, so that everyone could have a favorite at the table. So far i have:

Turkey and Turkey breast
Cream cheese & sour cream Mashed potatoes
mac n' cheese
Pepperjack Mac n' cheese
stuffing/dressing - don't know what type to make yet.... last year was cornbread but want to something different
Green beans with ham hocks
Sweet potato casserole
cranberry sauce - they love it out of a can, what can i do?!
gravy
rolls
apple and pumpkin pie

I might make a simple veggie tray for snacking throughout the day, but i dont like to mess with too much pre-dinner stuff.

So what is everyone else making/having?

i'll tell you about my current go-to side dish. i have recently taken to roasting everything. it's easy to do and comes out great everytime. i espescially love roasting carrots or broccoli. i read in cooks illustrated that steaming or boiling actually extracts flavor from an ingredient, while roasting it will concentrate the flavor. here's what i do: set the oven to 400. chop up the broccoli or carrots (or both) to 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces and toss them in a bowl with some olive oil and salt and pepper. then just spread out the veggies on a sheet pan and roast for about 10 minutes. take them out and toss them about with some tongs so that they can caremelize a little on all sides. put them back in for another ten minutes or so and they should be done. the carrots come out sweet like candy and the broccoli gets this really delicious almost nutty flavor to it. you can gussy up the broccoli if you want and sprinkle on some grated parm.

stuffing/dressing - don't know what type to make yet.... last year was cornbread but want to something different

Maybe Marsha L will chime here, I know she makes a "slider" stuffing.

Yes, I DO make White Castle Stuffing every Thanksgiving (I usually make a more traditional one, too - but I love people trying it and loving it and not knowing what it's made from until I tell them). It's really not much of a stretch, after all, it's just beef and onions and bread in the slider itself, which are fairly traditional. We love it a lot! If anyone wants the recipe, I'll be happy to post it.

We do my mother-in-law's stuffing every year--set out white bread all over the house to get stale, cut into squares, use drippings from the turkey, the whole old-fashioned deal. Never gets old.

I have a killer turkey recipe that I use every year as well--simplest one on the planet and it's great.

We're pretty traditional--real mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce out of a can, etc.

Omg, Marsha, PLEASE post the recipe!

We do my mother-in-law's stuffing every year--set out white bread all over the house to get stale, cut into squares, use drippings from the turkey, the whole old-fashioned deal. Never gets old.

I have a killer turkey recipe that I use every year as well--simplest one on the planet and it's great.

We're pretty traditional--real mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce out of a can, etc.

Charles, im sorry, your post made me laugh. I just pictured bread sitting in the living room and on the bedroom dressers "drying out".... lol

My older sister makes a really awesome and very easy traditional stuffing, lots of onions, carrots, celery, but i believe she uses bagged bread cubes. She is vegan now, so i am sure the recipe is different, very actually.

so what is your killer turkey recipe? i would love to hear it....

Please share your recipes guys......maybe not complete recipes if you dont want to do all of that. But just what you add to your dishes that make them special or traditional.

i really want to hear the slider stuffing recipe.

Since i started this i will give one of mine.....

My mashed potatoes are different at Thanksgiving. I add cream cheese and sour cream and bake them for a while. I also make some traditional ones, but my cream cheese/sour cream ones have become a tradition at our house. They are very, very rich.

When I lived in NJ and the NYT was the home newspaper, the food column ran a turkey recipe study. They tried 16 ways to cook a turkey, and the best one is the one I faithfully use.

You wash the turkey and salt/pepper it.
Turn the wings under the bird.
Put it in a roaster.
Oven at 500.
[the NYT recipe called for leaving it at 500 until it was done. I usually set off a smoke alarm if I try that]
After about an hour, or when house is filled with smoke, turn oven down to 425 or so.
When skin is brown, cover bird with foil and continue.

The very hot oven quickly browns the skin, holding in the moisture. No need to baste or do anything to the bird other than using the foil to keep it from burning.

I use an electronic thermometer eventually to make sure it doesn't cook one degree more than done.

It cooks in 1/2 to 2/3 the time of a regular turkey. Everyone who's had it declares it to be the moistest turkey breast they've ever had.

So, that's my secret, and completely simple recipe.

Last year, my family did an experiment. My mom and dad baked a turkey, and my husband fried one. The baked turkey sat, all alone, barely picked at, at the fried one was almost gone. So yummy. We're frying again this year.

The one thing we ALWAYS do is brine the turkey!!! Makes such a difference. I also make the mashed potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese. The beauty of these is that they can be made earlier in the week and reheated. My Mother also dried bread for dressing, but she did it the oven. Now I just use unseasoned stuffing cubes.

Sounds like you are going to have a great Thanksgiving!!!

I still roast my turkey but I cut an apple and a whole onion into quarters and stuff it into the birds cavity before baking. Sometimes add a celery stalk if I have one left over from making dressing. They steam during the cooking and help keep the bird moist and juicy.

I put the kitchen sink into my dressing. Onions, celery apples, raisins, and walnuts. My favorite Thanksgiving dish is a baked oyster casserole with crackers and cream. Can't remember the name of it but it's in The Joy of Cooking cook book.

i'll tell you about my current go-to side dish. i have recently taken to roasting everything.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Everyone loves them. Asparagus, same.

Carla- I love that oyster recipe- no one I hoilday with in town will eat it so I haven't made it since I've lived here.
I'm bringing the hors d'oeuvres this year. warm figs w/goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto, jumbo shrimp and lump crab with green goddess and cocktail sauce, and homemade cheese sticks. My favorite holiday- food and friends. How could that be bad?

I'm bringing the hors d'oeuvres this year. warm figs w/goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto, jumbo shrimp and lump crab with green goddess and cocktail sauce, and homemade cheese sticks.

Oh YUM!!