Gatlinburg for Tgiving any meal ideas?

[jacksmom]

Gatlinburg for T giving any ideas for meals? We will be in a cabin but have 10+ to make T giving dinner for! Any ideas to make it easier?? Also any quick and easy meal ideas for the other 4 nights appreciated! I just don't want to spend my whole trip in the,itchen but eating out for dinners is not an option! Anyone else go for Tgiving? Would love any tips or advise??

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Well, not Gatlinburg specific, but we have been camping on Thanksgiving in the past, made turkey and stuffing, pumpkin pie in dutch ovens...we bought a precooked turkey at the store, carved it into large chunks (at home before leaving), mixed the dressing, poured it into the dutch oven, layered the turkey on top (wrapped the drum sticks in foils and buried in the coals) covered and put coals on top, mixed the pumpkin pie into a smaller oven, put on top of that and cooked for an hour, rotating. Amazingly good.

 

[tina.tina]

My mom always made her stuff on Tuesday and we drove 4 hours away on Wednesday for dinner at my Grandma's on Thursday. So, pre-make what you can.

For a couple easy meals, you could do frozen lasagna, bagged salad, and garlic bread one night and burgers/fries another.

 

[bas71873]

I was going to say lasagna too (make ahead and freeze it). Or spaghetti. That's easy too if you make the sauce ahead.

Are you driving? Do you have and can you take your crock pot? There are TONS of make ahead frozen crockpot meals that you prep ahead, freeze and then throw in the crock in the morning - fajitas, white chicken chili (regular chili), cheesy chicken casserole (I just made this last week and it was delish).

Tacos are also easy and feed a crowd. Do your meat ahead of time and freeze it.

For Thanksgiving, if you want to stick with a traditional meal, I guess I'd still do my turkey & stuffing as I usually do (in a reynold's oven bag), Or, if you want to get real easy, just do turkey breasts and stove top stuffing. I premake my mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, so you can premake those in throw away pans, just do corn (no fancy casseroles that have to put together), beans or cooked carrots, rolls, canned cranberry sauce and take Mrs. Smith's frozen pies.

Are others helping with this or are you doing all the food? I think I'd assign each family a night to prep dinner for the crowd.

 

[Lees3rwe]

We have bought the Jenny-O precooked whole turkeys before. You just heat them up in the bag and it was really good!

I would do that and a ham and just some simple sides and a GOOD dessert!
Being with your family is what is most important!
I love Gatlinburg... I got married at the Sugarland Wedding Chapel on the main strip 16 years ago! <3

For the other nights, I would do something like hotdogs and hamburgers (I'm sure your cabin has a grill) with chips and salad, Tacos/Nachos, and lasagna/spaghetti

You are going to have a blast!

 

[3boymthr]

One thing about doing a Turkey for Thanksgiving - if you buy a large one you'll have meals for the next couple of days handled - left overs are always popular (plus you could do Pilgrim sandwiches, turkey soup, etc.)

 

[jacksmom]

Thanks for the great ideas! We are driving so now I am thinking about taking the crockpot! Just wondering if anyone has purchased a Thanksgiving meal to go in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge??

 

[Kae]

i would like to add that we rented a cabin for Easter one year & next time I would take a couple of good knifes & skillet.

Kae

 

[akcire]

I was just there a couple weeks ago. There are 2 Krogers in town so you can look on their website.

The bakery looked decent.

Not sure if any resturants had that type of to go food.

I second the suggestion for skillet and knifes. We stayed in a nice cabin. The kitchen items were a bit beat and the skillets had been ruined by using on grills

 

[Katlyn]

Applewood Farmhouse has a meal to go but feeding ten might be a problem with a 12lb turkey. I wish I was going to be there at Thanksgiving, I would sure order it. https://www.facebook.com/1193762833...19376283309/10152403080038310/?type=1&theater

 

[TwoMisfits]

To keep dessert easy, make ice cream pies.

I've got 2 go-to's for Thanksgiving - the most "traditional" is my pumpkin pie ice cream pie. Grab a graham cracker pie shell, a can of pumpkin pie filling (not plain pumpkin), a pint of vanilla ice cream (super-premium is super-creamy, but both are okay) and some jarred caramel sauce. Stir together the softened vanilla ice cream and a few scoops of pie filling to taste (you can easily make 2 pies or more with 1 can of the filling - just make sure you get plenty of ice cream). You can either put a light layer of caramel on the bottom of the crust or mix it into the ice cream. Once done, put the ice cream mix back in the pie to freeze til you need it - sit out about 5 minutes before slicing - serve by drizzling with a little extra caramel and some whipped cream.

VERY impressive and takes about 5 minutes to make...

 

[tinatark]

Grocery stores here - Kroger, Food City, Wal Mart. I would choose Kroger over Food City and for the best prices, Wal Mart. There's a Popeye's Chicken here. I think they make a fried turkey. Also the Pottery House cafe (Old Mill Plaza) sells many alacarte items great for Thanksgiving.

 

[disney212]

We did Gatlinburg 3 Thanksgivings ago. I was recovering from lung surgery and there was a crowd of us so we ordered 2 of the precooked turkey dinners from Kroger. If I am correct each had a whole turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, choice of veggie, dressing (it was separate and not in the bird), rolls and pumpkin pie. We made a couple extra sides and it was good. We did heat up one of the birds on the grill due to one oven. We cooked out one meal and ate out a few times.

 

[Disney Dynamite]

We did Gatlinburg 3 Thanksgivings ago. I was recovering from lung surgery and there was a crowd of us so we ordered 2 of the precooked turkey dinners from Kroger. If I am correct each had a whole turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, choice of veggie, dressing (it was separate and not in the bird), rolls and pumpkin pie. We made a couple extra sides and it was good. We did heat up one of the birds on the grill due to one oven. We cooked out one meal and ate out a few times.

I second the Thanksgiving dinner from Kroger. They offer a few different package options for various party sizes. I checked them out last year, and if I remember correctly, they were pretty reasonably priced as well.

If you do happen to eat out at all during your trip, I love the Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge. However, it's SO MUCH food. I'd recommend going at lunch or sharing an entrée at dinner. (For an extra $7 at dinner, you can share a meat, and they'll bring out an extra salad, chowder, fritters, and dessert. This isn't advertised on their menu, so you have to ask for it.)