Thanksgiving, Traditions and Leftovers

[DVC Sadie]

How important is it for you to have Thanksgiving leftovers after the main meal is consummed?

We use to go to my MILs house for Thanksgiving but I still cooked a traditional feast either on the following Saturday or Sunday so I could enjoy the flavors all over again.

I know for me that I need to have turkey leftovers for sandwiches and I love left over stuffing.

What consitutes a traditional Thanksgiving meal for your family? With all of the different cultures I know that everyones idea of Thanksgiving is different.

 

[Saphire]

I would love to have leftovers, but seldom have anything left except a little turkey and pie. I just bought a bunch of plastic containers so I can pack up doggie-bags for everyone. They all go home happy.

 

[liamsaunt]

There are always lots of leftovers from our Thanksgiving. Sometimes we roast two turkeys. My family tends to serve a pretty similar meal every year. Folks get antsy if I try and serve anything other than the classic "Mom-style" turkey. One year I did an herb-brined bird and I thought my Mom was going to have a fit!

For leftovers, everyone likes to have to have one turkey sandwich--on toast, with nothing but mayonaisse, salt, and pepper. We also usually have one "leftovers" meal, where everything is reheated. After that, if there's anything left, it gets turned into turkey pot pie or turkey soup and frozen for later. Here is this year's menu:

Roasted turkey with herbed bread stuffing and two kinds of gravy (with giblets and without)
homemade whole berry cranberry sauce
Mashed potatoes
Cauliflower-gruyere gratin
Roasted root vegetable medley: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, turnips, brussel sprouts, onions, garlic, carrots, and parsnips with rosemary and thyme
Pioneer Woman's brown sugar-rosemary roasted acorn squash wedges
Rolls (nobody eats these but we always make them anyway)
Green beans with almonds and brown butter

Pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie for dessert.

I have not figured out the wines yet, and I'll probably add another vegetable or two. We don't serve appetizers at Thanksgiving because we eat the meal early in the day--around 2 PM--and then have turkey sandwiches later in the evening.

 

[Rora]

I HATE Thanksgiving left overs. Maybe because I eat so much the day of Thanksgiving? Old turkey sounds gross and the only thing I'll eat that's been leftover is stuffing.

Thankfully, my DFiance is a garabage disposal and will eat anything!!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I love Thanksgiving leftovers. This year, for the second year in a row, I have to leave that day...after dinner...for a soccer tournament. This year I'm packing up leftovers to bring. I LOVE Thanksgiving dinner in a sandwich...turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. Yum.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We have the traditional turkey, stuffing, etc., and leftovers are a must! - MIL actually overestimates pounds on the turkey on purpose, to make sure there will be leftovers. We all come with our own Tupperware.

Our other traditions are:

cheese balls and crackers while watching the parade/game. It's a cross-tradition, as I make my Aunt's recipe for DH's family, but I know better than to show up without them!

and MIL always has the granddaughters over the day before (half-day at school) to make pies.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I would love to have leftovers, but seldom have anything left except a little turkey and pie. I just bought a bunch of plastic containers so I can pack up doggie-bags for everyone. They all go home happy.

Thats why I had to cook another Thanksgiving feast the following Saturday or Sunday. We had 27 people at my MILs house and our family of 3 got the short end of the stick. when it came to leftovers.

 

[DVC Sadie]

There are always lots of leftovers from our Thanksgiving. Sometimes we roast two turkeys. My family tends to serve a pretty similar meal every year. Folks get antsy if I try and serve anything other than the classic "Mom-style" turkey. One year I did an herb-brined bird and I thought my Mom was going to have a fit!

For leftovers, everyone likes to have to have one turkey sandwich--on toast, with nothing but mayonaisse, salt, and pepper. We also usually have one "leftovers" meal, where everything is reheated. After that, if there's anything left, it gets turned into turkey pot pie or turkey soup and frozen for later. Here is this year's menu:

Roasted turkey with herbed bread stuffing and two kinds of gravy (with giblets and without)
homemade whole berry cranberry sauce
Mashed potatoes
Cauliflower-gruyere gratin
Roasted root vegetable medley: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, turnips, brussel sprouts, onions, garlic, carrots, and parsnips with rosemary and thyme
Pioneer Woman's brown sugar-rosemary roasted acorn squash wedges
Rolls (nobody eats these but we always make them anyway)
Green beans with almonds and brown butter

Pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie for dessert.

I have not figured out the wines yet, and I'll probably add another vegetable or two. We don't serve appetizers at Thanksgiving because we eat the meal early in the day--around 2 PM--and then have turkey sandwiches later in the evening.

Oh yumm. Your spread sounds delicous.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I love Thanksgiving leftovers. This year, for the second year in a row, I have to leave that day...after dinner...for a soccer tournament. This year I'm packing up leftovers to bring. I LOVE Thanksgiving dinner in a sandwich...turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. Yum.

My mother ate her sandwiches the same as you! I love my turkey, sweet pickles and miracle whip sandwich.

 

[NMAmy]

If we eat Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's, I always cook a pared down version of the Thanksgiving meal on Friday so we can have leftovers, as well. It's always good for me to have a spare turkey ready to go since my sister lives 1.5 hours away and sometimes we have bad travelling weather and stay home.

Whether the meal is at my house or my sister's, one of us always makes stuffed grape leaves as well as turkey. My dad used to make it for us. DD told me yesterday that she didn't care where we ate Thanksgiving dinner as long as she got grape leaves with it.

 

[princess momma]

I've never hosted Thanksgiving, so we never have leftovers. I think it would be kind of weird to show up with my own Tupperware for leftovers. I'm not sure how that would go over.

I just made a turkey dinner yesterday - turkey breast, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, veggies, cranberries, rolls, and pie. Good stuff. Lots of leftovers.

 

[minniebeth]

I think I probably post this each year, and maybe one year, I'll "build a bridge and get over it" like my DD tells me but I am not a turkey/traditional Thanksgiving food lover, so I'd be happy without the leftovers. My birthday is usually very close to and sometimes the day after Thanksgiving and we usually have leftovers. I would do it different, but we usually travel to family over Thanksgiving.

 

[DVC Sadie]

We have the traditional turkey, stuffing, etc., and leftovers are a must! - MIL actually overestimates pounds on the turkey on purpose, to make sure there will be leftovers. We all come with our own Tupperware.

Our other traditions are:

cheese balls and crackers while watching the parade/game. It's a cross-tradition, as I make my Aunt's recipe for DH's family, but I know better than to show up without them!

and MIL always has the granddaughters over the day before (half-day at school) to make pies.

I use to go to my MILs early to both prep (I actually had to start my prep the day before) and cook the day of Thanksgiving. With so many people we had to have 2 full turkeys, 1 turkey breast and a big Honeybaked ham to feed the hoards.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

It used to be important but now I just don't care anymore. I will take some leftovers home but not a ton.

If we have too much it ends up in the garbage. We just don't eat it up like we used to.

 

[DVC Sadie]

If we eat Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's, I always cook a pared down version of the Thanksgiving meal on Friday so we can have leftovers, as well. It's always good for me to have a spare turkey ready to go since my sister lives 1.5 hours away and sometimes we have bad travelling weather and stay home.

Whether the meal is at my house or my sister's, one of us always makes stuffed grape leaves as well as turkey. My dad used to make it for us. DD told me yesterday that she didn't care where we ate Thanksgiving dinner as long as she got grape leaves with it.

Sounds wonderful, Please share information. What is stuffed grape leaves and what does it taste like? Before anyone says it, yeah, it tastes like grape leaves.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I think I probably post this each year, and maybe one year, I'll "build a bridge and get over it" like my DD tells me but I am not a turkey/traditional Thanksgiving food lover, so I'd be happy without the leftovers. My birthday is usually very close to and sometimes the day after Thanksgiving and we usually have leftovers. I would do it different, but we usually travel to family over Thanksgiving.

Nothing wrong with not liking a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

My best friend growing up was Italian and they had a wonderful meal of lasagna, antipasta, crab&shrimp linguini, etc...... They did not miss not having a turkey.

Bring something you enjoy eating to Thanksgiving dinner, who knows it may become a tradition.

 

[NMAmy]

Sounds wonderful, Please share information. What is stuffed grape leaves and what does it taste like? Before anyone says it, yeah, it tastes like grape leaves.

It's a Middle Eastern dish. The filling is ground lamb and long grain rice. The sauce in which they're cooked can be different varieties but my family prefers the tomato sauce with spices (cinnamon,etc) that my dad used to make. He learned how from a friend's mother who was Syrian.

You can also get them in Greek restaurants and they're called dolmades but they don't have the tomato sauce.

It's kind of like stuffed cabbage rolls but the grape leaves have a better taste, IMO.

They're kind of labor intensive to make so we only have them at holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and birthday meals.

 

[DVC Sadie]

It's a Middle Eastern dish. The filling is ground lamb and long grain rice. The sauce in which they're cooked can be different varieties but my family prefers the tomato sauce with spices (cinnamon,etc) that my dad used to make. He learned how from a friend's mother who was Syrian.

You can also get them in Greek restaurants and they're called dolmades but they don't have the tomato sauce.

It's kind of like stuffed cabbage rolls but the grape leaves have a better taste, IMO.

They're kind of labor intensive to make so we only have them at holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and birthday meals.

Thanks for the history and lesson on dolmades (stuffed grape leaves). They sound wonderful and now I'll have to go somewhere to try it for myself.

 

[maslex]

We usually have T-day somewhere besides our house so there's usually no leftovers. But this year, T-day is at my house and the inlaws are coming over.

MIL is doing the turkey, bread stuffing and turnips
SIL is doing the green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, gravy
Aunt-in-law is doing the meat stuffing and corn
I'm doing the mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, key lime pie, lemon merangue pie, chocolate cream pie and pumpkin pie crunch

I've also been instructed by the DH to make an extra turkey so we have major leftovers. LOL He'd eat turkey everyday if you'd let him. But I'll make a turkey soup, maybe a potpie and then just heat up some leftovers for another dinner. My favorite was to eat leftovers is like a jumble of everything in one pan. Kind of like a goulash I guess....I take turkey, potatoes, stuffing, turnips, a little bit of gravy and throw it in a pan with a bit of butter and fry it all up together. Oh man, I can't wait......MMMMMM

 

[luvsJack]

Thats why I had to cook another Thanksgiving feast the following Saturday or Sunday. We had 27 people at my MILs house and our family of 3 got the short end of the stick. when it came to leftovers.

I cook a turkey, dressing and a couple of other of our favorite things the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, while I am cooking my contribution to whomever's meal we are attending on Thursday, Not for supper that night but to have for the weekend while I am in and out from shopping. Plus, its our tradition to eat hot turkey sandwichs for supper Thanksgiving night while we watch our first Christmas movie of the season.

So, I guess I sort of cook a meal just to have "leftovers".