What is must on your Thanksgiving table?

[bcla]

I suppose on of the more interesting things I've experienced was being invited to a Chinese-American family's Thanksgiving. Besides traditional Chinese food, they roasted a turkey stuffed with sticky rice. The rice stuffing included chestnuts, pork, and ****ake mushrooms.

Did that get censored? I actually spelled it wrong. It's "shiitake".

Here's a variation on it for a roast chicken:

http://www.pigpigscorner.com/2010/01/roast-chicken-with-glutinous-rice.html

 

[LilyWDW]

This is the reason I end up making my own Thanksgiving meal the week after the actual holiday. We go out to eat on Thanksgiving and I usually skip the turkey (get roast beef instead or salmon), but then on the Monday after I will be making a full turkey dinner. So for me it is:

Turkey and Gravy
Stuffing (my Grandma Da's recipe)
Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Peanut Butter Pie

Then I eat off of it for like a week.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

All of the above plus spiced apples that come in the jar. The red ones, not the green ones, and the rings not the whole apples.

 

[ols386]

Just the standard: turkey, potatoes, stuffing, yams, pumpkin pie.

 

[Cinnabunny]

Please describe turkey and bacon, sausage meatball and bread sauce. I'm intrigued!!

Turkey and bacon - a full turkey cooked in the oven, but with a lattice of bacon cooked over the top of the breast. It goes all crispy. It serves the dual purpose of protecting the delicate breast meat (kinda) and providing tasty flavour. Its a nice, salty contract to the sometimes fairly bland turkey meat.

Sausage meatballs - grandma's recipe (not sure where she got them from). Pork sausage meat (the smooth kind that comes in a tube type thing, not minced meat) is mixed with soft breadcrumbs, egg, onion and herbs and formed into golfball-sized balls by hand, then baked in the oven for half an hour (usually while the turkey is resting). We fight over these so much Gran has to ration them out when she's serving up the turkey. I've never known anyone else outside the family to make them.

Breadsauce - I think this is traditionally breadcrumbs cooked in seasoned milk until a thick sauce happens. I've never tried homemade bread sauce, so don't know if I like it, and instead go for the dried package mix. Should be thick, creamy and steaming hot. I think this is a very British sauce, so wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't exist in the US. I know plenty of people over here that have never heard of it.

 

[ronandannette]

Breadsauce - I think this is traditionally breadcrumbs cooked in seasoned milk until a thick sauce happens. I've never tried homemade bread sauce, so don't know if I like it, and instead go for the dried package mix. Should be thick, creamy and steaming hot. I think this is a very British sauce, so wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't exist in the US. I know plenty of people over here that have never heard of it.

Thanks - very interesting! What would you put this kind of sauce on? From you description the closest comparison I'm familiar with would be bechemel, using flour instead of bread, but it's pretty bland and most often used as a base for other sauces...

 

[kmb584]

Turkey ... except yesterday my grandmother announced she's making a ham instead. I think she's losing her mind.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Turkey. And if I never see green bean casserole again, it'll be too soon. FIL feels even stronger about it than me LOL

We helped serve at a seniors' brunch over the weekend and they had green bean casserole. They used canned beans, and it was so very yucky. Frozen beans taste so much better.

 

[Kitty 34]

Turkey and now Spiral ham since my middle son's wife is allergic to turkey.

 

[VandVsmama]

honey-brined turkey
lingonberry sauce
cranberry sauce - the horrible stuff that comes in a can. I LOVE IT!
Pepperidge Farms stuffing - the kind that comes in the blue bag
gravy - made from the pan drippings from the brined turkey. The gravy is OUT OF THIS WORLD!
apple pie w/vanilla ice cream

honestly, I don't really care if there's a vegetable. My DH loves mashed potatoes, but I'd rather just have 2 servings of stuffing instead. LOL

 

[Cinnabunny]

Thanks - very interesting! What would you put this kind of sauce on? From you description the closest comparison I'm familiar with would be bechemel, using flour instead of bread, but it's pretty bland and most often used as a base for other sauces...

Its mainly used as an accompaniment to poultry. Some people make it a bit thinner, like a gravy to go over the meant, but I prefer it a bit thicker. Kind of how cranberry sauce is used.

It's not hugely flavourful, but you're supposed to cook an onion and stuff in the milk first which adds a savoury flavour before adding the bread. I can see how it would seem similar to béchamel, but its a bit....more. The bread adds something to it. It's mild, almost sweet.
It is REALLY good spread on leftover sandwiches.

 

[crazelion]

This year I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family:
Cajun Turkey
gravy
potato salad
mashed potatoes
sweet potato casserole
rolls
cornbread dressing

 

[ronandannette]

Its mainly used as an accompaniment to poultry. Some people make it a bit thinner, like a gravy to go over the meant, but I prefer it a bit thicker. Kind of how cranberry sauce is used.

It's not hugely flavourful, but you're supposed to cook an onion and stuff in the milk first which adds a savoury flavour before adding the bread. I can see how it would seem similar to béchamel, but its a bit....more. The bread adds something to it. It's mild, almost sweet.
It is REALLY good spread on leftover sandwiches.

Thanks again for describing it - if only so I know what to avoid. It doesn't actually sound like it would be to my taste but then, I understand being partial to things Granny made - you can taste the love in it!