We have 20 odd people so 2 turkies for us. Since some of us like the bird baked, and some grilled and we have so many people... one for each of the cooking methods! we're doing potato leek soup and homemade cream of mushroom soup along with everything else. But then we put pur appetizers at noon, soup at four and hope we get to the pies by six!
Wow, I thought we had a lot of people (8 adults). This is the first year my brother-in-law will be cooking the turkey. He'll probably grill it, but the number one request we've all made is that he brine the thing first! Thanks to Alton.
Glad I'm not the only one that likes soup as a starter. It's really a way to tide us over until the turkey's done. Potato leek and cream of mushroom are also two of my favorites.
We have a multi family house and when the whole family sits down were 11, including the 4 kids. Add visiting in-laws and such and we push 20! We usually don't brine the trurkey we grill. We rub it in Lowry Salt (any seasoned salt would do) and let the charcoal work it's magic. The smoke rings it gets are amazing. Good luck with yours!
Since she usually has Thanksgiving dinner out of town these days, my mom does the same thing just so can have turkey leftovers afterwards. I also the like post-Thanksgiving turkey a la king, turkey salad, and turkey sandwiches a little more than the sliced turkey feast myself.
I'm single and have no family in the area, so I have gotten up my own tradition of buying the smallest turkey I can find (I bought my 10 lb. Butterball yesterday) and roast it for my confirmed bachelorette self.
To go with the turkey, I make stuffing (sometimes from scratch; sometimes from the Stove Top box), garlic mashed potatoes, canned jellied cranberry sauce, and green bean casserole. Sorry, purists, but I love the canned cranberry stuff and I can't possibly have a holiday without the green bean casserole. Since I'm single and don't need to please anyone but myself, all that matters is that I'm happy with the menu.
Having cooked Thanksgiving dinner for myself before, I know that I can count on plenty of post-Thanksgiving menu suggestions such as turkey sandwiches, turkey enchiladas, turkey stir-fry, turkey tacos, etc. ;)
This year I am shunning the easy Stove Top and am making a magnificent cornbread/apple/sausage/roasted pecan stuffing from scratch. The recipe alone is absolutely orgasmic. *g*
I've had to do Thanksgiving by myself a few times too. Last year I was in grad school in London, and they were sweet enough to do a Thanksgiving lunch for us American students. The meal itself was okay, and their French chefs made these pumpkin tarts that were to die for. Instead of whipped cream or Cool Whip, we poured heavy cream right on top. Mmm.
The one thing I really missed most last year was the green bean casserole. I don't know if other cultures can even understand why we love it, but we do. I love the Stove Top stuffing and canned cranberry sauce too. They're just so homey, I guess.
Your cornbread stuffing sounds really good. I don't know what stuffing we'll have this year, but I'm dying to make my own chestnut stuffing this weekend and sneaking it onto the table on Thanksgiving.
I was living in Japan one Thanksgiving and had an interesting experience: had to have the turkey imported, had to saw it in half while frozen just to cook it in two convection ovens (microwave-sized things) and use another to cook everything else. Used Emeril's recipe for sweet potatoes in orange cups and they were a hit (had to use Japanese yams though) and the pumpkin pie with Japanese green pumpkin was the best I've had it. Started cooking at 6am, didn't eat until 8pm, but definitely infused my host family and other cultures about our traditions. :)
Traditional Thanksgiving feast here. Different families converge and bring dishes. For about 30 people,we have roast turkey, fried turkey, and smoked turkey, along with a smoked pork loin and BBQ ribs. Appetizers are chili-cheese dip, cheese logs, homemade potato chips with blue cheese dressing (to die for!!), a layered taco-kinda dip with refried beans and sour cream, and a standard vegetable tray. For sides, we have cornbread dressing (made by me completely from scratch because I'm the only one who can make it like my grandma did!), giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, blackeyed peas/butterbeans/ladypeas (never know from one year to the next which one is being brought but the same person always brings a bean of some sort), spaghetti and cheese, spinach madeleine, sweet potato casserole with pecan praline topping (ultraYUM!), green bean casserole, au gratin potatoes, cranberry sauce, yeast rolls, deviled eggs, pecan pie, apple pie, red velvet cake, cheesecake, chocolate pie, lemon meringue pie, and sweet tea. Believe it or not,
( ... )
This year I'll be meeting my boyfriend's family in Louisiana (that's right, meeting his family!) so I'll be bringing my double-layer Pumkin Pie and Jalapeno Cranberry sauce.
Hope they're turkey is as good as my momma's! We use the brining method but change up the seasonings for variety. Mom and dad have also made a smoked turkey to die for!
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we're doing potato leek soup and homemade cream of mushroom soup along with everything else. But then we put pur appetizers at noon, soup at four and hope we get to the pies by six!
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Glad I'm not the only one that likes soup as a starter. It's really a way to tide us over until the turkey's done. Potato leek and cream of mushroom are also two of my favorites.
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We usually don't brine the trurkey we grill. We rub it in Lowry Salt (any seasoned salt would do) and let the charcoal work it's magic. The smoke rings it gets are amazing.
Good luck with yours!
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To go with the turkey, I make stuffing (sometimes from scratch; sometimes from the Stove Top box), garlic mashed potatoes, canned jellied cranberry sauce, and green bean casserole. Sorry, purists, but I love the canned cranberry stuff and I can't possibly have a holiday without the green bean casserole. Since I'm single and don't need to please anyone but myself, all that matters is that I'm happy with the menu.
Having cooked Thanksgiving dinner for myself before, I know that I can count on plenty of post-Thanksgiving menu suggestions such as turkey sandwiches, turkey enchiladas, turkey stir-fry, turkey tacos, etc. ;)
This year I am shunning the easy Stove Top and am making a magnificent cornbread/apple/sausage/roasted pecan stuffing from scratch. The recipe alone is absolutely orgasmic. *g*
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The one thing I really missed most last year was the green bean casserole. I don't know if other cultures can even understand why we love it, but we do. I love the Stove Top stuffing and canned cranberry sauce too. They're just so homey, I guess.
Your cornbread stuffing sounds really good. I don't know what stuffing we'll have this year, but I'm dying to make my own chestnut stuffing this weekend and sneaking it onto the table on Thanksgiving.
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Hope they're turkey is as good as my momma's! We use the brining method but change up the seasonings for variety. Mom and dad have also made a smoked turkey to die for!
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No, just a regular oven roasted turkey as far as I know.
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