Thanksgiving Cooking

My search thingie is on the fritz right now, so if there is a thread like this, I do apologize. I don't think there is.

Thanksgiving is this week. Some people have signature dishes that they cook every year, and some decide to experiment with new things.

Me personally, I am a grilling natural. Steaks, barbeque, vegetables, you name it, I can grill it. This year, I'm making steaks and grilled zucchini like I always do. But I'm learning some new things: my parents are coming to visit me for Thanksgiving, and so is the rest of my family. My dad has promised to teach me the fine art of grilling asparagus, and steak shishkabobs with tomatos, onions, and bell peppers.

Every year, my signature dish is candied carrots, which I make with Hawaiian cane sugar.

As far as baking is concerned, I learned how to make two signature desserts. Upside-down pineapple crown cake, and my Mudslide Cake.

Anyone have dishes that they like to cook for Thanksgiving, or are going to try?

My aunt makes THE most amazing pies ever. Pumpkin and chocolate pecan. :drool: Unfortunately she's really busy with school this year, so she won't be making any, but hopefully for Christmas.

We always have a green bean casserole, with the french fried onions and everything. One year at Thanksgiving, the dish was sitting in front of my brother, who had never eaten it before. He wanted to try one of the onions off the top, but we hadn't said grace yet. My grandma, who was next to him, thought he really liked them, so when the meal came, she kept giving him more. Then, for the next few years, at every birthday and Christmas, my grandma got him a can of french fried onions. He never really liked them all that much, but he couldn't tell her, so he just took the onions. We may stil lhave a can floating around. :lol:

Really? I never could get pies to come out right...

I don't really cook for Thanksgiving, but I had a Thanksgiving dinner last night and my friend made this candied squash thing. Really really sweatened squash with a layer of melted marshmellow on top. So good.

That sounds good, but I've never been much of a fan of putting marshmallows on top of what I cook. For some odd reason, it never turns out right.

Oh, yeah, sweet potato casserole is another. I've never been to fond of it, but it does smell amazing.

So what is everyone's favorite Thanksgiving food?? Apart from dessert, mine would be mashed potatoes. I know, I can get them whenever, but still, I love them. My cousin would never eat them, because he thought he didn't like them, but I convinced him to try them one year by telling him the were just the inside of french fries. Now he loves them!

Every year for Thanksgiving since I was 12, I've been in charge of the homemade cranberry sauce. :) This year my cousin (an amazing cook) has challenged me to a cranberry sauce cook-off. I'm SO going to kick his butt! :D

My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner (and one of the best Utahn foods around): ...Funeral Potatoes!!! :drool: :drool: I can't even begin to describe the deliciousness of them. My friend and her family had never had them before they came to Utah, and they tried some at a family gathering...now they come around every holiday just for them! :lol:

I made my first pumpkin pie last week, and it turned out really good, so I might make another.

I'm having three Thanksgivings this year...one was 2 weeks ago, one is on Thanksgiving with the whole gang, and the third is just immediate family with my friend and her mom and brother. :) We're going to need fat-pants by the end of it! :rotfl:

As a Thanksgiving tradition, each family makes something and brings it to the dinner. My mom is always in charge of banana pudding. :drool: The only time I ever like anything involving bananas!!

Now I'm thinking of the Gilmore Grils episode where they go to 4 Thanksgiving dinners, so they decide to skip the rolls. :lol: I love the part at Sookie's house.

I've never had funeral potatoes before. Unless I have and just didn't realize it. What are they exactly??

Thanksgiving is a gastronomical family affair here in southern Louisiana. We always have fried turkey, fried turkey necks, baked ham, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, broccoli and rice casserole, deviled eggs, potato salad, carrot salad, pea salad, rolls and for dessert is my mother-in-law's famous Mississippi Mud. Unfortunately, I got a little crazy last year and made some Mississippi Mud at my house and now my husband thinks that it is MANDATORY that I do it every year. :grumble: You should have heard the whining when I told him that I was going to leave the Miss. Mud making to his mother this year. :upset: You'd have thought that it would be the end of Thanksgiving as we know it although he only knew it that way once. :lol: Silly me [slaps forehead!!!

Now I'm thinking of the Gilmore Grils episode where they go to 4 Thanksgiving dinners, so they decide to skip the rolls. :lol: I love the part at Sookie's house.

I've never had funeral potatoes before. Unless I have and just didn't realize it. What are they exactly??

They're sort of like a potato casserole. They'll show up at lots of family-type events in Utah: Wedding showers, family parties, birthdays, and you guessed it, funerals. There are hundreds of variations, but most generally include

hashbrown cut potatoes
diced onions
cream of chicken soup
sour cream
cheddar cheese

:drool: :drool: :drool:

That's so funny, I thought of the same Gilmore Girl's moment. :rotfl: Believe me, we spaced ours out enough that no rolls will be skipped. ;)

Thanksgiving is a gastronomical family affair here in southern Louisiana. We always have fried turkey, fried turkey necks, baked ham, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, broccoli and rice casserole, deviled eggs, potato salad, carrot salad, pea salad, rolls and for dessert is my mother-in-law's famous Mississippi Mud. Unfortunately, I got a little crazy last year and made some Mississippi Mud at my house and now my husband thinks that it is MANDATORY that I do it every year. :grumble: You should have heard the whining when I told him that I was going to leave the Miss. Mud making to his mother this year. :upset: You'd have thought that it would be the end of Thanksgiving as we know it although he only knew it that way once. :lol: Silly me [slaps forehead!!!

:rotfl: I think I'd throw a fit too. You know, ♫ One is the loneliest number ♫ so why not have two :drool:

I'm deep frying a turkey this year too (for the first time ever). My uncle's roasting a back-up turkey too, so if all goes well, we'll have Thanksgiving leftovers well into... well, they probably won't last past the weekend. My brother and I are fortunate in that most of the family has gone vegetarian :lol:

You know what I love about living close to my family? I don't have to do the turkey. I have trouble handling raw meat, anyway, but pulling the stuff from the inside of the turkey...no, thank you. I'm very happy doing mashed potatoes and bringing a few pies.
I am getting a little more adventurous on the pies this year, though. Instead of buying them from the freezer section, I'm going to buy graham cracker crust and use some of the canned pumpkin I got on sale a year ago. :D I found a really yummy-looking recipe in Kraft Food and Family called Pumpkin Turtle Pie that involves nuts and caramel.

That sounds great, Pegasus! Let us know how it turns out. :)

For a super simple Pumpkin Pie recipe, (seriously simple, even I didn't mess it up!) use the recipe on the back of the Libby's brand of raw pumpkin. My little sis ate the whole pie herself! (Her eating it at all is about the highest honor you can get around my house...she's pretty finicky sometimes.)

On the subject of leftovers, Yellowpoofball, my family always has to cook up a turkey breast a day or two after Thanksgiving. My dad's friend is a monk at the local monastery, and he likes to come visit us a day or two after Thanksgiving and eat a Turkey sandwich. :)

That sounds great, Pegasus! Let us know how it turns out. :)

For a super simple Pumpkin Pie recipe, (seriously simple, even I didn't mess it up!) use the recipe on the back of the Libby's brand of raw pumpkin. My little sis ate the whole pie herself! (Her eating it at all is about the highest honor you can get around my house...she's pretty finicky sometimes.)

On the subject of leftovers, Yellowpoofball, my family always has to cook up a turkey breast a day or two after Thanksgiving. My dad's friend is a monk at the local monastery, and he likes to come visit us a day or two after Thanksgiving and eat a Turkey sandwich. :)

:rotfl: that's how the family views me too! That's the only reason why a bunch of vegetarians will still make me a turkey ever year :lol:

It's funny, Thanksgiving and the few days after when we still have turkey are the only times I feel "right" eating massive amounts of turkey. I think that's why I like to have mounds of leftovers. It's not like turkey isn't available all year :lol: Your family must make some good turkey to lure in outsiders every year :D

They're sort of like a potato casserole. They'll show up at lots of family-type events in Utah: Wedding showers, family parties, birthdays, and you guessed it, funerals. There are hundreds of variations, but most generally include

hashbrown cut potatoes
diced onions
cream of chicken soup
sour cream
cheddar cheese

:drool: :drool: :drool:

That's so funny, I thought of the same Gilmore Girl's moment. :rotfl: Believe me, we spaced ours out enough that no rolls will be skipped. ;)
Oh wow, those sound delicious!!! I've got to find some way to try them sometime. Maybe I'll find a recipie and convince my mom to make it at Christmas.

I :love: Thanksgiving! It's probably my favorite holiday - not just because of the food, but that certainly helps!



So what is everyone's favorite Thanksgiving food?? Apart from dessert, mine would be mashed potatoes. I know, I can get them whenever, but still, I love them. My cousin would never eat them, because he thought he didn't like them, but I convinced him to try them one year by telling him the were just the inside of french fries. Now he loves them!

I love mashed potatoes too! 'Specially with gravy, and a bite of turkey at the same time...mmm... I think my favorite is cranberry sauce though; my grandmother had this wonderful recipe that has other fruit in it along with the cranberries (oranges and apples; I'm not sure what else), and it's so nice and tangy and sweet at the same time. I also really like turkey stuffing with sausage. And of course, mustn't forget the pies!

Funeral potatoes sound delicious - I'd never even heard of them before now.
succubus - What is Mississippi Mud, please? I'm assuming it's something to do with chocolate (and is therefore delicious), but I've never heard of it before. :lol:

Thought I might dig up an old thread :)

Anywho, my aunt and I are going to do all the Thanksgiving cooking this year and here is a sample of the menu

Roasted turkey with herb butter
Goose (still looking for a recipe)
Ham with a pineapple glaze
Garlic butter mashed potatoes
Real maple syrup and buttered squash
Traditional stuffing
apple stuffing
Stuffed mushrooms (cream cheese/ricotta cheese filling)
Stuffed jalapenos
Pumpkin pies with homemade cinnamon ice cream
Apple pies with homemade maple and pecan ice cream
Home made breads
Fried carmel dumplings

.... the menu is still growing

My aunts son (my cousin I guess) is coming home from Iraq the day before we are celebrating Thanksgiving so we decided to have an all out feast!

Any ideas great for Thanksgiving?