Simplifying a bit, less food variety. Turkey with bread stuffing, gravy, sweet corn, pumpkin pie. Just cooking for myself so the smallest turkey I can find. The stuffing gets vacuum bagged and eaten as leftovers. Lasts 6+ months that way in the chest freezer. Turkey gets eaten fairly fast in sandwiches so I vac pack 2 meal size portions then freeze. Pull out for hot or cold turkey sandwiches. Just cooking for myself again this year, not up to a bunch of company with this never ending neck pain.
I'm not sure what I'll be eating, but I bet it will be turkey, stuffing, mashed taters and such. This year we will be visiting Karen's sister in Phoenix. Cindy and a friend of hers are preparing the whole meal. We shall see.
Usually Thanksgiving, for us, is filled with a lot of tradition and we always cook up the same foods, with really only variations on vegetables and the relish trays, and whether to do sweet potatoes or not (not always necessary at our house since there is always, mashed potatoes, stuffing and homemade egg noodles). But this year we are going to do the Chicago Thanksgiving parade, and have decided to forgo anything resembling a traditional meal and plan on dining at one of the all you can eat Brazilian steakhouses. The parents have never been so it should be a lot of fun.
We will do the usual, including my ancestral stuffing recipe which features Brazil nuts. They add an amazing dimension to ordinary stuffing! We always spent three or four hours cracking the dang things because they're so good in the stuffing. Nowadays we buy them, shelled, from Trader Joe's.
Some things you can do to improve boxed stuffing mix is use broth instead of water and saute diced onion and celery to mix in. One thing I like to add to either the boxed or scratch made is fry up some maple - sage breakfast sausage a local company, then crumble it into the mix. And adding fresh herbs never hurts.
I will be doing the same as ever year. Same. Damn. Thing. There would be a mutiny in the family if there was the tiniest deviation from turkey, stuffing in the bird, mashed potatoes and canned (!) cranberry sauce. We've been doing this since probably before I was born. Funny, no one cares what I do for Xmas but Thanksgiving has to be that same stuff every time. I am basically okay with that though.
My daughter in law will be roasting the turkey again so I'll make my usual sides. Sausage stuffing, corn and oyster pudding and the gravy. If I can find a small smoked turkey I'll get one as everyone likes mine.
I will be doing the same as ever year. Same. Damn. Thing. There would be a mutiny in the family if there was the tiniest deviation from turkey, stuffing in the bird, mashed potatoes and canned (!) cranberry sauce. We've been doing this since probably before I was born. Funny, no one cares what I do for Xmas but Thanksgiving has to be that same stuff every time. I am basically okay with that though.
Omg this drives me up the wall! I hate doing the same thing over and over again. I need freedom to express my creativity through food. My inlaws are like your family though except they every meal I've ever had there is exactly the same. Not just holidays, every meal. It's really depressing.
What you could do is make all the favorites but sneak in something additional that is new and exciting to you. Trust me, nobody will refuse something yummy.
I've heard of using broth before, I wouldn't mind using celery and onion in the stuffing, to be honest. Would it be ok to add grapes or cut up pieces of apple in the stuffing too? Or is that too sweet?
I've heard of using broth before, I wouldn't mind using celery and onion in the stuffing, to be honest. Would it be ok to add grapes or cut up pieces of apple in the stuffing too? Or is that too sweet?
Apples and dried cranberries are a classic combo and IMO are excellent in stuffing as long as you don't get carried away.
After all it is a savory dish not dessert.
Grapes.... maybe not so much.
I am thinking after being exposed to the heat the pieces would be a bit on the slimy side, but have never tried it so this is just IMO.
Toasted pecans bring a nice texture and flavor to the party as well much like @MikeLM 's Brazil nuts.
My sister always hosts two families (the BIL's sibs and their offspring as well as my sibs and our offspring) and everyone brings their usual dish.
My sister and I always make the annual dueling cornbread dressings (mine with sage and flavorful hers without sage and bland lol).
I also make a dish of slightly spicy cranberry relish with orange zest and place on the buffet next to the jelly version which has been carefully removed from the can then sliced into perfect half moons.
A few years ago I opened the can and SPOONED the contents out , just to see what would happen.
She noticed what I had done and calmly opened and prepared a new can then removed the offending dish from table and placed the new dish down without a word.
Boneless stuffed turkey this year. Did a practice turkey last week. Boning it cuts way down on the oven time. Stuffing will have to be gluten free for a guest so probably a corn bread stuffing.
Home made cranberry relish, mashed potatoes, gravy, beets and some kind of squash. And a genoise cake for dessert.
My oven is on the fritz so I need to trouble shoot that before I can concern myself with planning the turkey. Have to find the manual and see what my part numbers are.
Deep fried turkey. We did this about 6 years ago and never looked back.
Cornbread stuffing to go along with traditional bread stuffing. My buddy made it one year from dried baguettes and I thought it rocked the house but his family was not happy. People expect certain things. Stoffers was expected, he provided a true stuffing with large chunks of bread, celery and onion. Oh well.
Casseroles.. oh so many casseroles! Velveda, cream of mushroom soup, and french fried onions everywhere!
I posted a thread on appetizers. That's where I exercise my creativity.
I am gonna actually eat wild chipmunk this thanksgiving! i know that sounds weird but fry that sucker up with some water chestnuts and maybe some green olives with just a smidgen of cantaloupe shavings
I was thinking it was my lower element had burned out, but it was the connection to the lower element that had burned out. The solder from 30 years ago gave up and the wire popped off the plug connector to the element. Seems to be working with a much simpler fix than I had anticipated.
I love it when a simple repair gets you back on the road. I always start with the "nickel fix" and work my way up the ladder. I trouble shoot circuits very well and that has saved us thousands in repair/replacement costs over the years. Hell I even fixed the blow drier last week 'cause I am too cheap to drop $20 to replace one that still blows hot air (very noisy hot air). All it needed was disassembly, a good cleaning and lube for the motor shaft. Cha Ching!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif
Definitely not a clue at the moment. In years past it's all the traditional stuff; Turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, mac and cheese or chicken noodles (Kluski noodles cooked in only enough chicken stock to have a thick broth remaining to coat the noodles) biscuits, my grandmothers bread recipe, pumpkin and apple pie with a chocolate bourbon derby pie thrown in for good measure every now and then.
The last 7 years we've entertained my Cousin and his family but they may be headed back home to Georgia to see their respective parents (old age is setting in) We've also been fortunate to have entertained some "adopted" Service Men and Women for the last 5 years but recently all have been reassigned to new posts or retired and flat out relocated. Seems hardly worth the effort to cook for just the three of us given we've been feeding anywhere from 8-15 people so we may just be dining out. I know one thing's for sure, we won't have the menu I just mentioned above if we do cook!
We just celebrated our 8 year here and the longest we've been any on place in the 18 years we've been married so.....we may reminisce and get Cracker Barrel togo but we're not getting that small hotel room again! Dang that was a long 57 days!
Guess I need to see how things pan out for the remainder of the month. Good thing the day is so late in the month this year....gives more time to figure it out.
That's kind of a surprise, how did you find out about Dungeness crab (the world's finest seafood) in North Carolina? They certainly don't grow around there!
I make my stuffing from corn bread and either sourdough, or a ciabatta. as the cornbread breaks down and that gives it the body I like. The other bread adds volume and mixes with the sausage, onion and celery and toasted pecans.. I don't stuff my birds I bake the stuffing on the side as everyone love a crispy top. The center is still spreadable on a sandwich tomorrow so it's a happy medium. Gotta add Bay, Sage, Thyme, etc. I love stuffing - I just made some last week for chicken and it was delicious along with some simple greens
That's kind of a surprise, how did you find out about Dungeness crab (the world's finest seafood) in North Carolina? They certainly don't grow around there!
Unfortunately I can't gettem fresh, Costco is the only spot I've found.. I simmer them in Zatarains crab boil, lemons, bay leaves and cayenne. So FREAKING good )
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