I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving. My husband's parents will be visiting and it will be great to spend some time with them, and of course have some time away from school. :)
I'm also excited about preparing the big meal! I've done it once before and I was pleased with how everything turned out. For the most part I kept everything simple, but I made the turkey and all the usual fixings.
Does anyone have recipe suggestions for me? I'd love to hear what your family traditions are. What's your favorite side dish? Please let me know if you have any ideas!
In the South they make this cornbread dressing, which I'm assuming is their "stuffing". It's too die for. I can't make it though. :)
ReplyDeleteI love thanksgiving though this year my stomach already hurts. I'm going to have to take some GI friend food. :)
I have never made a thanksgiving dinner. :) I don't really mind that either. :)
I'm making my first Thanksgiving dinner this year, but it's probably going to be for 2-3 people (DH's cousin might come). My favorite side dish is green bean casserole (it's not the onion and cream of mushroom soup one though). I love cornbread dressing/stuffing. I have a food blog that has my recipe up for the casserole (and I'm going to post the rest of my Thanksgiving recipes). My parents also make a fruit salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of asking this same question! I'm hosting Thanksgiving for the first time and am looking for ideas.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Connecticut and my family has some unique traditions: we always serve everyone a glass of V8 juice (I probably won't do that one). The first "course" is shrimp cocktail, followed by lobster bisque and then we get to the turkey and everything else. Also, we always bake pumpkin bread in coffee cans so that they come out round.
Have fun preparing the meal! My favorite side dish is definitely cranberries. M. Stewart has a recipes that includes ginger and is so snazzy!
ReplyDeleteI do Christmas dinner, but I usually end up trying recipes from Thanksgiving issues of magazines like Ma.rtha St.ewart and Be.tter Ho.mes and Gard.ens. They always good ideas :) The two things I don't make are my mother-in-law's gravy from the turkey drippings and my dad makes an amazing stuffing with sausage in it.
ReplyDeleteOh! One thing that's yummy if you're not having lots of people is to cut acorn squash in half (so each guest has a half), scooping out the seeds, then filling the little 'squash bowls' with dried fruits, apples, nuts, a little brown sugar, maybe a splash of maple syrup -- really whatever you want. You could probably do another veggie and some cheese even if you didn't want it to be sweet. Then baking it at 350 for about 40 minutes. SO GOOD!!
Oh how fun! Looking beyond her criminal background, I'm a big fan of M.artha St.ewart and love getting table decorating ideas and recipes from her website. I'm sure she'll have some good ones for Thanksgiving. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm all over the mashed potatoes! North American Thanksgiving is a pretty new tradition to me since my family didn't really celebrate it with all of the traditional foods. I also love stuffing. We made our usual recipe this past Thanksgiving using rice bread and it was so good!
ReplyDeleteMy mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Candied yams, baby. They are the simplest thing to make, but ohhhhh so yummy. My grandma's recipe - just butter, some water, and brown sugar, all melted down and poured over the boiled yams (halved). Then cook and BASTE OFTEN for about 25-35 mins at 350.
ReplyDeleteI started making Rachael Ray's pumpkin soup a few years ago, too, and now it's my favorite thing to make. I subsitute pomegranates for the cranberries in the relish. You can find the recipe via goo.gle.
I love hosting Thanksgiving! My DH does most of the cooking :). He makes a fantastic oyster stuffing (and I never like stuffing growing up), and does Yorkshire pudding as well. We usually do simple stuff like creamed onions and green beans with bacon.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites growing up was summer squash casserole with ritz crackers and velveeta cheese. Ugh, I can't even imagine eating that now - makes my stomach hurt to think about it!
Candied sweet potatoes! Enough said! :)
ReplyDeleteI have the best sweet potato recipe that I will try and remember to get for you when I get back home.
ReplyDeletexoxo!
How fun! Hope you have a good time cooking. A couple Thanksgiving's ago, our friends made a soup for an appetizer that was really yummy. Google Rachel Ray's Pumpkin Soup with Chili Cran-Apple Relish. If you are eating later in the day, this can help tide people over.
ReplyDeleteThis is the best green bean casserole ever! From AllRecipes.com
ReplyDeleteGrandma's Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1/4 cup onion, diced
* 1 cup sour cream
* 3 (14.5 ounce) cans French style green beans, drained
* 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1/2 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
* 1 tablespoon butter, melted
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar, onion, and sour cream. Add green beans, and stir to coat.
3. Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top. In a small bowl, toss together cracker crumbs and remaining butter, and sprinkle over the cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.
I use four cans cut green beans, not french. I use french fried onions instead of crackers. It's SO good. Hope your T-giving goes great!