Happy Thanksgiving to all!
This year has been rough in many ways, and the future is uncertain. But there are still many things for us to be thankful for despite all that. I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and feast – large or small – filled with friends and/or family of your choice.
Did you get up early to cook the turkey? (Me: no.) Stuffing, in or out? (Usually in, but out this year.) Jellied cranberries or whole cranberry sauce? (Whole, which I make myself. It’s very easy.) Marshmallows in the sweet potatoes or no marshmallows? (No, no, a thousand times no.) What kind of pie? (Pecan and apple.)
Yes, things are rough. But, and I mean this sincerely, we *do* have each other. And we have God.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
After years of cooking we discovered the joy of traveling on Thanksgiving. This year we rented a house in oh-so-quaint Door County, Wisconsin. My family and my brother’s family will be spending a few days here, and having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at a spectacular restaurant. Only downside is no leftovers.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all, too.
And thank you, thank you Neo, so much good work.
We’ll have our Americanish feast only this Sunday, since it’s not a holiday in Slovakia. It’s more of a fantastic duck – red cabbage – lokshe (thin potato pancake/ tortilla) so delicious.
I’ll also bake my own traditional pumpkin pie (from scratch with butter squash, better than orange jack-o-lantern pumpkins).
You might like this special Bee Gees + AC/DC mashup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrlWWrSwaB8&list=RDRNEHRD7Rx_g&index=24
Did you see the story of the almost 100 year old with:
11 children
56 grandchildren
100 great-grandkids? (was on twitter!)
We’re thankful for our 4 kids and 2 grandkids.
Happy Thanksgiving indeed. I echo Micheal T.
We still have a shot to pull out of this, because America!
No cranberries because I don’t like them. No sweet potatoes because I don’t like them. No Pecan or Pumpkin pie because I don’t like them.
A happy Thanksgiving to all, in defiance of the glum, grim Wokerati! My daughter and I do not really care much for the usual pseudo-traditional sides, most of which are truly disgusting as leftovers. So we’re doing a small spatchcocked roast turkey (the backbone snipped out, and the rest of it spread flat) with sides of mashed potatoes and gravy, and roast Brussel-sprouts with red onion and slices of Kielbasa, and a cheesy-corn casserole, which I am trying out for the first time. But we do have cranberry orange sauce on the side, and pumpkin pie for afters.
We were worried last year, hearing about potential shortages in the coming year, so bought a small frozen turkey on sale after Thanksgiving last year – I looked at the store tag on it; ten pounds and a fraction, at 99 cents a pound. Somehow, I don’t think we’ll find whole turkeys on sale next week at that price!
Starting the Turkey around 2 PM, it’s only 12 lbs.
Sorry but StoveTop Cornbread Stuffing. I add celery and mushrooms, use Chicken stock and some juice from the Turkey. My friend has a brain spasm since he makes his own from a Family recipe.
Cranberry Whole Berry. I use to use the canned ones but to placate my friend I make it using a package of Whole Berries. Yes it is easy to make. I use Splenda and cut the recipe. This yr I added a little Orange Juice.
Yams, Southern Style. Cube them, add butter (a fair amount), Splenda Brown Sugar and chopped Pecans.
My Wife made the Pumpkin Pie. I like if I can put a LOT of whipped cream on top
She also make homemade Rolls.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Chases Eagles:
No soup for you! 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, Neo, for the encouragement on cranberry sauce. It looks easily doable.
I earlier decided against linking this item, but I see om is in the house, so here goes:
Russian State Duma passes law banning LGBT ‘propaganda’ among all ages
I don’t see anything against gays, just recruiting, grooming, etc. The rationale of the law is not just traditional religious values, population decline needs to be addressed. Whatever the cause of the fetal demise pandemic, one certain way to counteract it is making more fetuses – possibly a lot more. Moreover, no-one’s getting burned at the stake, so as Joan would say, “Let’s just calm down.”
Stove top stuffing for us as well. Years ago we started cooking the turkey at 500 degrees and the cavity has to be open to aid the cooking. The turkey is incredibly moist and it only takes an hour and a half or so.
And a cranberry and turkey sandwich in the evening is almost as good as it is at lunch.
Everyone have a great Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Banned Lizard:
Cranberry sauce, Thanksgiving, and the Russian Duma.
“One of these things is not like the others, one of these things doesn’t belong.” Sing it!
Whatever.
We were thankful. 5 families, 3 generations at the house today. Turkey, ham, and steak. Stuffing in, out, and giblet gravy. Cranberry sauce from a can. A couple of casseroles, mac and cheese, usually marshmallows for the sweet potatoes, but not this year. Nobody ate the 3 baked potatoes there just in case. Only one pumpkin pie, but other options included coconut cake, banana bread, banana pudding, rocky road brownies, and more. In 3 hours, it was all over. Took my mom home unaware of a tornado warning just south of us. Very aware of the heavy rain, but otherwise made the trip without issues. Back home safe and still thankful.
I hope everyone else has a great Thanksgiving.
Neo and all the readers hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving
we had the traditional other white meat with plantains, and pecan pie,
Seven families, three generations, two turkeys, one ham (dry), no cranberry (!), stuffing OUT of the turkey, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pecan pie. More than twice as much food as we could consume. I retold the story of the first Thanksgiving (two years after the 1619 slaves birthed our nation, according to the NYTimes. Damn their eyes. The NYTimes, not the slaves.)
A truly memorable family affair, and I wonder how many more we will be granted.
Greetings to everyone who makes this such a nice place to visit daily. You are indeed the eighth family in my life.
Happy Thanksgiving, Neo and all!
Did the house hop thing today. Dropped by an aunt and uncle’s house who are not doing well. Then drove to the extended family event, which was way , way, way down in participation this year, only 12 people . Still had representatives of four generations. Ate more than my share of dressing.
Turkey in the oven by 1 p.m., out by 4. Dressing on the side. Homemade cranberry/citrus/apple whole berry sauce (lower sugar). No sweet potatoes or marshmallows either. Yuck!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Chases Eagles, let’s all be thankful that you (and we) still have the liberty to not like those things, and to retain the right to express that view among friends or even to the knaves that hate us.
I am putting on weight just reading the food entries in this thread!!
Best wishes to all this holiday season.
Great day.
Dinner at younger daughter’s home with all four grandchildren present; along with various spouses and significant others..
The group included the grandson who surprised us by detouring from his holiday season job of making fake snow all around California for commercial promotions and private citizens with more money than sense. It pays ridiculously well.)
Only missing treasure was my big-hearted, RN daughter who will be helping to deliver babies tonight in a distant hospital. She always works special holidays to relieve co-workers with children at home.
A lot to be thankful for.
Did you get up early to cook the turkey?
Nope. We ordered our whole Thanksgiving meal as a kit from a local caterer. All we had to do was heat everything up. Good value, great food and supporting a local business that nearly went under during the pandemic.
Stuffing, in or out?
Always in. We had two kinds. My wife eats stuffing year round.
Jellied cranberries or whole cranberry sauce?
Jellied. The only disappointment of the meal kit.
Marshmallows in the sweet potatoes or no marshmallows?
Never! Light toasted coconut. Worked well.
What kind of pie?
Pumpkin. And a pear almond tart.
Since it was just two of us this year I kept it simple:
Apple wood-smoked, bourbon-brined pork loin (Shop-Rite pre-seasoned, all I had to do was put it in the oven for 30 minutes or so),
Instant mashed potatoes with from-a-jar beef gravy,
Baby bok choy sauted with garlic and scallion,
and ice cream sandwiches for dessert.
Since the rest of family who would normally come over were visiting in-laws out of state or working it was just myself and my 93-year old mother. So, I didn’t feel like cooking too much. But, it was a very pleasant meal! I have “left overs” that I haven’t made yet; but bought the ingredients for. I’ll make those over the next couple of weeks.
Most of all I am very thankful for two main things: My 93 year old mother who is bed-ridden and under hospice care at my house is still alive and mentally “with it.” And that my job is letting me continue to work from home until next month to keep an eye on her. Next month I will have to apply for FMLA time off.
Lastly, and most importantly, a Happy Thanksgiving to Neo and all who visit here!
Hope you’ve all feasted (and are now getting ready to devour the leftovers—the best part of it all(?))
Anyway, here’s a slightly different—contrarian?—angle on the holiday….(No, not from the turkey’s POV…):
“Socialism Sounds Good On Paper But It Was Deadly For The Pilgrims”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/socialism-sounds-good-paper-it-was-deadly-pilgrims
This is my first Thanksgiving in the old fart (55+) park in Mesa. The park provided turkey and ham, and residents did the rest. It was a very nice spread. There are some very good cooks. I made garden salad and corn muffins (ignored, as was most of the bread) garlic mashed potatoes (took most of it home as other potatoes were deployed first) and my very rich brownies, which failed to set up properly. The resultant gooey mess did not disturb the women guests, who scraped it up and onto their plates.
Since I cannot have wheat any more, I really do miss a turkey sandwich on good sourdough with some pepper, Swiss cheese and mayo.
If there is a large Target with a full-sized grocery near you, you might inquire at the deli counter today (Friday) to see if dinner kits are on clearance. In years past I have gotten a good turkey, mash, dressing, green bean casserole, gravy and a pie for $20, with an extra $5 off as a Red Circle member.
Gordon Scott, I made a loaf of King Arthur Flour gluten-free bread for my celiac daughter. She can have sandwiches! Get the mix, and a pan that King Arthur sells especially for GF breads. It’s slightly narrower and higher than a standard loaf pan. We slice the bread, and put waxed paper or parchment squares between the slices to put it in the freezer. And/or find a store that sells Udi’s frozen GF bagels. We don’t care for other brands, but Udi’s are good.
The special GF pan also makes a better loaf for a keto bread I make with almond flour.
As always, the list of things to be thankful for is much longer and more reflective than its counterpart. Happy Thanksgiving all. Cranberries from scratch (whole), stuffing ‘out’ and plentiful, creamed onions, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mac & cheese, roasted acorn squash (butter, maple syrup) and for dessert, Tarte Tatin. One guest was from Red China and this was her second American Thanksgiving. Another item on the ‘thankful’ list.
Gordon, perhaps you can just use the swiss cheese as the “bread” in a turkey sandwich? I do that with various deli meats between two slices.
Kate, never heard of keto bread before – now I have another option to explore during my attempt at weight loss via a low carb diet.
Late to the party here, but had a nice dinner at local son’s house with his family and in-laws up for the week-end.
The usual fare – turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole (MY augmented recipe is the very best), one store-bought pecan pie, one son-made apple pie (he’s quite a good cook), and assorted trimmings.
Home by 6, sat down and read a fiction book all the way through to 2 am, first time in a long time — because we all know that these days, the news is stranger than fiction (and at least half IS fiction…).
Blessings to all, and enjoy the leftovers — I did!
Heading home today from our Carmel Thanksgiving gathering. Twenty-two of us enjoyed the feast our son-in-law once again prepared, everything homemade and top-notch. Our daughter assisted with the dessert–homemade pies which were chocolate, pecan and key-lime, all served with dense whipped cream. The view of the magnificent sun set in the distance over Point Lobos added to the blessings for which we are thankful. We were married on Thanksgiving Day in 1982 so we celebrated 40 years of marriage as well. Wishing everyone a happy holiday season as we head to the year’s end.
R2L, here you go:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/263033/best-keto-bread/
Sharon W, blessings on your forty years, and may God bless you with many more happy years.
Thank you, Kate!