# Thanksgiving Food Traditions



## debodun (Nov 17, 2015)

What "sides" are traditional for your family at the Thanksgiving meal?


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## fureverywhere (Nov 17, 2015)

My aunt used to make the most wonderful Thanksgiving dinners. The table would be groaning and she'd still be fretting if there was enough. Kept the holiday spirit too...there would always be a neighbor or three joining us. As a kid I hated them but there were always scalloped oysters. We go out for Thanksgiving now, but for New Years and any other holiday when we cook, always scalloped oysters!


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## Linda (Nov 17, 2015)

I've never eaten oysters except the ones my mom fried or in soup but somehow I know I'd love scalloped oysters.   For TG I always like a baked turkey with dressing inside so I go ahead and do that, even though my brother deep pits turkeys and roasts outside.  As the sides we like whole cranberry sauce.  I can make especially good pie crust so I used to make a lot of pies, fruit salad, banana pudding and all sorts of extras but since the kids are grown up I just don't care about it as much anymore.


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## GeorgiaXplant (Nov 17, 2015)

debodun said:


> What "sides" are traditional for your family at the Thanksgiving meal?



Name 'em, we probably have 'em!

mashed potatoes and gravy
the ubiquitous green bean casserole
mashed rutabaga
Brussels sprouts
brandied cranberries
bread dressing with apples and sausage
sweet potato casserole
hot pineapple casserole
fruit salad
peanut butter pie
pumpkin pie
and probably banana pudding

This year we aren't having traditional pumpkin pie; we're having pumpkin praline cheesecake instead, but we usually have all the rest of the list. 

Besides getting started on Monday next week, I have cheesecake orders to fill. The ones to be delivered on Wednesday are going to be delivered early in the day so I can reclaim my kitchen.

It's a good thing there are two kitchens (daughter's house is on the other side of a connecting hallway) so that I can get a lot done each day. The worst part is peeling 10 lbs of potatoes. Ugh. The good part of making the mashed potatoes is that I can make them on the weekend and freeze them so it'll be the most onerous chore out of the way.

Even when I whine about how much work it is, I really love doing it. It's my favorite holiday because it's a holiday for everybody. Thanksgiving doesn't care about our race or our religion or anything else. I like inclusive!


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## fureverywhere (Nov 17, 2015)

Now I'm hungry


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## GeorgiaXplant (Nov 17, 2015)

fur, what I like best is the day after Thanksgiving because there are lots of leftovers to choose from. Well, lots except brandied cranberries. Maybe I'll double the recipe and hide half until Friday. That'll show 'em.


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## fureverywhere (Nov 17, 2015)

Funny that's what I remember at my aunt's house. The dinner was awesome, but hanging out in the kitchen cleaning up late night...all that delicious leftover stuffing...cold out of the pan, but it was heaven. Tell me about these brandied cranberries


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## GeorgiaXplant (Nov 17, 2015)

These are cranberries for cranberry lovers and cranberries for cranberry haters. It turns haters into ever-lovin' _believers_!

3 cups whole fresh cranberries, washed and sorted (a 12-oz pkg)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4-5 TBSP brandy

Spread cranberries in a 9x13 baking pan and sprinkle with sugar and brandy. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350F for one hour. Stir well. Ladle into a hot sterilized pint jar and seal. Let cool and refrigerate.


Or...you can wait and put the brandy in the jar. It all depends on whether you want  the brandy flavor or a "snootful" of brandy. I bake the cranberries with the brandy so that the alcohol will evaporate. Don't need any little kids getting loopy at the dinner table.


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## IKE (Nov 17, 2015)

Mama and I will just be having the normal / traditional stuff;

Turkey, cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (her not me), fresh green beans or corn, cranberry sauce and hot rolls.

For those of you that like it I'm just tickled pink for you but I can't stand green bean casserole.......through the years I've tried it made by many different people but I just don't care for it.

 Another dish I dislike that some fix for Thanksgiving is corn pudding.


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## Butterfly (Nov 18, 2015)

IKE said:


> Mama and I will just be having the normal / traditional stuff;
> 
> Turkey, cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (her not me), fresh green beans or corn, cranberry sauce and hot rolls.
> 
> ...




I don't like that green bean casserole, either, or corn pudding.  Also, my grandma used to fix this sweet potato thing with marshmallows, and I intensely disliked that -- weird texture and WAY too sweet.  ICK!


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## Meringue (Nov 19, 2015)

Wow, all these Thanksgiving foodstuffs sound yummy


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## IKE (Nov 19, 2015)

Butterfly said:


> I don't like that green bean casserole, either, or corn pudding.  Also, my grandma used to fix this sweet potato thing with marshmallows, and I intensely disliked that -- weird texture and WAY too sweet.  ICK!



I'd totally forgotten about the sweet potato dish and marshmallow dish.......really bad stuff IMHO.

Another dish that doesn't get near my plate is that mixed Cool Whip and Jell-o thing.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Nov 19, 2015)

Today I saw a recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash and Roasted Brussel Sprouts with dried cranberries and pecan halves. Flavored with a little maple syrup. Think I`m going to give it a try. I don`t care for green bean casserole either-in fact,I have never made it.


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## Butterfly (Nov 19, 2015)

IKE said:


> I'd totally forgotten about the sweet potato dish and marshmallow dish.......really bad stuff IMHO.
> 
> Another dish that doesn't get near my plate is that mixed Cool Whip and Jell-o thing.



My family always called that thing "green funeral stuff" because it invariably showed up at funeral things, usually in its green variety, though once I remember "pink funeral stuff."  Double ICK!


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## Karen99 (Nov 21, 2015)

I love roast turkey and baked ham...savory stuffing but please no fruits, nuts, or oysters in it..lol...mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce, green beans with minced bacon (never cared for the casserole), candied yams with browned marshmallows..that's a once-a-year calorie fest!, and Waldorf Salad, stuffed celery, olives, and for dessert..homemade pecan pie, pumpkin pie. I cooked these feasts for many years, but more recently we either go out or I fix a very modified menu for us.  I cooked turkey legs with dressing one year with steamed asparagus and whole cranberry sauce as sides.  I love the brown and serve rolls brushed with butter too.

oh, I'm a total fan of jello salads.  I still fix jello for us sometimes..I love cottage cheese and pineapple mixed into lime.


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## jujube (Nov 21, 2015)

Oyster dressing, mac and cheese (my special holiday kind with a million calories), sweet potato crunch, Waldorf salad, green beans, and sweet-and-sour cole slaw.  We never have a holiday meal without those staples.


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## IKE (Nov 21, 2015)

jujube said:


> Oyster dressing, mac and cheese (my special holiday kind with a million calories), sweet potato crunch, Waldorf salad, green beans, and sweet-and-sour cole slaw.  We never have a holiday meal without those staples.



I had totally forgotten about oyster dressing and I used to really like it when my mom fixed it.....I have no idea what the ingredients were but she'd put everything in a glass baking dish and bake it.

She used to also make oyster stew which as I recall milk was the main ingredient, that also was really very good.

I've tried cold on ice raw oysters (only one) once in Singapore and I don't like them......I've seen them steamed on tv and I bet I'd probably like them like that.


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## Butterfly (Nov 21, 2015)

I tried the raw oysters too, like you, only once.  Yuck!  I almost gagged and had a hard time maintaining my ladylike demeanor.


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## Ameriscot (Nov 22, 2015)

My family always had the usual traditional foods, including sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top.  The US Navy had a base near where I live now until 1991.  I've heard stories about the 'weird' foods the Americans ate and the one that they thought was the strangest was sweet potatoes with marshmallows.


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## Ameriscot (Nov 22, 2015)

Butterfly said:


> I tried the raw oysters too, like you, only once.  Yuck!  I almost gagged and had a hard time maintaining my ladylike demeanor.



Ditto.  Tried twice.  Yuck.  Hubby loves them.


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## debodun (Nov 22, 2015)

Today's "traditional" Thanksgiving foods probably bear little semblance to what was actually served at the first Thanksgiving:

*http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-was-on-the-menu-at-the-first-thanksgiving-511554/?no-ist*


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## NancyNGA (Nov 22, 2015)

Interesting link, debodun.


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## chic (Nov 24, 2015)

Mom's celery stuffing. No matter what we're having, that has to be included on the menu.


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## Shalimar (Nov 24, 2015)

Sausage stuffing, sage, onion, and mushroom stuffing. Macaroni and cheese sounds splendid. My gramma used to add chunks of tomato to hers. I have yet to find a recipe that compares. Any suggestions?


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## GeorgiaXplant (Nov 24, 2015)

My mother used to make mac and cheese with tomatoes in it, too. I never paid much attention to how she made it. Hadn't thought about it in years.

My daughter is going to make the stuffing. Unfortunately, she's going to try a new recipe for stuffing casserole. My daughter doesn't like to cook. When she sees a recipe that "sounds good"... I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I don't think tried and true stuffing should be messed with.

The pumpkin praline cheesecake isn't going to happen because son-in-law will eat it, but he'd rather eat a different kind. Since he was kind enough to spend almost his entire weekend troubleshooting and fixing my laptop, I told him to choose what kind of cheesecake he wants. Pecan pie cheesecake. Okay, then! Graham cracker crust, a layer of pecan pie filling, a layer of cheesecake...can't complain about that.

Our sweet potato casserole is sans marshmallows. Ick! Sweet potatoes, apples, a little evaporated milk...delicious.

No jello/Cool Whip here. Green bean casserole? It's required but has to be made just like my gramma made it. Corn pudding? It has diced green peppers, onions and Jiffy cornbread mix in it. Yum. And you haven't lived until you've had hot pineapple casserole. The mashed potatoes are done and in the freezer. Rutabaga has been cooked and is "resting comfortably" in the fridge. Brandied cranberries won't get done until tomorrow because I haven't had the time.

No breakfast Thursday except that I make cheese and sausage muffins for everybody to nosh on while waiting for an early dinner at 1pm.

I'm so hungry that I could chew a rag doll through the slats of a park bench. So hungry that my stomach is rubbing against my backbone. 

Is it Thursday yet?


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## IKE (Nov 24, 2015)

Shalimar said:


> Macaroni and cheese sounds splendid. My gramma used to add chunks of tomato to hers. I have yet to find a recipe that compares. Any suggestions?



Jeez girl how hard can it be ?  Fix the mac & cheese, get a can of diced tomatoes, open, drain and then dump in the mac & cheese and stir............ta da mac & cheese with tomatoes in it.

  Hey, I ain't no Chef Boyardee but I figured that one out.

If you need any other culinary help just holler, I'm here for ya.


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## Shalimar (Nov 24, 2015)

Ike, I have tried that, but every time the acid in the tomatoes turns the cheese into rubber strings. Ick.


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## IKE (Nov 24, 2015)

Shalimar said:


> Ike, I have tried that, but every time the acid in the tomatoes turns the cheese into rubber strings. Ick.



Oh well you can't say that I didn't give it a shot........you're on your own now.


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## GeorgiaXplant (Nov 25, 2015)

Shalimar...I'm thinking maybe it was fresh tomatoes that had been peeled and diced. Hmmm. Now I won't rest until I try it. I'll be eating it all (including the mistakes until I get it right) because nobody under this roof except me would dream of eating mac and cheese with tomatoes in it.


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## Shalimar (Nov 25, 2015)

It was delicious Georgia. Please let me know when you get it right. So far I have failed.


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## debodun (Nov 25, 2015)

A friend of mine always has "golden glow" gelatin salad on holidays. Here's her recipe:

2 pkgs. lemon jello
 ½ tsp. salt
 1 cup boiling water
 2 cups cold water
 1 cup pineapple juice
 1 Tbsp. vinegar
 1 cup finely shredded carrots
 1 cup crushed pineapple
 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
 maraschino cherry halves and whole nut meats for garnish


 Dissolve jello and salt in boiling water, add cold water, pineapple juice and vinegar. Cool one hour. Add carrots, pineapple and chopped nuts. Pour into mold and chill until firm. Unmold onto serving dish and garnish with cherries and nuts.


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