Thanksgiving 2019 - ideas / plans / menus / raves / rants

Yes; not a rant, as I (we) do remember your requests for suggestions. I really find it so inspiring, that you take that extra step to ensure your loved ones have a great meal. Going afar and preparing a beautiful T-G Day meal…You are a gem and I hope your family lets you know you are!

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Guys…same here with mom, but she is still home and we have help in the house 24/7… I do visit often (when I am not in NYC) as she is about an 8 mile drive…but I cherish every time I get a little frustrated… why??.. because I still can!

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Just one simple dish this year that I do not make every year…Potato Latkes…I make them at least a week before and freeze them…given that the oven is on any way, they warm up beautifully. It seems that everyone at our table likes them with cranberry sauce and apple sauce.
I make a white potato, a sweet potato and a zucchini /corn version.
We will have all of the other usual suspects to nibble on.
Our meal is normally at least a 6 hour feast starting at 11AM, ending about 5 or 6pm, we start with mimosas and Bloody Mary’s, bird into the oven, with four of us doing all of the cooking. Fun family day, always!

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No menu set yet beyond the “must haves”,but some advice if the cooks don’t always get along in the kitchen. Due to some perfectionism issues on my part, along with having a volatile Greek spouse who is an excellent cook in his own right, our kitchen sometimes gets heated, and I’m not talking turkey here. :upside_down_face: It was very distressing to daughter’s BF, so to ease his discomfort I imposed a gag order on myself. I don’t comment, offer advice or say anything about anyone else’s cooking project. I will offer advice only when asked. This has been a wonderful thing; we have a cocktail or two and usually Prosecco as well, with snacks. The BF is now the SIL, so we didn’t scare him away after all. A mother’s little helper is quite beneficial as well! :rofl::rofl::rofl:

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We have been starting with as I mentioned above Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s for years… Given the length of our get together, each of the four of us gets time in the kitchen alone! Generally I do ask the dil to come in and keep me company, because I like to ask for her “sous chef” help and she is really great…
Nice part is that we all share the kitchen and help out…and as the most senior member of the staff, if I don’t like something, the mouth is dis-engaged …I just have another mimosa and everything is fine!

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It’s a great habit to follow, as after all, the holidays are to be enjoyed @PHREDDY!

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Linking the other Thanksgiving thread here as there will be overlap I’m guessing.

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Thank you! If I had seen this one, I probably would have skipped it. I used to love those blow by blow Thanksgiving days on CH.

I think it was like this
Slow roasting the turkey: a homily

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Perfect. It’s on! Start your engines!

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Want to make sure this is here. About the “Judy Bird” (dry brined) turkey.

The absolutely best Thanksgiving turkey recipe. Ever.

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Searched CH for Turkey time and looks like the last time I cooked at home was 2013.

Thanks @GretchenS, that olive & feta app sounds totally yum! :yum:

I think the recipe is lovely and there is lots of room to modify and adjust to taste. The recipe seems to be missing a sentence in step one. " Drain 4 oz. olives and place on a cutting board. Lightly smash with the heel of your hand just to break apart skin and flatten slightly." The biggest reason for smashing the olives is to pit them. I agree with buying olives with pits and pitting them yourself. Pitted olives that sit in brine in cans or jars can get mushy. Letting those pits get to the table leads, in my experience, to two problems:

  1. Someone can damage their teeth.
  2. Guests can sometimes be flustered about disposing of pits. I’ve found them days or weeks later in house plant pots, in wadded up napkins behind books on a shelf, and in other disconcerting places.
    Pitting olives using the smash method in the recipe is simple. It’s also something easily delegated to the famous early arrival who wants to “help.” grin

I’m the first to admit that I can be a little fussy. I try to avoid serving things with pits in them.

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@paryzer I think I’ve decided to just eat all my meals at your house going forward. :yum:
Crabs are my favorite; I love them!

I wish I could get good crabs in November, but no such luck. I’ll stick to my normal brined turkey and the standards. I actually don’t make mashed potatoes, buttery corn, stuffing, and Indian pudding for dessert really any time other than Thanksgiving (no reason why) so I enjoy a very traditional meal. My mom really likes it too, and she insists I make that every Thanksgiving. She eats traditional Chinese cooking almost every day otherwise, so this is her treat to eat non Chinese food for the year. Some things are more nostalgia for us like the canned cranberry sauce. I made fresh cranberry sauce last year and it was good, but there was something I missed with my spreadable jiggly can-shaped sauce.

For my turkey, I always spatchcock it to speed up cooking time and also to get more crispy skin.

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@kobuta if you live near a Costco they might have the Dungeness crabs and Alaskan crab legs on sale 5 days before Thanksgiving (from Nov 22 to 27). You should give them a call. I’m not sure if all Costcos are offering this sale.

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As well, they are very fresh, as in not being frozen very long. We buy the BIG box of King Crab there, as the crab is my very favorite food on the planet. Now I’m craving some and think we’re out. I also like their bags of scallops.

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Nice @kobuta! You’re making me hungry. I like the traditionals on T-day too.

Looking at the crab posts makes me wonder - what dishes do you serve on Thanksgiving that are a family tradition rather than a Tday tradition? Before the big meal our cousin puts a big pot of Gumbo on the stove…

P.S. Crab might actually be closer to the original Tday meals - Lobster, Fish, Wild Game & Harvest Vegetables.

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I LOVE Thanksgiving! We typically have just 6 (my fam and my in laws). Every 2-3 yrs we got to SoCal where my parents, sister’s fam, and BIL’s parents are, and then it is a bigger crowd. Regardless, I’m either the only cook (home) or the principal cook (there)!! So it’s a lot of work, but I like to spread it out over a couple of days. A lot of things will keep in the fridge, including the cranberry whatever, the stuffing, any washed and cut veggies. I don’t have a plan just yet, but I have my eye on a couple of recipes. The first is a riff off a Trader Joe cranberry nantucket “pie” they were just sampling, which was absolutely up my alley. Very tart, nice almond flavor, very interesting crust texture almost meringue-y with a little crunch on the outside and a chew on the inside. BUT, it has walnuts, so it’s a no go for one of my kids. Thus, trying to replicate at home. The other recipe I just saw today and it looked mighty appealing was Giada’s broiled brussels sprouts crostini. She shreds and broils them, then tosses them with an agradolce type syrup with cranberries in it and then puts it on ricotta topped crostini. I may just do it as a veg side without the bread and ricotta. I always do the Judy bird, as you all have called it. And pretty much always the Epicurious recipe for leek and wild mushroom stuffing.

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That sounds delicious! Great menu.

That’s a good amount of work even with a mandoline. Iirc TJ sometimes has them pre-shredded.

My aunt insists on buying two stalks of sprouts, and that’s enough work to take off and trim :joy:

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