@Desert-Dan What a lovely and thoughtful idea to do an early Thanksgiving meal!
As you pointed out, you likely need things that don’t irritate the throat on the way down. I would be mindful of both textures and seasonings.
I’m with Sunshine on baby food / pureed food – I think you can get far with foods that are naturally soft.
My list after a tooth extraction also included things that didn’t need chewing and were lightly seasoned so it didn’t trigger irritation or a cough:
– Eggs: Soft scrambled (custardy) or as a steamed / baked custard (1.5/2:1 ratio with milk or water/broth) – similar to quiche filling, can mash or puree in a vegetable for some of the liquid as also cottage cheese, and can be sweet, like flan / caramel custard/ cheesecake. Eggs can also be swirled into chicken or vegetable broth like egg drop soup or creamed sweet corn soup or avgolemono.
– Soft rice dishes – soupy rice, risotto, khichdi (rice with lentils), rice pudding, etc
– Pureed vegetable soups (cauliflower, broccoli, squash / pumpkin, carrot / parsnip – base of onion, garlic / ginger, and “creamed” with milk or cream or even cottage cheese)
– Mashed root vegetables (with or without various things added – I think I had fish pie and shepherds pie along the way)
– Polenta / grits / semolina cooked completely soft in milk or water (can be flavored sweet or savory)
I didn’t eat any pasta, but little pasta like pastina, orzo, even couscous can be made soupy and swallowed without much effort.
If she likes yogurt, cottage cheese and ricotta, those work well both sweet and savory, and to enhance any of the things above.
Here’s another thread with soft food ideas:
