Doesn&#39;t make a lot of sense, does it?

That's pretty much what I was thinking. Believe it or not, I've never had green bean casserole, though.

Pecan pie, I had not thought of. Thanks Beth!

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pyxi-styx.livejournal.com

Green bean casserole, the good & easy way.
2 cans of DRAINED green beans for every can of cream of mushroom. for 6 people, make either 4 or 6 cans green beans and 2-3 cans COM. mix the hell out of them until all greenies are covered, cover with either garlic bread crumbs, crutons, or those french fried onions, and bake at 275, 300, whatever you already have the oven set at for 25 minutes or until the onion things are getting dark. The key to eyeballing it is that if any of the onions look like they are starting to burn, you're done.
It's a no-brainer, because everything is already cooked... you're just heating it and letting the juices oozle all over everything.
Enjoy!

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suzabelle7.livejournal.com

make the green bean casserole. Soooooooooooooooooooooo nummy!

2 cans green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2/3 C milk (I just throw in about half a soup can)
1 1/3 C french fried onions

mix green beans, soup, milk, and half of the f.f.onions in a casserole dist (1 quart, I think). Bake @ 350 for, 30-45 minutes, or until it's bubble. Stir, top with remaining f.f. onions, and bake another 5 minutes or so, to crisp up the topping.

OMG good!

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'Dessert' is the one with 2 s's - how to remember? Well, do you want more of dessert, or more of a desert? I know I'd rather have more chocolate cake :D

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Desert is only preferable if we're leaving my MIL there.

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ROFL!!!

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Preferably the Gobi or Saharah. Trufax.

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suzabelle7.livejournal.com

"Desert" has Sand, and only one S
"Dessert" is Sweet, 'cuz it has Sugar, and 2 S's

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littlestarletta.livejournal.com

I'm sure anything will be better than my thanksgiving which is ME+BOOKS.

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I'd take books over this depending on the time you ask.

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wishuponakate.livejournal.com

This year I will be by myself I think. I am making a small tofurkey roast, cranberry sauce, mashed taters, and a green veggie of some sort.

And someone said Pecan Pie above? Hell yes! I've been craving pecan pie for weeks now. Maybe I'll try to make my own.

Oh, and I love sweet potatoes too!

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Do you want to join us? We're eating in the vicinity of 5ish and like the ghost story goes, there's always room for one more.

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wishuponakate.livejournal.com

Awww, thanks for the invite, but I'll be working night shift, so not sure if I wanna make the trek when I have to work that night, ya know? But I appreciate it. You're a sweetheart!

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If anything with your shift changes or you decide to make the trek, drop me an email :)

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meriae.livejournal.com

I am also hosting thanksgiving dinner for my family & my parents and haven't even started to think of what I'm cooking. I think I'm going to go with:

some sort of veggie tray with dip for appetizer
smoked turkey breast (my mother is doing this)
my mother-in-law's stuffing
mashed potatoes & gravy
corn
cranberry jello thingy with celery in it, again my mother-in-law's
dinner rolls
turtle cheesecake
pumpkin pie

I am actually going to get down to the brass tacks of wtf am I doing later today. if you want tips, need reassured that you're awesome, etc, you have my number. ;)

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I <3 you. Panicked texts ahoy!

Any dip suggestions?

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meriae.livejournal.com

take some ranch dressing and mix it with some sour cream to make it a little thicker, and bam, it's like you slaved all day. ;)

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Nice. I shall try this!

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judithiscariot.livejournal.com

thanksgiving is where i's a viking. you have my number, yy? i'm doing:

herb butter turkey w/ smoky sage giblet/bacon gravy
garlic mashed taters
andouille sausage cornbread stuffing
cran sauce
green bean casserole (with FRESH green beans and none of that cream-of soup)
corn
rolls
punkin pah w/ whipped cream

i'm not doing apps this year but in the past i have generally done things like squash or tomato soup, deviled eggs, veg/dip platter, cheese/crackers, hot cider, etc.

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Any kind of cheese/dip you recommend?

Also, can I come eat with you? That sounds really good.

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judithiscariot.livejournal.com

SURE, drive down to NC :)

Wtih cheese plates, I like a variety. So, I'd say a soft (like brie), a hard (like cheddar), and a blue?

With dip? Hahaha, I like the good old tacky onion soup mix + sour cream. I'm sure there's a better idea. You could do a hummus, maybe? I'd say nothign warm, cause you want people to be able to graze.

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So tempting...

I have cheddar, definitely planning on brie, and I was going to give hummus a try. I've almost got a menu pulled together so I can shop. Bleh.

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joyfulchaos.livejournal.com

I hate turkey as well as most other traditional "thanksgiving" things, but I'm a huge fan of dessert and appetizers!! We always do deviled eggs, pigs in a blanket, mini chicken pot pies (mini filo shells filled w/ chicken pot pie stuffing), etc. For dessert I always make my grandma's recipe Pecan Pie or cherry pie. Sometimes both if I have time. This year I think I'm going to do Pecan Pie & Cookies- chocolate chip & cherry.

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The mini pot pies sound really interesting. I may have to try that!

My mum was on an oatmeal, craisin, chocolate chip cookie kick and those bastards are EVIL.

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tenchikoi-76.livejournal.com

This is usually what a basic American Thanksgiving dinner looks like...

Turkey
Ham
Green bean casserole
Sweet potato casserole
Mashed potatoes
Rolls
Dressing
Cranberry sauce
pecan pie
pumpkin pie
coconut pie
chocolate pie
Assorted beverages

Well, that's what goes down at our house. But I come from a family of overly enthusiastic cookers. Not my fault, really.

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Heh, yea, if I had my druthers, Thanksgiving would be nothing but baked goods. I can swing pastry, it's the other stuff that's giving me fits for a crowd.

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aliki.livejournal.com

If this helps at all, Taiwanese people don't particularly like dairy products or sweet stuff, things like cranberry sauce and sweet pies like pumpkin or chocolate pie or cheesecake are not particularly big hits.

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That helps a lot! When I asked Sandra what she liked, she pretty much said whatever I was cooking was fine. I was kind of considering either making tiramisu or a lemon pie anyway since Steven does not like pumpkin.

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Well, let's see. If you literally mean that all you have planned is turkey, then I'll do a run-through of what we usually eat with it.

Turkey with gravy. I do not know any gravy recipes, as I really cannot stand gravy. Cranberry sauce here, too, which we use from the can.

Ham, either as an extra or an appetizer. We usually just buy one of those Honeybaked ones. Or you could do a nice pork roast wrapped in bacon and cut it up into smaller discs for an appetizer.

Stuffing. I'm lazy and make it from a box because I'll be damned if anyone can tell the difference/cares.

Rolls. I like yeast rolls, but you can also buy rolls and again, people generally don't know/care. If not, there are a trillion super-easy recipes.

Sweet potatoes. Peel and chop potatoes. Put in a pot and fill until water covers all the potatoes. Boil until mushy (can take a while). Mash properly. Add cinnamon or milk or orange juice and any spices you like here. I like cinnamon and orange juice, but a lot of people just use milk and pumpkin pie spice. Put in a big dish. Cover with marshmallows. Stick in the oven until marshmallows burn a little on the top.

Deviled eggs. Hard boil however many you want. Peel. Scoop out yolks. Mix yolk with mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, relish, paprika. Put back in white.

Collards. Chop them well and boil them in water or stock until your entire house reeks to kingdom come. Salt and pepper to taste.

Butter beans. It's another word for lima bean, so just cook those however you regularly cook lima beans. We do almost nothing to them besides heat them up.

Fruit tray. Veggie crudite tray. Both good for pre-dinner snacking.

Corn bread. We have a few ways to do this, including a corn pudding that is popular. I don't know if they sell it up there, but there's a brand we use called JIF that comes in a tiny white box, and we just follow the instructions on the back there for the really plain corn bread. Or you can do the hoe cake style and just mix corn meal, salt, and enough water to make it gloppy and cook them like pancakes. For the corn pudding we also get the JIF stuff and prepare the mix by the instructions but then throw in a can of creamed corn and cook it until mildly solidified. If you don't have JIF up there, here's a really easy recipe for it.

Cheese balls are always a popular appetizer. I've never made one, but again there are plenty of easy recipes online.

That's all I can think of right now!

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Holy God, you're my new best friend. Thank you so, so, so much.

I love Jiffy cornbread. I had never even thought of serving that. That or collards, which I know Steven loves.

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Oh yeahhh, it is JIFFY, not JIF. My bad. Have you ever tried making corn pudding out of that? That's a good way to sneak in corn bread but not make people have to choose between corn bread and roll.

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I think I definitely need to make corn pudding. I absolutely love it, but usually only get it when we're out.

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Oh yeah, and green bean casserole. Again, I've never made it but I'm sure it's easy to find recipes.

Haha, can you tell I stick to making tons of desserts every year??

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If given a choice, that is the same thing I would do. The only thing I'm not panicking about is dessert.

Am I on crack or are the eyes in your icon moving?

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I would actually really love to make a full Thanksgiving spread. Some day! Some day! For now, I do desserts.

Oh, I just thought of another thing: Macaroni. Stephen's family always does it, and I'm actually bringing it as a side dish for my family this year, using his grandmother's recipe.

And yes, they move!

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Macaroni? Really?

My family has always done the traditional New England thing, so I have little concept of what the rest of the country has. Hence why my head is exploding.

I'm glad I'm not just losing it.

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Well, I don't know how regional the macaroni is to the south. See, I got the idea to do it from Stephen's mother, who got used to eating it on Thanksgiving because his grandmother used to do it. The grandmother was from Virginia, but they've always lived in Pennsylvania/Connecticut. So who knows.

I have no idea what people eat elsewhere either, though. I assume banana pudding, pecan pie, and collard greens are not terrifically common outside of the south, but you just said that your Steven loves collards so pffft. Reading the other comments in here, I know that I've never seen plain mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving (always sweet potatoes, sometimes boiled new potatoes), and corn is always in pudding or bread form.

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Thanksgiving is one of those meals that looks big but that's so easy :D Mashed potatoes? Boil. Mash with butter, salt & milk. Candied yams? Bake, whip with brown sugar, toss in oven with a layer of marshmallows on top. Pie of any sort? Store bought pie shell for the easy, mix whatever ingredients in 1 bowl, toss in pie shell, put in oven. Stuffing actually takes a tad of skill but box mixes are quite decent and are totally simple. Cranberry sauce - put cranberries in 1 inch of water with enough sugar to sweeten. Add lemon zest if you want :P Eggnog, coffee and mulled wine for nummy drinks :)

By far the hardest thing is figuring out how to have everything done at near the same *time* :D

T-giving dinner is kind of a production here though - I have to make everything gluten free, which means all the bready products are from scratch 0.o

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Yeah as I was typing up my reply I was thinking, "Damn, this sounds too easy!" I guess if you wanted to make it all from scratch it would be much harder, but still not that bad. They're all just such basic recipes.

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I think the really daunting part is buying and cooking for a group. Like If I frakked this up and it was just Steven and me, I wouldn't care. But these are people I feel obligated to impress (not that any of them would care, but self pressure is grand).

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