Well, frak.

[devilgrrl]

Thanksgiving is Thursday. We are having 4 guests plus us. The menu so far is turkey. Having never done this for guests, I'm at a loss. I assume I should have some kind of appetizer and other stuff.

Plz to be posting what you would like to see at your perfect TDay. Recipes links help angels earn their wings.

ETA: We are having two of Steven's Taiwanese students, as well, if it helps.

Comments

[call-me-ps.livejournal.com]

I know it's different in the northeast than it is in the midwest where I live, but we do turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (if you like it, we always skip it), green bean casserole (green beans mixed with cream of mushroom soup and covered with those little onion string things) and fresh baked rolls. For dessert (desert? the meal after dinner, I always forget which way it's spelled) we have pumpkin, apple and pecan pie, usually.

[littlestarletta.livejournal.com]

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

[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!

[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. ;)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[vonlisbon.livejournal.com]

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!

[vonlisbon.livejournal.com]

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??

[ecaterin.livejournal.com]

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

[pyxi-styx.livejournal.com]

For your turkey, soak it in salt water before you cook it. After it's soaked in really salty water, rub it with whatever rub you prefer. The salt helps hold in the moisture and keep the turkey JUICY on the inside!
I just learned this 2 years ago, have had the best turkeys ever since

Our Menu

[suzabelle7.livejournal.com]

Appetizers before Turkey Day Dinner? Are you crazy? That takes up valuable stomach space! No, no, no! However, in our family, after the kitchen is clean and our pants have started to fit more comfortably again, we pull the ham and turkey back out, along with good bread and sandwich makings. We also generally have some simple appetizer-type things to go along with, like veggies and dip, cheese spread and crackers, etc. Ask your guests to bring those things, and/or dessert.

When I do Turkey Dinner with Jeff and the skids on the years they're with their mom for the actual Day of Gluttony, we do The Bird, mashed potatoes and gravy (of course), Stove Top stuffing ('cuz we like it better than made-from-scratch), green bean casserole (the standard kind with cream of mushroom soup and french fried onions, recipe found on the back of the onion container), corn (from the freezer), bake 'n' serve rolls, and SPECIAL Orange Jello. Grandma makes it in a Jello mold, but I don't have the patience for that kind of crap. I just do it in a bowl. It's special because you use Vernors in place of the cold water the recipe calls for. Since Vernors is a Michigan thing, you could probably use any ginger ale you wanted, but, under NO circumstances can you use 7-up, Sprite, etc, as it makes the final product far too sweet. My SIL is bringing the Orange Jello this year, and I've warned her that a)that is how it MUST be made and b)if she screws it up, she'll be on the very top of my shit list, as it's been my THanksgiving favorite for as long as I can remember