"Thanksgiving deep questions" Topic

Here in the USA we just celebrated our Thanksgiving holiday, an opportunity for us to spend time with friends and family being thankful and over eating. As our family has been adding new members through marriage we see that there are different food preferences.

So this will likely be a top Five poll, do you prefer:
Stuffing
Dressing
Green beans
Green bean casserole
Potato's
Noodles
Sweet potatoes
Yams
Spinach soufflé
Oyster dressing
White meat
Dark meat
Gravy with giblets
Gravy no giblets
Cranberry jelly
Cranberry sauce
etc

In order of preference, from top to bottom:

1. Fluffy mashed potatoes with lots of melted butter
2. White meat turkey breast, with well-seasoned skin on it
3. Baked ham
4. Interior, non-skinned, white meat turkey, with gravy
5. Warm, buttered bread or rolls (preferably high quality ones, but even the small, cheap, white bread rolls are tasty with a good, quality butter

6. Near contender to the above, which shouldn't be left out – home-made, sage stuffing (dressing)

For those who don't know the difference, stuffing and dressing are the same thing, except stuffing is cooked inside the turkey, and dressing is not… ;-)

p.s. I'd be no help to your poll, as I'd eat all of it… ;-)

home cooking

White meat, mashed potatoes, corn, glazed baby carrots, rolls and butter.

Turkey (like both white & dark meat), sweet potatoes, green beans, hubbard squash & pickled beets.

Corn bread

I listed what we had this year and what we forgot to make but like.

Dressing
Green beans
Mashed Potato's
Sweet potatoes
White meat
Dark meat
Gravy with giblets
Corn Bread
Yeast Bread (cinnamon bread with extra yeast)
Scones
Cranberry orange muffins
Egg Rolls
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Cream Pie
Vanilla Ice cream

what we missed but usually have
Cranberry sauce
Turnips
Biscuits

Everything is homemade.

Anything. Really.

Our first Thanksgiving as a family was when I was stationed in Japan (the previous Thanksgivings, I was deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo). The Japanese oven in our house was not going to do a big turkey. Neither were two toddlers. So we had steak. And the next year, a big shark steak, I believe.

We never go into the whole traditional meal thing, so we focused Thanksgiving on giving thanks for things (like being home with family at that time).

One thing we have done, which I really liked was Cornish hens. SWMBO mad her family's traditional stuffing. Then we had extra ingredients so each person could customize the stuffing that went into their particular bird.

While agreeing in principle with what etotheipi said above, there is still some magic to the traditional feast, if one can get it. Things being homemade is key, but we do have a few cheats: our dressing is by Pepperidge Farms tweaked with lots of butter, and for the past two years we have bought "hired" pies – this year's were from a local bakery/creamery, pumpkin, mince and maple/pecan, and were extraordinarily good.

We tried a dry brine for the bird this year, and though I say it who shouldn't, it could well be the best I've ever had!

We'll be eating turkey, ham, etc., for the next week or so ! Only thing I really don't like are giblets … in any form. But we didn't have any … so …

Pizza. Usually vetoed by the spousal unit, but give me a good pizza and I'm fine.

My family made sausage stuffing for the turkey, it's a Canadian thing. (At least all the Canucks in my family did it)

When I married and moved to Pennsylvania, my spousal unit tried to sell me on the soggy bread thing they call stuffing or "filling".

Not buying it.

Squash, green peas, sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce.

Add turkey and I'm good. With a quart of giblet gravy on top.

Eric

I like the "soggy bread" stuffing. It's what my mother always used to make in the turkey with maybe a pan of some extra. I've taken to calling it "Yankee stuffing" and found a recipe to make a huge amount that tastes similar using a slow cooker (Crock Pot).

No worries about food poisoning or having to drown it with gravy like dry cornbread dressing.

Why bother? Pie is going to win.

We had pumpkin pie, and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. mmmm, pie, drool

Oh, and Claim Jumper Chocolate Silk Pie, if you still have any room left.

The drool short circuited my last keyboard.

My brother-in-law made the most amazing delicious scalloped potatoes with onions, covered by a layer of melted gruyere cheese. It was almost as good as my mom used to make.

Greenbean Casserole tops my list, followed by garlic
mashed potatoes (hint: boil peeled cloves of garlic in
with the potatoes, then mash 'em into the potatoes with
milk/butter), my wife's citrus/cranberry relish (fresh
cranberries and NOT-Navel oranges blended together with
Orange zest), stuffing smothered in home-made gravy,
turkey and Apple crumb pie…burp…

Pizza. Usually vetoed by the spousal unit, but give me a good pizza and I'm fine.

They had pizza at the 1st Thanksgiving !?!?!?!?!?

Did the Indians bring it or was it delivered ? Certainly is was not made by the Pilgrims !

What great suggestions all, am getting hungry again.

Dear Editors I suggest this be a top 5 not one single best item pole.

Basics; the turkey(prefer boneless breast),mashed spuds,dressing,crescent rolls,corn;wife likes jellied cranberry sauce in addition;cream pie. Nice diet soda for me,wife has milk with hers,usually,