Thanksgiving Menu Plans?

With Thanksgiving looming near, I thought it might be interesting to see what people are planning on their menu this year. I know a lot of people do the same thing every year with foods handed down for generations, so those are always interesting. For myself, I have tried various things over the years, trying to find what my family likes best.

In years past, some of the big success items (aside from those on this list) included crockpot turkey, dry-aged turkey, Goose (marginal success technically), orange and cranberry salad, and challah stuffing to name a few. There have been some failures as well, though often it isn't that they tasted bad. Instead they just weren't up to par with other options.

So I suppose I should get this started with what I am making this year. One thing of note is that I am a huge advocate of from-scratch cooking even in my day to day life. As such, this holiday menu does reflect that little quirk of avoiding anything that is more processed than being pre-ground where I can. Some things are unavoidable.

For the main, I am trying to do a brined turkey for the first time. Mostly I am doing this because the size of the bird this year is larger than I would normally have and I want to make sure it isn't too dry. I have a pretty good brining recipe and figured it is well worth finally trying this way. Once I do, I think the only things left are Deep frying and Turduckhens!

Gravy is a question mark this year. Most years, I make it from the drippings, but with brining, I am concerned that the drippings will be too salty. I'm going to have to play this one by ear.

Homemade buttered egg noodles! I decided to change up starches this year. Most years it is stuffing and/or potatoes. I remember a few family Thanksgivings where buttered noodles were a tradition and they were a constant for the holidays for my wife. I have made them before, cooking store bought noodles in chicken stock and then buttering afterwards. I hate to waste the stock though most years and use at least some of it with the gravy. This year, I am going to use the noodle maker and crank out some homemade egg noodles. I expect it will change up the dish quite a bit.

Maple vanilla sweet potatoes have become a must in my family. My wife never cared for the standard candied sweet potatoes topped in marshmallows. I tinkered around and came up with this recipe that uses maple, brown sugar, ginger, nutmeg and vanilla all to create a really nice flavor without being sickeningly sweet. Every year she insists it be included.

Almost everyone I know, myself included, grew up with can-berry sauce. It was labeled cranberry sauce, but it looked like thickened jelly, tasted like bitter slime and half the people I knew would serve it in slices instead of as a sauce! When I got out on my own, I wanted nothing to do with it. It wasn't until years later that I decided I wanted to return to some of the traditions I grew up with. Instead of store bought, I began doing various cranberry sauces. Among those is this one. It is pretty good and should cut some of the salinity if brining turns out to be too strong. It will be an orange cranberry sauce. Pairing these two is always a success in my experience.

Pumpkin soup is a maybe this year. I have a large heirloom pumpkin and only half of it (at most) is needed for the pie. I considered saving it to grill later, but on a lark I have decided to give pumpkin soup a go. I have people in the house who've never had it, so it should be interesting.

Old Fashioned Heirloom Pie! I have used hubbards, pumkins, pink banana squash (my personal favorite so far) and triamble squash for this and every time it is delicious. It involves one ingredient that really makes it a stand-out among similar pies that is almost never used in sweets anymore. I think what I like best though is that each squash or pumpkin is able to express itself through the pie. They are all similar, but unique. Most other pie recipes I have tried seem to mask the pumpkin/squash so that using an heirloom vs a sugar pumpkin doesn't mean much. It is a permanent item on my holiday feasting.

Spiced Cider rounds things off. I've only started doing this in recent years. The death of my grandmother meant the end of several traditions from my childhood. One of those was her Thanksgiving dinner. I always remember the first thing you smelled when you came in the house was a few quarts of spiced cider simmering. Drinking it was kind of like drinking apple pie in liquid form. Delicious stuff. I've begun to take on that tradition myself, though in smaller batches.

I'm probably going to do a posting on my blog at some point about that pie, for anyone interested. Anyway, what about yourselves? What is everyone planning? Are there any stories tied to why you are making those things? I'd love to learn more.

This year I want to do as much food from our yard and local growers as possible. It's not as good as it could be because our garden was pretty much a fail, but a lot of it is ours or friends'.

roast chicken (can't think of a better way to express gratitude than our first home-harvested birds)
cornbread dressing with apples, mushrooms, poblanos and goat cheese (grinding our corn from last year, I think I still have some of a neighbor's goat cheese)
mashed potatoes (had to do the walk of shame on potatoes) and gravy (made the stock when we butchered)
green salad (from the hoop house)
roast turnips (from the hoop house)
blackberry applesauce (made with apple cores and leftover pulp from making blackberry pancake syrup)
winter squash pecan pie (might use a pumpkin a neighbor gave me)
hard cider (we'll start with a bottle made by a home brewer friend)

I was thinking earlier today that a great garden goal would be to serve as much homegrown food on Thanksgiving as possible. My big misses are Brussels sprouts, potatoes and winter squash. Raising our own mushrooms would really up the bar. And of course cider from our apples. But what we can do this year for ourselves is plenty to be grateful for!

Our Thanksgiving was last month but we always have roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, cabbage rolls, stuffing, peas and carrots, waldorf salad, pistachio salad, cranberry sauce, gravy and rolls.
Desserts change from year to year but 7-layer squares and butter tarts are favorites.


If you go with the gravy and it's salty, let a potato simmer in the gravy for a bit and it will soak up some of the salt. If it's still salty after that, add a touch of sugar.

Penny Dumelie wrote:If you go with the gravy and it's salty, let a potato simmer in the gravy for a bit and it will soak up some of the salt. If it's still salty after that, add a touch of sugar.

Oooh! Thanks for the tip!

D. Logan wrote:

For the main, I am trying to do a brined turkey for the first time. Mostly I am doing this because the size of the bird this year is larger than I would normally have and I want to make sure it isn't too dry. I have a pretty good brining recipe and figured it is well worth finally trying this way. Once I do, I think the only things left are Deep frying and Turduckhens!

Gravy is a question mark this year. Most years, I make it from the drippings, but with brining, I am concerned that the drippings will be too salty. I'm going to have to play this one by ear.

We brine our turkey every year! My only advice that isn't always in the recipe is that the amount of salt is dependent on the length of time you brine. Shorter brine time= more salt, of course.

I've been doing this for at least 10 years and have never had trouble with overly salty gravy. To remove extra salt from anything, just add a potato and cook for a bit.

I see Penny beat me to the potato tip!

The I've been raising Royal Palm turkeys for several years and now my recipe is honed to that particular breed (its smaller than most - females can be 8lbs dressed).

My only caution is that people get MAD when some dish they're expecting isn't served! If I want to try stuffing with apples and sausage, I better make the "normal" kind too. With 3 people that's out of the question this year!

Cj Verde wrote:I see Penny beat me to the potato tip!

The I've been raising Royal Palm turkeys for several years and now my recipe is honed to that particular breed (its smaller than most - females can be 8lbs dressed).

My only caution is that people get MAD when some dish they're expecting isn't served! If I want to try stuffing with apples and sausage, I better make the "normal" kind too. With 3 people that's out of the question this year!

Yeah, I already had one person eating with us complain that I didn't include green bean casserole on the menu. Until now, I'd never known anyone who ate the stuff to be honest. It showed up on almost every holiday and whoever brought it would always take a scoop out, but that was it. If I had the funds to spare, I would go out and pick up the ingredients to do it (I actually do have a from-scratch version of the recipe), but between my son's birthday and the holiday food, I am out of funds to spare for it unless I dip out of the diaper fund (never wise). I more or less had to say sorry and leave it at that.

I did decide to add fresh yeast rolls to the lineup this year. After looking at what dishes will be used vs free, oven space, timing and ingredients already in the house, it should work out nicely and those things are absolutely delicious!

D. Logan wrote:
Yeah, I already had one person eating with us complain that I didn't include green bean casserole on the menu. Until now, I'd never known anyone who ate the stuff to be honest.
... I more or less had to say sorry and leave it at that.

Not something I ever had growing up. If it were me though, I'd say, "it's not on the menu but feel free to bring one."

We're having our regular mostly homegrown meal with family...our son works at an organically raised chicken, turkey, pig, etc farm and always has something, this year it is ham...........I'm making an organic brown basmati rice dressing (not stuffing) with our fresh herbs, shiitakes and pecans and bits of dried persimmon; and we'll have plain roasted sweet potatoes with butter, pumpkin pies. Muscadine jam has replaced cranberries...I don't ever make it very sweet so it is a nice along with the ham.
Some family meal though, I always wanted to do all of those dishes from growing up...the green bean casserole you mention above, scalloped corn, jello with pineapple and grated carrot.....but upgrade them with really fresh organic ingredients and cooking methods.

Judith Browning wrote:I'm making an organic brown basmati rice dressing (not stuffing) with our fresh herbs, shiitakes and pecans and bits of dried persimmon; and we'll have plain roasted sweet potatoes with butter, pumpkin pies.

Recipe, please!?! sounds yummy

Ann Torrence wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:I'm making an organic brown basmati rice dressing (not stuffing) with our fresh herbs, shiitakes and pecans and bits of dried persimmon; and we'll have plain roasted sweet potatoes with butter, pumpkin pies.

Recipe, please!?! sounds yummy

Well, I am cooking some chicken broth tomorrow all day on the wood stove straining it off and then wednesday cooking the rice in it, then thursday morning sauteing onions and some garlic, breaking up some dried shiitakes, cutting some sage, rosemary and oregano and getting my husband to chop finely (I am impatient) mixing all together and then remembering what I forgot to put in like the chopped bits of chicken and salt pepper tumeric a little bit of cayenne (we put in everything) maybe some green onion and garlic chive. It'll will go in one of our pottery casseroles and travel to our sons house and go in the oven with with little butter on top for however long they can spare the oven from the rest of the cooking. It really just needs heating through and a chance for the flavors to blend. I think some might call this something else, but extra 'herby' especially sage, makes it dressing to me.

...and pecans fresh shelled and soaked for a few hours in water and drained, chopped a little.......our other son's input.

I'll help resurrect this one since it's that time of year and on my mind.  :)

I am plant-based and last year I made a nearly complete StraightUpFood menu (with some modifications as you can see from the pictures):

Lentil-Rice Loaf:
http://www.straightupfood.com/blog/2013/12/19/lentil-rice-loaf/

Quinoa Holiday Dressing:
http://www.straightupfood.com/blog/2012/12/12/quinoa-holiday-dressing/

Spicy Beans and Greens:
http://www.straightupfood.com/blog/2013/02/11/spicy-beans-and-greens/

With all the new main dishes and work involved, I wasn't feeling like putting in a lot of work on dessert so I took a page out of Wayne's book: https://permies.com/t/15088/kitchen/Favorite-Cherry-Pie-pie-recipe and made a crumble (or crunch as we called it growing up) with an apple/cranberry base.  

This year, I am not sure yet.  I am going to my homestead and have to pack several days worth of food so I don't know how much "extra" stuff I will feel like hauling.  I might just stick with my usual basics for most.  But I had great success with this tofu-pumpkin pie recipe last time I made it so there will at least be pie:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/216554/tofu-pumpkin-pie/

OP mentioned maple vanilla sweet potatos. That sounds great. Gonna have to search for a recipe.

My home grown items this year will be turkey, sweet potatos, and wine. I was hoping to add more. I do have honey and salt which adds to the total, although its minimal.

Since we grow most of our own food, eating out for holidays is a treat. So we will most likely eat at our local restaurant who is planning a big buffet. In the past they have had traditional roast turkey and gravy, baked ham, sushi roll, mashed potatoes, rice, mashed purple sweet potatoes with pineapple, corn, green beans, macaroni salad, cole slaw, a mixed salad, homemade breads, olives/celery sticks/carrot sticks/sliced cucumbers, local fruits, and some sort of special gourmet homemade dessert. Our farm in the past has contributed the  purple sweet potatoes, fresh green beans, assorted herbs, and the pineapple. The local hongwangi makes the sushi roll.

My daughter is hosting a family gathering this year and since we are a bi-costal family, and from points in between, she expects as many as 50 people. She has ordered dinners from the honey baked ham people and Cracker Barrel, adding extra roasted turkey legs (with a bacon blanket) and homemade pies. Since I won't arrive in time to help I mailed her some of my canned pickles, Chow chow, pepper jam, and cranberry conserve and cranapple sauce.

It's good to be able to get the family together for something better than a funeral.

My list of homegrown or homemade is going up. I do the cooking.

Homegrown includes turkey, sweet potatos, potatos, salad greens, salt, carrots.

Homemade:
Turkey
Gravy,
Mashed potatoes (or put potatos and farrots in with the turkey)
Candied yams (sweet potato, butter, brown sugar)
Salad
Cranberry sauce
Sweet potato pie(my first year making pie crust!)
Buttermilk pie
Whipped cream
Rolls

Store bought
Stove top stuffing.
Onion
Sugar/Spices other than salt
Milk, butter, cream
Sister brings homemade dip and store bought pita chips

I made a test pie today. I stuck a knife in to see if it was done.

Here are all my pies. Buttermilk, sweet potato, and blueberry

Rolls are made. I picked the lettuce and got it ready. I'm in good shape for tomorrow. I had to weigh the turkey for cooktime. 19 pounds. It was the smallest of my harvest. Luckily it fit in the roasting pan. Its prepped and ready to go in oven at 7am.

wayne fajkus wrote:My list of homegrown or homemade is going up. I do the cooking.

Homegrown includes turkey, sweet potatos, potatos, salad greens, salt, carrots.

Wayne, do you really make your own salt?? If you posted about it somewhere, could you point me to it? I am very curious about it.

And, gorgeous pies you have there! Yummy!

Liv, I don't know about Wayne, but I make my own salt. I collect ocean water from a spot about 10 miles from my farm and bring it back to the house, where I filter it then dehydrate it. I boil most of the water away over a wood fire, then dry it the rest of the way under glass out in the sun. I make salt once a year (right now, in fact) and use it for Christmas presents for my friends on the mainland. Best salt ever!

As has become tradition, hubby and I are going out for Thanksgivjng Day dinner. It's a real treat for us. We get to eat chemical laden food cooked en masse in a commercial kitchen. It's something we seldom do. It reminds us how much we are thankful for the clean fresh foods we normally eat.

Su Ba wrote:Liv, I don't know about Wayne, but I make my own salt. I collect ocean water from a spot about 10 miles from my farm and bring it back to the house, where I filter it then dehydrate it. I boil most of the water away over a wood fire, then dry it the rest of the way under glass out in the sun. I make salt once a year (right now, in fact) and use it for Christmas presents for my friends on the mainland. Best salt ever!

Amazing! How much water do you collect at one time? And how much salt do you end up with?

That sure makes for a great gift☺️

D. Logan wrote:The death of my grandmother meant the end of several traditions from my childhood. One of those was her Thanksgiving dinner. I always remember the first thing you smelled when you came in the house was a few quarts of spiced cider simmering. Drinking it was kind of like drinking apple pie in liquid form. Delicious stuff. I've begun to take on that tradition myself, though in smaller batches.

It's hard taking over the torch of thanksgiving. My mother is recovering from surgery to remove cancer from her lung, so she's not doing much this year, just chicken drumsticks that my dad will grill and some rice. My sister-in-law is making some stuff...but I'm sitting her racking my brain for what we normally had at Thanksgiving. It's hard, because Thanksgiving for many years was a giant reunion that took over the basement of Grammie's church. There'd be 50+ cousins and aunts and uncles and grandmas, etc. Everyone brought something, and I never really thought about it.

Then my Grammie passed away, and the rest of that generation stopped doing thanksgiving and our big thanksgiving tradtion just kind of ended. So we started having thanksgiving at my mom's...but it's all so new that I don't really know what to make or do!

So far, I'm making 2 kinds of cranberry sauce with gelatin. One will be just jellied cranberries with some orange juice, and the other will be a jello salad thing in the mold. I'm also making mashed potatoes from potatoes we grew (okay, I'm bringing the potatoes to my moms house and having her tell me how to season them, because I always ruin them!), and also some pumpkin pies. But, I feel that's still not enough. I feel like I'm missing crucial family-memory elements, but I can't remember them. I wish I'd paid more attention to what we normally ate at Thanksgiving!

Liz, here is my salt thread. All that is needed is seawater and evaporation.

https://permies.com/t/85170/Waynes-solar-salt-factory

It's just the two of us, and our critters, today. Honestly, I'm very thankful for that. We need some peace, for a change!

Hubs is smoking a duck and making roasted Brussels sprouts, with bacon and onions. I'm making flourless dinner rolls and roasted radishes & butternut squash, with sweet onions, rosemary, sage, and thyme. Last night, I made flourless pumpkin bread, with pecan and cranberries, and today, I might make pecan pie. Maybe.

Ooooh, what's your recipe for flourless dinner rolls?

Nicole Alderman wrote:Ooooh, what's your recipe for flourless dinner rolls?

LOL! I'll let you know - if they turn out right! I'm borrowing a recipe from a keto blog, and hoping my alterations don't make it inedible! It does have almond flour and xanthan gum, in case those are an issue, for you. I know you've a lot of food issues going on, in your house!

The flourless pumpkin bread recipe is coming along, and this is the best rendition, so far - but I'm not quite ready to share it. It has some tweaking yet to be done, too (mainly, it's still a bit too wet!)

Here are the last of my pics. Tryptophan kicking in. Naptime.