I'd love to see your menu! What are you making for Thanksgiving?

Here's mine

- Smoked Turkey
- Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Zinfandel
- Warm Mushroom & Herb Salad with Peccorino & Hazelnuts
- Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Michael Symon's Mac N' Cheese (with rosemary and goat cheese)
- Sage and Sausage Stuffing

 
Here's mine so far -they don't let me get away from the traditional

olive stuffed cheese puffs
mozerella stuffed cherry tomatoes
cheese ball turkey decoration (the grans make something every year)
Butternut squash soup (maybe)

Foil covered roast turkey
Cornbread stuffing (homemade cornbread)
Julia Child's gravy
NPR cranberry sauce
sweet potato casserole with pecan topping
roasted green beans
creamed spinach

princess birthday cake (birthday of my youngest grandchild)
fruit pie
homemade vanilla icecream

 
And here's mine:

Pretty traditonal for our family, except for the last couple of items; pretty tame really:

Smoked/barbequed spatchcocked turkey (or maybe I will leave it whole, who knows? I plan on cooking this over a drip pan so we can have smokey gravey, delish!)
Mrs Cubbison's seasoned stuffing, with onions, celery, extra seasoning, butter (less than recipe calls for) and bulk breakfast sausage
Green Bean Casserole ala Trader Joe's Cream of porcini Soup package, plus cooked bacon
Green Salad: Goat cheese, baby greens, romaine hearts, candied walnuts, dried montmorency cherries
Mashed potatoes
Giblet Gravy (no gravy would be against the law around here)
Marshmallow candied sweet potatoes (husband's favorite)
Cranberry relish
Rich Dinner rolls (which will be converted to vegan for my vegan son by using coconut milk and vegan buttery spread)
Pumpkin pie (two will be regular, tradional Libby's-style, the third will be vegan for you-know-who) with whipped cream and vegan whipped stuff.
Snacks before hand: chips dip (onion and guacamole), soft drinks

 
Here's ours--includes various contributions from friends and neighbors...

goat & mascarpone stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto
shrimp coctail
2 Turkeys. Baked marinated Spanish style and fried
Cornbread dressing
bread dressing with giblets
Sweet potato casserole
vegetable casserole with horseradish cream
spinach casserole
Brussel sprouts
roasted beets chopped with butter and spices
hot buttery dinner rolls
cannoli cheesecake
bourbon sweet potato pie
prosecco & pinot noir

 
Ours:

ETA: Having a mild panic attack, just re-reading this.

Champagne cocktail
Crackers, cheese, flatbread*
Spatchcocked turkey from the Di Paola turkey gods (and a turkey breast; not sure how to cook both at the same time)
Dressing
Green beans and almonds
Cranberry sauce
Rolls
Glazed carrots
Mashed potatoes
Caramelized-onion and bacon gravy

Pumpkin pie (Cook's Illustrated)
Apple turnovers (for the kids; I know it's heretical)
Spendy, trendy Brooklyn pie from a guest (I hope?)
Whipped cream

California wines**

Everything adorned with googly eyes and feathers from the toddler craft table.

Good heavens, now I have to cook all this.


*Whatever was on sale
**HA HA, ALL FOR THE CHEF!! ALL FOR MEEEEE!

 
You might need to sit down for this....

Mexican! Yes, I said Mexican.
Beef enchiladas
Chicken Enchiladas
Chili Rellenos
Mexican Rice
Refried Beans
Margaritas
Oh, and Pumpkin pie cause it's the only time of the year that we have it.
I know what you're thinking but I have just gotten tired of the whole thing over the last few years. So last week I asked John what he thought. We decided several years ago that we just don't like turkey all that well and definitely not frozen so we started doing a big chicken with the stuffing. Really all we want left over is the dressing. We like to have it in the mornings fried and an egg on top with cranberry jelly slices. So I'm making dressing so we can still enjoy it for breakfasts. So a very weird Thanksgiving Day going on at our house this year. We'll see how we feel about it.

 
Just the two of us...

Autumn Spice Sidecar
(It's the year of the) Spatchcock Turkey with citrus dry-brine
Gravy
Sage, mushroom and pecan dressing
Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock's Sweet Potato Casserole
Roasted green beans and shallots
Cranberry sauce
Pumpkin Pie

I'm horrible at pie crusts but I've been impressed with J. Kenji López-Alt's recopies so I'm trying his crust...I have a Trader Joes crust in the freezer just in case.

 
Charlie, I'm intrigued by your Baked marinated Spanish style Turkey. How are you preparing it?

 
Orchid, have you ever made Diana Kennedy's refried beans? Decadent, and holiday worthy.

Sonora Bean Puree / Frijoles Maneados Sonorenses
From Essential Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy

1 pound Pinto or California Pink Beans (about 2 1/2 cups)
12 to 14 cups hot water, approximately
1/2 small white onion, roughly sliced
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon slat, or to taste
2/3 cup whole milk
3 Ancho chiles, wiped clean
8 ounces Asadero or Chihuahua cheese, or mild Cheddar, Jack, or domestic Muenster, cut into 1/2-inch cubes*

*I used Jack and would again

Run the beans through your hands slowly, picking out any small stones or pieces of dirt that might be among them. Rinse in cold water and put into a large flameproof bean pot.

Add 12 cups of the hot water, the onion, and the 3 tablespoons oil and bring to a simmer. Cover the beans and continue summering until they are just beginning to soften and the skins are splitting open--about 1 hour (depending on how dry the beans are). Add the salt and continue cooking until the beans are soft and mushy, about 30 minutes; there should be some broth in the pot. If the broth reduces too much during cooking time, then add more water. Put the rest of the oil--1 cup --into a casserole. Put the casserole into the oven and set the temperature at 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, put one third each of the beans and milk into a blender jar with a little of the broth and blend until smooth. Repeat twice to use up all the beans and milk.

By the time the beans have been blended, the oil should be very hot; if not, leave in the oven for a few minutes longer. When the oil is ready, stir the bean puree into the casserole and return to the oven to cook, uncovered, until the edges are just drying out and the mixture is reduced--about 1 hour 15 minutes.

After you put the bean puree in the oven, slit the chiles open, remove the veins and seeds, and toast lightly on both sides on a warm griddle or comal. Tear the chiles into thin strips and add to the bean puree.

At the end of the cooking time, add the cheese and return the casserole to the oven until the cheese has melted--about 10 minutes. Serve immediately

 
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