GTKY: Thanksgiving Edition

heytallmama · November 2022

I realize Thanksgiving was in October for our Canadian gals, and as it’s Thanksgiving week here in the US… what is the ONE go-to item you need to have on your holiday table? Is it the main dish, a specific side, a certain piece of decor?

noxacanthus · November 2022

My dad does fancy stuffing with apples, celery, raisins, and mushrooms. It is my favorite thing and I insist on having it (or making it) at every major holiday.

It kind of surprised me when we got married, but hubby's family doesn't do holiday meals. Like food is just absent from their traditions. Curious if anyone else's family is like that?

muggsd · November 2022

@heytallmama ours is a very standard t-giving dinner - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes… my favourite though is perogies. Dinner feels incomplete without them!

k_keyser1996 · November 2022

Mine is very standard for my parents Turkey,ham, mashed potatoes, Mac and cheese, coleslaw. and my in laws they are always doing something different and weird

nopegoat · November 2022

Homemade cranberry sauce. No canned stuff here. 😅

disneybaby23 · November 2022

Stuffing is my favorite. I always make my own in the Wednesday before and eat it myself because my MIL’s version is 🤢 and she would be so insulted if I brought a dish. She puts ground beef in a bowl and calls it stuffing.

My sister has been hard core vegetarian since 7 y/o and my mom has a lot of meat hangups too so we don’t do thanksgiving at my parents house. We get together but no specific food. My mom promises though that she’s going to do full out thanksgiving once baby is here though so my stuffing dreams may finally be a reality.

Wishilivedinflorida · November 2022

But stuffing…is bread…and seasoning…and maybe some meat mixed in? Right? @disneybaby23

Stuffing is my favorite. I make mine with toasted dense white bread cubes, veggies, sage, and sage sausage. So yummy.

A close second is Jiffy Corn Casserole.

miss_lynn9 · November 2022

@nopegoat I'm with you on the home made cranberry sauce. I made it for the first time a couple years ago and I was blown away at how much better it is and how easy it is to make!

We always do a potluck. The typical thanksgiving food plus some salt beef, pierogies, meatballs, and whatever people feel like bringing.

mamahosch · November 2022

If there’s no mashed potatoes and gravy, we riot. Also my grandmas homemade stuffing (I won’t eat anyone else’s!)

disneybaby23 · November 2022

@Wishilivedinflorida right it’s just like bread and veggies. Not that hard!

Wishilivedinflorida · November 2022

My UO is that….

This is the best cranberry sauce. 🤣

TortugaAzul · November 2022

@everyone with all the homemade stuffing. My family rioted one year because my grandma made it from scratch instead of the stovetop box mix. 😂 for the record I thought the homemade was great but definitely not the same!

I love it all but I didn’t know green bean casserole was a thing until I met my in-laws and so now I have to have that.

excitedfortaurusbaby · November 2022

Growing up I always helped my grandmother make the stuffing - @disneybaby23 it was a giblet stuffing and was mostly meat. It always grossed me out but the rest of my family loved it! On my mom’s side we would have it with the traditional Thanksgiving turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, squash, canned cranberry sauce but the special treat was the escarole soup my uncle would make with the dark turkey meat. We’d have that as seconds and then would take it home for the week.

On my dad’s side it was much simpler but equally delicious - turkey pie, with mashed potatoes, canned cranberry sauce, and a veggie. There is a local turkey farm we’d get pies from each year and it’s one of my favorite things. It’s just turkey and gravy in a pie crust but it’s so flipping good. I prefer that over roasting a turkey.

And one last thing, while I grew up on canned cranberry, I started making it homemade for friendsgivings. And now I do both because it’s so much fun to make it homemade but I feel like something’s missing if I don’t have that canned jelly slice 😆

heytallmama · November 2022

We’re also a canned cranberry sauce with ridges house! I don’t like either version, but for those that do- no one touches the homemade stuff lol

we’ve gotta have this Brussels sprout salad I made one year. I tried making a different one the following, but now it’s become a staple and I’m not allowed anything else.

Grandmas stuffing- bread, butter, more butter, herbs, veggies, butter… My mom’s green bean casserole: which is basically cheesy French green beans with bacon. YUM.

I could honestly go without the turkey bring on the sides!

Finally: it’s not thanksgiving if we don’t end the night playing a board game. So many favorite family memories and inside jokes have stemmed post-dinner board games.

k_keyser1996 · November 2022

My husband wants me to make thanksgiving dinner here and have his parents and my parents that are visiting from out of town, but I honestly don’t have any energy. 21 weeks pregnant with twins. How can I pull this off??

excitedfortaurusbaby · November 2022

@k_keyser1996 Have him make dinner! Or if he’s never done it, you can sit in the kitchen with him and be the instructor. My husband and I have taught each other our favorite recipes by doing this. Alternatively, could your parents or in-laws come early to help cook?

k_keyser1996 · November 2022

@excitedforpiscesbaby I thought About asking him to help. And I really don’t want to ask my parents or in laws to help.

shorty-sar · November 2022

Anything sweet potato 🤤 my parents make the sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows, but my in-laws make sweet potato pie. Either way, I love dipping my turkey in the sweet potatoes. 🤤

lightintothevoid · November 2022

@mamahosch Same! Mashed potatoes are a must.

Also candied yams. I miss them so much and wish I could fly home just for those. My in-laws are not skilled in the art of candied yams. I need to get my family’s recipe and just make them myself.

noxacanthus · November 2022

@k_keyser1996 With my daughter I was ~30 weeks pregnant when Tgiving came around. We stuck a stool in the kitchen and I cooked until I needed a break to catch my breath and then sat on the stool and supervised hubby or my dad for a bit. Also, might be too late, but is there anything you can prep today (whether that's chopping veggies or pre-making some sides and just reheating them tomorrow) so that tomorrow is less hectic?

k_keyser1996 · November 2022

@noxacanthus I have a few things prepped for tomorrow… my husband agreed to help me.

Wishilivedinflorida · November 2022

k_keyser1996 said:

@noxacanthus I have a few things prepped for tomorrow… my husband agreed to help me.

This is the way. I have my veg and herbs all chopped and in containers. I also did a lot of store bought stuff this year (rolls from a local bakery, pie, etc). I’m sipping coffee right now watching the kids run around and patiently waiting to take the Turkey out of the fridge. I might even have time to do a craft with the kids!!

missmuisq · December 2022

@disneybaby23 All your stories/anecdotes about your MIL make me laugh but also sympathize. You are such a trooper!

disneybaby23 · December 2022

@missmuisq lol. Yeah she’s always funny after the fact but during is kind of terrifying. I’m not sure how my husband is so normal after growing up with her. Having a parent with serious mental illness is a really crazy thing to deal with. My FIL is a legit saint though so he makes everything so much better.

missmuisq · December 2022

@disneybaby23 Ohhh, I hadn't really thought about the mental illness angle (if you'd mentioned it before, I'd forgotten). That's quite a bit more serious and sad, for everyone involved. What a blessing that your husband escaped unscathed and seems committed to promoting such a stable, healthy home environment for his own family.

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