Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Happy Thanksgiving All & Happy Holidays

Yesterday's Menu:

Butternut Squash soup with sage and pistachios
Arugula mix with pears and toasted pecans with pear vinegarette
Brined turkey
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
"Candied Yams"
Roasted brussel sprouts
Other roasted root vegetable medley (squash, turnips, rutabagas)
Mashed turnips (my mother's favorite)
Regular bread stuffing
Cornbread stuffing
Dinner rolls
Cranberry sauce

The family members brought dessert.

Ken,

I hope you have a really big family ....

STUFFED.
We had a great dinner today:
Turkey
Bread and Apricot dressing
Cranberry sauce
3 onion 3 cheese casserole (love this stuff)
Green bean casserole, not canned stuff
Carrots
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potato/butternut squash purée with Streusel topping (thanks to Becca but they didn't have enough sweet potatoes at the store).
Rolls (me again, nothing special but everyone liked them)
Apple pie
Pumpkin pie
Brownies
Sugar cookies

I should have photos soon. One of our friends has a fancy new camera. I made him take a picture of the tiny oven the 22 lb turkey came out of!

Mary

I am the 4th youngest of 12 children.

Mary, does your TG gathering include mostly (North) Americans? Or is this ethnic food for some of them?

Pete,
We are a mixed group. It is my cooking club, which started many years ago from an English speaking moms and kids club. The group that ended up sticking is mainly composed of American women with Swiss husbands. We also have a set of Americans and a pure Swiss couple. It is a rather exotic meal in these parts. The fact that you put all of it on your plate at the same time is rather confounding but the Swiss people I have introduced Thanksgiving to over the years really love it.

Funny story, a couple years ago, around Thanksgiving, I bought a turkey at the supermarket. The woman at the checkout told me she just couldn't figure out why people kept buying those giant ducks. We are lucky to live in a tax haven with tons of expats so we can get things like fresh turkey. If you want a big one though, it is a special order and the actual size you will get is a crap shoot.

Mary

PS Ken, wow! You guys are a reality tv show in the making.

Mary,

Huh, the Swiss only eat one thing at a time?

Not one thing but not so many things at once. That much food would go over several courses, if at all.

Mary

I'm going traditional southern.
Slow roast turkey(but brined and air dried)
Coca cola Fresh ham with lime jalapeño glaze(haven't made this since h was really little)
Bread stuffing
Make ahead turkey gravy
Fluffy make ahead rolls
Mashed potatoes
Not too sweet(CI) potato casserole
Mac n cheese
Peas
Corn
Cranberry sauce

Pies
Pecan
Pumpkin
Chocolate
Pumpkin(Al has a serious butterscotch habit)

I think I might need a tad more starch and carbs tho.

Since its just the two of us, I am going super simple. Dried Apricot & Date Stuffed Turkey Breast With Marsala Glaze, my favorite stuffing (from the FC wizard), Broccolini and Green Beans With Smoked Paprika, Almonds, And Garlic and either Prune Pie or Rugelah if my knee allows (torn meniscus).