Right, so it's Thanksgiving on Thursday. We'll just be cooking for seven, not too daunting.
Our menu's pretty ordinary, which is to say, all good. If it were up to me I'd just do a turkey breast in the slow cooker, but Mr. Sandy wants a whole bird, so Mr. Sandy is going to roast a whole bird. He's also going to make a new stuffing recipe with wheat bread and dates. I'm bringing the Pepperidge Farm stuff as a fallback. Everyone knows the stuffing is the best part of the meal, and there's no sense taking a chance on not loving it. This is no time to live on the edge, if you ask me.
"Traditional" ingredients I will not use include marshmallows (really, what the!) and canned mushroom soup. I mean, come on.
We'll have:
roast turkey, stuffing and gravy
cranberry jelly (yes, out of the can with a "ploop" into a dish, sliced to make the can rings less visible, but not fooling anyone)
mashed Yukon Gold potatoes
butternut squash
green beans
What have I forgotten? Dinner rolls. Do we need rolls? I guess.
Also, this year the Peanut made some cranberry "relish." It was easy and she's crazy-proud of it. Put half a cup of whole cranberries, half a (peeled) clementine, a third cup of applesauce, 2 t. sugar, all in a blender, and, well, blend. Put some cream cheese on Wheat Thins and dab some of this stuff on top. It isn't really relish if you puree it -- shouldn't relish be chunkier? -- but it's good.
And pies! I'll make a pumpkin and an apple tomorrow.
How bout you? What's your Thanksgiving dinner? And can you explain the marshmallow thing?
Well, I'll explain the marshmallow thing if you'll explain the cranberry crap from a can thing. That's no more traditional, now is it?
ReplyDeleteMake real cranberry sauce - it's easy. 1 C sugar, 1 C water, add 1 bag cranberries when it's boiling, boil for about 5 minutes until most of the cranberries have "popped." Put in fridge for a few hours. Ta-da!
Sweet potatoes can be sort of boring and heavy-tasting. The marshmallows on top get my kids to eat them. I'm sure the pilgrims did the same thing to get their kids to eat their sweet potatoes, right?
Here's my explanation: I've tried real cranberry sauce. I hate it. Nothing to do with tradition, and yep, absolutely 100% as lame as putting marshmallows on real food.
ReplyDelete:)
The marshmallow thing is revolting, end of discussion.
ReplyDeleteSandy, Sandy, how can you not like real cranberry sauce? Isn't Cape Cod the cranberry capital of the known universe?
Mrs. Teasdale of Freedonia, I assume? Excellent.
ReplyDeleteWell. It's true you can't spit without hitting a cranberry bog here, and they are lovely to look at, but blech. They need to be unrecognizable -- juice or jelly -- before I enjoy the taste of them.
I hang my head in shame.
Also I think the cranberry capital of the known universe might be Wisconsin.
Anyone? Bueller?
I suggested to my family that this year I would replace the candied sweet potatoes with butternut squash soup. They raised such an uproar you would have thought I said "rip grandma's heart out and roast it on the bbq grill." Good luck with the stuffing, hope your family is more flexible than mine!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not in the US, not celebrating Thanksgiving, so left to salivate all over my laptop while reading these yummy Thanksgiving posts.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Heidi
PS: I hate marshmallows, but if it makes kids eat, I'm afraid I have to approve... Sorry.
I am with you, on both counts (and who knew this was such... um... volatile territory?) marshmallows stink and cranberry sauce is best from a can.
ReplyDeleteMarshmallows - gets the kids to eat them!
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you for not using canned mushroom soup!! Praise the lord and pass the lightly steamed green beans (though I'm putting bacon on mine - probably negates the health benefits, huh?)
You can never, ever having enough stuffing/dressing.
If you really want to take the cranberry jelly all the way, you have to slice it along the can lines WITH THE END OF THE CAN. That's what my grandma used to do. God only knows what we ingested as a result.
Hey, we grow cranberries here in Michigan too! U.P. has to be good for something . . .
Have a great Thanksgiving! Your feast sounds yummy!
We are going to my sister's house for Thanksgiving. We are responsible for rolls and booze. Everyone knows not to trust me to cook anything.
ReplyDeleteMy sister is an incredible cook, so the food will be good. My other sister from Iowa is coming too, with her family.
It will be just another holiday of conservative Republicans and me, the resident liberal Democrat rebel, my bastard child and my gay partner. Yeah. We like to bring the funk to the party......:)
Yep, everyone's got their favorites and they're sticking to 'em. I get all persnickety about no canned soup, but must have "cranberry crap from a can." There's no logic to it.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ Bunny's grandma!
Maria, it sounds like booze will be key to getting through a family holiday at your sister's. You've got the most important job.
I love Thanksgiving. AND I didnt eat too much. I just had to do the turkey and stuffing and my mom cooked it at her house. Everything else was potluck for the most part and easy.AND it wasnt at my house. I came home and used the turkey carcas and have soup already! Happy Thanksgiving!
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