JFF - What's on Your Thanksgiving Table?

It's our first Thanksgiving without my husband. I've always cooked all day and loved every minute of it.

We're supposed to go eat with my daughters boyfriends family and I'm taking my homemade cranberry sauce. However, my daughter has 103 fever and is sick.

I made her favorite soup last night and I'm going to her condo today with soup and we'll probably have soup tomorrow as well if she is still sick.

Lovely freaking way to spend the first holiday after losing husband on 10/10. Our world fell apart on 10/10.

Would your mom share her recipe with you and you start making this favorite dish?

ha! funny you should say that! i was just angsting over my choice of bread for the stuffing this year. i like to make it out of really good artisan breads, but i think the ones i got this year were too crusty.

i've been cooking for a couple of days. i'm turning into such an absent old lady. after i finished the sweet potato casserole i remembered that for the last few years that's been the one thing that everyone likes at the time but no one takes home with them, and the horses end up with a lot of it, and that i planned to do something different next time.

it's my little mumsie's recipe, out of a church cookbook she helped put together decades ago, and i think i just keep doing it because opening the cookbook and seeing her name makes it feel like she's in the kitchen with me.

i'm adding marinated grilled carrots this year, and substituting gooey pumpkin cake with pecans and caramel sauce for the pumpkin pie. but i worry that some folks will miss the pumpkin pie.

bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with cream cheese for appetizers (along with cheese and crackers), and a french silk pie for the chocolate lovers for dessert. 2 kinds of homemade ice cream- brown butter, and cinnamon.

frozen rolls, though. i like bread-making, but it's so exhaustive that i give myself that little out on thanksgiving.

hope everyone has a blessed and beautiful celebration.
:) khairete
S.

You remind me of my husband that refuses to eat anyone else's stuffing except his mothers, LOL. Lucky for me that she continues to make her stuffing and bring it with her.

I wanted to try a couple of new dishes this year and got too many complaints so it is the usual Turkey and sides for us.

I will be trying new stuff for Christmas dinner, tired of turkey and ham.

After a 2-year hiatus (due to quarter-backing my in-laws' 50-person Thanksgiving potluck extravaganza), we are back to my parents' house for Thanksgiving this year. My mom will make turkey, gravy, butternut squash, and stuffing. Her stuffing is nasty LOL and I never eat it. I tried to wrestle that away from her and bring a stuffing that I make using a Giada recipe (ciabatta, pancetta, chestnuts...it's AMAZING), but no, she's got it covered. I'm making mashed potatoes (using Pioneer Woman's trick of adding cream cheese...so rich and creamy) and an apple crisp. We'll have canned cranberry sauce, cider, steamed veggies (which will be cooked to mush) and a bowl of pearl onions that only my uncle eats.

It's not the most gourmet dinner, but my mom has mastered the art of getting everything done, hot and ready to serve all at once, which is something I still haven't figured out. When I host a big holiday meal, there is always something that cooks too early or too late, the kitchen is overflowing with dirty pots and pans, and I'm stressed out and rushing. I give her credit for sticking with what works and getting big holiday meals on the table year after year after year. This is her 43rd Thanksgiving dinner in a row!

We had turkey, sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, canned cranberry jelly, meatballs in mushroom gravy, creamed peas, red cabbage, perogies, pumpkin pie, whipped cream and cheesecake with cherries.

I'm cooking turkey, gravy, scallop potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn bread stuffing, home made cranberry sauce, baked ziti, corn, broccoli, mashed cauliflower, and rolls. One daughter will being pies, a sister in law will bring some sort of desert, a brother will bring wine, and my son will bring stuffed bread. Youngest daughter will come down early to help cook and other daughter is working from 8 to 8 so we'll be running food over to her and her coworkers.

My sister and I have gradually been taking over more of mom's dishes. Stuffing is one of them. It's a big job as you say. My mom's has sausage in it. It's delicious. Rather than it being kind of sad (my mom is unable to anymore) we include her, hand her a glass of wine, and she's passing on her knowledge. It's been a transition, but a special time just the same.
In recent years, all the kids (us) have added our own side dishes so it's quite a mix now, compared to the original Thanksgiving we had as children. My sister added sweet potato casserole, etc. as we get busier, we're tending to do more dishes that we all can prepare ahead.
Have a great Thanksgiving!

ooh T.,

I'm sorry. You need to stop. Be THANKFUL that your mom and step mom get along and WANT to spend a holiday together.

Why not make the stuffing yourself? It looks as if you know HOW to do it - so DO IT. Don't whine about HER NOT doing it. DO it yourself.

What's going to be on our table? NOTHING!! LOL! We're going to a friends house....

A new daring dish?? Brussel sprouts with bacon...that's what we're trying new this year!!

Most likely going to help at a veterans place in Quantico and then be thankful for our many blessings!!

Every year I try to make a delicious stuffing and every year it falls short. I have tried so many recipes. It's really hard to find an amazing recipe that is exactly what your taste buds like! It sounds like you should get the recipe from your mom...if not for this year then for other years when she cannot make it. I always loved my mom's stuffing as a kid and it was Stovetop! That is not tasty to me now as an adult...I like homemade much better. Happy thanksgiving to you too. :)

I was just talking to one of my nieces about this! We usually have a group of people here with us & I'll usually ask what type of traditional fare they absolutely must have & make an effort to have that for them. This year it will just be our immediate family so we are nixing a number of things. None of us like stuffing,dressing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin anything, or green bean casserole! I'm not even that fond of turkey but since the rest of the family is think I'll make one for them :-)
We'll have a lovely salad, turkey, a new roasted potato dish (I'm looking forward to this one), some deviled eggs, & asparagus. Probably a pecan pie or banana pudding since those are my husband's favorite deserts. It'll be good. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Grace & peace in abundance!

I was pretty attached to my mother's stuffing for years but then she wasn't making it anymore (partly because she lived in a small apartment and also because she forgot how to make it). I found a great recipe in the Silver Palate cookbook and have used a similar version (with my own adjustments) over the years, and I like it even better. Funny that you mention apple juice - my recipe calls for diced apples along with celery and onions, and some apple cider. I think you can relax a little on the toasted bread and still have something wonderful. I've used a mix of breads (corn, whole wheat, French) per the recipe, but sometimes I leave out the French and it's still lovely.

I also found a wonderful squash recipe that my family adores, and I've been making it for years.

So I'd say to try to find something else that YOU love even if it's not the stuffing your mom made. Introduce a new tradition if you can - maybe you can make a to-die-for apple crisp (super easy, lots of recipes) or some wonderful corn bread or something else. Maybe there will be some great things on the table this year that you never tried (which is how I wound up with my stuffing and squash) and maybe next year you can take over making the stuffing - teach your kids to make Grandma's stuffing. I grew up making it with my father's mother (a job I think my mother gave her MIL to keep her the hell away from the stove), and I've delegated a good amount of that work to my son even though I use a different recipe. Traditions are fun that way even if you adapt them a little.

I'm so happy that your mom and stepmom get along, so that you can all be together on a holiday. That's so unusual! My husband's ex has spent years trying to ruin Thanksgiving for us and doing a pretty good job of it when the kids were younger, so I just branched out on my own and gave up what I can't control.

And what makes it all come together? WINE on the Thanksgiving table!!

Good luck!

Turkey, gravy, creamed corn, roasted brussel sprouts, rolls, candied yams, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

Turkey, butternut squash (it's lighter than sweet potatoes though some years we'll do acorn squash instead of butternut), stuffing (sorry but we like StoveTop), cranberry sauce (jelly from a can) and some pumpkin pie for dessert.
We keep it fairly simple and nothing is very elaborate to prepare.

We'll be visiting relatives and they love variety, so I expect: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes with cream cheese whipped in, carrots, onions (both plain boiled and with cream sauce), squash, peas, corn, at least 3 types of cranberry sauce (two homemade) and at least three stuffings, topped off with real apple cider or cranberry-apple wine. Yes, overwhelming!!! Desserts are homemade: apple pie, blueberry pie, pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate cake and oh, yes, store-bought mince pie for the one relative who "needs" in on Thanksgiving.

Thank goodness there will be will be tons of people eating this bounty and plenty to take it home. Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving and many blessings.

Our friends have invited us to Italian Thanksgiving, which, sorry to say, kicks patootie on traditional Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to trying the white bean soup with escarole; there's a beet salad with feta on the menu as well as veal and tilapia (I'll go for the fish), roasted veg, appetizers and a ton of other deliciousness. I'm bringing polenta which we will top with Frank's to-die-for marinara. I can't say that I've been hankering for traditional Thanksgiving dishes, most are overly-rich and overly sweet. :(

The holiday will be spent with my husband and two children. I'll be making prime rib, mashed potatoes & gravy, yams, biscuits, cranberry sauce and stuffing just for hubby and I as the children don't care for it. Today I made cream cheese topped pumpkin cupcakes for our dessert.

I hope no matter what's on the table or who is there that everyone enjoys themselves for whatever the day means to them.

Can you ask your mom for the recipe, and you make it this year? Although, I admit, I feel the same way about my mom's stuffing, and when she gave me the recipe, I was totally overwhelmed at the number of steps and I've not yet tried to make it. My siblings and I have taken over most of the other beloved side dishes - the yams (no marshmellows), cranberry sauce (no canned stuff), and pies. But none of us can do the stuffing like she does it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are going to my BIL's house. My SIL is from Japan and never wants help with any part of the meal so it is a complete surprise. It is very likely that we won't have turkey. (Which is fine with me since I'm not a big fan of it.) She will probably have a squash or pumpkin soup, some kind of roasted veggie, and roasted potatoes. There might be a turkey breast, but it could be a pork tenderloin or something else. There might be pie, or maybe a fancy cake. The only thing I know for sure is that there will be lots of red wine!

Nothing. We're not making a big meal. We aren't even doing a special meal.

Is Mom getting older? It may be time for you to start making the stuffing. I hope you enjoy the time with your family.

Updated

Is Mom getting older? It may be time for you to start making the stuffing. I hope you enjoy the time with your family.

We're hosting (it feels like we always host) but I'm scaling back this year because we have a pretty hectic week happening... Thursday is our only day "off" ... so I know what you mean about dealing with food related disappointment... and I'm the one making the meal!

We'll have turkey (traditional oven roasted), MIL's sweet potation dish (involves raisins), homemade cranberry sauce by DS(9), pumpkin and butternut squash soup, roasted Brussel sprouts, green salad, stuffing (but not my usual favorite recipe, a jazzed up boxed recipe for cornbread stuffing instead of my usual from scratch that involves sausage and apples etc), and pies (ordered not made... too busy to bake ahead) with homemade whipped cream.

I know Thanksgiving is a food centered holiday, but it's also a great time to get two (or more) sides of the family together in a way that doesn't often happen. Try to relax and enjoy... and if all else fails, open a bottle of wine and make a list of complaints!

So what you do is ask your mom for the recipe and YOU take over making it.
Best of both worlds: carrying on tradition and your mom is off the hook.
Have a great holiday. Hope you make it! :)

We aren't fans of turkey, so I usually make a big pot of seafood gumbo for Thanksgiving.
But we do like some of the more traditional sides, so I make those too - oyster dressing, roasted vegetables, deviled eggs, several kinds of pie.

This year, my husband had gall bladder surgery the day before Thanskgiving, so I didn't invite people over and cook. It was just the two of us, so I baked a small ham with a glaze made from a can of whole berry cranberry sauce, orange juice, and brown sugar, and a sweet potato mash, with cranberry cobbler for dessert.

I'm reading this on black Friday but I will add my 2 cents. =0)

I'm 48, never ate stuffing in my life until I married for the first time at age 30 and tried my MIL's. OMG! It was the best ever and for almost 10 years until we divorced, was my favorite thing about Tgiving. So I totally get it! So now we have been divorced for over 8 years and I know how to make it so I make it for my family, who also love it...it isn't as homemade as yours so it is easier.

If I were you, since you know how to make it and love it so much, I would have made a batch to have at home and maybe make a turkey breast too. Have a mini-Tgiving at your house. I'm assuming you probably didn't get to take home a ton of leftovers so maybe that would have worked for you?

We went to our good friends house this year and I have to say, I did miss the stuffing too...no one makes it like ours! LOL

Our youngest was diagnosed with Celiac, so we're doing a gluten free Thanksgiving. I know my FIL is secretly grumbling and I know some things will taste different, but it's truly a small sacrifice! Enjoy your family and your table full of food!