Thanksgiving Menu Ideas - Menus and Entertaining

Csara · #1 (**permalink**) 10-12-2002, 06:20 PM

Well this year my husband and I are hosting T-day dinner at our house for 16 people. It's the first time we are doing this and I haven't started planning a menu yet. Anyone want to share their menu ideas and recipes for thanksgiving dinner?

Mel-icious · #2 (**permalink**) 10-13-2002, 09:46 AM

Hi ya C! I'll be brainstorming as soon as the wedding is over and I'll be in here to chat with ya!

HeavenLeigh · #3 (**permalink**) 10-14-2002, 12:00 AM

16 ppl to cook for

I had a terrifying dream about doing something like that once.

I vote you make a big bird

Sorry, that's as good as I get.

I have some big ol dusty holiday recipe books I'll drag out and look thru.

Karen1323 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-14-2002, 08:14 AM

We usually have the traditional stuff for Turket day:
Turkey
stove top stuffing (yum)
some type of stuffing that goes in the turkey
Mashed potatoes
cranberry sauce
vegetable (corn or something else)
I am sure there is something else but I can't remember.

Deserts:
home made apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pecan pie....

Snacks:
Home made chex mix, nuts and fruits mix, chips, dip etc

If I think of something else I will share. We will probably have either X-Mas this year or Turkey Day next year at our new house....we will see how it goes.

Karen1323 · #5 (**permalink**) 10-14-2002, 08:15 AM

I can't believe I forgot the rolls!! We usually have Grands Biscuts

Mel-icious · #6 (**permalink**) 10-14-2002, 09:19 AM

I also wanted to pass this along to you C, since your entertaining a larger crowd like I do, I have this recipe for make ahead turkey gravy. Since we usually deep fry a turkey and roast a turkey we never have enough gravy, the deep fried is awesome but the drawback is no pan drippings for gravy, and my whole family loves gravy, this is a great recipe. I make this two weeks before and freeze it, but I don't thicken it until Thanksgiving Day, that way I can deglaze the pan I used to roast the turkey in that day with white wine and add it to this gravy. Anywho I rambled long enough......here it is:

* Exported from MasterCook *

Make Ahead Turkey Gravy

Recipe By :unknown
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 turkey wings (about 3 lbs.) or 3 turkey
legs
2 medium onions -- peeled and
quartered
1 cup water
8 cups chicken broth (canned or homeade)
3/4 cup chopped carrot
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 cup all-purpose flour ( I use wondra flour)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Have a large roasting pan ready. Arrange wings in single layer in pan. Scatter onions over top. Roast 1 1/4 hours or until wings are browned.

Put wings and onions into 5-6 quart pot. Add water to pan and stir to scrape up any brown bits on bottom. Add to the pot. Add 6 cups broth (refrigerate remaining 2 cups), the carrot, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove wings to a cutting board. When cool pull off skin and meat. Discard skin and save meat for another use.

Strain broth into 3 quart saucepan, pressing vegetables to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard veggies and skim fat off broth. Whisk flour into remaining 2 cups of broth until smooth. Bring broth in saucepan to a boil, slowly whisk in flour mixture, boil 3-4 minutes to thicken and remove floury taste. Stir in butter and pepper. Refrigerate up to one week or freeze up to three months.

Source: "Martha Stewart BB"

Yield: "8 cups"

NOTES : On Thanksgiving Day after the turkey is cooked and removed from pan, you can skim the fat off and add the pan drippings to the gravy that you've deglazed with white wine. You can also make the broth a day a head, refrigerate the broth and skim the fat off then. Then add flour right before serving.

Mel-icious · #7 (**permalink**) 10-14-2002, 10:17 AM

Hey C, check this site out:

http://www.epicurious.com/e_eating/e...maintable.html

Csara · #8 (**permalink**) 10-14-2002, 10:46 AM

Oh cool....that's awesome! Thanks

ksix · #9 (**permalink**) 10-18-2002, 07:44 PM

Ok, C, let's talk turkey! Last night I finally convinced my MIL to let me host Thanksgiving this year. She does almost every holiday for the one side of the family (who I'd love to host, but don't have the room for the over 30 people), so I told her I want to take over Thanksgiving and give her a break for the other side of the family...which is about 10 people. Now...the problem I'm concerned with is that this side of the family is, ahhh, very beige. (So bland it hurts.) Salt and pepper are exotic. I wanna knock their socks off. :devil:

So far, I'm planning:
Turkey of course (I want to brine it or use a fabulous rub!...I just read a recipe for a shitake rub that looked sooo good!)
Mashed potatoes (I am going to do my Belgium "Dirty Potatoes")
Pies--thanks to my MIL who makes the BEST pies
Wilted lettuce salad (Chris' one aunt makes this every year)
Rolls--I'll probably make fresh bread the day before

I will have other sides too, just haven't decided what...now, here's the snob in me coming out...would it be rude to ask the one aunt who is a HORRIBLE cook (although she doesn't know it!) to bring soda? I don't drink pop, so it's never in my house, and actually if they brought a bunch of pop (which they all swill like there's no tomorrow) it'd be a huge help to me...and I'll tell her to also bring a dessert or a side dish or something like that.

Also, is it horrible of me to want to classy up the holidays a bit? We're talking a serious white bread and mayo crowd (I love that term!). Their big outing is Bob Evan's for lunch each Saturday (she always gets chicken strips, and he always gets fried eggs w/hashbrowns and a biscuit and extra gravy...every single Saturday the same thing)...I'm not a total food snob, but I want to have a little classier holiday once in a while, and thought if I hosted it then we could have something beside cranberries from a can and fake mashed potatoes...

HeavenLeigh · #10 (**permalink**) 10-19-2002, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ksix
shitake rub

What is that? I'm getting some pretty gross pictures in my mind

meliz · #11 (**permalink**) 10-19-2002, 05:01 AM

Wow! You guys who are hosting TG are very enterprising..... and I am sure it will turn out wonderfully. Besides, doesn't every TG dinner go well?

Quote:

Also, is it horrible of me to want to classy up the holidays a bit? We're talking a serious white bread and mayo crowd (I love that term!). Their big outing is Bob Evan's for lunch each Saturday (she always gets chicken strips, and he always gets fried eggs w/hashbrowns and a biscuit and extra gravy...every single Saturday the same thing)...I'm not a total food snob, but I want to have a little classier holiday once in a while, and thought if I hosted it then we could have something beside cranberries from a can and fake mashed potatoes...

HAHAHA! Hey, are you related to my inlaws? They're not much for cooking either! Like I really don't know if they know you can actually buy veggies that don't come from a tin (not that there's anything wrong with this). And while we don't have Bob Evans here, they have a grimey greasy spoon restaurant called Franks Roadhouse, and Frank is the man responsible for Corey's childhood meals. Seriously. Like 75 percent of them. His Mom is a career woman and they just do not cook. When they go there they don't use menus and Frank knows just what to bring them. Last time we were visiting we went in for a greasy brekkie (think my presence threw Frank for a loop and I think he might have been disappointed that he didn't get an invite to the wedding...) and I got a picture of the inlaws with Frank-- cause he is basically one of the family. But I digress....

Kim as for your family, I think they'd love something different, especially if its made by you. I betcha they look forward to those wild and crazy things Kim makes. You know, like real potatoes.

And the reason for my post... now I dunno if you all are hellbent on pumpkin pie (and I do understand if you are) but that pumpkin cheese cake I made for our TG last w-e was a definite crowd pleaser. (see Roo's thread on her cookbook-- I guess I neglected to save the file to my PC).

Also, can you all get summer savory where you are? Cause as much as I love sage, I think dressing/stuffing made with summer savory is a billion times tastier, IMHO.

Happy cooking!

ksix · #12 (**permalink**) 10-19-2002, 11:40 AM

Get yer mind out of the gutter, Krysti!!

Shitake is a type of mushroom...and I was wrong, the recipe is for porcini rubbed turkey. Porcini is another type of mushroom...although you can gt both porcini and shitakes fresh, this recipe calles for dried 'shrooms, which you grind to a powder with a food processor, mix with butter and rub all over the bird...yum! I think I'll make a different one though, as I'm afraid someone might not like mushrooms. I'm going to go with an herb/shallot turkey I think. I just got my latest edition of Bon Appetit, and that's where I got both recipes from...they also have a fabulous looking sourdough/artichoke/parmesan stuffing I want to make. I think I'll make a small batch of that, and let my MIL make the traditional for those not so adventerous.

My ILs would eat anything Chris or I made, and would love it...it's the aunties I'm worried about. They'd fit right in with Frank, Meliz. They didn't know that real whipped cream could be used on desserts...cool whip only for this crowd. (Sorry, maybe I'm being snobby again, but cool whip just isn't my style...) They're HIGHLY unadventerous. A few Easters ago, my MIL hosted the whoooole family, both her side and my FIL's side--close to 50 people, and she wanted to do Chinese, so we had lamb (traditional) and a small ham, and then a buch of different egg rolls, and some stir-frys, etc...well, her sisters (who will be at my Thanksgiving) didn't come because "We've never eaten Chinese and don't know if we'll like it"...so they just didn't come.

I showed Chris the recipes I want to make, and he accused me of trying to make waves with the family. Who me?

But he was totally supportive of me broadening their horizons...as will his mom, I know! She always pretends to chew me out when I make waves with her family, but she laughs the whole time, and always says "I wish I could say that to them...thanks for saying it for me..."

As for your pumpking cheesecake...yum! I've drooled over such recipes before...I think I'll leave the pies to my MIL this year, but for the other side's T-day (which we usually have Sunday after T-day) I think I'll whip one of those up...

Chris doesn't like pumpkin or cheesecake, so if I made it, I'd end up eating it all...so I better not just make one without a party to take it to!

Mel-icious · #13 (**permalink**) 10-21-2002, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ksix
I hosted it then we could have something beside cranberries from a can

And what is wrong with cranberries from a can?

That is one of my guilty pleasures, I guess it takes me back to my childhood, so I always have to include it, that and a batch of the real stuff, but I always go for the canned.

Meliz, I am definitely trying out your recipe for the cheesecake this year.

Oh and Kim, if explain to her the way you did with us about bringing the "pop" {leaving out the swilling part} I don't think she would be offended.

I'm hunting around for my menu list. So far its deep fried turkey, tradtional filling, and cornbread. Those are definites, but I have a ways to go! Our family loves to eat so we always have way to much food.

Csara · #14 (**permalink**) 10-21-2002, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 2wedOct2002
And what is wrong with cranberries from a can? That is one of my guilty pleasures, I guess it takes me back to my childhood, so I always have to include it, that and a batch of the real stuff, but I always go for the canned.

LMAO!! Me too. I HATE the home-made kind. I love the jelly-like blob that just pops out of the can in one piece!!

OH and YAY!! Now that you are married, you don't have to worry about the wedding anymore and we can get focused on this dinner. LOL!! Let's post recipes ladies!!

ksix · #15 (**permalink**) 10-22-2002, 02:55 PM

So sorry if I offended anyone with the canned cranberry comment!

The point I was after is that they don't realize that cranberries can be anything but canned!

Saturday night we had dinner with most of the family that will be at my house, but we were at the restaurant...afterwards, my MIL stayed to help Chris at the restaurant, then came home with me and we talked Thanksgiving...we made a pretty final list.

We decided on:
*Caramelized onion/herb rubbed turkey (new flavors, but not enough to scare some away!!) **
*Roasted Root Vegetables in Marjoram Vineagarette (I'm making)**
*Stuffing--traditional from my MIL, and I'm making a sourdough w/artichoke hearts stuffing**
*Beans and corn from my MIL's canned stash (from her garden)
*Bread--I'll make homemade rolls the day before, probably just standard white rolls, but very good!
*Dirty mashed potatoes
*Wilted lettuce salad (from one aunt)
*Lituanian Tulips (or Polish Roses as my husband calles them...the green onion/creamcheese/chipped beef wrapped together) and relish tray (from an aunt)
*Pop (for the swillin' relatives)
*Wine for the rest of us! Probably cider and milk and tea/coffee also
*Blue cheese/walnut shortbread crackers w/chutney and cream cheese spread for an appetizer (I'm making)**
*Munchies for before the dinner (from another aunt)
*Probably a green salad too
*Pies ala my MIL
*Assorted other munchies/sweets, etc. from who ever wants to bring more!
*Snow salad--this is my "canned cranberry craving"...it's a jello made from cool whip (yes cool whip, not whipped cream!), sour cream and plain jello, topped with a strawberry sauce...a must have at holidays for me...reminds me of my childhood!
*Cranberry sauce--My MIL makes fresh, so we'll have that

Most of my recipes are coming from my most recent issue of Bon Appetite...I'll be happy to post any that appeal to you! The ones marked ** are from that magazine.