What's your unusual Thanksgiving dinner?

[TrvlBug]

Sounds good but considering the circumstances I bet you wish you were doing the cooking

Yep!!!

 

[geeky_grrl]

I often make a lasagna. My grandmother always served one as a pasta course before the turkey and ham on Thanksgiving. I'll sometimes do just the lasagna, especially if it is just two of us for dinner.

If we do get a turkey we'll usually butcher it and sous vide the legs for Thanksgiving and we'll smoke the breasts to use for sandwiches or salads.

 

[Extra Medium]

I found that many of the Swedish foods had an Ashkenazi/ Norwegian/ Finish/ Polish equivalent.

My family is Norwegian and Swedish, so these are familiar around our home, though I think of them more at Christmas. Thanksgiving is usually when I’m allowed to start offering pickled herring and lefse. I’ll admit it: I’m only offering them so I have an excuse to eat them.

My in-laws’ Thanksgiving dinner has been a Moroccan roast chicken with couscous and curried veggies since the ‘80s, as they just wanted to start a new tradition. So we do that every other year.

 

[braumeister]

Thanksgiving is usually when I’m allowed to start offering pickled herring and lefse. I’ll admit it: I’m only offering them so I have an excuse to eat them.

All my forebears on one side were from northern Germany and pickled herring has always been a staple in my family. Absolutely mandatory to eat some on New Year's Day to have good luck in the coming year, but I love it for a snack any time of year.

 

[Dtail]

Z3Dreamer, my DMIL does a smörgåsbord for Yule, with a lot of the same things, although a little more Americanized. The first year my spouse brought me home for it, I was the only one who ate the herring in cream sauce...even though they had always put it out! Good thing that Jews and Swedes both like their preserved fish!

Love pickled herring, but do prefer it in wine sauce.

 

[statsman]

With just the four of us, we've downsized from a full turkey to a small (3-5 lb) turkey breast (with bone or boneless). That's mostly for the tradition. We'll have a slow cooked pot roast with the meal. Besides, the pot roast yields a much better gravy that works well with turkey also.

 

[aja8888]

No special plans as DW can't physically do the big T day dinner anymore. No invites as of yet. We may just order a dinner in for both of us and have it delivered. Easy...

 

[brett]

There is no usual for us. It is not really a big event for us. More often than not no 'special' or festive menu.

This year I made pad thai and we had the Penang curry that I made the day before. Could have just as easily been something on the barbeque.

Our Thanksgiving has past. It is celebrated earlier than the US one.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

We will be on vacation in SW Florida. So I am thinking maybe grouper or red snapper, and stone crab claws!

 

[Gumby]

Turkey with a sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans with bacon, brussels sprout slaw, savory cranberry sauce, apple pie, pumpkin pie, sourdough bread, wine. I don't see why we can't have lasagna, but the young wife says we must have turkey.

 

[MC Rider]

Turkey with a sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans with bacon, brussels sprout slaw, savory cranberry sauce, apple pie, pumpkin pie, sourdough bread, wine. I don't see why we can't have lasagna, but the young wife says we must have turkey.

It occurs to me, about the only time we eat turkey is Thanksgiving.
I guess we're not unusual. Oh well.

 

[RobbieB]

My daughter and her family will be coming this year. They are pescatarians so I will watch to see if anyone has some good ideas for classy fish dinners. I love sushi but don't make it.

Stone crab claws;

Oysters on the barbee;

Broiled lobster tails;

Have fun!

 

[Golden sunsets]

My daughter and her family will be coming this year. They are pescatarians so I will watch to see if anyone has some good ideas for classy fish dinners. I love sushi but don't make it.

I always do a traditional roast turkey with all the sides, but add a big casserole called "Lazy Lobster" for the pescaterians, but beware, this is such a delicious dish that the meat eaters at your table will want a serving of the lazy lobster.

Lazy lobster has three ingredients: cooked lobster meat, melted butter and a ground Ritz cracker crumb topping, baked in a casserole, easy peasy and scrumptuous.

 

[CardsFan]

Lazy lobster has three ingredients: cooked lobster meat, melted butter and a ground Ritz cracker crumb topping, baked in a casserole, easy peasy and scrumptuous.

I just made that last night. With homemade lobster bisque. Not quite as good as when we lived in MA (this was made from frozen lobster claws), but still pretty good.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I just made that last night. With homemade lobster bisque. Not quite as good as when we lived in MA (this was made from frozen lobster claws), but still pretty good.

[emoji39]

 

[RetiredHappy]

Not cooking and have dinner reservation at fancy schmancy "fine steaks and martinis" restaurant, which also serves stone crab claws currently (RobbieB reminded me to mention). We don't want to cook and have leftovers because we are heading out to Scottsdale after Thanksgiving.

 

[f35phixer]

Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham and Fried Oysters and Oysters Rockefeller and all the other good stuff.

Stuffed Ham is pretty localized specialty using a CORNED HAM....
and as you can only imagine in these times, having a hard time finding one ;-(
https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/corned-spiced-stuffed/
here are my recipes:
i just started to bake, soooooo much easier.
SOUTHERN MARYLAND STUFFED HAM

20 LB CORNED HAM DE-BONED
1 HEAD GREEN CABBAGE
1 BIG BAG KALE (BROWN GROCERY BAG)
8 ONIONS
3 STALKS CELERY
3 TABLESPOONS MUSTARD SEED
5 TABLESPOONS CRUSHED RED PEPPER
4 TABLESPOONS CAYENNE PEPPER
3 TABLESPOONS WHOLE BLACK PEPPER CRUSHED
2 TABLESPOONS SALT

• BOIL HAM FOR 1 HOUR – COOL – REMOVE FAT
• CHOP UP VEGGIES COURSELY AND PLACE IN POT HAM LIQUID, ADD SEASONINGS AND COOK TILL WILTED
• REMOVE VEGGIES, ALLOW TO COOL
• FILL CAVITY THAT BONE OCCUPIED WITH VEGGIES
• TIE HAM UP
• CUT VERTICAL SLITS AND STUFF W/ VEGGIE MIXTURE. DO THIS IN SEGMENTS UNTIL ALL HAM DONE
• WRAP HAM WITH CHEESE CLOTH AND PLACE HAM BACK IN POT. COOK FOR ANOTHER 2.5 HOURS AT A FULL BOIL.
• AFTER 2.5 HOURS, SHUT FIRE OFF AND LEAVE HAM IN FOR ANOTHER HOUR TO SEASON
• REMOVE, ALLOW TO COOL FOR A WHILE THEN PUT IN FRIG.



Baked stuffed ham

20 lb ham
1 head cabbage
1 big bag of kale
8 onions
3 celery stalks
3 tblspn mustard seed
5 tablespn red pepper
4 Tblespn cayenne
3 tblespn black pepper
2 tblespn salt
• Remove most of fat from ham
• Chop up veggies and mix with seasonings
• Cut slits and stuff, also where bone was…….
• Place cloth and veggies down then put ham on top of it
• Place rest of veggies on top of ham
• Wrap with aluminum foil twice
• Convection oven set to 325 goes to 300
• Cook for about 20-22 minutes / lb
• 17+ ham took from 11 till 520 for 160 temp.
• Leave out to cool and then put into frig.

 

[athena53]

I'll be with DS and family and he's a foodie who loves to cook. He's repeating last year's performance with timpano, a multi-layered (pasta, sausage, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, marinara sauce, meatballs, onions) in a pastry crust. Here's a typical recipe. It includes all kinds of foods I shun for health reasons but hey, it's Thanksgiving.

https://tasty.co/recipe/timpano

 

[braumeister]

Wow, I had never heard of timpano before, but it looks amazing. Must be an all day job to make that.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Whatever our neighbors are cooking. We do not have any family in the USA and typically Thanksgiving is a normal day for us. We do make more of an effort at Christmas, but again just for the 2 of us. However, when our dear neighbors were in town and since they have moved in permanently next door, they have always invited us over to celebrate Thanksgiving with them and their local children. They are now here permanently so it is an annual occurrence.

We do/did a lot for them such as looked after their home when they were snow birding for 6 months at a time for 5 years. I also fix (or help fix and advise as required) most if not all of their plumbing and electrical problems in the house. He was a Judge and is not very handy ).

There are usually variety of items, we take the wine and DW makes a desert.

 

[Badger]

Nothing unusual for the 2 of us so it will be a turkey breast and other common Thanksgiving fare. Even those times when we went to a restaurant I still cooked a turkey just so I could have turkey sandwiches with mayo. I even like leftover stuffing/dressing and the canned jellied cranberry sauce. If turkey was available throughout the year I would probably cook them more often.


Cheers!

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Nothing traditional about it but I just learned about Potato Tacos a couple of years ago and love them. SIL's Mexican mother has made them for my very picky vegetarian daughter for years. Anyway there was just the three of us a couple of years ago so DD made them and they were so delicious and a lot lighter than traditional thanksgiving food.

 

[meleana]

Turkey breast cooked in an oven bag, Sweet potato casserole with maple syrup and melted marshmallows, green bean casserole, stove top stuffing doctored up with pecans, whole cranberries from a can, pumpkin and apple pie. Maybe some vanilla ice cream with the pie.

 

[imnontrad]

One year, I had a Capon instead of a turkey. other years, i would fix a duck.
This year and last, I end up buying 2-3 turkeys to cook/freeze for meals through the winter.
The best turkey I had in years is one where I cold smoked it for a few hours and then finished in the oven (to bring up to temp). Talk about tender!

 

[athena53]

Wow, I had never heard of timpano before, but it looks amazing. Must be an all day job to make that.

He may start the day before! Yes it's quite a production. I watched him assemble it last year.