janeygirl

Similar thread on the US board to which I replied:

For Thanksgiving (aka The Great Food Orgy), I always bring corn pudding, my sister makes the turkey (deep fried), gravy and dressing, my mother brings sweet potato souffle and mashed potatoes, my aunt brings a cranberry salad, and my sister-in-law brings rolls. Desserts are a free-for-all. Bring whatever you wish. Except for my cousin and his wife. We ask them to please not cook.

rex

Per elaine's request - - well, not really, since to tell you the truth, I don't really use recipes - - and I doubt that I have ever made this stuff the same way twice.

But the better results seem to have relied on a product like this (a gift to me from someone once - - and this is where I got the idea, sort of...)

http://www.geocities.com/justysjelly/retailorders.html

I have never ordered nor used this particular brand; it was just one of the first things that sounded close when I (just now) did a Yahoo search.

Using a jar of that, it's as simple as cut the squash in half, &quot;dot&quot; <i>liberally</i> with butter and some brown sugar (and any spices you like) before baking in a medium oven &quot;until done&quot; (I think that would be about 350 F for an hour). Five pounds of squash would feed 6-12 people (more if you have fifty jillion other dishes from which they are loading up their plates!) - - that would yield at least six cups (maybe more like 8 or 9?) of scooped-out baked squash. Mash it coarsely as you scoop it out. Obviously, you could use any ratio of the squash to the pineapple-jalapeno jelly you want, but I would say be generous with the jelly (i.e., don't push the squash above about 5:1).

Typically, bake again after coarsely mixing the two together. Crushed gingersnaps and a little more butter on the top makes for a nice finishing touch.

Starting more from scratch, here's a recipe that might be a substitute for the jelly:

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/sauce/sw...sh-recipe.html

Enjoy!

degas

Wow - that's some mighty fine food you folks are planning on making.

Elaine, here is one recipe, will post the other one when the LW gets in from milking our goats:

Asparagus with Orange Sauce

4 lbs. asparagus
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup minced shallots
2 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 2/3 cups fresh orange juice

Bring 1&quot; of water to boil in a frying pan. Add asparagus, reduce heat and simmer uncovered until tender.

Place asparagus on serving platter and keep warm.

Melt 2 T. butter in a sauce pan. Add shallots and cook stirring for 1 min. Add mustard and juice, and boil, uncovered until reduced to 1 1/3 cups (about 4 to 6 min).

Reduce heat and add remaining butter all at once, stirring constantly until butter is melted and sauce is smooth.

Pour sauce over asparagus and garnish with strips of orange peel, if desired.

Serves 10-12

craisin

Great thread...this reminds me of last year's Thanksgiving which I spent in Florence during a study abroad program. The program hosted a Thanksgiving feast at an Italian restaurant and vowed to serve us all the traditional T'giving food...well, almost. You see, the program provided the ingredients but the staff at this Italian restaurant prepared all the dishes. Obviously, T'giving is not celebrated in Italy so the program coordinator did an 'in-service,' a sort of crash course on cooking a Thanksgiving meal. So, everyone arrives at the restaurant, excited to have a Thanksgiving meal...in Italy! (others even more excited as they lived in apartments, vs a homestay, and hadn't had a decent meal in 2 months).

One by one, the food started coming. Everyone was rowdy and hungry. They brought out the mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, turkey, then...this weird brown sauce thing. Everyone simply stared at it, afraid to taste it or even imagine what was in it. Finally, a brave soul dipped a piece of turkey in it and declared, &quot;Hmmm...this stuff's good!&quot; With that, everyone followed and agreed. As it turns out, our Italian cooks mixed gravy and stuffing creating this strange but tasty concoction. I must say, this was one of the most memorable Thanksgiving celebrations I have ever had! (When it comes to food, those Italians can't go wrong)

taylor_made

Wow. Sounds like a sumptuous meal at the degas household.
The only dish that somehow intrigues me more than any other is the turkey that's just been shot. I don't recall ever eating anything that's been shot (at least, not that I know of).

Happy Thanksgiving.

elaine

If it was shot, I'm assuming it was a wild turkey. Or, is wild turkey the beverage?

Byrd

We'll be at our son's home, along with his family and in-laws and our daughter and her family--12 in all.

In spite of the excitement of reading the fall issues of Bon Appetit and Gourmet, we always have many of the same things.

This year, our daughter is in charge of hors d'oeuvres, and I hear that she's creating some little cheese tarts, among other things, and is bringing cranberry daiquiris.

Then we will have shrimp with our daughter-in-law's mom's wonderful spicy sauce.

Rex, we always have scalloped oysters, too. I thought it was a southern tradition, but maybe it's universal!
I make it by layering oysters, crumbled crackers, chopped green onions, lots of butter, and adding a little Worchestershire and just a touch of Tabasco, with cream poured over all. (It's baked, of course.)

That goes along with smoked turkey, cornbread dressing (not stuffing),
spaetzle (some of us have German ancestry), squash casserole and asparagus with cheese sauce (both of which have been on every Thanksgiving table I remember), sweet potatoes,cranberry salad, and mashed potatoes and green beans for the little ones who don't like &quot;mixed up&quot; food.

Dessert is always pumpkin pie, apple pie, and something different and new and extragavant.

Byrd

rex

Let me assure you Byrd, &quot;Kentuckiana&quot; (Louisville, and at least a 30 mile circle across the river here in southern Indiana) is PLENTY &quot;suthren&quot;.

Or so say all the brethren here.

mr_go

Whatever Bob the Nav and Momma Nav are serving. Should be a treat!

lizard

I will have my usual 20 or so guests - I will do a 30 lb turkey with stuffing and a 10 lb ham, I will also do the sweet potatos (yea I can't spell) everyone will bring something with my cousin bringing her to die for pumpkin pies - I have it at my house every year because I want the leftover (after everyone takes home a doggie bag) turkey carcass for my killer soup I make every friday after thanksgiving - of course we will embibe in irish coffees - one of the times I let my daughters partake of my Miltown Irish - excuse the spelling and you all have a great turkey day
lizard

Judyrem

Craisin, that gravy stuffing concoction sounds mighty yummy IMO. I imagine that dinner was very memorable.

kswl

Hi Degas. I'm not cooking---I'm coming to YOUR house! Sounds delicious, and when is Fodor's going to get up to speed with &quot;scratch and sniff&quot; posts?

It's just our &quot;nucular&quot; family this year, with a pardon to Jimmy Carter. Last year I did Thanksgiving for my mom's extended family of 35, and Christmas for my in-laws and that side, also 35. This year DH is on call for two hospitals and we're staying right here with him. Older son and daughter coming home for the holiday from colleges.

I am also bribing all three kids to help me decorate the house for Christmas as my garden club brunch is right around the corner!

tedgale

Weightwatchers point-system dinner -- one of my periodic &quot;gotta reduce&quot; weeks, to regain my fighting trim.

We had Thanksgiving in mid-October here in Canada -- but I missed it as I was gorging in France. Hence the Weightwatchers.

vcl

I expect our daughter will provide the traditional fixin's. I'm in charge of cranberries and pumpkin and apple pies. I'll use my grandmother's recipes; our daughter will use her grandmother's china and silver, and my faithful traveling companion and I will celebrate our 45th Wedding anniversary. We were married on Thanksgiving Day in 1959. His parents and mine were also married on Thanksgiving Day.

tondalaya

My family,12,in all,is now racing over to Degas who rules, after seeing his menu.

Daneille

Hi - Happy holidays to all. It seems mashed potato is a big part of all your Thanksgiving Dinners. May I ask if anyone has a &quot;killer&quot; recipe for mash. I'm Australian and I generally steam the potatoes and then mash with equal quantities of cream and sour cream, adding butter with salt and pepper until really creamy and smooth. But I'm always open to ideas from anyone who has something better. I had some once with truffle oil which was really special.

elaine

Hi Daneille--my family likes them rather plain:
I boil them, then place them into the largest container I have for mashing, often have to divide into two or more batches. I salt first, quite a bit more than I salt most things, and then beat in the softened butter with an electric mixer, trying to get all the lumps out.
Then I slowly beat in very hot milk until the consistency is right. I keep large batches of mashed potatoes hot in an electric slow cooker (&quot;crock pot&quot.
Before I put the potatoes in there I melt some butter for the bottom and sides of the crock interior to keep potatoes from sticking, then scoop in the potatoes, then float some additional hot milk and butter on the top before covering. If a lot of time goes by I keep checking to make sure they're not drying out, and if they are I add more hot milk. The only variation I've tried over the years is adding in some chive-flavored cream cheese, reducing the butter.

Maddy

Lasagna, homemade by my 92 y.o. grandmother who still kicks butt in the kitchen. Meatballs, sausage (maybe braciole) with the lasagna, then salad. Then a little later, the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, and vegetables. We have the turkey because it's traditional, but we really look forward to the first part. That's the deal in our family.

cigalechanta

I'm one who loves fresh food and wants to feel their flavor not altered so I bake my potatoes in halves, preferring, yellow fin or Yukon gold and top a different fresh herb on each half and a dab of butter and bake. The look and smell as you take it out of the oven is wonderful. This is also a great party appetizer.

sfowler

I realize many of you have been preparing for turkey day for at least a week. But since I am only having three and serving a turkey breast, my shopping begins tomorrow...

I'll baste the breast with white wine while it roasts Probably seasoned with sage and garlic.
I think I'll make fennel/sausage/cornbread stuffing
How about sweet pots with orange juice/bourbon and cinnamon?
And then I'll see if Trade Joe's has any frozen haricots verts left.
I'll buy another bottle of pinot noir and call it a day.
[A friend is bringing the dessert ]