Here's a source for the shrimp bisque:


http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-...bisque,FF.html

With pleasure, zee123. If you go to www.epicurious.com and type in &quot;mushroom and onion gratins&quot; <i>exactly</i>, the recipe will come up. It's from Gourmet, November issue from a few years back. The recipe calls for individual gratin ramekins, but you can make it all in one dish instead. Buy the fresh mushrooms already sliced, and use the food processor to do the onions. Enjoy!

And happy Thanksgiving everyone!

St. Cirq, thank you for your response. If my US Airways tix get me to Paris in May, I will look around at some provencal shops to see if I can find any apple vinegar! Actually, our plans are to go to Normandy; now that *should* be a place where there'd be apple vinegar!

Morgana, here's the recipe we make every Thanksgiving - it's a good old Southern recipe (from my cousin in Alabama)guaranteed to rot your teeth out.

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE (serves 12)

Two 15 oz cans sweet potatoes, drained &amp; mashed
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup half &amp; half or milk
2/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
Topping

Preheat oven to 350°, Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, milk, melted butter, salt &amp; vanilla in a large mixing bowl, beating until smooth. Pour into a greased 13x9&quot; baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly on sweet potato mixture. Bake 1 hour or until center is firm.

Topping:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup butter, softened

Combine brown sugar, pecans, flour &amp; butter in a small bowl, stirring until mixture is crumbly.

Morgana, what is &quot;swede&quot; in the context of your food post above? Is it the name for some sort of herb or spice? I don't know of something called by that name in the US, so we may have a different name for it.

A &quot;swede&quot; is the British term for a rutabaga or yellow turnip. Mashed rutabagas (or simply &quot;turnips&quot; as my grandmother referred to them, always meaning the yellow) are one of my family's Thanksgiving traditions. My grandmother would cut up the rutabaga (an arduous task, as they tend to be rather hard), peel it, boil it in salted water, and mash it with salt, pepper and brown butter (beurre noisette). For a slightly milder taste, you can peel, cut up, boil and mash an apple with the rutabaga.

Its nice to know other people also like rutabagas. They are not for everyone.

Thanks for the tip about folding in an apple with them.

We usually cook them with diced sweet onions, a bit of bacon, and some buckwheat honey.

MY THANKSGIVING PLANS MIGHT BE OFF!! NOOO!!!!

We are planning to go to Houston to spend it w/my Dad, but he just e-mailed me from his office and told me that last night there was a terrible storm and a power line fell into his pool!! It's still in the pool, and there's no electricity in the house. It's probably too late to get a reservation at a decent restaurant, so I am now afraid we will spend turkey day at Denny's or IHOP. Please say a prayer with me to the turkey day gods that power will be restored to my dad's house today, otherwise my Thanksgiving meal might be a grand slam brunch or a large order of pancakes.

Thanks.

Maybe you can go to a restaurant owned and operated by new immigrants from a foreign culture who are not too interested in TG day yet, and where most people don't think of going for a TG dinner. For example, maybe a nice Chinese or Indian restaurant would have openings. The meal might be better than typical TG fare, or at the very least memorable becasue it's different..

Actually that sounds pretty good, if we can find such a place that's open.

I am thankful for one thing--Dad has a heated pool which they use year-round, so I'm thankful nobody was in the pool when that happened.

I am elbow-deep right now in chopping cabbage for the coleslaw and the onions and celery for the stuffing and getting the creamed onions ready...the sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and Cope's corn will all be made tomorrow, along with the turkey and ham and crescent rolls and cranberry sauce and olives and sweet gherkins on Grandmom's pickle plate. It's a very tradtional meal, but this year it's different, because it's my first Thanksgiving dinner without Mom, who passed away in March. This was &quot;her&quot; holiday, and I am feeling her presence each time I check something off of the list or rearrange the refrigerator or add the seasonings...I just know she's smiling at how much she managed to get into me about how to do things--including &quot;clean up as you go along&quot;!

Update--I just got another e-mail from Dad, and there's not much hope for the power being restored today. They are frantically searching for a restaurant for tomorrow's dinner. As cmt said, this year will be different and memorable....

Good Luck P_M !! Actually, there are times that I could really go for a stack of IHOP pancakes
It will make this Thanksgiving one to remember
(I guess you can post on the Thankful thread that you are thankful for electricity )

Your menus sound delicious. As my family is not in town this year I will be helping to serve thanksgiving for those who have less. a happy and safe Thanksgiving to all

Well, the happiest of Thanksgivings to you, Degas, and everyone else, too!

Didn't mean to post so quickly. Dangnabbit ultra-sensitive new laptop, if a breeze moves past, the keys start dancing!

Meant to say that we're having the traditional fare tomorrow, except for the debut of a new dressing recipe that calls for a combination of crumbled cornbread, saltine crackers, and homemade croutons.

For dessert, Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle. Made two and served one at yesterday's office luncheon. No one croaked, so guess it's safe to serve to the family.

Grrrrr! #%*+@(*&amp; keyboard!

Oh, never mind.

Hope you all have lots to be thankful for tomorrow! Enjoy!

Hi - It's only just after breakfast here and I'm already salivating reading all of these wonderful menus. Gosh, Christmas is our big celebration here and my family certainly doesn't go to that much trouble!!

St. Cirq, thank you for your mashed potatoes with truffle oil recipe. I've copied it and will be on the hunt for some truffle oil at my local providore.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving everyone!!

P_M, hope you find a nice restaurant for T-day. If not, remember Ralphie in the Christmas Story? After the Bumpus's dogs devoured the turkey, they all discovered Chinese turkey.

fa-ra-ra-ra-ra.

I've resisted posting to this thread but can't contain myself any longer... 78 replies and I am the only one buying the &quot;family style dinner&quot; at Safeway (grocery store)? Or the other folks who pick up prepared foods have the good sense not to tell the world?


Best wishes to all my Fodor friends,
Susan in Seattle