2008-11-23

Thanksgiving Menu

Just in case you were wondering. (Vegans may wish to avert their eyes.)
  • Turkey. I swear by Alton Brown's brined turkey recipe. One year I even got into wrestling match with my mom when she tried to put the roasting pan back in the oven despite evidence from the thermometer, because she just didn't believe that much juice could come out of a fully cooked bird.
  • Cornbread and Wild Rice Dressing is the reason I show up at the table. My family, too, but mostly the dressing.
  • Homemade mashed potatoes (made with chicken stock to avoid the dairy) at my husband's request.
  • Gravy made with some turkey drippings, flour, chicken stock, and seasonings.
  • Steamed green beans with a little Earth Balance margarine and some nutmeg freshly grated over them.
  • Grandma Annie's Candied Carrots.
  • Possibly Buttermilk(less) Biscuits, despite the starch overload.
My aunt brings the blueberry pie and wine. I may be tossed out of the greatest pie baking club ever for this, but our Thanksgiving tradition is Marie Callender's frozen blueberry pie, which is egg, dairy, and nut free and The Kid loves. (We have several years worth of blueberry faced photos to prove it.) Plus my aunt gets to bring something, and I don't have to worry about ingredients or cross contamination.

Update: The blueberry pie is NOT from Marie Callender, but from Mrs. Smith. Marie Callender's pies have warnings due to being manufactured in the same facilities as peanuts (and possibly other allergens.)
You may have noticed that there is no cranberry sauce, relish, salsa, chutney or anything else on the list. There is a wide divergence of opinion in my family about the correct role of the cranberry at the Thanksgiving table, ranging from preferring its absence to liking the gelatinous canned stuff, to enjoying a nice relish with oranges and candied ginger. Every year, someone's been unhappy. In the next few days, I'll be posting a version of cranberry sauce that will knock everyone's socks off, even the haters!

3 comments:

Nowheymama said...

We use Alton's deep-fried turkey recipe. :)

Maggie said...

It sounds like a fantastic feast! We fight about the cranberry issue as well but in a passive agressive fashion. There are usually 4-5 different cranberry preparations at the table, including the jelly stuff (which I secretly adore.)

Becky @ BoysRuleMyLife said...

Thanks for the heads up on the DFEFNF blueberry pie. I'm going to have to try it now... just because! :)