What Are You Building for a Thanksgiving Menu?

Just me 'n' Sally this year. She has to work on Turkey Day, so we're feasting on Friday.

Small Turkey Breast
Pork Butt in the Crock Pot w/veggies, seasonings & Dr. Pepper
Cranberry Relish
Potato Casserole
Deconstructed Green Bean Casserole This is totally new — and experimental – for me this year
Turkey Gravy
Dinner Rolls (Storebought, I'm afraid. I'm just not up to yeast rolls this go 'round)
Mince Pie

Kit Carson wrote:

magnusfide wrote:
We're having 15-20 family members over to our camp for T-Day so I've decided to go with Cajun themed recipes this year. Cajun recipes are tailor made to a crowd feeding frenzy. Here's what I've decided to have so far:
-Fried Turkey
-Death-Defying Stuffed Shrimp with Tasso Ham and Crab. (Have a Tasso ham from the local sources that we just bought and are hoping to use.)
-Pork Chop Jambalaya
-Dirty Rice
-Fruit Salad
-Tasso Ham and Collards

Herself will make the dessert and I don't have a hint of what she'll do but I guarantee it'll involve the word "praline".

Hey, if you're doing Cajun don't forget the boudain, crawfish etoufee, crackling cornbread.

Now your talking! I always make Gumbo for Thanksgiving when I am not on the Road.

I appreciate all the well wishes. Thanks so much for the prayers.

Super_Dave wrote:
I tend to be one of those anal retentive types that plan everything to the nth degree. And I had for this Thanksgiving. We found out this week that my wife has to have some potentially serious surgery this next week, so plans just went out the window. It looks like God might be attempting to show us a deeper meaning to our Thanksgiving than what we're eating.

I hope things turn out for the best. Our prayers and thoughts will be with your wife.

There are going to be 6 families that we share our Thanksgiving with, at a beach side campground. So we are having: oil-less fried(charbroil cooker)turkey, a turkey breast or two, spiral cut ham cooked in the crockpot with cranberry soda to keep it moist. then all the fixin's: mashed taters, sweet tater casserole, large egg noodles, deviled eggs, green beans, pinto beans, watergate salad, dressing, canned cranberry sauce, Crockpot mac & cheese, desserts lots of them and a few other items I can't think of right now.. So we will feed around 25+- folks and plenty of leftovers for another night. We usually get together and eat again on Saturday get rid of the leftovers from each campsite and have another community meal.
Oh yeah this will be our 15th year we have done this together at a campground. We only missed one year due to death of one of our campers father and then we had a big get together pig pickin on that Saturday night. So really this makes it our 16th year together. Some folks come and go and we just keep it going with the main 4-6 families.
Best times are spent camping with friends and having Thanksgiving dinner together makes it even more fun.
randy

That's the blessing and the trouble of the Cooking thread: it sends us into great ideas for feasts and also sends us into nibble mode which packs on the pounds.

SkiingSixPack wrote:

magnusfide wrote:

SkiingSixPack wrote:
We have been spatchcocking our turkey for a few years now. I have to say it is with a doubt the best turkey I have ever had. We have brined, grilled, deep fried, etc., including the traditional roasting. Spatchcock the bird and you will never go back!!!

We also do this with chicken on the grill in the summer months.

Care to share your recipe?

Sorry, I have not looked at this for awhile.... YES, I share everything except my wife!!! :)

This is the recipe, pretty much, that I follow. I use all the giblets and neck and backbone in the gravy. I don't do stuffing, we're a taters and gravy family, so nothing lost there for us.

The cool thing is that it cooks at 450 for a short time. The skin is really crisp, all the skin because all the skin is on top this way.

I know I have a more step-by-step version somewhere and if I locate it, I'll post here....

Good luck.

Ahh Mr. Lopez-Alt! He used to work at Cooks' Illustrated:). I do enjoy his blog and adore those scissors/garden shears. I use dollar store scissors and a cleaver but his tool would make a fine addition to my kitchen drawer; hope Santa is listening.

Some of us like stuffing on this end so I remove the thigh bone and stuff the cavity. I also place the bird over a bed of stuffing and roast on a sheet pan. I brine and air dry the white meat but not the thighs. Sigh, think I'm having turkey making withdrawal this year.

Kit Carson wrote:
Hey, if you're doing Cajun don't forget the boudain, crawfish etoufee, crackling cornbread.

We can't get hold of boudain or crawfish where we'll be but we did plan on the cornbread with cracklin's. The Tasso Ham and 5 gallon pot of jambalaya will be enough though.

SkiingSixPack wrote:


This is the recipe, pretty much, that I follow. I use all the giblets and neck and backbone in the gravy. I don't do stuffing, we're a taters and gravy family, so nothing lost there for us.

The cool thing is that it cooks at 450 for a short time. The skin is really crisp, all the skin because all the skin is on top this way.

I know I have a more step-by-step version somewhere and if I locate it, I'll post here....

Good luck.

Thanks much SSP! We're thinking about this one for Christmas. :W

magnusfide wrote:

SkiingSixPack wrote:
We have been spatchcocking our turkey for a few years now. I have to say it is with a doubt the best turkey I have ever had. We have brined, grilled, deep fried, etc., including the traditional roasting. Spatchcock the bird and you will never go back!!!

We also do this with chicken on the grill in the summer months.

Care to share your recipe?

Sorry, I have not looked at this for awhile.... YES, I share everything except my wife!!! :)

This is the recipe, pretty much, that I follow. I use all the giblets and neck and backbone in the gravy. I don't do stuffing, we're a taters and gravy family, so nothing lost there for us.

The cool thing is that it cooks at 450 for a short time. The skin is really crisp, all the skin because all the skin is on top this way.

I know I have a more step-by-step version somewhere and if I locate it, I'll post here....

Good luck.

Texas Roadrunner wrote:

Super_Dave wrote:
I tend to be one of those anal retentive types that plan everything to the nth degree. And I had for this Thanksgiving. We found out this week that my wife has to have some potentially serious surgery this next week, so plans just went out the window. It looks like God might be attempting to show us a deeper meaning to our Thanksgiving than what we're eating.

Prayers for your wife and you, Dave.

2nd that Dave...All the best.