:)..........I hope everybody will have a safe holiday!
Enjoy the food and the company of your friends and loved ones!

I am baking my pumpkin pies right now.....and I thought about all of you on LL  :)

Happy Thanksgiving to you too, and to all.  Let us count our blessings and see how they far outnumber what we complain about!!!  Something I need to remind myself of constantly.....

"Only the grateful keep the gift."

"Adopt an attitude of gratitude."

God bless!!!!!!!! :)

Thanksgiving well wishes to all.  

It seems everyone has traditions for certain holidays.  Thanksgiving in the US typically means a turkey dinner with "all the fixin's".  Growing up, we would have dinner with my mother's sister and family.  They would bring fresh pheasant which would be our main meal.

Since I have married, and my hubby was from Wisconsin and the deer hunting season in Wisconsin is the week of Thanksgiving, I typically have had the day alone.  If hubby had already taken his limit of deer, we would have a simple venison dinner.  We've continued this tradition of either venison or pheasant for dinner with a bit of squash, baby carrots, and apple pie for dessert.

What are your traditions for the holiday?

wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2005 at 12:29am:

Thanksgiving well wishes to all.   What are your traditions for the holiday?

I have Thanksgiving for the entire family and some friends. The traditions are many.

First, it was the first day to run the Christmas display with all the animation working. Four years ago, this was moved to the 5:55 PM Friday night before Thanksgiving to coincide with the lighting of the Salvation Army Tree of Lights. (Actually five minutes early. I DARE them be first!) :o

Here's this year's display

I have my annual Thanksgiving fire in the fireplace. I  smoke my turkey outside and when it is done, me and Lady Rat devour the skin as we slice the thing before the guests arrive.

This is one of two major happenings at the Rat Abode. The other is the July 4th pool party we have every year.

Since we are from different cultural backgrounds, hubby had to introduce me to a typical (southern) Thanksgiving after we were married. I have since made some little changes, but overall our Thanksgiving meal is:

        one huge turkey - normally about 24 lbs
        sweet potatoes with marshmellows
        corn on the cob
        stuffing
        baked beans
        gotta have some greens
        fresh cornbread or dinner rolls
        gravey - must have  ;D
        German dumplings
         purple cabbage
         and for dessert: pumpkin pie

and a house full of friends ready to enjoy the feast.
Hubby will get a case of German beer and I have some wine chilled. I am looking forward to just sitting around,
talking. amd laughing....
Our daughter will be in Lincoln, Nebraska at some friend's house and our son is going to spend Thanksgiving with one of his friends down in Alabama.  

Happy THanksgiving! :-*


YUMMy turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing.  my fave. Have fun everyone.

Oh!

JUST MY LUCK to read this thread while I'm very hungry! :)

At our house we never really had any Thanksgiving traditions. This is mainly because we never knew how to cook any of those yummy American foods for the season: Wild yam, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, cranberry stuff, whatever.. nope nope nope. Probably the only thing we knew how to do was roast a chicken and make mashed potatoes. We don't even know how to make proper gravy.

Our Thanksgiving would be steaming noodle soup, or a hodgepodge of exotic dishes served with rice.

Last year was different and this year will be different - My aunts know how to cook American, so we're going to their place.

Happy Thanksgiving holiday, everybody!

Anais

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE! :D

mmmmmmmm...I LOVE pumpkin pie *drool*, but i don't like  turkey :-/.  We bought ours today, and we're cooking it on friday since we don't celebrate Thanksgiving.

Enjoy your holiday!!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We do the "usual" stuff.  This year my 20 year old son can't come to grandma's house because of work, so he's invited a few friends over for Thanksgiving dinner -- he's cooking :o :o ???  I did do the turkey and gravy today so he can just heat it.  And, yes, our homeowner's insurance is paid up ;)  Oh to be a fly on the wall!!!

Rodent - that's some display at the Rat Abode!! 8) 8)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We're doing a small family dinner with turkey, candied yams, apple pie, all the usual sides, and hush puppies which I'll be making.
I also picked up some drinks.

Happy Thanksgiving!!  :D

Some of my relatives from Maui and the Big Island (aka isle of Hawaii) are coming for the weekend and we're going to have dinner at someone's house. Besides the turkey, there's probably going to be sushi, poke (raw fish with seaweed and other things  :P), macaroni salad, Chinese chicken salad, and a plethora of other dishes. We won't be able to move after eating dinner.

Rodent--YOWZAH!! That's a mighty impressive display!  :o

Happy Thanksgiving!!  I'm so thankful I found this board and all of you who were here then and are here now :-)

I'm making turkey stock as I'm typing this...mmmm it smells divine!!  I've already made the cranberry conserve (amazingly yummy, thanks to Emeril Lagasse for the recipe), the 14# turkey is in the fridge brining and I've got 3 huge baked sweet potatoes cooling to peel for tomorrow's sweet potato spoon bread.  Many new recipes this year, including sweet corn pudding, the conserve, sweet potatoe spoon bread, creamy mashed potatoes, and sauteed kale with bacon.  The usual (and outstanding) brined turkey and Madeira gravy (I am a gravy making Goddess) and stuffing.  Looks like dessert will be lemon angel food cake, my ingredients for the white chocolate hazlenut cheesecake didn't get here in time.

If anybody wants to swap recipes, I'd love to share.

Did I mention its just going to be hubby & me?  Yay, leftovers.  BTW, I make turkey mulligatawny soup with the carcass and it is delicious.

I'm hosting Thanksgiving at my house for the first time ever.  I don't have to do much cooking luckily.  My in-laws are bringing the turkey, we bought a ham, and everyone is bringing a dish or side dish, or whatever they want.  So all I'm cooking today is the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and vegetable.  Hubby made the pumpkin cheesecake and cranberry dish yesterday.  

We're have 17 for dinner, plus a couple stragglers that are popping in before or after due to other plans.  

Its fun and exciting.  

Good Luck, Valerie!  I hope your 1st time hosting Thanksgiving is a stress free enjoyable one!!

Moonchild-can I have your purple cabage recipe?  That dish and the pickles were my two favorites when I was in Germany.  I wanted to bring a bunch home with me!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and to anyone not celebrating, I still wish you a warm and happy day. :)

I grew up in a German household, I was first generation American.  We did not celebrate Thanksgiving at all until I was a teenager and my uncle married (he is only about 13 years older than me) and his wife made Thanksgiving and we carried on after that.

Nowadays, it is just us four having Thanksgiving with everyone wanting their favs made.  So we generally have a turkey for all of us, herb mashed potatoes and rolls for my older son, sausage stuffing and cranberry sauce for my youngest, green bean casserole and sugar free pie and cookies for hubby, baked white potatoes and yams for me. :)

And, of course, numerous desserts because otherwise it just wouldn't be fun. lol

Mom decided to cook the turkey today, so now it's cooking in the oven. no one is coming over since we don't have any family here.

Sakina- I would love to have your gravy recipe, what spices do you use(other than salt and pepper)?

Beesan16, I got my recipe from Martha Stewart.  Any sentences with an * before and after denotes my comments.

Gravy 101

Turkey Stock, recipe follows
1 1/2 cups Madeira
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground pepper

Transfer roasted turkey to a large platter, pour juices from pan into fat separator.  Set aside to separate, about 10 minutes.  Reserve fat.

Heat the Turkey Stock in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Place roasting pan over medium high heat.  (You may have to turn on both burners to heat all the liquids)  Pour Madeira into pan, let bubble (raise heat if necessary), and scrape bottom and sides of pan with wooden spoon to dislodge browned bits.  Remove from pan and reserve with pan juices.  Return 2 ounces of reserved fat to roasting pan, sprinkle flour into pan and cook over low heat 2 to 3 minutes.  *This gets the raw taste out of the flour, so don't skimp here!*

Slowly wisk in heated stock and reserved pan juices.  *This is the key to a lump free gravy.  Take your time here and you will be rewarded.  :)*  Increase heat to medium high.  Add rosemary and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until thick and the gravy coats the back of a spoon, 10 to 15 minutes.  *Keep in mind that gravy thickens as it cools so it should be more to the runny side when you are done.*

Strain gravy from pan through very fine sieve.  *If you happen to get any lumps this will catch them and get 'em out of what you serve.*  Adjust seasoning.  Keep warm in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water or serve immediately.

Yield: 3 cups

Turkey Stock
Turkey neck and giblets (heart and gizzard), reserved from turkey
1 medium onion, cut into large chunks
2 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
2 carrots, scrubbed and cut into chunks
6 sprigs fresh parsley
2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 whole bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
7 cups cold water

Rinse neck and giblets well.  Combine turkey neck and giblets, onion, celery, carrots, parsley, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns with 7 cups cold water in a medium stockpot.  Place over high heat; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 1/2 hours, skimming any scum that floats to the top as necessary.

Pass stock through as sieve lined with damp cheesecloth; discard the solids.  Let stock cool and refrigerate until ready to use.

Yield: 5 cups


I like to make my stock the day before so its one less thing I have to make on "the big day".  Making your own stock gives the gravy so much flavor.  It is so worth it.

If you have any questions, let me know.  Patience is the key to lump free gravy.

Let me know if you try it...!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I have a huge family, so we don't have a sit down dinner at the table.  Instead, the entire table is filled of the traditional dishes (dad usually carves the turkey ahead of time and puts it on a platter) as well as non-traditional dishes.  Most of it my parents make, and relatives bring over a dish if they feel like it.  We go around the table and get food, buffet style.  Everyone finds what space they can at couches, chairs, at the kitchen counter etc.  It's very informal, and very LOUD.  :-)

Lately, my sister-in-law has had the get-together at her house, in which case she and her sisters do most of the cooking.  Same traditional dishes, plus some festive Mexican dishes as well like enchiladas.  It's also buffet style.

But my most memorable Thanksgiving was - one time I wasn't able to make it home for Thanksgiving, and my ex-boyfriend and I hosted a dinner at our place for some friends.  Halfway through cooking the turkey, the oven door fell off!!  I mean completely fell off.  It had already lost one hinge, and decided that Thanksgiving was a good day to loose the other side.  LOL  So I had to prop the door up on it's ledge and hold it in place with a broom.

Cynde

Thanks Sakina!  It was a lot of fun today and not nearly so scary as it could have been.  

Khrome--I would have freaked out if that had happened!  It sounds like you kept your cool, and ended up with a good meal and memory in the end.  Our oven did try to catch fire yesterday.  Hubby made a cheescake for a friend of ours the night before and some of the sugar water dripped out of it onto the bottom of the oven.  We didn't notice it, but when he was preheating the oven to make our cheesecake the now caked on sugar water caught fire.  Luckily there wasn't any damage and he cleaned it up so well that I would never have known if he didn't tell me.  

Sakina: I will gladly post the recipe for the purple cabbage.....I think I should have time tomorrow to sit down and translate it. Hubby will be busy then with the Boy Scouts cutting down Christmas trees.  :)

Khrome  This is a story you can tell your grandchildren one of these days  :) The broom saved the turkey  :)

Valerie You guys were really lucky. Glad to hear that everything went well  :)

Khrome and Valerie--Oh boy. I'm sure you'll remember those Thanksgivings for years to come!

Thanks Sakina! I will try the recipe, it sounds yummy- especially the rosemery, my favorite herb.
I just wanted to add a tip for lumpy gravy- and it's very helpful if you have a large amount- put it in a blender for a spin, and it will be smooth and creamy again.

Krome- that oven has a mind of it's own- to fall off on Thanksgiving :D.

Maroula- we don't celebrate for religious reasons. We believe that everyday is a day to thank God for his blessings, and every day is a feast. And that we don't need a special day to thank Him. Hope my explanation was clear.

wrote on Nov 25^th, 2005 at 4:39pm:

Maroula- we don't celebrate for religious reasons. We believe that everyday is a day to thank God for his blessings, and every day is a feast. And that we don't need a special day to thank Him. Hope my explanation was clear.

Oh Beesan, I was not singling you out.  I usually wish people a happy whatever and try and remember that not everyone celebrates holidays that I do. :)  I know we have a few non-Americans here, but I still wanted to wish them a pleasant day.

(((hugs))))

Oh no Maroula, I didn't think that way. I just wanted to make sure nobody took me wrong by saying so, and that , I don't celebrate it for religious reasons, and that I wasn't against it or something. Actually i think it's a great holiday, that gathers family and friends :)

Oh good Beesan, that was what I thought, but I didn't want to presume. :)  I never thought you were against it.