It’s the moooooost wonderful time of the yeaaaar! Thanksgiving menu time! Each year after Halloween, Chris and I sit down to plan our Thanksgiving menu. Each year, we more or less decide to make the same things. Hey, we like what we like. This year, though, we are switching switching things up a little bit. We’re still making the same foods, but we’re just putting a different spin on each dish (in italics below). Here’s what we’re having this year:
Appetizers
- Bloody Marys — homemade mix
- Crudites + dip — we thought about making a fancy new dip; then we thought against it. Maybe we’ll get a new kind of veggie for the tray
- Shrimp cocktail — not new to us, but new to Thanksgiving; this recipe is an Ina Garten one
- Cranberry-almond goat cheese log — I am making this up! I am going to take some of the cranberry sauce and mix it into goat cheese, then re-form it into a log and roll it in toasted almond slices. It can’t be bad
- Charcuterie — the *new* will be buying some different meats
- Roasted olives — no recipe, just toss a few different kinds of olives in a dish with a lemon rind and some herb of your choice, roast for a little while
Main
- Turkey — buying from our local meat market and brining
- Gravy — by virtue of the turkey/brining method being new to us, the gravy will be too
- Stuffing — not out of a box and using sourdough bread
- Mashed potatoes — red potatoes, skin-on
- Green bean casserole — homemade cream of mushroom soup + homemade onion rings for the top
- Cranberry sauce — I haven’t figured out a *new* way of doing this, so maybe I’ll count “set some aside for the goat cheese log” as being new
- Whiskey/maple-glazed roasted carrots — I’ve made this before and can’t remember where I got this recipe, but I just Googled it and there are a lot out there; I’m sure they’re all good
- Green salad — details TBD, but does anyone really care about salads on Thanksgiving?
- Rolls — Pillsbury crescent rolls! Laugh all you want, but we normally do King’s Hawaiian rolls, so this is new
- WINE
Dessert
- Pumpkin cheesecake — we roasted, pureed, and froze some pie pumpkins in October, so we have some nice filling that needs to be used. I don’t have a recipe or any clue how to actually make a cheesecake, so if anyone has any recommendations, hit me up
- Irish coffees and/or champagne
And that’s it! (LOL.) What are you making this Thanksgiving?
This recipe is the tits: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13477/double-layer-pumpkin-cheesecake/
I love that it doesn’t need a springform pan like most cheesecake recipes. I’m a cheesecake rookie (pretty sure I’ve only ever made this one) so I’m not comfortable adjusting quantities and changing the baking vessel. This recipe is perfect in a pie plate.
Do you want a new method for cranberry sauce? I have a super amazing recipe – only requires a food processor (maaaaybe a blender would work, but I haven’t tried it). My husband uses this by the large scoopful on his turkey dinner. Even I will eat it, and I don’t like cranberries much (I don’t eat the normal jellied cranberry sauce).
Cranberry-Orange Relish/Sauce
1 orange, seeded & quartered (we usually use a mandarin orange, but any orange works)
1 cup sugar (we’ve also used Splenda, if that’s your thing)
3 cups fresh cranberries
3 Tbsp orange liqueur (optional)
In a food processor, combine orange quarters and sugar. Add cranberries and process until finely chopped. Add liqueur if using. Cover and refrigerate until use. (It’s good to let the flavours combine for a couple of hours before serving, but it’s not necessary.)
I just happened to see this “Pumpkin Cheesecake, 4 ways” video on Buzzfeed Tasty today. 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeedtasty/videos/1823450421240932/
GIRL, you know this is my thing. I love your ideas for some slightly new things. Gota balance making sure it FEELS like Thanksgiving with the risk of discovering something awesome. I don’t know if these will be new to you, but I love the mini, baby bell peppers. At first I didn’t realize that you can just munch on them whole, which makes them an adorable addition to a veggie tray.
In conjunction with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and everyone’s spouses, here is what we’ve decided on.
APPS
Homemade bar nuts
Brie & Fig Mini Tarts
Cheese/crudite plate
Lots of gin
MAIN
Turkey, gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Sausage Stuffing, and another kind of stuffing TBD
Sweet potato casserole w/ pecan crumble
Fresh green beans w/ mushroom cream sauce
Glazed carrots
Shaved Brussels Sprouts with bacon, lemon, and parm
hot rolls from scratch (mutiny if Z doesn’t make these)
Homemade AND canned cranberry sauce
DESSERT
Apple pie
Pumpkin Pie
Homemade ice cream and/or whipped cream
See’s chocolates and whatever other nibbles are around
9pm
Turkey sandwiches on leftover rolls on the couch in comfy pants