As I shared my Easy Pumpkin Bar Recipe yesterday, decades of memories eating them came flooding back. It’s amazing to me how a special recipe will do that, isn’t it? Not so much that the food is award winning, but the shared meal experience resonates and hosts so many stories around our traditional recipes.
Some of us are very traditional when it comes to our holiday meal plan, while others love to try new things each year. Me? I definitely lean toward the traditional factor, but typically, we try one new recipe each year.
Our table always yields turkey, ham, sweet potato casserole, gourmet mashed potatoes, butter horn rolls (recipe to come), broccoli and cheese casserole, cauliflower (although this year, I will add in my mashed cauliflower recipe for those low carb family members), and a cranberry salad that my precious mother makes just for my one brother…because it’s tradition, I tell ya. 😉 Desserts entail various apple and pumpkin pies with some new creative endeavors thrown in along the way.
Yes, as I type that in fifteen seconds, I would say it’s a completely traditional meal because I didn’t even have to think I know it so well.
Hmmm – as I say that, we may need to spice things up and keep everyone on their toes next week.
Would you share in the comments what your Thanksgiving Menu looks like?
Having some new Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas in one spot would be wonderful.
Are there some favorite recipes that grace your table every year or it’s just not quite Thanksgiving (besides the typical turkey and pumpkin pie)?
Cider Baked Turkey (wonderful for whole turkey or just a turkey breast)
Gourmet Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Easy Pumpkin Bar Recipe with an Easy Cream Cheese Frosting
Are you getting ready for a healthier holiday season? Visit my blogging friends this week as we partner together to bring you a variety of holiday meal time inspiration and healthy holiday recipe ideas.
Now, I can’t wait to peek in at your Tasty Tuesday inspiration.
Simple Rules for Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods – If you’re joining in with a recipe link, two simple requests. As always, Please link directly to your recipe post and not your blog URL, so that everyone can find the recipe months from now.
Also, link back here so that everyone can join in the fun. MANY OF YOU ARE NOT linking back, and it’s just common courtesy of blog carnivals to do so.
We have a fairly traditional Thanksgiving Day Menu, except for the fact that we fry our turkey. This year I may brine one, but that’s because I like to experiment and it won’t be for Thanksgiving itself.
Turkey, 2 kinds of dressing -cornbread & andouille and sage, apple, cranberry, green beans w/ almonds, sweet potatoes, broccoli salad, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce -not from a can, gravy, collard greens, Waldorf salad, rolls and of course dessert.
Sometimes just for fun I throw in hashbrown casserole, but it’s not a requirement.
Since we eat a pretty balanced diet most of the time, I really don’t even give a nod to nutrition on Thanksgiving. 🙂
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My mom and grandmother host Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll take a pie, but I haven’t decided yet what kind. Our meal is very traditional. It is the same recipes my nanny has been fixing my entire life, but we only get it once a year, so I am really lookin forward to it. She always bakes a pumpkin pie with cooked pumpkin, not from a can. It is delicious.
Thanks for the link-up.
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Hi, I know that my recipe isn’t really Thanksgiving related but we don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving around here. So here’s a great family get together recipe!
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Jen your Thanksgiving Menu sounds so great.. steeped in warm memories. We are mixing things up this year ~ with so many relatives in different cities/states, we are hosting this year! Today’s to-do list = PLAN the meal! :0 I’m looking forward to preparing some of the dishes I remember my late grandmother making along with some new ideas I’ve picked up this year. Thanks for hosting us today!!
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They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in England but as I’m from Canada we celebrate anyway, but in October. We have a traditional meal – or as traditional as I can make it in a country that doesn’t have whole turkeys available until late November/early December 🙂 .We have roast chicken, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, lots of vegetables, and of course, pumpkin pie with whipped cream 🙂
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In addition to turkey, we’re having:
Wildrice stuffing
Lucy’s dinner rolls
Broccoli Smashed Potatoes
Crockpot Squash
Cran-Raspberry Jello Salad
and, for dessert:
Sweet Potato Pie with Gingersnap Crust and
Apple Pockets
You can find all of these recipes in my Thanksgiving series: http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/Healthy%20and%20Easy%20Holiday
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I’m not making Thanksgiving this year, but I’m planning on making a cranberry sweet potato bake to bring. It looks really good!
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How I wish my husband liked pumpkin! That’s one food at the holidays that I absolutely adore, but my husband can’t stand it. He’s going to be making a full spread thanksgiving meal this year, with turkey, stuffing, and sweet potatoes, but I don’t think he’s going to be making pumpkin pie! *weeps*
But those pumpkin bars look so good. I suppose I should just make them on my own, huh?
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Jens Reply:
November 16th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Joy – you might be surprised with these. He “could” like them because they aren’t so strong in taste like pumpkin pie. Plus, they are SO easy. 🙂
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I linked up. 😉 I am ALL about traditional food for the holidays. We will have turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, apple pie, chocolate pie and then I will probably add a few different things in. Your menu sounds delicious too.
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Thanks for hosting. I am linking up with a Flourless Pumpkin Roll.
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We’re like you; we have the same things every year. Turkey, dressing (never stuffing), my mom’s sweet potato casserole with pecans on top, corn casserole, green bean casserole, and then we mix it up with other veggies like carrots or broccoli or squash, either in a casserole or just steamed.
I bring dessert so it’s always something different. This year I’m definitely bringing the pumpkin cobbler recipe I’m sharing today. It is SO good!
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Mom’s cooking this year. We pass the privilege around every year, along with carting our good china/silverware/glassware over to each others’ houses to set the table. I’m surprised nothing ever gets broken, but it’s always “can I borrow your _____ this year” and then a last minute call of “OH, and ____, too”.
We are more likely to get creative with our Christmas dinner (prime rib, whole salmon), but at Thanksgiving, it’s turkey all the way. Mom’s trying out a cornbread stuffing she’s never tried. And we’ll have sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, homemade and jellied cranberry relish, and whatever anyone else brings. My aunt makes a green salad that has a really good garlic dressing. I’m in charge of the veggie platter this year, which always, always includes great-grandma’s cheese spread recipe on the celery. I always make extra, because it’s wicked good as grilled cheese the next day.
Oh, and walnut pie, always, since we’re all walnut farmers. Sometimes I add a cup of whole cranberries, which looks beautiful and tastes even better.
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We are visiting several households over Thanksgiving; so I contribute desserts & sides that travel well. This year I’m bringing Crockpot Cranberry Pomegranate Relish, cookies & cakes!
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We also do a traditional Thanksgiving meal; but we have it on Saturday so all our family can come from around the state! 🙂 With in-laws and cousins who don’t live nearby, and have other extended families to visit, we thought this was the best idea, and it’s now become our tradition to pass on to our boys.
Turkey, this year my Dad’s frying one for sandwiches and I’m roasting another to serve hot; stuffing; corn pudding (very easy, made with Jiffy mix and canned corn, I love this!); home-made rolls; creamed onions (my DH is from New England, this is his fam’s contribution); DH found a recipe for a white- & sweet-potato bake that he wants to try; gravy; we might get shaved ham to serve for sandwiches as well, I’m still deciding based on how many people are RSVP-ing; and various pies for dessert (I think we’ll make little ones, single-serving size, so everyone can pick their favorite!).
We have lots of friends & family who attend, this year might be as small as 18 but is likely to go 25 or more…so there will be things they bring that I don’t have planned. Either way, it’ll be yummy and lots & lots of fun! Thanks for sharing your Thanksgiving plans with us. 🙂
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We are usually at my in-laws at Thanksgiving so she takes care of the turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potato casserole, rolls, etc. It’s pretty traditional, but tasty! For my part, I usually pitch in and make Creamed Onions (even those who don’t like onions usually like them!), stuffing (which I actually make in the crockpot), and Walnut Pumpkin Pie. It’s your basic pumpkin pie with a streusel topping…oh yum! Another thing I like to make to have as a snack on Thanksgiving is cranberry salsa. We usually have that and other munchies while we are waiting for the big meal to finish up.
My brother-in-law is getting married the day after Thanksgiving this year so we won’t be having our traditional meal because of all the busyness, but I’m hoping to make a full Turkey Dinner sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s been a long time since I roasted a turkey, but I’m looking forward to it!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
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I have started weight watchers again and have been on it for a month and have been steadily loosing 2 lbs or more every week. I am very nervous for the holiday season. While people say why worry it is only one day, well for those of us that try to appease everyone and do a lot of traveling it isn’t one day. Try three! I have three meals that I am traveling to for Thanksgiving alone and I am not cooking, which means I am not in control of the healthier options. I am very nervous, but I figure get some exercise (take a walk play some Wii with the family) and portion control and visually choosing better options is really my only game plan at this point! Great topic for this week!
Nichole @
carterfamilytable.blogspot.com
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I like most have a very traditional Thanksgiving meal. I would love to mix things up a bit but my hubs is very ingrained with certain expectations on what to have for Thanksgiving. I do however stand my ground on a one item Kelley’s Smoked Turkey, I have been eating this particular kind since I was a little girl and as long as they make them I’ll be eating them. We also have stuffing (hubs insiss on Stove Top, ugh!!, though I spruce it up as much as I can), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with butter & brown sugar, green beans, corn, rolls, pumpkin or apple pie, and Chocolate Pecan Pie!!! I am inspired to look for something new and interesting to try this year though.
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What an overwhelming selection! I don’t mean to overwhelm anybody even more, but our readers have been submitting time-saver recipes for the holidays in a contest on our blog. There are some really tasty ones — hope you don’t mind if I post the link! http://www.classesandcareers.com/education/2010/11/03/the-busy-moms-holiday-recipe-contest/ Have a wonderful day!!
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My mother in law does it all and it’s pretty traditional with turkey, stuffing, a LAYER SALAD (my favorite), and a veggie. Also, bread and pies.
I don’t know what I’ll help with yet!
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Here’s what on our Thanksgiving Dinner menu (http://prairiestory.blogspot.com/2010/10/thanksgiving-menu.html)
Jaime’s Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad
Herb Butter & Bacon Wrapped Roast Turkey
with Stuffing, Gravy & Cranberry Sauce
Garlic Smashed Potatoes
Green Bean & Bacon Casserole
Honey & Ginger Glazed Carrots
Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese
Holopchi Cabbage Rolls
Dinner Rolls
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Dot’s Pumpkin Pie with Whip Cream
Most of these recipes can be found on my blog! Thank you for hosting and Happy Thanksgiving!
~Alison
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Thanksgiving’s easy- the hard part is choosing which recipes to make and which to let go! We always have turkey and gravy, filling or stuffing, baked corn, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes and Gram’s pies(usually apple and pumpkin) Beyond that it’s a toss-up of what sounds good to try this year.
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This is my menu:
Roasted turkey with orange and rosemary
Roasted potatoes + carrots + beetroot
Green beans in white sauce
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THIS IS ON MY MENU:
FRIED TURKEY (YES FRIED TURKEY) I’M FROM THE SOUTH
DRESSING, SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE,BROCC CASSEROLE,POTATO SALAD,LIMA BEANS,GREEN BEANS, GIBLET GRAVY,CRANBERRY SAUCE,HAM,CORN CASSEROLE
DESSERTS: PECAN PIE,CHOCOLATE PIE,COCONUT CAKE,AND WHATEVER ANY WANTS TO BRING. WE FEED ABOUT 25 PEOPLE AND WHOEVER DECIDES TO DROP BY. WE HAVE A TRADITION AND WE HAVE IT AT MY MOM’S BUT WE ALL BRING SOMETHING.
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Jens Reply:
November 16th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Yum…I have heard fried turkey is AMAZING!
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I am going to have the pleasure of heading to my mom’s for Thanksgiving this year. We’re bringing the pies {and having a friendly spousal pie crust competition}. This year my youngest sister became a vegetarian, which has meant a re-evaluation of tradition in our house. I think there will be lentil loaf on our banquet table. I linked up gagutz ~ in case anyone wants an Italian side dish that can be made in advance.
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I love Thanksgiving!! I’ve been hosting it for several years now – all my brothers-in-law come and my only niece and nephew too. We’ll have brined turkey, ham, mashed potatoes & gravy, slow cooker stuffing, rolls (I’ll try a new recipe), roasted veggies – peppers, red onions, green beans, baby carrots w/ seasonings, cranberry sauce (trying a new slow cooker recipe this year), maybe a salad, amaretto cake, pumpkin pie (another new recipe!), and toffee cookies. We also tend to go overboard on appetizers. I like to make plenty so that we can send leftovers home with the brothers and still keep some so I don’t have to cook for at least a day!
Thanks for hosting Tasty Tuesday Jen!
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My sister is having Thanksgiving dinner at her house and I’m bringing a few desserts. One of the things I know for sure I will make is the Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake from very best baking.com. Its easy, its delicious, and its a hit everytime. I’m getting hungry already!
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I finally figured out what all is going to be on our Thanksgiving menu this year. This will be the first time I go all out, and there’s family coming in to town to boot. I haven’t planned any desserts. I figure I’ll have done enough I can let everyone else figure that part out. 😉
Sage Brined Turkey
Saged Cornbread Stuffing
King’s Hawaiian Rolls
Green Bean Casserole
Golden Brussels Sprouts with Glazed Mire Poix
Lynn’s Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Bacon
Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Parmigiano Reggiano
Herbed Turkey Gravy
Deviled Eggs
Whew!
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Jens Reply:
November 18th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Please tell me you are not tackling all of that by yourself? WOW!! That is quite the feast! Make sure Joy does the turkey. 🙂
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Jeff @ Food+Heat Reply:
November 18th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
@Jens, I just showed Joy your comment, and she just laughed. The in-laws will be in town, so I’m sure I’ll have help if I ask for it. I tend to want to fly solo in the kitchen, though.
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It’s fun to get ideas from others. I love Thanksgiving. When I finished grad school last year my mother-in-law hosted a celebration dinner. She made a Thanksgiving dinner again in May because she knew it was my favorite! I was so surprised. It was awesome!
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