In light of this post, I was considering our menu for Thanksgiving...
One of our turkeys is brined & then roasted. The other is smoked, so it sorta has a crunchy skin.
My mom makes the cornbread dressing, & it's seriously NOT Thanksgiving w/o her dressing. It's soft, but not complete mush, & the top is nicely broiled.
There's a difference between whipped potatoes & mashed potatoes, & we mash ours. I'm not a fan of whipped, "baby food" texture potatoes.
The sweet potato casserole is soft, of course, but the pecan & brown sugar topping is crunchy. And, seriously, why all the hate for sweet potatoes?
For whatever reason, we also have baked beans - it's probably the one thing that's not really "Thanksgiving," but my mom also makes really good baked beans - and, if we took them off the menu, we'd have a riot.
My sister makes a corn souffle - because it's Thanksgiving, & I just think you need a corn dish. So, yeah, that's soft as well.
We do mac & cheese for the kids.
Because of all the casseroles & "soft" food, we don't do the infamous green bean casserole. Instead, we just have a nice dish of sauteed green beans w/ bacon & onion.
And my sister also makes a kale & cranberry salad which has a lot a crunch.
We've also added a roasted apple & butternut squash dish which includes praline pecans too - but it's drizzled w/ honey at the end.
The deviled eggs are mushy, but I also serve some raw carrots & cucumbers because I've realized that kids eat raw vegetables a lot easier than they do all the mushy casseroles! LOL! Our younger son's Thanksgiving dinner consists of turkey, a roll, some orange jello, & the raw carrots & cucumbers.
However, I agree that casseroles are easy to transport which is one reason Thanksgiving became the holiday for the casserole.
We don't have slaw at Thanksgiving, but I don't eat slaw w/ mayonnaise in it anyway. When we make slaw, it's a really good vinegar slaw - and there's sugar in it. If I remember correctly, my mom always put a pinch of sugar in her regular mayonnaise slaw.
I do make a Harvest Punch to go w/ our other drinks at Thanksgiving. My parents don't drink alcohol, but I also have a fabulous Apple Cider Sangria recipe that is PERFECT for Thanksgiving & I WISH I could serve! LOL!
Oh, & the meatballs or cocktail sausages w/ the grape jelly & ketchup are usually served at Super Bowl type parties.