Thanksgiving Menus

[LilyWDW]

Anyone already planning their Thanksgiving menus for this November? Or am I crazy doing it a month in advance?

I have decided to just do my own thing this year. No traveling to visit family, which has caused some family to be a bit upset. Oh well. They can come and see me if they really want to. Why am I expected to do all the traveling?

So my menu is based around food that holds good memories with family and friends.

Roasted turkey (my recipe in my mom's table top roaster)
Stuffing (one of my grandmother's recipes that I grew up with)
Broccoli Casserole (my cousin's recipe that I had for the first time last year)
Deviled Eggs (recipe from my "Theatre mom" who took me under her wing when I moved to Indy in 2014)

But I don't know what else to make. I feel like I need one more side. I likely will just buy a frozen pie because I am not much of a baker and don't eat a lot of dessert. Or maybe make an apple crisp because it is easier. Hmmm..

So, what do YOU make? Maybe I can get some additional ideas!

 

[Bethislucy]

I am too. We are going to be a bit smaller this year & we also leave at 5:00 am on black Friday for our Disney trip so I'm trying to get others to contribute more this year and dialing back some because we don't need that many left overs.

I'm doing a turkey breast (so much gets wasted and I can freeze it if it doesn't get ate to have for lunches), My grandma's recipe for dressing & green beans & potatoes. My mom is doing the ham and so far that's all that has been spoken for. lol It's a little hard to dial back but everyone is an adult now and they all have families. I'm just me so I'm letting them contribute so we will see what else we end up with.

 

[Snowflakey]

Roasted Turkey & gravy
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry Sauce - jelled and homemade
Homemade Rolls
Relish tray
Pumpkin/Pecan/Apple pie
Cupcakes for kiddos
Holiday Punch

Never too early I'm already planning Christmas dinner!

 

[BlueStarryHat]

My family is going to one of my cousin's house for Thanksgiving. I've decided to stay home and decorate for Christmas, so they'll be bringing me home a plate.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Roasted turkey (my recipe in my mom's table top roaster)
Stuffing (one of my grandmother's recipes that I grew up with)
Broccoli Casserole (my cousin's recipe that I had for the first time last year)
Deviled Eggs (recipe from my "Theatre mom" who took me under her wing when I moved to Indy in 2014)

But I don't know what else to make. I feel like I need one more side. I likely will just buy a frozen pie because I am not much of a baker and don't eat a lot of dessert. Or maybe make an apple crisp because it is easier. Hmmm..

So, what do YOU make? Maybe I can get some additional ideas!

I've seen a lot of recipes lately for apple-cranberry crisp, which sounds really good to me. I love apple crisp, but the addition of the cranberries makes it seem even more festive. Plus I always associate cranberries with thanksgiving, so if you don't have them already on the menu, that gets them in there.

For our Thanksgiving, we're traveling and staying in a rental near the beach. So it will be less involved than when we're home, as we don't want to generate too many leftovers. We'll probably have some pre-made holiday items from whole foods, and cook a few things. The only thing I know for sure I'll make is the vegetarian lentil pastries one of my kids and I use for our main. Then I'll probably do more of our full-on thanksgiving menu as our xmas day meal.

 

[LilyWDW]

Never too early I'm already planning Christmas dinner!

I am also already thinking about Christmas dinner because, again, I don't want to go anywhere. I do know for that Xmas Eve a friend has invited me out with a bunch of his friends for Beni Hana but I would want to do something nice Xmas Day.

Plus, I want to start buying the stuff I need for the 2 meals since it can get expensive fast.

 

[CynBeth]

No planning it is just 3 of us and have the same thing every year unless we are at Disney. The others have food allergies and I found non dairy recipes so we have turkey, jellied cranberry sauce, crock pot stuffing, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, corn bread, green beans, and pumpkin pie.

 

[Nayan]

Kirkland lasagna and maybe pie for dessert. Just 3 of us and none of us like turkey, plus my husband will most likely work that day so easy dinner.

 

[garada3]

No you are not crazy for planning a month out.

We are traveling to the area where we grew up for a family gathering. There will be six of us in a rental home with 11 locals joining us. We did this two years ago at the same rental.

Last time dinner was two hours late

The fresh turkey has been ordered for pick up on the Tuesday before.

Turkey will be cooked on Wednesday and apps, applesauce, cranberry relish and pumpkin bread will be prepared. Apps will be a cheeseball, a pumpkin dip (new to me recipe) and sausage/cheese board. Also considering another dip like whipped feta with figs & pistachios or baba ganoush. We will also be picking up rolls from Texas Roadhouse on Wednesday.

Sides will be primarily cooked on Thursday morning and warmed before dinner at 5:00pm. I have been reading make ahead recipes to figure out how to modify family recipes to work best. Pretty typical family recipe line up: mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato and apple casserole, and corn pudding.

Two recipes that require last minute prep are scalloped oysters and magic marshmallow rolls.

Contributions to dinner include ham, macaroni and cheese and desserts.

I am still considering a cold salad of some kind but not sure we need it.

I am sure many of our “family” recipes came from newspapers, magazine or backs of boxes over the years

 

[TippyThomas]

There are a few families from my old community that will include me in their Thanksgiving meals. I won't be able to eat with them, but they always make sure I have more than enough food. Looking forward to it as I think Thanksgiving based foods are some of my favorite.

 

[Cadiewampus]

Kirkland lasagna and maybe pie for dessert. Just 3 of us and none of us like turkey, plus my husband will most likely work that day so easy dinner.

Sounds like us. None of us are big "traditional holiday food" lovers.

 

[tvguy]

Thanksgiving certainly has changed. At one point we had 9 for dinner, this year just DW and I. Kids moved away, one 400 mile and just not practical to travel with 3 children age 5 and younger for my son to come, and my daughter moved to Germany. The rest of our guests either are not well enough to travel, or in most cases, have passed.
So my wife picked up a boneless turkey breast last week that is in the freezer. We already have everything else except fresh cranberries.

 

[NannyBeBe]

My granddaughter and her fiance will make a charcuterie board for nibbling on during the day.

Roast turkey breast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Macaroni & Cheese
Sweet Potato Casserole
Deviled Eggs
Rolls & Butter
Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Pie

I never change the menu because if I even try to, my family strongly object.

 

[fla4fun]

I have been buying items since September, if I find them on sale. I started with the non perishable items first, like canned milk, chicken broth, and bread for stuffing. This week, I bought chips to go with the leftover turkey sandwiches, butter, and some breakfast items (my guests stay overnight). I won’t relax until I get the turkey though.

Our menu for the holiday meal is pretty simple . . .

Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Dinner rolls
Some sort of vegetable (maybe, if people say they want it)
Cranberry-cherry sauce

My BIL makes a cherry pie, and I buy ice cream (we aren’t pumpkin fans). I usually have a thaw and eat pecan pie around in case we need it.

I have eggs, bacon, hash browns and biscuits to make for breakfast, with orange juice

We eat turkey sandwiches and chips a lot after the main meal, so I have a variety of cheeses, breads, pickles, and chips on hand.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

So, I'm a turkey hoarder. When the supermarket drops the prices on birds, I stock up. I'm still mourning the loss of the ones still in our freezer when we lost power from Hurricane Beryl. The biggest turkey is usually the Thanksgiving turkey because we are a family that LOVES leftovers. The anticipated menu...

Roasted Turkey (we have a large tabletop roaster, but we move it to the oven for an hour at the end to properly brown)
Gravy (DH and I don't see eye to eye on style/method, but this is his task)
Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing (DH bought some sourdough herb variety at Costco, so I guess we'll be trying that)
Green Beans (we could them in bacon grease)
Crescent Rolls w/butter
Homemade Cranberry Sauce (I made it with orange juice)
Pumpkin Pie (sometimes I go crustless and make it more of a custard) w/homemade whipped cream
Cake (this is often when we have DD15s belated bday cake- thinking cinnamon roll flavor...and may sculpt to also look like one)
Deviled Eggs (this is often a snack while we're cooking)

Under the maybes...Macaroni & Cheese, Candied Yams with Marshmallow topping, Lemon Meringue pie (DH's favorite)

 

[easyas123]

Our menu doesn't really vary much from year to year, so I don't have a lot to plan for. I am thinking of adding creamed onions this year though....we'll see.
I don't have the final count of those attending (I'm cooking, as I do most years. Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday and I really enjoy all the cooking & whatnot that goes on for it) but so far we are at 7 for sure, with my brothers family & my in-laws maybe joining, so possibly as many as 14. I love a full house on Thanksgiving

 

[unrequited23]

I feel like I need one more side.

For me, your menu was missing mashed potatoes. I use a "make ahead" recipe that calls for cream cheese (I cut the amount in half) and it reheats beautifully. Oh, you need rolls/bread too. Thanksgiving for us is pretty much a festival of carbs.

 

[lovesmurfs]

DH and I were the ones to move away, so it's just the two of us for Thanksgiving. Thinking of just making reservations, but I don't think he'd go for it.

So small(ish) turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, rolls, green beans (not casserole), and maybe mashed potatoes. Pumpkin pie (I make it with fresh pumpkin, but I'm not sure I'll find the pie pumpkins down here).

 

[NYCgrrl]

Or am I crazy doing it a month in advance?

You are not crazy but that would not keep my older sister from saying you are “haunted”, a West Indianism that means you are obsessed. I mean that’s what she calls me most years
Were I hosting this year I’d begin planning around the end of August.

 

[PollyannaMom]

DH's mom still hosts Thanksgiving at her house, so I will personally be making whatever I'm assigned.

But usually that's mac 'n cheese and a pea casserole (like the green bean one, only DH likes it better.)

I also make cheese balls (which are a tradition from my family) - either as an appetizer or as take-home gifts.

Roasted turkey (my recipe in my mom's table top roaster)
Stuffing (one of my grandmother's recipes that I grew up with)
Broccoli Casserole (my cousin's recipe that I had for the first time last year)
Deviled Eggs (recipe from my "Theatre mom" who took me under her wing when I moved to Indy in 2014)

But I don't know what else to make. I feel like I need one more side.

I like your menu. Maybe some glazed carrots for the other side dish?