What's for THANKSGIVING Dinner?

[Zonny]

I know that not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving, and some of us have families that are small enough that to cook a big thing like a turkey makes no sense. No matter, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?

In the past I was a bit anti-turkey, for the three of us there's just too much to a turkey and we get tired of it. I've been known to cook roast beef or even bbq steak for these occasions. I think it was last Easter that Costco had fresh turkeys with $5 off stickers, that worked great for us. I used one of my fabulous Henckles knivews, cut it in half, put half in the freezer and we had the other, perfect size (not possible with a frozen turkey). And it was SOOO good, maybe because I'm used to always having frozen ones? I don't know.

My brother is the only member of my immediate family I have left, and he comes to visit from California each year at this time. He likes to eat, a lot of food isn't a problem, and I was going to buy another one of those fresh ones at Costco since it was so delicious last time. But then Sobeys advertised frozen ones for .99 a pound, couldn't resist, so that's what we'll have. I hope i can find cheaper sweet potatoes, they've been about $1.69 a pound here, but I'll buy them for that price if I must. Mashed potatoes, gravy, probably some kind of baked squash, and broccoli because I love it.

So what are you eating?

[Chantel]

I swear I just saw Walmart had sweet potatoes on fairly cheap, but I don't really eat those so I didn't look twice at it.

We have turkey, roast potatoes, gravy, sausage stuffing and bread stuffing, canned corn, squash sometimes, cranberry sauce and buns usually for Thanksgiving dinner.

My mom LOVES turkey, she does the whole shebang with a giant turkey every chance she gets, but this year I'm going to make her try cooking the turkey a different way because hers usually comes out a little on the drier side.

We got 10 rolls of Maple Leaf sausage stuffing earlier this year for 99c a tube! Which is RIDICULOUS since it wasn't expiring, no package change, and it's usually like $5 per tube. So we're set for that for at least a year and a bit, that shaved a lot off the cost of the dinner.


I'm in charge of Pumpkin Pie this year, I've decided, so I'm going to make it from scratch and be very Martha Stewart about it, with edge crimping and decorative bits of cut-out pastry on top of the pie. I may also make home-made whipped cream with a complimentary flavor (like pumpkin spice or maple) to top it with.

I'm also going to make the buns glazed with honey butter, I baked those last week and they were GREAT. They'd go well with leftovers.

[coupon girl]

-guess what we have a wedding on sunday -yep that's right thanksgiving sunday-so I am not doing thanksgiving out of respect that both my grown kids are going to the wedding and to their in-laws for supper-plus my daughter/hubby lives in Torontoso don't wan them to feel pressured
-really who gets married on thanksgiving sunday???

[walkonby]

I was a bit bummed about 2 weeks ago dreading doing yet another Thanksgiving feast so I nipped this in the bud and declared ( announced ) that there would not be one. We have so much to be thankful for but expressing that gratitude through overindulgence ( which is what we do best here ) was starting to bug me. The family was actually fine with that since no one here ever gets an actual hunger pang, so I thought we'll just relax, they can all enjoy the extra day off work, and I'll have no pressure.

So....then what happened? Of course WalMart puts there utility birds on for 79 cents a lb. their Stove Top stuffing and Franco American gravy on for 77 cents.....argh!!! Walmart is trying to guilt me into making a dinner!! lol

[Chantel]

-guess what we have a wedding on sunday -yep that's right thanksgiving sunday-so I am not doing thanksgiving out of respect that both my grown kids are going to the wedding and to their in-laws for supper-plus my daughter/hubby lives in Torontoso don't wan them to feel pressured
-really who gets married on thanksgiving sunday???

If my boyfriend and I get married 3 years from now our anniversary (which I'd like to get married on) it would fall on Thanksgiving Sunday, and the next year on Thanksgiving itself. Almost every year it's right around Thanksgiving, within 5 days. Maybe that's the reason, an anniversary or special date?

[TooCouponCrazy]

Well, this year, Thanksgiving falls on my birthday and we have had two turkeys in the last two weeks. I think my DH is taking me and the kids out to supper. - which will be very nice since we don't get to do it together that often. I will probably still cook a small ham or something. But we had enough turkey for a bit.

[SnowFlakey]

My DD is having Thanksgiving at her house because her kitchen/livingroom can accommodate all the people this year. She is expecting around 30 people which includes 13 kids of various ages. We will also be celebrating grandson`s b-day, her b-day and our son and d-i-l wedding anniversary. So 4 célébrations in one!

She is making 2 turkeys, mashed, gravy, vegies (probably carrots & turnips mashed and adding sme honey) , salad, Belgian bread and Cranberry sauce (which i already made). Im making 2 large pots of cabbage rolls. And for dessert, there will be 3 separate cakes plus apple pies. Also the usual marinated beets, winter salad, marinated mushrooms, cole slaw, and marinated green peppers.

[roseofblack25]

I'm going to be spending it alone this year and still haven't been able to find a turkey small enough for a single person. I know for sure I'm making a green bean casserole, potato dressing, deviled eggs, and the usual pickles/olives/cheese/buns that we used to do when I lived at home. Of course I'm also doing pumpkin pie. I just still haven't figured out the meat portion. I'm considering ham but that all depends on the size of the ones on sale at no frills this week because I do not want to eat leftovers for weeks. Turkey is a bit easier since I can do different things with it like make stew/soups/sandwiches, but ham is a bit harder to do something different with. Maybe I'll get lucky and finally find a turkey small enough at the grocery store this week.

[SnowFlakey]

Get a chicken. Its not turkey but chicken is smaller than turkey.

[Chantel]

I'm going to be spending it alone this year and still haven't been able to find a turkey small enough for a single person. I know for sure I'm making a green bean casserole, potato dressing, deviled eggs, and the usual pickles/olives/cheese/buns that we used to do when I lived at home. Of course I'm also doing pumpkin pie. I just still haven't figured out the meat portion. I'm considering ham but that all depends on the size of the ones on sale at no frills this week because I do not want to eat leftovers for weeks. Turkey is a bit easier since I can do different things with it like make stew/soups/sandwiches, but ham is a bit harder to do something different with. Maybe I'll get lucky and finally find a turkey small enough at the grocery store this week.

How about a turkey breast, or just a leg and thigh if the dark meat is your favorite? You can just as easily roast either of those if you can find them skin-on.

[roseofblack25]

Get a chicken. Its not turkey but chicken is smaller than turkey.

I considered that but I eat so much chicken all the time I was hoping to do something different.

How about a turkey breast, or just a leg and thigh if the dark meat is your favorite? You can just as easily roast either of those if you can find them skin-on.

I considered that too or the whole turkey roll thing, but they just seem like they are so much more expensive than buying a whole turkey when they go on sale for .88/lb! Last year I was able to find a turkey that was around $6 and it was the perfect size to get a weeks worth of lunch leftovers plus enough left to do turkey stew a couple of times with the dark meat. I'm checking back at the grocery store tomorrow when they said they should have more in so hopefully I can find a small one or else it's going to be ham or these honey garlic pork chop things I just got today.

[Momof3girlies]

*Turkey;
*Homemade stuffing in the pan (Mil's recipe);
*carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts;
*gravy;
*Yorkshire;
*sweet potatoes with marshmallows;
*Pumpkin Pie;
*Apple Crip with Vanilla Ice Cream

Thanksgiving this year lands on my father's birthday(whom has passed two years now), needless to say I will be enjoying a nice glass of wine while I cook.

[ninna]

...and I'll have no pressure.

So....then what happened? Of course WalMart puts there utility birds on for 79 cents a lb. their Stove Top stuffing and Franco American gravy on for 77 cents.....argh!!! Walmart is trying to guilt me into making a dinner!! lol

Damn those walmart people! It's a conspiracy, I'm telling ya! LOL.

MIL is planning a turkey dinner on the weekend although I'm not sure why she would bother given that her hands are so full. It seems like a lot of trouble to go to if you ask me and I'd be just as happy without. But maybe that normalcy is part of what drives her. She has ALWAYS done thanksgiving dinner so why should this year be any different?

My side of the family is having it the week after thanksgiving weekend because that's how we roll. We learned many years ago that when we all grew up and had spouses and kids that trying to make it on "the day" was damned near impossible for everyone to attend without someone else being offended or put out or sacrificing. So now we do major holidays either the week before or the week after and then everyone gets to come. Smart, really. And it's all about the getting together anyway so it doesn't have to be on "the day."

I have 3 turkeys sitting in my freezer here that really need to be eaten up but when I remember how much work they are, I drop them back into the freezer and hide other things over top so I won't see them. LOL. One turkey (even a small one) really is too much meat for us.

[SnowFlakey]

Once the turkey is cooked, you can separate it into pièces and freeze what you dont eat. This way you can take out some turkey every once in a while until its all gone.

[PurpleBunny89]

Its just DH and I and usually I would buy the butterball turkey roll (some kind of breast contorted into a roll ... thing lol!) but its so darn expensive for how little you get!

This year I decided I'm not longer paying $16+ for 1.2KG of meat and I'm going to suck it up and play with raw meat. So WM had their $0.79/LB sale on and I bought two - one is 4.0KG and the other is 4.7KG. The larger one was $8 and change, far cry from $16!!!

So I did my research early a few weeks ago and made clear cut instructions for myself on how to prepare it, etc and hopefully everything will go well.

So we're having real whole bird turkey, planning on throwing some stovetop stuffing mix with a few celery + apple slices chopped up and mixed in into the cavity because mom's stuffing recipe was way too vague. Then going to do white mashed potatoes with a can of corn mixed in and then clubhouse powder gravy. Sure, its not completely scratch but its a far cry from years past!!!

Plus this year I'm going to attempt to make Mom's pumpkin pie which is the best! We made it last year together and I completely forget everything so here is to praying it all turns out okay.


Then on the 25th we have to go to a family turkey dinner so we'll definitely be turkey'd out!