Posted on 11/14/2025 1:20:05 PM PST by Jamestown1630
Nobody seems to have begun a Thanksgiving food/cooking thread, so I thought I would.
I've never eaten okra, but have always wanted to try. This time of year, I can probably only get frozen here; does anyone have a recipe they like for frozen okra?
Thanks. My husband brought me a jar of pickled okra he saw in the supermarket this afternoon; a couple of people here have suggested that pickled is the best way to eat it. So I figure I’ll try that, and then venture further.
And he hate okra.
I use the Pepperidge Farms seasoned cubes to start if I don’t have old crusty bread on hand. I sauté celery and onion in butter and chicken broth, then stir in the cubed bread. Add all the spices, especially poultry seasoning, and fresh chopped sage. Whatever you want to add in is great. I leave the cranberries for the sauce, but on my plate, they’re all mixed in together with nearly every bite.
This thread is making me READY for Thanksgiving!
My aunt used to brag about her daughter-in-law’s turkeys .... totally moist, tender & delicious. The DIL had gotten the recipe from her mom & her mom got it from Reynolds Wrap, way back in the day when it first came out. I now use this recipe all the time & end up with really good turkeys.
How it works: you enclose the bird in heavy duty foil & roast on high heat. The bird steams in the foil & it doesn’t take long to roast plus, no basting or brining.
The bird is slathered in butter, then enclosed in foil. It usually takes 2 sheets of extra wide foil that need to be ‘French seamed’ together (folded twice, even 3 times) then folded & ‘seamed’ around the bird so no steam escapes.
Bake time per pound at 450°:
6-8 lbs -— 1.5 - 2.0 hours
8-12 lbs — 2.0 - 2.5 hours
12-16 lbs - 2.5 - 3.0 hours
16-20 lbs — 3.0 - 3.5 hours
20-22 lbs -— 3.5 - 4.0 hours
The directions are to open the foil the last 30 minutes if you want to add color to the breast, but I have never done that.
This year, I have a 20# turkey so it will be in the oven for 4 hours. I will leave it in the foil while I heat up the side dishes - I have done this before.
I’ll admit to being a ‘nervous Nellie’ the first time I did this, but now I can confidently roast a turkey. Getting a butter-greased slick 20 pounder in foil then in the roaster without tearing the foil will be an “adventure” - been there & done that before too :-)
This is the stuffing I was going to do & may still do because it’s so easy - very similar to what you do:
Easy Sausage & Herb Stuffing
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/sausage-herb-stuffing.html
I found out Nagi (recipetineats) has a stuffing & I am tempted to switch:
Still the BEST Stuffing Ever
https://www.recipetineats.com/best-stuffing-recipe/
Since I am doing the entire feast, turkey & all the sides, I will probably go for ‘easy’ to keep from having a nervous breakdown. I have a bad habit of making dishes for the first time when I am having company. No disasters yet, but there’s always a first time! LOL
Well, the verdict on pickled Okra here is a solid ‘NO’.
Husband brought me ‘Talk O’ Texas’ hot style; and...just no.
But I’m open-minded, so I’ll try it again when I haven’t had a Guinness; and when the fresh ones come on in the Summer, I’ll give breaded and fried a try.
Thanks to all who sent suggestions.
Thanks. It sounds like a good way to keep it moist.
Here is Walter Staib, showing how a turkey may have been done in the early days of our nation. I’m a fan of putting a compound butter under the skin, in addition to the herbs:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tqmm4lc71o
You got the hot style, which is the one I don’t like.
Hubby doesn’t much like them. He will eat them but not often.
He prefers breaded and fried, so maybe that will work for y’all.
That’s a great tip. I’m roasting two whole turkey breasts because everyone in my family likes that part best - and will buy some Drumsticks if I can find them separately. The foil wrap would work well on that, because the breast meat can get dry if you’re not careful, or don’t brine it.
Then I slice the breast and put it in the crock pot with homemade chicken stock. Easy peasey and no mess from carving at the table.
Thanks for the reminder - Mom is making her Cranberry & Orange Sauce, so I should skip the Craisins in the stuffing and just keep it to savory.
I have Sage leaves drying on the rack as I type. With our warm Fall (with the exception of last week’s SNOW!) my Sage was still looking good.
Mom always jars up extra sauce so everyone can take some home. I use it up in this recipe for ‘Cranberry Sauce Muffins.’ They freeze well, too.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/240388/cranberry-sauce-muffins/
NOTE: You need the ‘chunky’ sauce for this recipe, NOT the jelly from a can!
Pumpkin or apple? America’s fiercest Thanksgiving dessert debate heats up
‘Tis the season for the hottest dinner table debate: Apple or pumpkin pie?
While there might not be anything quite as American as apple pie, for a small sliver of the year, the classic dessert gets edged out by a seasonal star featuring the orange gourd.
At Hoosier Mama Pie Company in Chicago, apple pie is the top seller for most of the year.
“It is the only pie we bake out of season because there would be a riot if we did not have apple pie,” chef and owner Paula Haney told Fox News Digital.
But at Thanksgiving, the tables briefly turn and pumpkin takes the cake, said Haney, the author of the upcoming cookbook, “The Hoosier Mama Book of Breakfast Bakes.”
“Pumpkin pie outsells apple at Thanksgiving nearly 2-to-1,” she said. “For this one little space in time, people want pumpkin.”
And recent national surveys find the same.
Diana here: We’re having BOTH! Caramel Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie. This is AMERICA, d@mmit! LOL!
“You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”
Beau’s brother is crazy for Okra. A few years ago he had me start 72 plants for him in my greenhouse. 72! He planted them all and they are STILL eating Okra (frozen) from that harvest.
He is younger than Beau and due to their parents divorcing, brother ended up being raised in Alabama and learned to love All Southern Foodstuffs.
Ahh, I’ve never had Thanksgiving without homemade apple pie. However, there’s always a contest of pies. My daughter, who we will be with for Thanksgiving, LOVES pumpkin pie. She’s the one who makes that. Also, who doesn’t love a great pecan pie? Too many delicious choices!
These pickled ones taste a lot like a jar of Maille Cornichons I bought once; I didn’t like them either, so maybe it’s the pickling. I’ll try a different way.
We always had Mince pie when I was growing up, but I can’t find it anymore; so this year I bought a jar of mince filling and will make my own.
Therefore, I share the recipe with as many people as I can, in the hope that one year, I’ll be able to take a break and someone else will be on the hook to provide them.
I usually make these the night before, and remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temp the day of. Then it’s simply a matter of reheating. Enjoy!
10 pounds potatoes (I use half Yukon gold and half red)
5 sticks of butter (I know, it seems a lot but your cooking 10 pounds of spuds, so it all evens out)
1 (8 oz) brick of cream cheese
1 (16 oz) container of sour cream
Whole Milk (enough to make the spuds creamy, usually between ½ to 1 cup)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Peal and cut the potatoes into similar sized chunks, boil in salted water, until fork tender.
Run the potatoes through a ricer.
While riced potatoes are still hot, mix in 4 sticks of butter, the cream cheese and sour cream, and enough Whole Milk to the consistency that you prefer. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Transfer to a large baking dish and allow to come to room temp or refrigerate overnight.
Dot the top with slices of the remaining stick of butter and bake/reheat in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until piping hot throughout.
That sounds good. But do you think the potato ricer really makes a difference?
I tried it a couple of times and didn’t think it did. But it’s a wonderful tool for other things - especially to squeeze dry spinach when it’s been steamed to be used in recipes.
You make more potatoes than I do, but that’s pretty much the same recipe I use whenever I make mashed potatoes, just the amount is half or even a third of your amounts. The only other difference is I only scrub the potatoes. I leave the skins on, but do cut them into chunks. I don’t have a ricer, but I do have an old school hand masher that I’ve always used.
I've tried them without the ricer and the family let me know that there were "too many lumps" in the potatoes.
Therefore, I always run them through the ricer.
I watched the video & it got me ‘jazzed’ to use fresh herbs. When we moved last year, my herb garden was left behind, but I got one planted for this year. I have sage, rosemary, thyme & oregano so all the important ones.
Also, your comment on using compound butter got me looking for a recipe. I love garlic but not everyone does, so I wanted a recipe without it, just herbs. I found what I was looking for in an Alton Brown recipe (a good part of the video is stupid, but he does eventually demonstrate ‘how to’). It also uses a pound of butter so there would be plenty for the turkey with leftovers for other purposes.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/compound-butter-recipe-2013062
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