"Official" Thanksgiving Cooking/Baking "Issues" Thread

24 Nov 2019 | US Navy Vet

[EQAndyBuzz]

Order pies from Delicious Orchards in Matawan New Jersey. Check.
Make reservations for TG dinner at Flemings in San Antonio. Check.
Have everyone come back to house after dinner for dessert. Check.

Earlier that day, watch the NY Rangers vs Boston Bruins game. Check.

I’m good. I used to make TG dinner, but after spending 12 hours cooking and 10 minutes eating, I called it quits. You can always get a good TG dinner at a steak house.

[9YearLurker]

Hey K’s, Sure they have smaller — but a 12-pound bird is still a lot for three!

They also sell just the breasts, of course, but chicken is at least as tasty as turkey anyway...

[Pollard]

and...who doesn’t like rice and gravy?

Everyone else here but me. LOL Bunch of picky eaters. We do all like rice though and we have recipes for that. The kids prefer sauce on all meat. Either our homemade BBQ sauce or if beef, A-1.($$$) Butter and spices/herbs on veggies.

Our little rural grocery store doesn't always have everything from the ad in the store and sometimes they'll have things that aren't in the ad. They're supposed to have Tri-Tip this week but that's always a hit or miss. I'll make my decision when I go to the store I guess. The wife's working 3:30-7:30pm and will likely sleep til 1:00pm and won't want a big meal then so it will be a late dinner and up to me to cook, so whatever I feel like getting/cooking is what we'll have;) Everyone's got shrimp so maybe we'll have surf and turf.

[9YearLurker]

My only issue is the family members who let you know all their dietary limitations and peccadillos in advance, expecting you to provide a full, delicious meal without gluten, dairy, nightshades, seafood, etc., etc.

Used to be you’d just show up and politely work around any such limitations as a guest. Now the expectation is that the host provide the latest in restaurant accommodations.

[MomwithHope]

I always use wax paper. Works like a charm. Plus a good thick wax paper. I make a basic Crisco crust recipe on the package. Chill each crust in a ball in the fridge in plastic wrap. Roll out between 2 pieces of wax paper, no flour mess. No sticking. Peel off the top paper, flip it in the pie plate and peel off the paper. Best crust. Adding no flour means the crust will not be tough. I tried parchment paper long ago but it did not work as well. Also tried the rolling pin method, did not work as well either. At least for me.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Just get a bunch of ribs.

Easy to make, fairly cheap and who doesn't like ribs?

You can even serve corn bread dressing and green beans and they will fit right in.

[bgill]

Dump the pie dough into the pie pan and mush it out to the sides by hand. No need to make a mess with the flour all over the kitchen counter and not more tearing.

[Cottonpatch]

Quick Yeast Rolls
Bake 400 10 -12 minutes..( till done)

3T sugar
1 t salt
2 1/4 cups flour (about 9 1/2 ounces)
1 package active dry yeast
2T shortening (crisco)
1 egg beaten
1 cup warm water

In large bowl mix shortening, water and sugar. Next mix in yeast, stir to mix.
Now add egg, salt and mix. Add flour. Mix.
Let dough set on cabinet or warm place for an hour or two, until it’s doubled.
Grease 8 muffin tins and divide dough into the 8 tins. (Should be about 1/2
full). Let rise again till doubled..( crowns top of tin.) Bake, serve.

[reed13k]

Indeed I’ve managed to find as small as a 10 pounder available, but even then with all 4 of us it was turkey salad sandwiches and turkey noodle soup for more then a few days (because the girls eat like birds themselves). With just the 3 of us and the oldest leaving to go back to work, I’d be on a strict turkey diet for a week at least.

At least with the chicken I can still make a batch of chicken noodle soup (egg noodles from scratch) to send my older daughter home with.

Don’t matter.... it’s all good...get to see my daughter for first time in several months :)

[wildcard_redneck]

Sugared cranberries

Ingredients
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon pasteurized liquid egg whites
1 package (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup coarse sugar
1/2 cup superfine sugar
Directions

In a large bowl, mix water and egg whites. Add cranberries; toss to coat. Place cranberries on a baking pan; sprinkle with sugars.
Transfer cranberries to a wire rack; let stand at room temperature 2 hours or until dry. Use to decorate a cake, pie or other dessert.

________________
Seriously, these are good and they're very easy to make. You can also soak the cranberries in bourbon or rum or whatever your favorite alcohol is. Also you can use the fancy colored sugar's that you find in the bakery aisle.

[Dacula]

My wife passed away over two years ago and my son and I haven’t really celebrated the Holidays. She loved the Holidays.

My son graduates in the spring from high school and this will be the last time he and his friends will probably be together for the holidays.

We are going to have a FRiendsgiving on Tuesday. A 20 lb turkey and a spiral-sliced ham. His friends are responsible for the side-dishes and the after-dinner cleanup. I think I have received over 20 RSVPs and numerous calls\texts from parents to make sure that I am okay with doing this for the kids. My wife made our house the go-to place to hang out. I just carry on the tradition.

As for turkey leftovers. Turkey taquitos and lots of them. Everything will be gone by Sunday. My son and his male friends are wrestlers and can pack away some food.

Happy Holidays my FRiends!

[OKSooner]

That has a very familiar ring to it; thank you very much.

[bgill]

Never understood why people think there’s any hard work or skill. There’s a reason for that old Rice Krispy’s Treat joke commerical with the mom coming out of the kitchen looking all exausted with flour all over her face.

For those who only have one oven, make the desserts and the cornbread for the dressing the day before. Put the bird in the oven at 7 am and get the dough going for the homemade rolls. Go sit down. About 10 am, prep the sides. Go sit down. At 11, take the bird out of the oven and put the sides in the oven. Go sit down as the kids set the table. At 11:40, take the sides out of the oven and put the rolls in. At noon, call everyone to the table.

One year, I was in bed sick, sick, sick so our 4th grader made the whole Turkey Day meal from scratch all on her own. The only things she needed help with was 1) to have dad take the cooked 20+ lb turkey out of the oven, 2) to ask me how much sage to put in the dressing and all I could manage to mumble out was double what she thinks is enough and 3) to use a recipe for the homemade rolls.

She put out the whole spread - turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, corn casserole, homemade rolls, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, roasted carrots, deviled eggs, salad, homemade pumpkin pie and pecan pie and who knows what else. And set the table with the good stuff.

From my answer to the pie dough question up thread, it was her who admitted years later she never rolls out the pie dough but mushes it out with her hands straight in the pie pan.

[goodnesswins]

I love green bean casserole!

[Mr. K]

You can get a turkey smaller than 12 pounds.

AND LEFTOVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU’RE FORGETTING LEFTOVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[notaliberal]

I lost my recipe for a New York cheesecake. Anyone have the “best” cheesecake recipe ever!

[texas booster]

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3795564/posts

We are thinking alike. I went back and pulled several Thanksgiving Day recipe threads together and posted them on one thread.

20+ years ago Chef Carlo Morelli put together (with the help of ~200 FReepers) a cookbook called the "Clinton Legacy Cookbook".

He posted numerous recipe threads for those that want to put in the work in the Kitchen.

Best part was him sharing memories from his years as a kid growing up in Little Italy in Chicago.

Well worth your time to peruse.

[Calvin Locke]

Chinese Turkey?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2oUkVw8W10

For Thanksgiving, of course.

[moovova]

Hah! Now I’m hungry! Luckily, the in-laws invited us over for Thanksgiving. All it’s costing us is several side dishes and an autumnal flower arrangement.

Whichever culinary direction you take...have a great one!

[4yearlurker]

I have a Scotty dog who loves turkey too!