Posted on 11/21/2020 5:45:38 AM PST by mylife
If you celebrate Thanksgiving, you probably do it through consuming food. We asked Cracked readers on Facebook, "What Thanksgiving dish is a tradition in your family but might be considered weird to others?" Some responses sounded delicious, others ... not so much. But regardless, we were amazed at how many things Americans can make with some Cool Whip and Jello.
(Excerpt) Read more at cracked.com ...
Great post. Thank you.
Thanks for the recipes. I’m definitely making the bread. When you spoke of putting the first tablespoon of yeast in the pan with salt I knew the salt would kill it if the heat didn’t. I have now learned from you that yeast adds flavor. I never knew that and it’s quite a shock. I’ve made tons of bread in my time and this is one of those slap upside the head, “of course!” things.
I like that custom! (cooking on the grill!)
Hahahaha...you’re lucky! One of our “customs” was eating my mom’s homemade cranberry relish! (made with real cranberries, orange peel, etc)
As a kid, I could eat about a teaspoon of it...I would have rather had the crappy jellied stuff, it was like dessert to a picky eater like me.
We joked about it, and my mom over the years made less and less of it, until she stopped making it altogether.
I think about that homemade cranberry relish every Thanksgiving-I speculate that it might well appeal to my older adult palate better now, and that brings a smile to my face.
My mom never fed us as kids-she fed us as if we were adults, and she fed us a lot of adult things. She was a legendary cook...:)
Your post has taken on a life all its own with a mixture of nostalgia, recipes, and interesting information. It’s a Thanksgiving Dinner with our Freeper family.
Dressing.
This is not stuffing but dressing.
First thing you do is bake three large pans of cornbread two days before. Leave one out for the husband to eat with a big pot of pinto beans and greens, hide one in the pantry for husband to find, hide the third.....(not telling. He reads FR sometimes) retrieve it Thanksgiving morning and crumble.
Brown one pound of sausage, chopped mushrooms, one onion (diced), four celery stalks (diced) and a carrot (grated).
Add in sage, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, parsley and mace. (to taste)
Dried cranberries, about a half cup.
When nicely cooked take off heat, add in cornbread and mix.
Beat two eggs and half cup of cream and mix in.
If it is too dry add in some chicken stock.
Pack lightly into buttered baking dish and let bake about a half hour.
Let cool slightly and eat.
STUFFINS!
Sausage and sage stuffing placed in muffin tins and baked until the outside is crunchy, and the inside is moist stuffing:
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
5 cups wheat bread, cubed
5 cups white bread, cubed
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. dried sage leaves or 3/8 to 1/2 tsp ground
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves or 1/4 to 3/8 tsp ground
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb. pork sausage
Crumble, brown and drain sausage. Add onion and celery and 1/3 butter and cooked covered until onion is tender. Thoroughly mix in remaining ingredients. Level fill muffin tin and bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 400 degrees or until top is crunchy and pulled away from the sides of the tin.
I make dressing like that except I start with cornbread Stovetop. If I did it your way the cornbread would disappear for sure.
I do not like “stuffing.” Grandma used to make stuffing with giblets. No thanks. Husband does not care either way.
The first time I made it I made two pans of cornbread. One for dinner and one for the stuffing. When my husband found the second pan in the pantry he went to cornbread heaven.
Since then three pans of cornbread.
It’s not really a good item, but a record of time. We have a linen table cloth that everyone signs with a sharpie pen. I love looking down and seeing friends and family signatures that are no longer with us.
Way back in the 70s I was invited to spend Thanksgiving with an artist, a childhood friend, to a cabin in the Maine woods owned by Red Grooms, famous for his “Manhattan Ruckus”.
I was living in Manhattan at the time and took Amtrak to Boston to connect with my friends younger sister for the drive to to the Maine woods. Got a late start due to the snow so it was a straight run past Camden with no food stops, just gas.
There were a few feet of snow on the ground, perfect New England Thanksgiving setting. Cozy cabin with wood burning stove and fireplace. Dropped off my offerings, warmed up a bit with some mulled wine before we set off for the dinner hosts cabin near bye.
Another cozy cabin a bit larger but just as warm and inviting. All sat by the fire drinking wine and chatting before dinner. Starving at this point.
Table was set, what looked like large browned turkey breast ruled as the center piece on the large refactory table, steaming bowls of mashed sweet potatoes, squash and home made bread along with condiments filled the rest of the groaning board. Grace was said and the host started carving the centerpiece. I immediately realized that something was dreadfully wrong when I saw him using a large serving spoon on what now suspect “roast”. My fears were realized when the hostess proudly announced that this was largest tofu offering she'd ever made. Well, I manned up without a word and with a warm smile accepted this alien and sacrilegious portion, thinking that at least the sweet potatoes and squash would be well buttered. But no, another disappointment. they were dairy free vegetarians...and damn poor cooks as well. Swallowed as much mush as I could tolerate while pushing the tofu around.
That's when I learned that Labrador retriever also wanted no part of the meal. Had to fake drop some cutlery and quietly wipe up the mess on the floor by my chair, leaving my mounded napkin on the table.
Soon the hostess announced that we should leave room for The Dessert. Hope returned with the prospect of a traditional pumpkin pie, surely that would be edible and tasty. A large handmade pottery pie plate was brought to the table...without the golden orange delight I anticipated. Instead the pie had what appeared to be a sodden gray shirt cardboard, somewhat lop sided, with a strange topography. Ahh, I thought these artists had reproduced a model of their property. But I was deceived yet again. It was the hostess's first attempt at a rye flour pie crust and as all amateur attempts doomed to ignominious failure.
I excused myself to go outside for a smoke, my mind focused on the large axe by the wood pile. Perhaps I could find a nearby moose to slaughter in the wintry night. I suspect the Lab that followed me out had the same hopes. I learned my lesson.
Now I boldly reply to dinner invitations stating that I am an apex carnivorous predator of a religious order that requires quantities of fresh meat, preferably rare or medium rare.
Pay heed to my misfortune lest it happen to you.
It is a great custom! Lots of fun, too.
My wife makes homemade cranberry relish like you described and it is wonderful. Our kids like it, but they are now 30 to 34 and have shifted to more adult tastes.
Pocket dressing. The cornbread dressing is made into small patties. It was made for the hunters of the family could take them in their pockets to eat while hunting. My grandmother used to make them, as well as my Mother. I made them a few years ago for my grandchildren.
That sounds great!
We are using my mother in law’s mid 50s Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook with the plaid cover.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner?
“My dad grew up with his mom using lard, so I’m very familiar with it.”
One of my very first jobs after graduating from college was in Manteca, California. I was sure surprise to learn what the city name means! WHAT were they thinking?
How very sad. Sorry to hear that. I don’t know how I would hold up after a tragedy like that.
LETTUCE HAND ROLLS / LIME SAUCE
FILLING on med-low, saute minced gar/cl, tb ol/oil oil til fragrant 2 min. Add chp cooked turkey
(or use a chp portobello), tsp five-spice powder, 2 tb br/sugar, tb soy sauce. Reset heat to high; cook a bit to meld flavors.
ASSEMBLY fill 8-10 crisp lettuce leaves. Plate. Garnish w/ shredded carrot, julienned cucumber, chp peanuts, lime wedge.
SERVE w/ Lime Sauce.
LIME SAUCE 2 tb sugar, four tb lime juice, chp garlic, dash soy sauce.
When I left home for college, they packed up and moved 1,000 miles east. Our Thanksgiving break was short and I didn’t have enough time to get to the new home, so I spent my first Thanksgiving away from home in the fraternity house. There were two or three of us in the same boat so we decided to use the kitchen and make our own Thanksgiving dinner.
Mom was a great cook, but never made homemade bread, but I thought “What the heck, I’ll give it a try.” Now, not being very experienced in the cooking arts, I wasn’t quite sure what the term “rise” meant regarding bread dough. So I whipped up the batch of dough, kneaded it, pounded it down, put it in the pan and popped it in the oven. LOL...I still remember that loaf when I took it out of the oven!
No need to apologize, FRiend. It makes us more fortunate than yourself thankful for our blessings and we are happy to listen to you talk about your grievous loss. Hopefully it helps ease the pain a bit.
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