Anybody else not thrilled with traditional Thanksgiving food?

[Throd]

Turkey? Meh.

Yams? Ick.

Stuffing? Hit or miss.

Mashed potatoes and gravy? Yawn.

Pumpkin pie? Whatever.

I enjoy the gathering of friends and family, but can I slip out for Chinese takeout? More yams for you that way.

[texanwitch]

1. I like good dressing and fried turkey.

I can take or leave everything else.

I don't like pumpkin pie or pecan pie.

I do like a good cold slaw, this is Texas.

[elleng]

2. Me, and one of the benefits of being 'separated,'

I get to prepare 'Day After Thanksgiving' dinner for daughters and their guys. Making BEEF STEW, my original recipe!

[Kali]

3. I am not thrilled with cooking it all.

don't care for stuffing/dressing or yams but the rest is yummy. Just don't feel like doing all that work for 5 minutes of gluttony.:boring:

[bigwillq]

4. T-Day is the only time I really I enjoy having turkey

and pumpkin pie. Can't wait for Thursday! :bounce:

[RebelOne]

5. I am a vegetarian and usually go to my son's house

on Thanksgiving and only eat the sides. Fortunately, his wife understands that I do not eat meat and makes plenty of side dishes such as sweet potato pie, macaroni and cheese and lots of greens.

[Angry Dragon]

15. she loves her MIL

[spinbaby]

26. Mac & cheese is a good idea.

Everyone likes it and it goes well with Thanksgiving leftovers.

[RebelOne]

39. Oh yeah, not to mention the pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream. n/t

[pokerfan]

6. It is pretty boring

Give something with some flavor...

[freshwest]

7. Edit, I snagged it and the name is on it. Good stuff.

[Iggo]

8. Sick of it.

And I WAS done with it. I finally had it to where the people in my house had to go a-visitin' if they wanted the tradional spread. I could sit home with my filet mignon, baked potato, and some nice soggy Green Giant asparagus from a can. I was content.

Then my brother's girlfriend moved in. I love her, but MAN! Not only does she do it up huge, she invites shitloads of people over for it. But whatever. She's happy. The bro's happy. I get a free meal that I don't have to prepare or clean up.

I just miss that brief time, those two wonderful T-days, when I finally had it goin' on.

[GoCubsGo]

9. I love stuffing!

I'd be happy with a plate of it, and a slab of pumpkin pie for dessert.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. we make roast chicken and i have never even had a green bean casserole

[csziggy]

14. After making a couple of green bean casseroles I decided the best part

Are the fried onions out of the can. And those are pretty disgusting.

[Skittles]

11. stuffing I like but everything else, not so much

[Grantuspeace]

12. I yam what I yam.

Hate yams, stuffing is usually gross. I love green beans, but not swimming in cream of mushroom soup. I usually don't eat bread, but pass me the diner rolls and real Wisconsin butter!

[csziggy]

13. I love turkey and some of the traditional dishes

My idea of a good Turkey Day spread is a roast turkey, dressing with lots of herbs and vegetables (celery, onion, mushrooms. maybe cranberries or apples), mushroom gravy, broccoli or green beans steamed until just done and still barely crisp. Home made cranberry sauce. While I like sweet potatoes (roasted and eaten with butter and salt) I can't see adding another carb dish to what is already a good size meal - I also don't get having mashed potatoes.

For me it's not Turkey Day without pecan pie, my specialty and the dish I take to the in laws for their potluck get together along with some whole berry cranberry sauce.

When the family gets together, there will be more side dishes and if the entire family is coming there will be ham with the turkey, a couple of kinds of dressing, and a LOT more desserts. But when I make a turkey dinner for just the two of us, the menu above is what we have. I buy turkey when it is on sale during the holidays and roast it, cut it up and froze portions so we can have turkey all year long.

Mom likes to have turnip greens at Thanksgiving and the day after she makes stock with the turkey carcass and then soup with the leftover greens and the turkey stock.

[Throd]

16. Maybe I'll just drink a lot of Wild Turkey.

[Denninmi]

17. Thrilled, sorry, love it all.

Yum, yum, yum.

This is what I'm making for Thursday:

Roast turkey with a vegetable/fruit infused gravy

Dressing made with a mixture of Italian and egg bread, seasoned with sage, celery, onion, butter, etc.

Mashed potatoes made with real butter and real cream and white pepper

Roasted cut sweet potatoes with sea salt and herbs

Homemade potato rolls in both white and wheat, with a touch of honey in the dough

Candied Brussels Sprouts with black walnuts

Sweet Corn with butter

Cranberries from scratch with orange juice and orange zest

A seasonal salad with mixed greens, apple slices, toasted filberts, white cheddar cheese, croutons, and rasberry dressing also from scratch

Relish tray with various homemade pickles including cauliflower, zucchini sweet pickles, dill spears, pickled beets plus some olives (ok, we have California and Spain to thank for the olives)

"Pumpkin" (actually, Black Futsu and Dickinson Select squashes straight from my garden) pie with real whipped cream

Apple Pie from my own apples -- I'll probably use a mix of Arkansas Black and Jonadels

Jello mold with mixed fresh fruit and English walnuts

If I'm bored, I might whip up a nut-crusted cheese ball and set that out with some various crackers. Wouldn't want anyone to go hungry! :rofl:

[freshwest]

27. Wow! Looks like you're ready to feed the army like I used to do. Lots to be thankful for.

[RobinA]

18. Love It

I like every Thanksgiving food on the traditional menu. I could live on pumpkin pie and pecan pie. Turkey is better than chicken to me. I can't convince anyone in my family to make mashed potatoes (I have my hands full with four pies), but I'll take cranberry sauce from a can or homemade. I like yams and green beans, although marshmallows on yams - eccchhh. I hate marshmallows and think they are an insult to yams. I could eat Thanksgiving dinner once a week!

[Rambis]

19. I have never liked any of it

Now that I have been diagnosed as Coeliac I get to enjoy the gluten free variety of things I never liked in the first place. I can't eat turkey I just don't have any taste for it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. LOVE the food. Hate to cook it.

Plus, no wheat flour/gluten allowed.
THAT really changes the standard menu.
Solution: Big roasting hen, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, no dressing, cheesecake instead of pies.Sweet potatoes, too.
But, with only 2 adults, who are used to small meals, a holiday dinner can last for days.

[Tom Ripley]

21. I'm not thrilled with stuffing cooked outside of the bird

[Mollis]

22. Mashed potatos

and pecan pie. I would be perfectly happy with a ton of each. And maybe some green beans stir fried up with mushroom gravy. yummm

[femmocrat]

23. I am not thrilled with having to cook the meal.

Eating the left-overs is the best part though.

[BiggJawn]

24. Pumpkin pie and mash is OK

Turkey? Yuk
Stuffing? Ewww!
Sweet potatoes? Eh, OK.
Green Bean Casserole? Food of the Gods.
Alcoholic drinks? Not really. Girlfriend doesn't drink and it's no fun being the only one getting silly.

[bif]

25. Totally agree

Turkey is one of the most boring foods on earth. Stuffing and pumpkin pie are okay.

[RebelOne]

28. Vegetarian and don't eat turkey, but I love pumpkin pie with whipped cream. n/t

[Major Nikon]

29. The first Thanksgiving was really in Texas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Elizario,_Texas#The_First_Thanksgiving

In fact, there was no mention of Turkey at the San Elizario Thanksgiving, or even the one the Pilgrims had many years later. What was mentioned at both of those feasts was deer. So if you really want to eat traditional Thanksgiving food, eat venison.

[Maine-ah]

30. I made New England boiled dinner

corned beef, cabbage, carrots, onions, and potatoes. It's almost done :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[TheCentepedeShoes]

32. Yummm

We always have that for St Patrick's Day

[astral]

31. Next-Day Turkey Hash is the best thing about Thanksgiving food.

Chop up some turkey, add dressing (the kind with prunes and raisins in it), some extra onion, and celery if there wasn't enough in the dressing, maybe some sweet potatoes if they weren't mashed. Fry it up hot and quick in some butter in a cast-iron skillet so you get a little bit of crusty crunchies in there, and serve it on a plate with hot leftover gravy and if you're lucky some leftover pecan pie for dessert.

This is good for both breakfast and dinner.

(The pecan pie part is just a fantasy of mine, we never had it.)

[GaYellowDawg]

33. Yeah, I'm pretty thrilled.

Got a smoked turkey. Moist and FANTASTIC spices. Made another turkey for the gravy. The gravy and mashed potatoes came out really well. You can't just mash the potatoes. You gotta add a little sour cream and some half and half and butter! Anyhow, it came out superb. Made my own yeast rolls, too.

I cooked for the family. There have been so many years when I've been a poor grad student and I couldn't do anything but come in and eat. This year I finally have a full time faculty position, so I did most of the spread and transported it to a relative's house where we were gathering. It felt so good to finally contribute.

We had a great spread, and even better, my niece's school sponsored a single mom for Thanksgiving, so I got to take them a bunch of food, too. Really loaded her up so that she'd have not just a meal but leftovers for quite some time. I feel so fortunate with a job that I like. I probably spent more money than I should have, but I just wanted to share because I had enough to.

[grasswire]

34. the best part? midnight sandwiches of turkey breast, mayo, sourdo

Mmmmm.

[TreasonousBastard]

35. I just don't get you people who make a point of complaining about this sort of thing...

and just WTF DO you eat if you hate the variety at the typical thanksgiving table? Not much else really different out there, except maybe fish.

The dark meat of a well brined and roasted or fried turkey is as rich and satisfying as any other, if you eat meat at all.

Potatoes? Seemingly boring starch vessels, but with so many ways to cook and mix them with other things they are among the most versatile of vegetables-- even when mashed.

I could go on, but I'll leave you with one word...

RUTABAGAS!

Yummm.

[KitSileya]

37. Hey, rutabagas are delish!

Especially mashed and served with ribs of mutton, as is the traditional Christmas fare in my local area. (I go home for Christmas, so I do roast pork belly with crackling and sauerkraut.)

Another way to do rutabagas is cut into thick slices, parboiled, turned in flour and then fried.

Not to mention just eating raw rutabaga julienned - they're surprisingly sweet.

[TreasonousBastard]

38. Dunno why I never tried frying them...

but that gives me ideas.

Usually, I just boil 'em up and mash 'em and/or mix them with other things.

(Swirl them around in a bowl with those white purpletop turnips, and maybe through in some sweet taters)

Root vegetables rock!

[begin_within]

36. It bores me. I give thanks that it's only once a year.