Originally Posted By Lisann22 Yes, it's that time of year again. Over the years we on LP have shared our different recipes, plans with our families and the traditions we carry on during this holiday. So let's hear about them from you either for the first time or share with us again the things that make this holiday special for your family (whatever that maybe ;> ) and you.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Well for me this year is going to be unique. This is the holiday that normally has always been a bit more intimate than our big family Christmas on my mom's side. It's usually my sister, her family, maybe a friend or two with no where else to spend the holiday, sprinkled with some cousins or aunts. No more or less than 8 to 20 of us. For us, LOL, yes that is small. This year my nephew is away at college and cannot come home so my brother-in-law with my sister's urging (;>) is going to go spend the holiday with his son. Golfing and goofing around. It's just going to be my sister, my mom and me. I'm looking forward to it as we are relocating to Atlanta at some point, I've not been home but more than 6 times in all of 2008 so spending quality time cooking with them will be special and not sure when it will happen again. We have decided to forego the traditional Thursday meal and just get started making our annual tamales on Wednesday night. We will make tamales Wednesday-Thursday and Friday till we finish. 6am to as long as we can stand each day and night, which usually means 1 to 2am in the morning. It will just be hair in a ponytail, pj bottoms, t-shirt and an apron for three days. LOL! We usually pick out 5 to 10 movies, get them set up by the TV, tamale hands are messy and get the iPod going. We talk, watch movies in the background and sing to our favorite tunes as we cook our tamales. It's exhausting and rewarding. I'm so excited to go home this Friday, I'll be home for 9 days. At some point, I'll see my family and friends and RELAX!
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Normally our menu for Thanksgiving is the following: Turkey (I stuff it with oranges, lemons, onion, sage, thyme and rosemary) Mashed potatoes and gravy Artichoke cornbread stuffing baked in the oven Green beans (not that gross casserole)with a pinch of butter and garlic Yams for my sister (blech) Homemade berry berry jello Cranberry sauce Homemade rolls Enchiladas (yes it's our one soul food we incorporate) We usually always have the pre-meal appetizers of: Artichoke Dip Spinach Dip Crap dip Salsa and Chips with various chips, crackers, and vegetables for dipping Dessert is: Pumpkin Pie with real whipped cream Lemon Meringue Pie Cocounut Pie
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt my mom always makes this crazy frozen pumpkin pie..it has little marshmellows & everything..YUMMY..
Originally Posted By Tinkeroon Ooohhh Lisann, so many of my favorites in your list! All those dips! They do sound delicious! But have never heard of artichoke cornbread stuffing...sounds interesting...haha My mom always makes so many appetizers we're usually stuffed by the time dinner rolls around! Hot artichoke dip, spinach dip, chips, crackers (variety) french bread chunks, and a whole slew of new hors d'oeuvres she tries out from recipes she finds in magazines and on cooking shows. We are the guinea pigs on Thanksgiving. And it's usually all good. Although my dad is quite a good cook in his own right. He just makes things up and throws them together and it's almost always good. And then we get to listen to him, all through dinner, tell us how he made it. That's a family joke in itself. Even as we sit down we kind of look at each other and smile knowing what's coming. But other than that, it's usually the traditional meal. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, salad, some sort of pasta (Dad's Italian), steamed green beans or sometimes fried asparagus, some sort of jello fruit mold, and drinks. Followed a couple of hours later by coffee or egg nog and dessert. The latter of which usually consists of pumpkin pie, pecan pie and/or cheesecake.
Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove *sigh* You guys are actually making me feel a little lonely! We've had gargantuan gatherings in the past (with the kids, their spouses and kids) but this year will be a little bit different. I'll be making a traditional Thanksgiving meal at the police station and my DH and DD16 will be visiting me there. Working from 7 am to 5 pm. It won't be our noisy, messy, loving, hilarious huge family gathering, but it will be nourishing the thin blue line, so.... ...I guess it won't be lonely after all. Just different. And it won't be as stunning as Lisann22's and Tinkeroon's Food Network-worthy gatherings! xoxoxoxo Both menus sound absolutely heavenly....not to mention the company. ♥
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Unfortunately that's our annual meal but in post 2 I wrote not this year. So I do understand.
Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove Ah, but the tamale thing......that just sounds extremely intimate and fun and loving and memory-making....what a labor of love. I love eating them (we have a couple of women at work that sell them around the holidays) but have never had the "pleasure" of making them. I hope this year, although unusual for you, turns out fabulously, my dear! xoxo
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 <<not planning to ask Lisann for the recipe for her Crap dip....I seriously have tears in my eyes from laughing. That Crap is capitalized makes it all the more special Thanksgiving has been at our house the past few years so I guess it's now the tradition We'll be at 16-18 people for dinner this year. It's the first year in awhile that all of our kids will be here for Thanksgiving. I'm in charge of the turkey and drinks and I think I'll pick up the yams/squash thing that they make at Whole Foods. I don't mind the cooking but I really enjoy the table setting and decorating. I make some little favors of chocolates and I might have a game or two with prizes, maybe a bottle of wine or more chocolates. DH is actually in charge of buttering and putting the turkey in the oven as I can't lift that huge thing. He also makes a football grid and is in charge of the payouts. He loves that. My sister makes a special dip that they call cowboy caviar and will also make the dressing. The recipe is vegetarian with apples and walnuts. One son and his girlfriend are vegetarians, although she does sneak a bit of turkey on Thanksgiving Her mother in law will bring the cranberry sauce (shaped like a can please) and olives. Our daughter in law will prepare the mashed potatoes with whatever recipe she comes up with this year. Son will bring champagne because he like to and it makes Grandma VERY happy. Son and girlfriend will bring green beans which may turn out to be the green bean casserole which we have never had. Interesting. Youngest daughter will come home from college and go to my mom's house on Wed. to help her make pumpkin and apple pies. My mom seriously makes the best pies and DD is determined to learn from the master. This daughter is also in charge of helping mom make the gravy right before we eat. Our oldest DD is, um shall we say, not into cooking. They'll bring cheese and crackers and rolls. Right up her alley. Our niece and her family will stop by for some run around time with her boys and our grandson. I set a huge table and we all sit down together. Very nice, casual and calm. Last year during dessert we were all talking about TV commercials (yes, we are very deep thinkers My 83 year old mom piped up that she got a kick out of the Viagra commercial and then proceeded to mention a few things about it and you all know what I am talking about. I thought our daughter in law was going to crawl into a hole (her dad was sitting next to her Priceless moments in our family, LOL!!! I know I'd be happy no matter where I was or what I was doing as long as I had family or friends to hang out with on that day. Everyones plans sound special I'll bet Lisann's family is OK with not having the Crap dip this year. I'm sorry this just really sent me over the edge today
Originally Posted By Lisann22 ROFLMAO - that my be my best typo ever!!! It's also a fruedian slip as I HATE the craB dip but make it cause my family loves it.
Originally Posted By goodgirl This year its just our of us. I've never done a holiday with less than eleven! We're sticking with a simple menu: Turkey Mashed potatoes Gravy Dressing Cranberry sauce Deviled eggs Green beans with bacon Apple pie with homemade ice cream I *may* try a new appetizer recipe. It all depens on time. I decided not to stress myself out, especially since I have to work the next day. It's fun reading what everyone is having!
Originally Posted By tapdancemom One tradition is watching the Macy's Parade. I LOVE IT! I'm either making cinnamon rolls to go with the usual Sunday type breakfast or we've eaten already and I'm getting the turkey ready for the oven. Lisann your stuffing sounds good, I just do the traditional bread, sage, onion, celery kind. I make some for the bird and some extra for the crock pot. Some years we go to hubby's siter's house and some years I cook at home. This year I think it will just be us, daughter and my two cute as a button grandchildren. Menu: Turkey w/dressing Mashed potateoes w/gravy Candied yams w/marshmallow - yuck, but everyone else loves them. Cranberry sauce Peas Snicker salad - this is really yummy, I'll post it soon Rolls Deviled eggs Dessert - pumpkin pie and apple pie My mom used to make lefsa, that was her tradition. Hubby and I watch It's A Wonderful Life and Meet Me In St. Louis (I know this is a favorite of Lisann's too).
Originally Posted By tapdancemom I forgot about the olives...kids tradition, wear them on your fingers and eat them with a big grin.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Those two movies are on my list of tamale making watching movies. ;> I can't wait to disappear into the world of Ess, Tootie, Rose and family.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka I'm going to make this for an appetizer: <a href="http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1694228" target="_blank">http://find.myrecipes.com/reci...=1694228</a>
Originally Posted By goodgirl I'm going to watch Meet Me in St. Louis! What a great way to kick off the holiday season.
Originally Posted By Pixie Glitter Tapdancemom, I am betting that you and I have the very same favorite bit of the Macy's parade--the Rockettes! My children learned at a very early age (i.e. before they could even talk very clearly) that when the Rockettes came on, their job was to screech at the top of their lungs for Mommy to hurry into the family room to watch. Other than watching the Macy's parade, our Thanksgiving traditions include dinner at our house, always. It's the four of us, my mom, my brother, and his daughter. This year is sad, as it's the first year without my ex-sister-in-law. She died in March of ovarian cancer, and her absence is already putting a pretty major damper on the holidays for me--she truly was my sister in every way, and I miss her terribly. On a cheerier note, our dinner menu is absolutely written in stone--lol! We are all VERY much into family traditions, especially when it comes to food. Our Thanksgiving meal includes turkey, stuffing (which MUST be made from Kellogg's Stuffing Mix, which I can't find this year and Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners might be absolutely and completely ruined but I digress), mashed potatoes and gravy, orange-cranberry relish, peas, crescent rolls, a fruit/pistachio/whipped cream salad, pumpkin cheesecake (guess where we get it--lol!), and. . . .Kentucky Fried Chicken's coleslaw. I don't know when we started the coleslaw thing, but it has been the single constant dish in every extended family meal for many, many years. The other major Thanksgiving tradition for us is that we always celebrate my son and my niece's birthdays that day as well, as the dates of both are within two weeks of Thanksgiving. This is my niece's freshman year of college, so we are especially anxious to see her now that she is several hours away from home. So there you have it. . . A Very Glittery Thanksgiving.
