The Thanksgiving Mega Thread

My butcher can't even get a fresh one, they are all frozen around here. 

What a lame butcher - lol!    You'll be fine with a frozen one too, I'm sure. 

I was at my butcher's today & I ordered what he calls a (fresh) butterflied turkey breast - which kind of looks (in shape) like a loin of pork (he showed me one he had set aside for himself), only it will be both halves of the breast, so double.  It will be boneless.  He said that's what his family always has for Christmas dinner - perfect size and there's no waste (bones) - plus you're only paying for the meat (not bone).  I'm happy - we have the most awesome butcher - their products are all sourced from the three dales (Yorkshire Dales) right around where we live. 

My menu

Turkey
Stuffing - Mom's recipe
Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
Yams - Aunt Beatie style
Orange-glazed carrots
peas
Gravy (still worried about making gravy....)
Cranberry Sauce

Dessert:
pre-made apple pie (I was feeling lazy, and didn't want to ask Tim to buy a pie pan)
cranberry orange bread
mince meat pie (also pre-made, and mini-sized servings)

Am I missing anything obvious?

My menu

Turkey
Stuffing - Mom's recipe
Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
Yams - Aunt Beatie style
Orange-glazed carrots
peas
Gravy (still worried about making gravy....)
Cranberry Sauce

Dessert:
pre-made apple pie (I was feeling lazy, and didn't want to ask Tim to buy a pie pan)
cranberry orange bread
mince meat pie (also pre-made, and mini-sized servings)

Am I missing anything obvious?

I don't know if your family does green bean casserole but my family does so Dh & I will  be having it at our Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday after Thanksgiving. our 4th Anniversary falls on Turkey day an we already have plans plus it will be easier time wise for Dh to do the cooking for our Thanksgiving meal on the following Sunday. we wont have that problem next year we only had that problem this year cause of the leap year. oh I forgot these how about deviled eggs I cant stand them but my family always had to have them at every family meal we had.

I found the most lovely pumpkin at the market today.  It's in the oven baking as we speak so pumpkin pie for sure at Meggles'!!!

I did this the first year I lived in the UK (couldn't find pumpkin in any form at the time).  Just peel and cook the sweet potato until soft, mash it (add a little of the water you boiled it in if it's too thick), and then use it exactly the same way you would the canned pumpkin.  I don't taste a huge difference between the two, to be honest, but that may be the spices helping out. 

Thanks Elliejean!  Last year was the first time in many years that we celebrated Thanksgiving.  We are celebrating it, but going low key-
Veggie Roast w/ dressing
Potatoes
Something with leeks since there are a ton in the garden-perhaps leeks in cheese sauce
Sweet potato pie
cranberry sauce- I think there are some in the bottom of the freezer


ETA-Can't forget the gravy!

My family doesn't do the green bean casserole thing....I'm allergic to onions, so it sort of ruins the whole dish.  Tim's never even heard of it, so I don't think it will be missed.

I was also thinking of whipping up some biscuits quickly...we always have rolls/biscuits for some reason even though there's stuffing and a zillion other starches.

OTOH, it's more food for the vegetarian (me!) to eat!

I saw this recipe and thought I'd share it.  It looks delicious!
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/luscious-four-layer-pumpkin-cake-65930.aspx
Something different, a little change from pumpkin pie.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and it turned out really well.  My inlaws came and we all had a great time.  They even liked the sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows).  The frozen turkey crown we'd gotten from Tesco came out so tender and juicy, my husband wanted to go straight back over there and get another one for Christmas.  It was fun to be celebrating our own little holiday while outside people went about their usual Saturday business unaware. 

I was also thinking of whipping up some biscuits quickly...we always have rolls/biscuits for some reason even though there's stuffing and a zillion other starches.

Had to mention that I have since seen croissant rolls in the exploding cans in the chilled section. Sometimes Sara Lee, Sometimes Pillsbury etc.
I have seen them in Sainsburys, and Asda.
I also saw the canned biscuits in Asda .

HTH!!!

We had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and it turned out really well.  My inlaws came and we all had a great time.  They even liked the sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows).  The frozen turkey crown we'd gotten from Tesco came out so tender and juicy, my husband wanted to go straight back over there and get another one for Christmas.  It was fun to be celebrating our own little holiday while outside people went about their usual Saturday business unaware. 

I also bought a turkey crown from Tesco.... how did you cook yours?  I'm a novice at turkey-roasting.... 

I also bought a turkey crown from Tesco.... how did you cook yours?  I'm a novice at turkey-roasting.... 

Our turkey crown came wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cranberry stuffing.  The stuffing wasn't that good but the turkey was fantastic!  I was very dubious of the instructions on it because it said to put it in the oven and cook it from frozen.  I've always defrosted in the fridge first.  Also, it said to cook for the first 1.5 hrs uncovered, and then to cover with foil for another 1.5 hrs.  I had visions of it being burned on the outside and still frozen solid in the middle.  We followed the instructions to the letter though, and it came out perfectly finished and exactly on time. 

We don't usually shop at Tesco and haven't had many good experiences there, but this one was certainly an exception!

I found a big glass jar of cranberry sauce at ASDA!  

...no pumpkin, though. 

How hard is it to make pie from fresh pumpkin?  I was thinking of buying a butternut squash and using that since it tastes the same as a pumpkin, but I've only ever made pie from a can of pumpkin pie mix (with the spices)

How hard is it to make pie from fresh pumpkin?  I was thinking of buying a butternut squash and using that since it tastes the same as a pumpkin, but I've only ever made pie from a can of pumpkin pie mix (with the spices)

It's dead easy.  I just did it.  You cut it up, put it in a baking dish with a bit of water in the bottom, bake until soft.  Take off the peel, put in a food processor to puree and then let it drain in a sieve for a bit.  Then you can use it or freeze it.  You can do that with pretty much any squash or yam.

I found the sweetest pumpkin at the market on Sat - I don't think I'll need much sugar in the pies at all.   

Just to update that we did our Thanksgiving meal last Friday a bit early and it was great!  Not super traditional (chicken instead of turkey because I don't like turkey and the friends we had over are vegetarian), but we had cranberry sauce and for some reason, once I tasted that it *felt* like Thanksgiving.  Very strange!  Made me happy, though.

Our turkey crown came wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cranberry stuffing.  The stuffing wasn't that good but the turkey was fantastic!  I was very dubious of the instructions on it because it said to put it in the oven and cook it from frozen.  I've always defrosted in the fridge first.  Also, it said to cook for the first 1.5 hrs uncovered, and then to cover with foil for another 1.5 hrs.  I had visions of it being burned on the outside and still frozen solid in the middle.  We followed the instructions to the letter though, and it came out perfectly finished and exactly on time. 

We don't usually shop at Tesco and haven't had many good experiences there, but this one was certainly an exception!

I didn't even see one like that at our Tesco's.  I just got a regular frozen crown. 
   Now I'm sad I didn't see one like yours, that sounds delicious!