The Thanksgiving Mega Thread

We're having our Thanksgiving meal tonight because I had to work on Thursday.  A little non-traditional because I'm not a big fan of turkey, but instead we're having duck, green bean casserole, cheesy baked potatoes, stuffing, roasted vegetables, cranberry sauce and chocolate red wine cake for dessert.

Last night my friends hosted a 'bring your leftovers' party and it was a big hit! The only downfall was no one brought leftover turkey, so there was very little meat, but lots of sides and desserts. Regardless, we ate loads and got to taste some new things.

I'm well into my first venture into hosting Thanksgiving, and so far I think I am doing alright. I'm following Delia Smith's turkey cooking guidelines solely because she happened to cook a turkey that was the exact same size as mine.  

I've cooked the stuffing ahead of time and fortunately it smells good (and edible!), so just have to pop that in the oven to warm up before serving. Otherwise it's roast and mashed potatoes, put the salad together, cook up the sweet corn and then try to sort out some gravy.

Hopefully it all comes together!  

Tonight my husband and I are just doing a small traditional Thanksgiving for dinner - turkey breast steaks, homemade filling, mashed potatoes, courgettes, and pumpkin pie (the courgettes aren't traditional - they're just what's left in the veg box!).

Some expat neighbours are getting together for Thanksgiving tomorrow, but it's more creative than traditional - turkey chilli and pumpkin cupcakes, and I'm bringing some Cope's dried sweetcorn and a pumpkin pie to that, too.

I've really enjoyed reading what people are having or have had. It is interesting to see all the versions of 'traditional', because I feel tradition is what your family does/serves for holidays. I know one family who isn't into turkey at all, so they do a HUGE taco feast every Thanksgiving, making enough to have a couple days of leftovers. They have done it for years, have something everyone enjoys, and they make sure to have the 'traditional' leftovers.

Umm, first thanksgiving cooked by me, and I'm afraid I've messed up the green bean casserole. I only just realized that the recipe calls for condensed cream of mushroom, and I've poured in actual soup, not condensed. Looks awfully 'soupy' (ha ha). Any ideas for rescuing this?
I'm thinking I'll take out some of the soup, if I can work around the beans. Ughhhh. I guess it's time too open the wine

Umm, first thanksgiving cooked by me, and I'm afraid I've messed up the green bean casserole. I only just realized that the recipe calls for condensed cream of mushroom, and I've poured in actual soup, not condensed. Looks awfully 'soupy' (ha ha). Any ideas for rescuing this?
I'm thinking I'll take out some of the soup, if I can work around the beans. Ughhhh. I guess it's time too open the wine

Do you have sour cream? Cheese? If it's too soupy I'd strain off some of the soup and add those, plus some spices. I don't like traditional green bean casserole, so I usually use half a can cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, romano and swiss cheeses and lots of herbs. Hope you can fix it!

Do you have sour cream? Cheese? If it's too soupy I'd strain off some of the soup and add those, plus some spices. I don't like traditional green bean casserole, so I usually use half a can cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, romano and swiss cheeses and lots of herbs. Hope you can fix it!

Are you cooking it in a slow cooker?  Mine was a bit too soupy and I let it cook with the lid off so it could reduce down. 

I managed to cook the turkey without botching it!  I did a basic sage butter, put loads of it under the skin and on the skin, and it turned out to be very nice and not too dry. I also managed my first turkey gravy from scratch. I couldn't believe it worked!  Friends brought mac and cheese, a sweet potato and orange dish (which was lovely), brussels sprouts, and loads of desserts and wine. Was a fab night. Though of course, by the time I finished making everything and we all sat down, I wasn't even that hungry. 

Leftovers will certainly be had today.

Our Thanksgiving also went well; glad to hear everyone else had a nice celebration.  Was soooo exhausted and ill from 2 days of cooking and cleaning (+ being 9 months pregnant) at the end though!  My husband's turkey, homemade gravy, mashed potatoes and pecan pie were amazing as always, and my sweet potatoes, butternut squash and buttermilk biscuits went over well, especially by my Scottish MIL and her husband (can you believe they'd never had squash before?!).  I really liked the cheesy broccoli casserole dish I made but my stepson - a very picky eater - wasn't impressed. 

We have quite a few left overs, but no biscuits for little turkey sandwiches : (  Think I'll make some stock with the turkey bones this afternoon.  Now I can't wait to start decorating for Christmas!!

It does sound like all had a great Thanksgiving!
I ended up spooning off half of the soup, adding less milk than the recipe called for, and cooking it a bit longer. Tasted great! And thanks to this forum I was able to find the onion toppers

Do share the sweet potato orange recipe if you can get it - sounds great!

Happy thanksgiving all!

Aww! Lovely to see that you all had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was fab, too -- albeit on Saturday, rather than Thurs. We did the traditional (a mix between NY and NC dishes) including the turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, glazed carrots, Caesar salad, apple sauce, cranberry sauce, 'Donovan's brain' (broccoli and cauliflower molded into a bowl and steamed), roasted potatoes, dinner rolls, my DH's apple pie and the ol' skool Libby's punkin pie. I think the Brits and Saffas all dropped their jaws when they saw the buffet table. (Tiny flat = buffet style!)

Of course, now I'm thinking we should've done pecan pie! Aww! Next year!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I saw one of our members in the last couple of days putting up photos (on Facebook) of the Libbys Pumpkin, already stocked & ready to go on Waitrose shelves!!  Wondering if the other supermarkets will ever catch on to the expat demand for it at this time of year? 

Too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving?  Seems miles away on a lovely warm summer weekend like this one, but it's just around the corner! 

Can you get fresh sugar pumpkins here?? My mom and I used them for the very first time last year and they were so good! I'd like to try it again (on my own this time which is scary).

Can you get fresh sugar pumpkins here?? My mom and I used them for the very first time last year and they were so good! I'd like to try it again (on my own this time which is scary).

Bought some yesterday in Tesco to have with my dinner