What's on the Menu for Thanksgiving??

[danmcmartin]

Thought I'd inquire about everyone's Thanksgiving dinner. What's on the menu? What are you serving to drink? Do you have any special sticks set aside for that night? Anyone do a non-traditional menu? Post up!

We always have my dad over for Thanksgiving, probably been like 12 years now. I picked up the Thanksgiving issue of Bon Appetit and they had some fantastic recipes so I decided to deviate from my usual menu and try some of these:

Grilled Turkey: Never done this, but sounds delicious. I will brine it first then just make up my own rub. Probably heaving on the garlic and I am thinking some smoked paprika, and some Italian herbs, Sage, Thyme, etc.

Gravy: We just whip some up from the drippings. We use package turkey Gravy mix to flavor it a little.

Two Stuffing (I love stuffing): Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing and Whole Wheat Stuffing with Pancetta, Chestnuts and Parmesan.

Ranch Potatoes w/ Ranch Dressing: Nothing can be bad if it has ranch dressing. This is home made and both mixed into the potatoes and drizzled on top.

Greens: Not sure, but I might try grilling up some green beans or maybe some hearts of Romaine.

Bread: Herb and Cheese Poppers

Cranberry Sauce: We just use the Ocean Spray Whole Berry sauce. It's good enough.

Dessert: The wife's pumpkin pie, with Cool Whip

Drinks: Only I drink, but my dad will have a glass of wine with dinner.

Smoke: I will reward myself after the dinner is ready to cook, but with what I'm not sure yet.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

[Pugsley]

Ours is pretty much a traditional Turkey dinner. We have a rather large family and we all gather at a sister's house every year because it's the only one large enough to accommodate us all. My sister roasts 2 large turkeys and the others all contribute their specialties to the feast. One sister makes the world's best cranberry sauce, another always goes a little off the deep end with pies. My 80 year old mother always brings a mince pie even though she's the only one who likes it. My contribution is a few bottles of champagne, zin and petite sirah and the smell of cigar smoke from the far end of the yard.

[danmcmartin]

That's it? Doesn't anybody cook thanksgiving dinner? C'mon!

[TN22]

Deep Fried Turkey is a must at my house. We usually do a couple.

[danmcmartin]

Did that one year. Very good bird, but kind of a hassle. Still I own the fryer, I should use it. We did a wildl goose too. had to guess on the time and over did it a little, but it was really good.

[RobustBrad]

Portuguese stuffing

[danmcmartin]

Originally Posted by RobustBrad

Portuguese stuffing

You can't just write that and not tell us about it!!

[smokin nightly]

Originally Posted by TN22

Deep Fried Turkey is a must at my house. We usually do a couple.

ROFL...we did that last year and almost burnt down the house...My father in law pulled the turkey out of the grease to see if it was done and it fell back into the grease...fire all on the ground from the grease...

we got it out though...