5 Dishes I Wouldn't Feed a Dog … But I Do Eat to Be Polite on Thanksgiving

It's fine really. This just means more cranberry sauce for me if you sourpusses don't want to eat it!

With whole cranberries, orange peel, and cloves it's the best thing ever!

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Liz Henry ( http://www.blogher.com/haystackprofile/viewprofile... )
Composite: Tech & Poetics ( http://liz-henry.blogspot.com/ )
lizzard@bookmaniac.net

I think this might have possibilities. No Cream of nothing soup. No Cream. Looks bright...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarel... ( http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarel... )

Ingredients

1 pound green beans, ends trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup brandy or cognac
1/3 cup red wine
1/3 cup chicken broth
Fried Onions, recipe follows

I am glad I ran into it. I love all the honest, down to earth, nitty gritty passion that comes out of everyone's Thanksgiving culinary experiences... Good to see more and more posts every day! You have a way with words and getting right to the meat of the matter...

Any plans to do a list of must-have-spicy dishes, vs never-add-spice dishes ala Honeybeast?

Thanks!

I would, without a doubt, erase every memory my husband has of the dish known as green bean casserole. Disgusting. I don't like green beans in the first place, then someone had the bright idea to add soup and fried onions? Tripple GROSS. And he just insists on it every year. I blame his mother. I always eat the tinest bit just to make him feel good.

Amanda

See what's new on It's Blogworthy ( http://itsblogworthy.blogspot.com )

It's so true...I've tried a million ways to make a turkey flavorful and moist and they've all failed. I mean, it's OK, but far from delectable. I hate yams, always have. And you're totally right about the cranberry sauce - does anyone actually like that stuff? The only aspects of Thanksgiving dinner I truly look forward to are the mashed potatoes and the fact that I can drink wine at 2:00 pm without guilt.

www.quinoaandcornchips.blogspot.com ( http://www.quinoaandcornchips.blogspot.com )

canned or fresh ikkkk.

Also on my "no thanks" list.

1.Lima beans. Dreadful things.

2. Marshmallows on canned yams/sweet potatoes. Serve 'em fresh and sans marshmallow, or not at all.

3. Campbell's soup on the green beans. Learn to make a cream sauce. It isn't hard.

4. Lumpy gravy. Gravy should not go "plop pour plop".

5. Micemeat pie. I always suspect it is last year's Christmas fruitcake chopped up and in disguise as a pie.

~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs right along at Time's Fool ( http://timesfool.blogspot.com )

There are few things I hate as much as marshmallows on yams but I DO load mine with cinnemon, BUTTER and brown sugar and bake.

My family? A WEEK of pumpkin pies. Since I was little. My mom makes about 25 pies (all pumkin) for the whole week and a fresh batch on thanksgiving eve (we have a big family).

Breakfast Thanksgiving morning? Pumpkin pie.

You could say we're fans. :)

What - none of that green bean casserole?  Always have that stuff at the in-laws, but there is enough variety to hide the fact there is none on my plate - ewwwwww!

My blog: http://dlynz.com

I've made them 3 more times since the original prep for the blog post - I tell myself I am perfecting them before the big day.  And I didn't say it before, but I love the kinds of conversations that result from posts like this one.  It is so interesting to hear about people's family traditions and what they have kept or ditched from them. 

My blog: http://dlynz.com

Anything that contains a can of Cream of Mushroom soup.

Katy

Thought for Food ( http://katymcarter.com )

Especially your brussels sprouts ( http://dlynz.com/?p=3520 ). Salivating.

I'm with you on all the sweet sides. A fresh salad's probably the most thankless Thanksgiving dish there is, but it does provide much-needed balance. What are you planning to make?

They sound fabulous and I'm wishing I had some for breakfast right now :)

It's basically breakfast on pasta but it feels superdeluxe. Yum.

And I see how those tart, pickly flavors would complement all the rich food way better than cranberry sauce. Plus I like a little heat on my plate at all times, too. I like the way your mom thinks.

I'd love to hear about where you are and what they eat!

Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal of the year  - BUT!  I really don't like cranberry sauce - like cranberry juice, it makes my teeth feel funny and I hate that.  I love sweet potaotes, but ick to the marshmallows and sweet syrupy sauce.  Invariably one of the old ladies at our church makes a huge dish of them, made with canned sweet potatoes.  Thou shalt not take canned vegetables to church suppers is an oversight I am sure.

On the other hand -   Pumpkin pie with a big pile of real whipped cream is a must and I love cooking turkeys.  Mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing - is it next Thursday yet?  I created a few new sides for this year - all on my blog this week. 

Coming from a latino/a upbringing (being 1st generation American), my mother handpicked (tastebud-picked?) foods she considered palatable to give a nod to T-Day here in the States. So my gastronomic sensibilities I owe to her:

Roast Chicken instead of Turkey. Mamí didn't like turkey, so she would roast a whole chicken. Add rosemary, thyme, chopped garlic and butter under the skin, salt and pepper. Yumm. No stuffing in inside the bird. Mamí thought the greasy cavity was not the place to put the bread.

Stuffing. And from friends of the family, she discovered to add oysters to it. Yumm! I would eat most of it. *Poof, where'd it go, my family wondered...

Gravy! On the turkey, the mashed potatos, the stuffing...

No candied anything. Canned or otherwise. Disgusting. Baked yams or sweet potatoes, yes.

Yes to mashed potatoes, with milk, cream and extra butter. Add a chipotle pepper, mashed, for a little kick and some color. Yumm!

No pumpkin pie, until my little brothers came along, and that was only for them. Yuck. Yes to pecan pie, or even minced meat pie, if guests brought it. Never whipped cream.

Brocolli, yes.

No rolls--what for?

And finally, the kicker, the Mexican give-away: a side of pickled Jalapeños en Escabeche to go with the turkey, gravy, stuffing combo. I still can't do without these. I make my own, or if in dire straits, open a can of Embasa Jalapeños en Escabeche. I know, weird, but just my upbringing.

X-Mas would be traditional tamales, and atole...

That gorgeously jewel-toned color of homemade cranberry sauce is reason enough to put it on the plate, really. It's not brown or beige! And I totally get it as dessert. Love that idea. Just don't make me mix it up with my sacred stuffing :)

It's been 5 years since I've had turkey on Thanksgiving.  There were a few years in a row when my husband and I attended four different Thanksgiving meals each year, and we did have turkey during those years.  But I never had it when I was growing up either.  I don't have any animosity towards turkey, mind you.  My husband actually really likes the stuff too, though he dislikes turkey leftovers.  It's just that I'd rather have something else.  Now that Thanksgiving is at our house, I make a glazed ham instead.  I usually make a honey-mustard glaze that has cloves and a little bit of brown sugar added.  I'm actually making a half ham tonight as a test run for next week.

I don't eat rolls on Thanksgiving.  I'm a huge fan of bread products, but frankly I'd rather stuff myself with stuffing and good mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving.  The same goes for pumpkin pie.  I make pumpkin pie periodically throughout the year, but skip it on Thanksgiving.  I've only tried candied sweet potatoes maybe twice in my life, but they are just way too sugary for me.  I do eat baked sweet potatoes straight out of the oven with no added seasoning, however.

I do have to disagree with you on the cranberry sauce.  It's a once or twice a year thing.  I just put two small spoonfuls on my plate in addition to heaping piles of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and some ham.  But I like those two small spoonfuls being there.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I don't usually eat dessert later, and it's like that's my dessert.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I make the cranberry sauce myself and am not sure what the canned version tastes like.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I only discovered cranberry sauce a few years ago, so I'm not tired of it yet.  (My mom is Chinese and cooked a rather non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner growing up.)

this both made me laugh and also feel a little bit better about not having a Thanksgiving again this year (living in Europe at the moment).

I totally agree about the turkey, I usually take a sliver of it because my plate will be full anyway...

Also agree about all store-bought equivalents to homemade. Egh.  That packaged, slightly stale taste... blargh.

I know I've cooked (and stuffed because there must be stuffing) a chicken a few times when other people were around. I can't even remember what I made last Thanksgiving. Since we just got back at midnight the night before and the fake husband was doing his usual night at the soup kitchen I suspect it was something easy to throw together.

I've spent a few holiday dinners alone and my favourite thing to make was homemade carbonara. Ingredients are easy and cheap (pasta, Parmesan, pancetta and eggs) and it's super easy to make for one person. It's so rich it feel celebratory. It doesn't hurt that it goes excellently with champagne, which you can afford since the ingredients are cheap. ;-)

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

Sadly, I'll never have them again because she passed away several years ago, and while she did her best to write down the recipe, no one has ever been able to duplicate them.  Crispy on the outside.  Warm and soft on the inside.  Buttery and sweet at the same time.  Oh yeah.

Love yams with brown sugar or maple syrup.  Not both.  And marshmallows are heinous.

Never ever saw the reason for cranberry sauce.

Love dark meat turkey.  The white meat is like chewing cardboard.

I adore pumpkin pie.  Sadly, since I gave up gluten, I can't eat the crust, which if done right can be the best part and if done wrong can be a soggy disaster.

Note:  I can't cook any of these foods to save my life.  Luckily, I have friends who can and do.

Beth Terry@fakeplasticfish
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To put some greens on. I am so lucky to live around the corner from the good grocery store.

OK not the corn. Though at first I read "corn dumplings" and was ready to get behind that. But broccoli and cauliflower, yum.

I'm a foodie too and taking the care you describe definitely makes for a much more delicious Thanksgiving. Post a link to your menu please!

A few years back, I decided to get creative with Thanksgiving and didn't do a lot of dishes my kids had grown up with.  My son told me that I could add any new dish I wanted but since he only has turkey and many of the sides on Thanksgiving and Xmas, he wanted what he'd come to expect.  So, that's what I do.  I try all sorts of new recipes all year long but my traditional Thanksgiving has to have greens (I usually do collards, mustards and turnip greens sometimes with cabbage mixed with olive oil and garlic instead of ham hocksor smoked turkey.)  Usually make fresh green beans with carrots and onions. Have to roasted sweet potatoes lightly sweetened with real maple syrup or brown sugar and a dusting of cinnamon; have to have another protein (sometimes salmon, sometimes ham), cornbread stuffing, potato salad, macaroni and cheese.  Recently, a butternut squash casserole has been added.  Anyhow, a feast is in order and we only eat this way twice a year now.  I grew up eating mac and cheese at least once a week!  Times change but Thanksgiving cannot.

http://blog.candelarisilva.com ( http://blog.candelarisilva.com/ )

Good and plenty!

I like homemade cranberry sauce, especially with some citrus zest, maybe even with a little zazzle of Grand Marnier. And you're so right, Candelaria, it's one of the easier things to make on Thanksgiving. So it's too bad for me that I just don't like it with Thanksgiving food. I love it with dessert, though and would eat it anywhere I usually use lemon curd. Mmmmm.

I grew up on the old Ocean Spray can and when times were lean, the store brand sauce.  A few years ago, a friend hipped me to how easy it is to make cranberry relish and I've done it ever since.  It tastes much better and I love it on turkey sandwiches the day after dinner.

http://blog.candelarisilva.com ( http://blog.candelarisilva.com/ )

Good and plenty!

Though candied ginger is quite nice. But not as a side dish.

I have friends who don't go in for the big feast but do nod at tradition with turkey chili or a turkey club.

Like I said, I have a gravy thing.

Maize-o-riffic. I once had an enjoyable Thanksgiving involving shots of Wild Turkey and a box of Stove Top, but that was a VERY, VERY long time ago.

And finally, a reason for cranberry sauce that makes sense to me.

So smart. If you're cooking, why make things that are fussy and you don't like anyway? Though I would probably faint with disappointment if I went to a Thanksgiving dinner where the host triaged the stuffing :)

But I'm not above making it from something other than turkey, like chicken or ham or roast beef -- they are all good with stuffing in my opinion. I have a bit of a gravy addiction, though.

Give me stuffing, mashed potatoes, my mom's broccoli and cauliflower casserole, frozen corn and I'm happy as a dumpling. For dessert, I'd like a fat slice of French Silk Pie.

JD at I Do Things So You Don't Have To

I don't like gravy anyway, but for some reason, I really don't like turkey gravy. Don't want it on my meat, my potatoes, or my stuffing. I also skip the rolls -- I will always pick potatoes over bread anyday.

Luckily, that means more for my family. And they're perfectly happy with that.

-- Jeanne - The Periodic Elements of Style: http://periodicstyle.blogspot.com

So, I have to disagree with you on a few things listed, but only because I'm a foodie and make the foods you listed from scratch. I love homemade cranberry sauce with whole berries. When I make my cranberries, I cut the sugar and add some extra lime and orange zest. Mmm! You should try it that way just once before you decide the flavor doesn't lend itself well to the feast. Also, on the turkey front, I found an INCREDIBLE recipe for Rosemary (or frankly any fresh herb you prefer) Butter Turkey. You take an herb of choice, in my case Rosemary, chop about 1/2 cup up and mix it with a stick of butter, salt, and pepper. You then massage it into the turkey beneath the skin. Tie up Rosemary and add it to the carcass (stuffing cooked in a turkey is so foul in my opinion) with lemon halves and garlic cloves. PHENOMENAL! Pumpkin pie is made more delicious with the advent of chocolate in between the crust and the (amended) pumpkin cheesecake custard. 86 the store bought rolls or pathetic attempts at white bread, and substitute Moosewood Inn's Squash Rolls made with sweet potato or squash, whole wheat flour, and brown sugar. I've inspired myself to post an amended Thanksgiving menu on my blog! I'm eager to see what your favorites are now!

My sister-in-law owns Thanksgiving since she was doing it long before I joined my husband's family. So every year, we eat fried turkey, candied sweet potatoes, corn souffle, stuffing, and rolls. None of which I like; the corn souffle is sweeter than the candied yams. I fill up on the appetizers and nibble on the rest to be polite. 

My Mom always did something different every year like duck or rabbit instead of turkey. The sides varied as well depending on what was freshest in the store. The "tradition" for us was having a day together that we shared with friends framed by a great meal. My Mom was single so she and her friends would rotate hosting Thanksgiving dinner which also guaranteed diversity from year to year. 

So this year I plan on taking so fresh vegetable sides with me to my sister-in-law's house to provide some balance to all the sweetened sides that will be there.

Cheryl Miller 

www.newurbanbalance.com ( http://www.newurbanbalance.com )

They are already sweet! Why sweeten sweetness? It is so disgusting.

Also, green beans with any kind of vile cream sauce on them. I make mine either plain, or with a lovely light lemon sauce.

And for the love of all things good and sacred, please, please peel your potatoes before you mash them!

I agree with you on them all. Ok so being vegetarian automatically takes off the turkey, and not having a sweet tooth takes off most of the rest, but seriously I always wish that french fries were a main staple of a Thanksgiving feast!

Preach it Sister. Most of the traditional Thanksgiving can go. I thought I hated stuffing until i moved to the South and had cornbread stuffing, but it still worries me a lot, because ANYTHING could be in there and often is. My kids love pumpkin pie with rows of squirtcan whipped topping, for breakfast after Thankgiving, but I'd rather have pecan. Cranberry sauce has got to be some corrupt conspiracy involving Maine, aliens visiting directly from the Mayan Empire and under-the-table campaign contributions. My favorite Thanksgiving was when I was 20. and a friend and I hopped to three movies all day long where we had only corn-syrup Coca-Cola and popcorn, the real American agricultural harvest treasure.

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www.3smartgirlz.com ( http://www.3smartgirlz.com/ ) consulting

I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner for a number of years now, and I've got my favorites down pat.

Pumpkin pie was about the first thing to get cut.  It's hard to make well (either dried out or mushy), and even when you DO get it right, it's underwhelming.

I do like the cranberries, but absolutely NOT from the can.

I also adore a good (GOOD) roll, but yes, on a day with SO much other food, they can go.  Same with stuffing. There's just so much other stuff, I don't need another bread product.

And I never, EVER liked candied yams.  Blech.

Don't like pumpkin pie.  Barely lukewarm on cranberry sauce.  HATE, HATE, HATE candied sweet potatoes (can't even bring myself to use the Y-word), love homemade rolls when they're done well, but they rarely are, and I'm with Sassymonkey on the turkey, you have to have it to get the gravy.  You need gravy to go on the stuffing, which is probably my #1 Thanksgiving food!

Kalyn Denny Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

But without the turkey the gravy, stuffing and yes (homemade) cranberry sauce would not be nearly so good. I'm really all about the sides.

Though I can't remember the last time I actually made a Thanksgiving turkey. I didn't this year (my Thanksgiving was last month) because my mother was in town and requested lasagna. And last year we had just gotten back from BlogHer Boston and there was no way in heck I was making a turkey.

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

But they do love the tradition, so every year they whip out the same can and place it on the table unopened. I've advised them to try making it from real berries before they decide whether or not it's truly not for them -- but you have to respect their ingenuity!

I'm going to disagree with the cranberry sauce.  I honestly think it's the most delicious part of thanksgiving.  Tart and delicious and makes everything fantastic!  I definitely never forget the cranberry sauce :)

I refuse to relax my stance on cranberry sauce for a second. There's principle involved.

It's a shame really.

~Denise BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net/ )

OR dressing. I second that yum!

And I love sweet potatoes a bunch -- why do we have to kill them every year with the marshmallows?