Best Thanksgiving side dish and why....

Yorkshire pudding when done well is just so good. As a Yorkshire lad is holds a special place in my heart. Coming from a relatively poor family we had it a lot as it was cheap and filling!

For the adventurous amongst you try it as a desert with slices of cold salted butter on it and then sprinkled with granulated sugar! Something about the cold salty butter, sugar and hot crisp on the outside and soft on the inside Yorkshire puddings is hard to beat.
For you.
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Yorkshire pudding when done well is just so good. As a Yorkshire lad it holds a special place in my heart. Coming from a relatively poor family we had it a lot as it was cheap and filling!
Relative to these four Yorkshiremen, you lived in luxury.

 
I’m honored to get your True Brit Yorkshireperson approval. Beef roast drippings and all. DH split them open on the plate and poured in the Mushroom Jus, alternating with forkfuls of the beef roast. We weren’t saying much, it was all so good.
As it should be done!!!

Oh...my youth in Britain...a proper Sunday carvery....

Steve
 
As far as food goes, friends brought a very tasty garlic infused pork shoulder and good old mac and cheese. DW made previously mentioned sweet potato casserole. DD had to phone home to ask Mom question about the recipe since she was making the same thing to take to in-laws.

The best Thanksgiving side dish by far this year was fellowship. New friends from town with their young kids, plus a fellow FFS from DS's prep program. Several of the prepsters are getting together nearby and building on the camaraderie they currently enjoy. It warms the heart to know how much that bond will strengthen over a lifetime.
 
As far as food goes, friends brought a very tasty garlic infused pork shoulder and good old mac and cheese. DW made previously mentioned sweet potato casserole. DD had to phone home to ask Mom question about the recipe since she was making the same thing to take to in-laws.

The best Thanksgiving side dish by far this year was fellowship. New friends from town with their young kids, plus a fellow FFS from DS's prep program. Several of the prepsters are getting together nearby and building on the camaraderie they currently enjoy. It warms the heart to know how much that bond will strengthen over a lifetime.
Now I know why the aforementioned FFS from DS's prep program loved Thanksgiving so much. You had his all-time favorite as a side. He also noted that the pie was outstanding and enjoyed the "basement tour".
 
Just DH and DD this year. DD and I walked the dogs in the dry river bed for 3 miles then headed home to cook together.

I soaked a turkey breast in an herbed citrus vermouth brine for 24 hours, then oven roasted with herbed compound butter under the skin. BUT, the kicker was advice a very sage mariner on this forum gave me--- the tip for the method of cooking.

Place said bird on the center post of a Bundt pan. In the pan place any vegetables you want, I added herbs and lemon, celery, onion and fennel. Add white wine and roast until done.

Seriously, I thought it was crazy, my husband thought I'd finally gone a bridge too far. It was fantastic. Perfect cook, golden brown, best flavor and not dry. We then made pan gravy with all the yummy drippings.

Broccoli casserole, traditional green bean casserole, garlic mash, dressing with mushrooms, Yorkshire pudding and a homemade pumpkin pie to round out the afternoon. Wine, of course was involved, and a positive brief chat with plebe. He was too busy enjoying the day on the yard to chat very long with us.

Very casual, no stress. It was oddly relaxing and a complete juxtaposition to the traditional crowded, "when is dinner scene". I am thankful for that, and many other things, including all of you and the massive support of alumnus and others who made the day on the yard a positive one.


Thanks for sharing so many yummy meals and experiences.

3 more sleeps and a wake up until we see our midshipmen!!!!
 
DH calls this the “headless horseman” method of doing a whole chicken or a bone-in 8lb turkey breast. If you don’t know what’s in the oven, and you walk by, it’s rather odd-looking.
Not my photo, but you get the idea. @Heatherg21 ’s version with under-skin treatment, pan veg and drippings gravy was no doubt superb.

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Yup, that's what it looks like! Had to adjust a rack in the oven but dang was it good. And browned all around as opposed to approx. 2/3 of traditional bird. So yummy and one I will do over and over. Sort of like beer can chicken, but in the house!
 
Nine. Nine pages of threads with the word "Thanksgiving." The number of times "Thanksgiving" is mentioned on this forum throughout the year is remarkable.

Anyway, I figured I'd resurrect this tasty thread in case anybody is interested, what with it being the start of Turkey Week and all. Holiday travel is in full swing. My wife went to Walt Disney World with our daughter and family all last week and I picked her up at Dulles yesterday. The traffic getting to the terminal was gnarly. It took 10-plus minutes to circle back around to just go around again before she got her luggage and got out to the sidewalk. I did that three times. People were not friendly either.

Despite the call by some to have a day of mourning this Thursday, my family and I will celebrate Thanksgiving. My son came home last year on this day but will come home on Christmas this year instead. We'll just have to eat his portion this time.

Picking a favorite side dish is like choosing a favorite child or grandson. The answer is yes, I like them all, but could absolutely not do without cornbread dressing with lots of gravy and cranberry sauce from the can. None of that fresh stuff with chunky berries in it. Dressing, not stuffing. Putting food up a bird's backside just ain't right.D8282DD1-26FF-4B4E-88E0-B20A97660B43.jpeg
 
I think for me, it's the gravy. Is that a "side"? For whatever reason, I don't make gravy most of the year, but thanksgiving makes for lots of gravy. Gravy on the turkey, gravy on the potatoes, gravy on the dressing, etc.
Gravy is the ultimate elixir for anything that ended up too dry or too something else. Put gravy on it, and it's mo bettah.
 
I think for me, it's the gravy. Is that a "side"? For whatever reason, I don't make gravy most of the year, but thanksgiving makes for lots of gravy. Gravy on the turkey, gravy on the potatoes, gravy on the dressing, etc.
Gravy is the ultimate elixir for anything that ended up too dry or too something else. Put gravy on it, and it's mo bettah.
Elixir. That's it, so it's not a side but an elixir. Gravy is no doubt a must-have item.
 
Crisp, crackly, almost-too-hot-to-eat turkey skin, fragrant with basting with butter lightly infused with maple syrup, flecked with herbs de Provence. It’s not a side, but what I demand as primary chef’s privilege, the one who has done most of the strategic and tactical work according to a detailed plan of shopping, prep and execution.

I recognize I am coloring outside the lines here, going right to a dessert and then bringing up turkey skin, but truth be told, while I enjoy all kinds of sides and fixins’, sometimes I am happiest at The Meal with a plate of moist, flavorful turkey slices with a a modest ladle of gravy, a surfeit of skin, and maybe a bit of dressing and a spoonful of corn pudding. I think it’s because I’ve bought it, prepped it, worked on things 3 days straight, smelled it, cut it, chopped it, cleaned the counters and the sinks and the pans and the utensils (repeat, repeat, repeat), and I have lost interest in most of it on the day itself. But - I love the leftovers throughout the weekend. My other sacred tradition is eating oven-warmed my own apple pie (brown sugar and Granny Smiths) with a rich vanilla ice cream on Friday morning. And turkey sandwiches at every opportunity.
 
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