Best Thanksgiving side dish and why....

Non-traditional here as well. Just me and the hubs. Smoking a salmon, roasted veggies on the side. FaceTime one child, 3 more better step up their game or that one is my favorite.

16 more days until my house, and heart, are full again....

Thankful for my blessing. Y’all included ♥️
 
A few buddies and I are having misfits-giving. We are the strays with either no family or not traveling home. So we volunteered delivering meals this morning. We will have a margarita and taco feast in a few hours.
Yum.
Our family tradition at Christmas is always to have the cold meat that is left over from the Christmas Day dinner along with proper English style chips and pickles. As our youngest is still at NAPS this year and our eldest has been working we decided to do the same for our Thanksgiving meal. So I cooked half a turkey and the stuffing yesterday and the chips are in the fryer as I speak!
Is that dark brown malt vinegar appropriate with these chips?

We are looking forward to serious leftover prime rib sandwiches with melted Wyke cheddar on grilled sourdough for a meal this weekend. With pickles!
 
Yum.

Is that dark brown malt vinegar appropriate with these chips?

We are looking forward to serious leftover prime rib sandwiches with melted Wyke cheddar on grilled sourdough for a meal this weekend. With pickles!
It’s mandatory! Nothing better than leftovers!
 
We, too, are going non-traditional this year as it’s just me and DH. We decided against the usual feline and, instead, we’re having clam chowder, rack of lamb, roasted red skins, and roasted dilled carrots. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, however you’re spending it, whatever you’re eating.

CAT.jpg

ETA: Looking back on my September post in the Thanksgiving side-dish thread, we really did deviate this year.
 
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We, too, are going non-traditional this year as it’s just me and DH. We decided against the usual feline and, instead, we’re having clam chowder, rack of lamb, roasted red skins, and roasted dilled carrots. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, however you’re spending it, whatever you’re eating.
Stellar.
 
Here’s the dessert DH doesn’t know the specifics on except how good it smelled in the oven. Definitely a Me-Dessert, dark chocolate brownies made with Valhrona unsweetened chocolate, with a pecan pie layer on top - the filling part. Brownie layer is partially baked first, then the pecan pie filling layer is poured over the top and baked until set. Bliss for the pecan and chocolate lover. DH still has some pumpkin pie left. I may not share. 🤣

I will make an apple pie Sunday morning as the final send-off to the holiday. 263BFD61-DA09-47C4-A45E-BB3E8DB903A6.jpeg
 
Here’s the dessert DH doesn’t know the specifics on except how good it smelled in the oven. Definitely a Me-Dessert, dark chocolate brownies made with Valhrona unsweetened chocolate, with a pecan pie layer on top - the filling part. Brownie layer is partially baked first, then the pecan pie filling layer is poured over the top and baked until set. Bliss for the pecan and chocolate lover. DH still has some pumpkin pie left. I may not share. 🤣

I will make an apple pie Sunday morning as the final send-off to the holiday. View attachment 7445
Wow
 
And what happens to the leftovers?
 
Oohhh Chess Pie, especially Lemon Chess. Southern specialty. Folk lore says “chess” came from “chest,” as in it kept well in storage. So sweet your teeth screaming could star in a horror movie.
I have always heard chess pie comes from jes' pie - as in just pie. Simple pie. Coconut chess is my favorite.
 
We are foodies at our house but go back to our upbringing for Thanksgiving, so my favorite is sweet potatoes mashed with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar with the minimarshmallows on top. It tastes as good as cake. The only thing I ate two helpings of today. Funny how we eat such things once once or twice (maybe Christmas) a year.

Another super retro thing my husband made and we eat no more than once a year is CANNED! green beans smothered in mayo and parmesan roasted in oven. Very rich but delicious once in a while.

We had these today with cornbread dressing, of course, salad, and smoked turkey and gravy. Sad just 3 of us this year. Two kids missing and the parents, some siblings, etc. are having a superspreader event at Mom and Dad's across town they weren't willing to move outside. Sunny and 70 as usual here. Sigh.
 
Just the two of us this year and we wanted to go out but the place we were going to go just shut down until restaurants are allowed to go full open and no other place really made our hearts (stomachs?) sing. So we roasted a chicken because they don't make two person sized turkeys. As it is there are three meals worth of bird. Plus mashed potatoes, Roasted Fennel, Stuffing, Gravy, Stuffed celery and Cranberry sauce - complete with ridges from the can (!). Desert will be homemade Key Lime Cheesecake once we digest a bit so there is room for it.
 
Next round of posts throughout the weekend - great leftovers????

My DBIL does something crazy and wonderful with a waffle iron, stuffing, turkey shreds and cranberry sauce.
 
DH and I are on our own for Thanksgiving for the first time...well, ever now that I think about it! Lunch was leftover pizza, deviled eggs, and tortilla chips with a venison chorizo queso dip. We're going more traditional for dinner (sort of) with air fryer turkey breast and asparagus, cheesy potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream and a bottle of wine. Believe it or not, grateful for this weird 2020 year in so many ways - and grateful for all of you!
 
Visiting my sister in Georgia (the U.S. one), who’s infamous for never serving a traditional Thanksgiving. Having grilled lamb, with a recipe from Georgia (the Asia one), Persian rice, baba ghanoush, hummus, stuffed grape leaves and pita. I like to think it’s in honor of DD, who’s minoring in Arabic (apologies to Persians and Turks).
 
I recognize this is a Side Dish thread, but I am publicly admitting my Thanksgiving menu heresy here, because, hey, it’s 2020 and The COVID Era.

I realized with just two of us this year, most of the holiday fun came with a traditional menu and family contributions of new and old versions of favorites. As I pulled a warm fresh pumpkin pie out of the oven last weekend and waved it toward DH, I floated the idea of ditching a traditional menu until we could all be together again, and doing an over-the-top meal just for us. He was all in, especially since he was getting a pumpkin pie all his own at that very minute.

The menu, to which you are all virtually invited with my wishes you are enjoying something good today:

Hot Cranberry Roasted Pineapple Jalapeño Salsa, pita chips (the one thing I always make, as mentioned in a previous post)

Prime, restaurant-grade bone-in ribeye beef roast (pic attached)
Roasted Wild Mushroom Jus
Yorkshire Pudding
Roasted Green Beans and Red Bell Pepper Salad, Balsamic Vinaigrette
Pecan Pie Brownies
2009 Rioja Reserve, 97 point
View attachment 7439
The Yorkshire pudding is the perfect complement to that roast. I also have my eye on that salsa and pecan pie brownies. Who knew there was such a thing?

My bride and I went with ham this year with a few traditional sides. We decided that we missed the smell of a turkey cooking though. We also dined to "Alice's Restaurant". Listening to that on Thanksgiving has become a family tradition.

I want to cook like you when I grow up! Happy Thanksgiving!
 
We did not make these this year, but the absolute best, most decadent mashed potatoes are these:

LOBSTER MASHED POTATOES
LOBSTER.jpg
Ingredients
3 pounds medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 sticks unsalted butter, divided
1 pound cooked and picked lobster meat*, claws reserved, with the rest cut into bite-sized chunks
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
Put potatoes in a 4- or 5-quart pot and add water to cover by about 1 1/2 inches. Set pot on high heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender when poked with a thin knife, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, melt 1 stick of butter over medium-low heat. Add the lobster meat and cook, stirring, until just heated through.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them, reserving the cooking water in a bowl, and return them to the pot. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring, until they turn floury and begin to coat the bottom of the pot, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a potato masher or ricer to mash the potatoes until smooth.

Set a small saucepan over low heat and add the remaining butter, along with the milk. Heat until butter is melted. Using a wooden spoon, add the milk mixture to the potatoes, 1/4 cup at a time, beating to combine. Add the sour cream. Stir lobster and butter into the potatoes, reserving the claws for a garnish. If the potatoes still seem dry after adding all the milk mixture, add a bit of the cooking liquid. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with lobster claws and serve warm.

*More lobster is (always) better. Note that weight is meat only, no shell.

I have been known to have a whole bowl of lobster mashed potatoes as my sole meal.
 
The Yorkshire pudding is the perfect complement to that roast. I also have my eye on that salsa and pecan pie brownies. Who knew there was such a thing?

My bride and I went with ham this year with a few traditional sides. We decided that we missed the smell of a turkey cooking though. We also dined to "Alice's Restaurant". Listening to that on Thanksgiving has become a family tradition.

I want to cook like you when I grow up! Happy Thanksgiving!
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.
 
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