Comments on: The Quick 10: 10 Thanksgiving Foods You Might Not Be Having

By: gckittehmom

gckittehmom — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:59:51 +0000

Thanksgiving lunch is always tilapia tacos (cooked outside to keep the kitchen less cluttered). Thanksgiving Dinner is always whole roasted turkey, cornbread and sausage dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, from scratch green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, and rolls. Always a bottle of bubbly too! And… for dessert, pumpkin cake, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and brownies.

By: MJ

MJ — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:31:00 +0000

We have mashed turnips every year at our dinner.
We’re in California, and I’m told that this is a New England thing, which is where my family came from some 70 odd years ago.
They aren’t great, but they really signify Thanksgiving for me…
Anybody else do mashed turnips?

By: Rick Vosper

Rick Vosper — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:13:33 +0000

As a Californian relocated to Arkansas, I can confirm on the sweet potato casserole, and also on old-fashioned pies like buttermilk and vinegar(!)– both of which are quite good. As to the *noveau beaujolais* I introduced that tradition to the family, who agree it’s the best wine to pair with turkey ever.

PS: Stacy, we love your lists!

By: Christi

Christi — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:39:42 +0000

I’m a native Texian and we’ve always had turkey, giblet gravy, pecan pie and sweet potato casserole (a double batch this year because it’s so popular & everyone wants leftovers). My cousin is in charge of making Dutch Apple Pie (a recipe from our German Great-Grandma) and my mom makes this incredible dressing with bread cubes, pork sausage and apples. Half the dressing goes in the bird and half out, as our relatives have preferences between dry and moist dressing. My mom is so afraid of anyone else ruining it that she instists on making the dressing herself! We used to include jello and rolls at dinner, but have dropped those items off our menu over the years…there’s far too much other yummy food to eat!

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:04:49 +0000

I live in western Pennsylvania, and I grew up having sauerkraut at Thanksgiving. It was made by my Polish grandmother who would saute the sauerkraut with sliced onion and caraway seeds. Grandma also had her own way of serving cranberries. We never had the jelly out of the can. Grandma, with her trusty hand grinder, would grind up fresh cranberries, an orange or two, and then mix them with crushed pineapple and some crushed walnuts. Grandma is gone now, but my sister is carrying on the tradition and making both the sauerkraut and the cranberry dish.

By: Scott the Lawyer

Scott the Lawyer — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:20:36 +0000

My family is Italian American, and while we always have a turkey on Thanksgiving, On Christmas and New Years we almost always have Lasanga, chicken parmigiana, ziti, sausages, meatballs, spaghetti, and canoli and italian creme de cacao cake for dessert.

When my ansestors were immigrants in Brooklyn, at holidays they would serve \poor people’s food\ (turkey and vegetables) for the first course, then get that stuff out of the way for the real food!

By: OTR

OTR — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:45:46 +0000

I know of a few families including mine in the Cincinnati area that have some sort of Goetta dish with thanksgiving. A great tradition for sure. My family gennerally uses it as a sausage substitue in stuffing.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:29:15 +0000

Native Texan too- no Quail, DUCK! Duck is our thanksgiving meat of choice because it’s moist, darker and more flavorful- I don’t get the cardboard-y taste of dry turkey, is there anything more awful? OH! Also, I make a WONDERFUL sweet potato casserole with a pecan praline on top rather than the marshmallows- it’s SO much better!

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:16:59 +0000

Quail is more of a posh Thanksgiving dish. I was born and raised in Texas and lived on both east and western sides; we either had a ham, a turkey or both. Our dressing was cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes (either a casserole or floating in sweet juices with marshmallows on top), corn, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese (homemade, nothing boxed), broccoli & rice casserole, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, buttermilk pie, sock-it-to-me cake, dump cake and maybe a dirt cake. I have got to get myself to the kitchen.

By: Chelsea

Chelsea — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:46:53 +0000

In my family, we always add Waldorf salad to the Thanksgiving spread. It’s basically diced apples, mayo, raisins, and walnuts, with a little lemon juice. I used to hate it, but now I love it so much I’ve taken over the task of making it. It definitely wouldn’t be Turkey Day without it.