I’m always looking to bring something new, perhaps even unusual, to our family Thanksgiving dinner, which generally has the standards of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, cranberry sauce, etc. I especially like the idea of something that you wouldn’t expect to find there, but somehow still fits the Thanksgiving “fall harvest” theme. And it’d be great if it’s something that one usually doesn’t get a chance to partake of. A few years ago I made a cream of pumpkin soup from a recipe that I got from a gourmet restaurant in Tahoe and last year made fresh cinnamon rolls from scratch. But this year, I’d like to find something that would have people saying, “Hey, you remember that year Skott made ? That was amazing!” Thoughts that have gone through my mind include dishes with a Chinese or Thai flair, novel uses for corn, or maybe even unusual drinks. Any suggestions or examples of things you’ve tried that have gotten good responses?
Cranberry sorbet as a between-course palate cleanser?
Not sure if this is what you were thinking of, but we are considering doing away with the whole traditional fare and having a big fondue dinner. We’ll do several kinds of meat, cheese, bread and veggies for dipping and then probably a chocolate fondue for dessert.
We’ve got I think 4 different fondue sets that we only seem to use 2-3 times a year. Thanksgiving seems like the perfect time for another!
Maybe you could add a chocolate fondue to your dessert table.
If you have the Barefoot Contessa cookbook check out the recipe for roasted carmelized butternut squash. It has 3 ingredients but its really, shockingly good.
My mom likes to make butternut squash soup with cream, curry and a pureed apple. It’s really good but a soup course is a fricking pain for a large gathering, so we usually talk her out of it.
We do the fondue thing for Christmas, but are pretty traditional for Thanksgiving.
With a couple of exceptions…
For dessert, I usually make chocolate mousse, complete with Belgian chocolate and raw eggs.
Mr. Kiminy also likes my green beans with walnuts and blue cheese. Steam green beans until not quite cooked. Melt butter in a pan, and saute a handful or so of chopped walnuts in the melted butter. Add the steamed green beans and stir to get the walnut butter mixed in. Just before serving (and while it’s hot) sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese.
I’ve always wanted to have a really traditional Thanksgiving and serve the meal that the Pilgrims and Indians actually ate (with homage paid to 21st century hygiene). While they probably did have turkey, the records indicate they also had venison, duck, lobster, crabs and fish, a dish made of fresh cranberries mixed with walnuts and herbs, an Indian squash dish, etc… Of course to be really purist you would cool to eat it from communal wooden plates and wash it down with homemade beer.
A couple of years ago, I went with a winter fruit compote - I don’t recall the exact ingredients - probably apples, satsumas, plums, peaches, etc., but the thing that got the most comment was the starfruit, sliced across to show the star shape, and how nicely they went with the rum-and-spices mixture drizzled over it. Wish I’d written that one down.
How about a Thai pumpkin curry? Yum!
I had a Filipino roommate once whose mother traditionally served calamari with Thanksgiving dinner.
How about serving buttered toast, pretzels, ice cream sundaes, popcorn and jelly beans.
Well…it would be different! 
But seriously, one thing we like to have is venison that I or one of my family members hunted, and vegetables that we grew in our garden. There is something extra special about having a feast of food that you grew yourself or hunted.
This year I’m making:
Curried duck stuffed with apricot kuegel
Carrot-crab bisque with fennel crisps
Celeriac bread pudding
Roasted vegetables with ancho whipped cream
Maple squash pie
Rhubarb flan
Turducken was all the rage a few years back. I’m sure it would make for a memorable dinner.
http://www.culinarycafe.com/Holiday_Favorites/Turducken.html
Enchiladas, tamales, and guacamole.
Lots of chips and salsa, too.
Beer.
FOOTBALL !!!
Here’s a recipe for Indian-style green beans that my husband makes that everyone loves. He’s brought it to Thanksgiving dinners before and everyone raves about them.
Gujerati-style Green Beans (Gujerati sem)
1 lb. (450g) fresh green beans
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon whole black mustard seeds
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 to 1 hot, dried red chili, coarsely crushed in a mortar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
Trim the bean and cut them into one inch (2.5 cm) lengths. Blanch the beans by dropping them into a pot of boiling water and boiling rapidly for 3-4 minutes or until they are just tender. Drain immediately in a colander and rinse under cold, running water. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium flame. When hot, put in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, put in the garlic. Stir the garlic pieces around until they turn light brown. Put in the crushed red chili and stir for a few seconds. Put in the green beans, salt and sugar. Stir to mix. Turn the heat to medium low. Stir and cook the beans for 7-8 minutes or until they have absorbed the flavor of the spices. Add the black pepper, mix, and serve.
He’s made them without the chili too, and they still taste yummy. And these compliment lots of different meals very well.
Also, one of his friends hosts an annual Thanksgiving Daquiri Breakfast with all kinds of breakfast foods, movies, and lots of alcoholic (and non-alcoholic) drinks for everyone. Maybe you could talk your family into hosting something like that instead. 
What time should we be there? (I’ll bring the Mogen David and a slab of ribs.)
The problem with traditional dishes is that there’s never any written recipes for them…
One holiday dish in my family that’s always been a favorite of everybody is stuffed artichoke. I don’t think anybody cooks it off of a recipe; just take some artichokes, trim the pointy bits, and stuff them with a mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, and oregano, and bake it until it’s baked.
Another thing to try is some fried cardoon, though I have no idea if it’s available where you are. It’s a plant with the texture of celery and kind of an artichoke-like flavor. To prepare it, peel the cardoon and boil them until they’re tender, let them dry, and then batter and fry them.
Both of the above must be served with large amounts of pasta and Silician-style sugo, which is utterly unlike Americanized tomato-based pasta sauce, being instead thin, sweet, and a golden orange color. I am ashamed to say I have no idea how it’s made – it’s a secret held by the women of the family.
And I’ll be hunkered down in the corner like Gollum, with rib bones sticking out of my snarfling mouth.
Hmm. Do you have a recipe for that, lissener? It sounds really good.
–Jennifer
I also would like the recipe for rhubarb flan, please!
What I’m making this year was the grand prize winner of Sunset Magazine’s holiday recipe contest: Roasted-Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Maple Cream.
I’d be happy to post the recipe if anybody’s interested.