# Thanksgiving Dinner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244 "2011-11-08T03:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![truthbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@truthbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthbot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/21 "2011-11-11T21:28:33Z")
Traditional fare this year, the way THEY like it. Brined turkey, sourdough/artichoke/parmesan stuffing, cheesy broccoli bake-thingy, yukon golds mashed with horseradish and whole mustard, someone will bring the detested (by me) green bean casserole, carmelized sweet potatoes, the other sides will be determined by me closer to game day…errr, Thanksgiving. I do hope that my middle daughter forgets to bring her college friend this year, she keeps kosher, is vegan AND soy/gluten intolerant. That made my cooking chores a little bit interesting last year. If I recall, I fed the poor girl lots of steamed potatoes and broccoli. If I had more notice, I could have whipped up something more festive for her. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/22 "2011-11-11T21:30:00Z")
Truthbot: PLEASE provide recipe for sourdough/artichoke/Parmesan dressing! _drooling in anticipation_ ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/23 "2011-11-11T21:57:39Z")
> [@Ashes\_Ashes](#): > > I think I’d like to cook a duck since I’ve only done it once and it didn’t turn out so well. Not to high jack (much) but has any one tips for crispy and delicious duck? > > Truly veering off the path-- the first turkey I ever roasted was a practice bird. Everything was great until I went to lift it out and the foil pan buckled (I’ve learned better now). The turkey splatted onto the floor, carommed off the wall and shot down the hallway. > The cats materialized from who knows where and chased it the whole way. After basting myself with the juices, I tossed the pan into the sink and ran to tackle the bird before the cats got it. Of course I slipped, slid foot first into the turkey, propelling it through the open sliding glass door and onto the balcony. > It was teetering on the edge when I managed to grab hold of it and prevent it from being my neighbor’s uninvited lunch guest. Fighting off the cats, who were trying to climb me, I picked it up, sans oven mitts, and sort of juggled it back into the kitchen. Why? It couldn’t be salvaged. Poop! BWAHAHA!!! **Ashes** , that is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read on the Dope. I’m wheezing on the couch again. 😃 😃 😃 I haven’t laughed this hard since about an hour ago when I re-read \*\*Scylla’s \*\*‘Horror of the Blimp’ tale. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/24 "2011-11-11T22:10:29Z")
Last year Laura decided to do something different and asked me to roast a chicken. Twas the lamest Thanksgiving dinner of our lives. For Christmas, still in the mood for something different, she wanted some fish thing while I got ribs. It was a bad Christmas - my ribs were fine, but her fish was awful. This year we’re making amends, and in a big way: we’re doing both the honey-baked ham _and_ a roast turkey this year. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/25 "2011-11-12T02:32:51Z")
Thenkyew-- I live to please y’all! I looked pretty much as VOW guessed, but with no human audience, thank goodness. The cats sniffed and licked and rolled on the floor till the day we moved. Little optimists that they are, they both sit on top of the fridge, watching intently, every time I cook. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/26 "2011-11-12T03:35:49Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > OHMYGAWD, that runaway turkey story made my day! > > Did your guests wonder why you had macaroni and cheese for T-Day? > > Did the katz lick the entire trail off the floor? > > “Why are your katz making that strange growling sound? And are they licking the FLOOR?” > > I can see me standing there, under those circumstances, turkey juices staining my clothes, bruises starting to form, holding this still-steaming turkey carcass to my chest, wild hair sticking up all over, greeting guests with, “JUST NEVER MIND! I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!” > ~VOW Well, I do remember a time when the exact quote from me was “The fucking chicken is on fire. You deal with it.” In my defense, I had 10 house guests, and my only kitchen appliances was a single electric hot plate, a toaster oven and the refrigerator. In addition to the 5 of us who lived in the house. It was the 4th day of a prolonged weekend “vacation” and nobody seemed to want to bother helping me get supper ready and I was frazzled. I went up stairs and went to bed. They all called for pizza delivery. ---
**Author:** ![truthbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@truthbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthbot)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/27 "2011-11-12T03:38:15Z")
This is for VOW: Cut up several loaves of sourdough bread into cubes. Relax, you’re nearly done sweetie. Have you had a glass of Chardonnay yet, it’s a holiday and you need at least one glass under your belt. Check. Chop up some stuff so that your family is impressed with your chef-y skillz. I usually fake it with some celery and onion; it really makes the crowds go “OOOOHHH” and “AWWWWW” Then, just to wow them, I sweat the chopped-up bits until they carmelize a wee bit. Why the Hell hasn’t someone refilled your glass? It’s a Holiday, not a remake of a sad Dickens play-without-pudding fer-chris-sakes! This is a good time to check your lipstick, you don’t want uneven lip-lines to distract your guests as you serve them your super-awesome stuffing. Take some chicken stock and WHIP IT together with two Extra-large eggs. Take the wet mixture and spooge it all at once onto the dry ingredients (remember prom night?) There might be some lumps, but that’s OK, you can beat the lumps outta yer brother in law with your spoonchatla. OOh, and add artichoke hearts. And bake at 350 for half an hour. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/28 "2011-11-12T03:44:15Z")
> [@Ashes\_Ashes](#): > > I’m getting major a-has! **zoid and Sattua**. I totally botched the rendering last time it seems. Should it be lacquered like Peking duck or left natural? WWJuliaDo?😉 Depends. Follow this [blog](http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/02/11/the-best-way-to-roast-a-duck-hello-crispy-skin/), but you do NOT have to glaze it with anything. I use a huge farberware roaster with the rack to hold the critter out of any liquid in the bottom. I also shove an onion, a lemon, some celery frondy tops, some thyme and occasionally freshly ground black pepper in the cavity, and no salt or other seasoning on the outside. ---
**Author:** ![truthbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@truthbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthbot)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/29 "2011-11-12T03:55:38Z")
Qwap, I forgot to add the Parmesan! After you’ve reassured your mother-in-law that there’s no Shitska blood in her granchildren, sprinkle the casserole dish liberally with Parmesan, along with your salty tears. May God go with you!! ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/30 "2011-11-13T03:30:55Z")
These are carved in stone: roast turkey dressing turkey gravy broccoli casserole deviled eggs pumpkin pie Dutch apple crumb pie Everything else varies from year to year. Roasted potatoes & carrots, mashed…this year I’m fixing parsley potatoes. The guys don’t care for sweet potatoes (but there are so many delicious/pretty recipes!) They don’t like cranberries, either, tho I’ve made chutneys, added orange slices…_sigh_ I buy a can of jellied cranberry sauce for me. Sometimes we have green bean casserole. Sometimes I get myself a mince meat pie. This year I’m trying a corn dish that’s a combo of recipes I found on the net: 1 can creamed corn 1 can Mexican corn, drained 1/4 cup diced onions bacon Saute onions in bacon grease. Add cans of corn & heat. Take off eye, sprinkle with bacon pieces and stir. If it’s any good, I’ll add more stuff next time. The one thing we can’t make is real butterscotch pie. My husband’s grandmother used to make one with a (I think) caramel sauce that went over. We’ve tried some different recipes but they’re really not any good. (For the pie.) Anybody got a recipe for that? Happy Turkey Day in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Christina564](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Christina564](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Christina564)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244/31 "2011-11-16T11:55:37Z")
Scubaqueen, I’d love to have the recipe for your spinach casserole. I think my son-in-law would like this. Would you please post? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-dinner/602244.md?page=1)