Thanksgiving Sides

When I was in college, I dated a man and his family invited me for Thanksgiving for a few years. His mom always had 2 different flavors of Morton frozen pies for dessert. Maybe that was a tradition for them, but I sure missed homemade apple or pumpkin. I don't even think they make those pies anymore.

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When I was in college, I dated a man and his family invited me for Thanksgiving for a few years. His mom always had 2 different flavors of Morton frozen pies for dessert. Maybe that was a tradition for them, but I sure missed homemade apple or pumpkin. I don't even think they make those pies anymore.

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I don't recall the brand, but frozen cream pies are what I enjoyed when I visited a great aunt of mine!

Banana and coconut! 😋
 
When I was growing up and at home for Thanksgiving, the staple always was Mince meat Pie.....Oh I hated it then and I hate it now. OMG.

At the in laws it was always, Woodford Reserve. My father in law said it was to get rid of the turkey taste.

At my house it is Dressing or Stuffing and homemade dinner rolls.
 
Sweet potato casserole, broccoli, rice and cheese casserole, mac and cheese casserole and homemade dressing are our sides. If we have turkey we have those sides along with cranberry sauce, gravy and rolls. For dessert we have pumpkin pie, and sometimes sweet potato pie. Note, this is a once a year thing and leftovers are divided up to take home.

This year my daughter is having foot surgery next week and cannot do anything until February so we are ordering the fried turkey. She is making the dressing tomorrow and will be frozen until we eat. Sides will be picked up and Patti LaBelle will be doing dessert duty. We probably will not eat together much as she will not be able to walk. I will be heating the sides. Grands will bring me a plate of turkey and dressing and they will take their share of the sides and dessert home with them. It will be different this year and that is okay. It will be an easier and safer holiday for all of us and that is what matters.
 
Certain sides used to be more important to me than they are today.

We always had scalloped oysters as a side but I wouldn't bother with them these days. I make a small dish once during the winter out of nostalgia but now it's the main course.

As important as certain sides were to me the dishes that we served them in each year were just as important.

Now I'm content with the memories.

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I remember the Thanksgivings at my maternal grandmother's house. She overcooked everything - the turkey would just be a pile of shreds on the platter (I guess that solves the carving problem), and her watery mashed potatoes with lumpy gravy. My dad use to say, for him, it was Misgiving dinner. Oh, the happy memories! :)
 
I def have to have turkey (of course), peda bread stuffing, gravy...like my mama used to make, and fresh cranberry relish.

My mom would get up early (like 5;30am) to put the turkey in a brown paper bag, and stick it in the oven.
It always came out so juicy. You could smell the deliciousness flowing thru the house upon awakening...
 
I always feel awkward about bringing food when I am invited as a guest to a meal. If I don't, the host might think I was greedy and only came to gobble up his food and not reciprocate. If I being food, it's like saying "You food isn't good or ample enough for me, so I brought some." What to do?
Dessert always bring something sweet, you can never have enough sweet treats
 
We didn't have turkey as no one liked the taste of it. We would have duck or capon, ham and roast beef. We had a houseful and everyone wanted something different. My mom made all three. All pies were made from scratch as were cookies. No one liked cake either, so that was out. Most of the above mentioned were available to us including Brussels sprouts with garlic and bacon. Rutabaga, creamed onions, candied sweet potatoes, caramelized carrots, green beans almondine, garlic mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, and cranberry sauce were a must. My father absolutely had to have mince pie on Thanksgiving and Christmas. He was the only one who ate it. My mom made it for him.
 
Spaghetti with clam sauce. WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!

Oops, I must be in the wrong forum. :unsure: o_O :oops:

Tony
 


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