Thanksgiving...same old, same old, or?
 

I allllmmmmmosst got out of making the Thanksgiving feast this year. I just about had my dau talked into it, but she switched to doing Christmas dinner instead. I like Thanksgiving, I do, but it's always the same, old dishes. Everybody has their favorite dish and I can't leave it out. Well, this year I want to change things up. Any ideas? (Don't even mention green bean casserole!)

Sorry I don't have any suggestions for you. Just wanted to say that not one person in my family would be happy with a substitute for the traditional dishes, no matter how much I would like to switch things up. Good luck to you, though. :)

Tropit, I too have the family tradition of Thanksgiving meal. I have to admit though that I rather like it. I'm sorry , but I don't have any suggestions on changing things up. But I will plan to keep an eye on the thread to see what ideas are suggested though.

Traditions for the menu at thanksgiving dinners are different across the country. Here in the Deep South, one of our specialties that we don't make often is an oyster dressing. We always have sweet potatoes, and my fave is the Sweet Potato Casserole with brown sugar and pecan topping. The Chantilly Berry Cake has become a winner for the dessert.

We love shrimp stuffed twice baked potatoes. Easy to make. It's Paula Deen recipe that I have been making for years for holiday meals.
When scooping the potatoes, don't try to remove all the potato or you will tear the peel. Pile the filling in as high as it will go.They look fantastic.

Hubby hates change and loves the traditional menu. Daughter has discovered multiple food problems, vegan, gluten intolerant, allergy to milk and egg. I don’t like turkey. Son-I-law will eat anything.

1. If you really want a certain food, you make it and contribute to the meal.
2. Christmas is not turkey. Probably salmon. And a birthday cake for Jesus…not chocolate if I’m making it. Daughter often makes the foods that are gluten, eggs, milk so she can alter them. And she’s good at it.
3. Daughter’s dietary needs are wonderful. There’ll be a salad and a veg with no creamy sauce. She makes great cornbread.
4. As long as there’s turkey, onion sauce (which he makes) and mashed potatoes, hubby’s happy.
5. Me, it’s cinnamon-orange-cranberry sauce and dressing, vegetables. No turkey, gravy, mash potatoes, jello, apple pie.
6. Son-I-l is just happy.

Not sure what I'll do this year. There are just three of us and my son isn't a big turkey or gravy lover. Maybe roast a chicken? I saw a recipe for a dreamsicle pie - graham cracker crust, orange jello mixed with whipped cream, etc. - that I'd like to try.

I am a traditionalist. I love to look forward to the traditional dishes of Thanksgiving. My brother on the other hand has for years tried to change up Thanksgiving to resounding "boos" and "polite hisses". We all love him but leave our turkey and gravy alone. He no longer hosts but has yielded the joyful day to his oldest son who is Mr. Tradition. The meal is a broad version of a potluck and scrumptious.

To your question, I would suggest preparing one, just one, dish from your families ethnic background. Or add a simple soup course. Then leave the rest of the meal alone and enjoy being with your family all in one place feasting!

I just do a Honey Baked ham and a few traditional side dishes with fresh popovers. My daughter comes up for the day and then takes all the leftovers home which is fine by me! I don’t go all out since its just 2 of us, there is only so much one can eat! Once in a blue moon I will make a Prime Rib roast, but definitely not at these prices!

I can't find prime rib here now. Butcher said all of it is going to restaurants. We love prime rib but not at a restaurant.

The holidays are just my husband and I so we do whatever we feel like. One year we had spaghetti with homemade meatballs. That was one of the best Thanksgivings (IMHO). I'm not sure my mom knew what to think of it, but it was a good meal and I was making it so I figured I could do what I wanted.

We do prime rib, son makes it and brings it. I do candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, noodles cooked in chicken stock, Brussel sprouts, scalloped corn, pecan pie, cherry cheese cake and peach cobbler. Cucumber and onions. Try to have one thing special for most of my loved ones. Some times we have apple crisp and of course dinner rolls. My loved ones appreciate that mom/grandma has one of their favorites.

If your traditional meal is turkey based, why not switch to ham instead? Or vice-versa. Still traditional but different.

We travel to the PNW for thanksgiving and we are in a self proclaimed rut with the main meal because we all still like it. There are 10 regulars and some other guests usually. Daughter in law likes to make desserts so there are some favorites and some new ones. That's where the changes are. I make the turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. Someone peels them. Daughter in law does rest by her choice and we are all around to visit while she cooks - open concept so not crowded in kitchen. Son cleans up. Like I said - rut by choice!!

One time I wanted a Virginia cured ham. Long story and the result was great fun with the guests remembering traditions from home. We were all transplants. Anyway, a butcher special ordered it. He was even in on the fun.

This makes me remember, we’re transplants to Florida as are many of our friends. Maybe ask a few of them and to bring a dish from their neck of the woods. Hmmmmm. As with the ham, it might be hard to get ingredients.

Your Thanksgiving is like our Christmas. But we have evolved. I guess it started with me. Once son and daughter agreed to each take a turn at hosting, I tried lasagna one year--didn't feel right. Another time my turn came around, I decided I just didn't want to cook and we ordered Chinese from the restaurant in town (which meant someone had to stay DD until we picked it up, since they didn't deliver--uggh) It was okay but again, not a winner.

Sooo, when it is son's turn, DIL does a killer turkey (she learned from a cookbook!) but her gravy sucks so one of us usually 'helps'. Daughter makes a fantastic beef tenderloin that is unbelievable!! Won't even try to compete with that!! And for my turn, I will do either a spiral cut ham with homemade scalloped potatoes and scalloped cauli for our keto followers, or a turkey.

Daughter, the baker, always brings a dessert, no matter who is hosting. Her date cake with rum caramel sauce is a favourite. Ummm but so are her individual lava cakes. But we also really like her pumpkin pie.....need I say more?

We ARE mixing up the tradition this year!

I'm ordering a tray of chicken parm and lasagna from our favorite restaurant. It will be ready for pick up on Wednesday afternoon. On Thanksgiving, we'll have a play day out in the boat out with our kids and grandson. If the weather allows off-shore adventures, the boys will fish that day.

Either way we will Rhond-day-vous for dinner in the late afternoon or early evening. Easy and no stress. I won't be in the kitchen for 3 days to make a meal and do all that clean-up!

Our daughter was aghast when I said I’d be serving an apple dessert. She reminded me pumpkin pie needs to be on the menu because it’s Grandpa’s favorite. Her case was made & we had pumpkin pie. We don’t vary the Thanksgiving menu except maybe a side dish.

We have the usual faire.....turkey, 2 kinds of stuffing (giblet (for hubby and sausage for the rest of us), mashed potatoes, homemade turkey gravy, cranberry sauce and roast brussel sprouts with bacon. Yeast rolls and a Peach pie, a Pumpkin pie for desert.

Christmas is Lasagna and cesear salad along with garlic butter with parmasean toasted Italian bread.

we pretty much stay with the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing. But we have simplified everything. The turkey is no longer stuffed with a special dressing. We just make Stouffer's chicken (not turkey) dressing on the stove top because they all insist, they like that the best (OK with me, way easier). My mom used to make a ton of sides like three different vegetables, a raw vegetable tray, cranberry fluff salad, jello salad, at least three kinds of pies. Lots of different pickles, sweet, dill, beet, crabapple, and watermelon pickles. (all home canned) Would have a cheese plate and cold cut plate. Homemade dinner rolls (really good) sweet potatoes baked the day before and then sliced and caramelized in butter (took one person to do just this dish but definitely a favorite of everyone). Now, we maybe do two vegetables nuked in the microwave. We buy bakery rolls. We have increased the amount of the fresh vegetables as the kids love the carrot and celery sticks. Oh, and we added chicken wings as the kids also love those. No longer do we set the table with a linen tablecloth and take out the best dishes. We now just stack the plates and leave the food on the stove and counter, and everyone picks up a plate and dishes up their own. I do miss the way my mom used to do the dinner, but as I was the main chef's assistant and bottle washer in the days before dishwashers, I find even in my old age, I am not nearly as exhausted at the end of the day.

I have a large family locally. This year my cousin is hosting. We have deep fried turkey, smoked turkey, and honey ham. Others sorta sign up for the sides on a private family Thanksgiving group or bring what they want. I'm making sweet potato pecan pie and oven roasted yellow squash. Here is the only pic I can find on my new computer. We are at my aunt's ranch. After dinner, we had a skeet shoot!

We just had this discussion at the guild meeting yesterday. I love my traditional Thanksgiving dinner but was wondering how change would go over. What would I change? I want something different but at the same time I look forward to what we do every year. Decisions, decisions.

My dau wanted to do paper plates and self-serve, but I said NO WAY! I do like taking down all of the fine china and using it. That's more work, but seeing those beautiful dishes, fresh flowers and my great grandmother's silver butter dish on a linen tablecloth makes me feel warm and cozy inside. Besides, I have a dishwasher that cleans them right up. I don't know what she was thinking...she never does the dishes after the meal anyways.

Thanks for sharing your traditions and that picture. Look at all those humans! :D

I just have to say, simplifying everything, gave us more time to just sit around and enjoy each other's company.

Just one word of caution about using your older fine china, hand cut crystal and silver flatware for the holidays. None of these items should ever go in the dishwasher. Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. I sold fine china, crystal and silver for over 20 years and the results can be heartbreaking. I had more than one customer come in with broken crystal and shattered fine china after running it thru their dishwasher. The heat and detergents are very hard on them and will craze the finish on your old fine china, crack your crystal and discolor any metallic trim you may have on either one. I know that the last thing you want to do after a long day of entertaining is wash dishes by hand, but if you have these beautiful and costly items, they do require special care. Sterling and silverplate should not soak in dish water for long periods, and crystal should be washed and dried one piece at a time to prevent chipping. I also use fancy plastic or acrylic spoons in my china or crystal serving bowls as we all have "rappers" at our table that rap the spoon on the edge of the bowl, which will cause chipping and cracking. I too love a fancy table and the feelings and memories that it carries with it, but it does come with a lot of extra work. Newer china or glassware, which is now pressed instead of being hand cut, is being manufactured to go in the dishwasher and microwave, but unfortunately, the treasured vintage items we have are not.

I despise having to clean up after a big meal. So I don't do it. We use all disposables. There are very nice disposables now, looks like china and silverware. When the food is removed from the table, the table cloth is gathered off the table holding all the dishes and then taken out all at one time. Dishes done. My best dishes are my everyday ones and those gets used for regular meals.

I have frequently switched things up. Almost every holiday meal, I usually try a few different dishes or have made permanent changes. I approach cooking the same as my quilting and I like the challenge of trying new things! I believe our food preferences evolve while sometimes we are forced into alternate eating styles due to health reasons or food preferences. Yes, I miss some of the old traditional items, but they no longer work for me or my family. Embrace these changes, they are the new normal and incorporate them as new traditions. Life is too short to be stuck in a rut, that no longer works.

I usually start with my "traditional" menu and then pick which items I want to tweak or change. For example, the "green bean casserole" might be changed to an alternate green bean recipe or some other green vegetable or maybe a medley of vegetables. Just like my quilts I keep my menu colorful, the more color the better. I also consider healthier recipes, kid-friendly choices, senior-friendly choices, oven space, etc..

Have fun changing up things. If I get comments then I offer to share my recipes and they can make and bring it next time., Or it might appear for a different holiday meal! If I make a huge change then I usually warn the family of the change before hand - so the comments don't happen that day. My family understand why I make changes and accept my quirkiness!

Forgot to add that my menu does change based on the crowd size too. When new family members are added, I try to incorporate a favorite of theirs, to merge their traditions with ours.

I added a fresh cranberry relish along with the usual jellied/whole berry canned varieties about 10 years ago and have been requested to ditch the canned and just make the fresh.
This recipe doubles nicely:
1 bag fresh cranberries - run through blender or food processor until chopped - I take mine to the point of being finely chopped but not macerated.
1 can crushed pineapple with juice (same amount for 2x works for me)
1 large navel orange - skin and all through the processor to same size as cranberries
1 large granny smith apple cored, but not peeled - chopped to about 1/4" cubes, give or take
1 cup chopped walnuts - give or take
1 1/2 to 2 cups granulated sugar or whatever sweetener you like or to taste
Make it anywhere from 3 days to night before dinner and refrigerate. Needs to blend flavors.
This will last at least 10 days in refrigerator. I have to make enough to get through all the leftovers according to my husband.

Such wonderful ideas.
In respect for the eldest, Aunt Jean announced she would be in charge of washing dishes by bringing paper plates. It’s been that way ever sense. When I suggested China (after she died) it was quickly squelched. Paper plates it is. This year daughter has invited to open house. So we go with them, just 2 of us, or join another group. We’ll have Christmas with them so, hmmmmm.

I'm a bit late to the table here! Our family just had this conversation last night. I thought we were a traditional family when it came to Thanksgiving. My son said, "I'm not tied to Turkey, and open to suggestions" Other son said "Yes....I'm not fond of turkey either!" DH and I are like....huh?? Works for me. We kicked around ideas, and are leaving it open. We have a large gift certificate for a local seafood shop, so we will "find something" there. Also, due to a forgetful mistake on my part, we need to make the trip back up to our closed cabin. (Anyone ever leave the onions, potatoes and squash in the cupboard?) Depending on which route we take, there are two wonderful meat markets we can stop at. So whatever we get, it will be an interesting change. Looking forward to it! They did say we could change up Christmas also, but New Years has to stay Prime Rib and Egg Rolls!

I always ask my family what they want for Thanksgiving dinner every year. Invariably they always go for tradition, which is fine with me. We only eat this way once a year, so it's more a treat than a drag of eating the same old same old.

We have made one minor change in recent years, my husband now brines and smokes 2 turkeys. We do 2 because every year my mom (who is single and lives by herself!) always wants to take a whole turkey home. Added benefit of hubby doing the turkey is it gives me more time to spend visiting with the family and I have more space in the oven. Most dishes can be prepped ahead of time.
Menu:

• Turkey (in the smoker)
• Stuffing (in a crockpot on the counter)
• Mashed potatoes (cut and placed in water ahead of time, cooked on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot right before dinner)
• Green bean casserole (the one item I personally would like to get rid of, but it's sentimental for hubby. Prepped ahead of time and cooked in the oven right before dinner)
• Brussels sprouts with garlic aioli (which is what everyone else eats instead of the bean casserole 😆 Prepped ahead of time, cooked in the air fryer right before dinner )
• Sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping (my mom makes every year at my kids' request, prepped ahead of time and usually cooked or warmed up in the oven next to the green beans)
• cranberry-cherry relish, made a day or two ahead and refrigerated
• Fresh fruit salad with a Gran Marnier dressing (dressing made ahead of time, fruit prepped while beans/potatoes cook)
• Pies homemade (a day or two ahead) - usually dark & spicy pumpkin, and a huckleberry pie. Sometimes I'll make apple.

We used to do rolls, but the last couple of years I've dropped them from the menu because we have plenty of other carbs. No one seems to miss them. I usually make a batch the next day for leftover turkey sliders.

One of the things I DID decide to do different this year was to use the good china for this reason:

My 89 year old grandmother is moving from a 2 bedroom apartment to a 1 bedroom at the Wrinkle Ranch, so she's downsizing her belongings. Nobody wants any of her china because none of us have memories of even seeing it, let alone using it. So it means nothing to us. For about the last 10 years, I've used our regular everyday plates during the holidays because a) I was worried about kids/dogs/husbands breaking the good china, and b) it was easier, I could put the everyday plates in the dishwasher, whereas the china (which is rimmed with real silver) has always been hand-washed, which is time-consuming and exhausting. After a recent conversation with my youngest son who is now 21, I realized that I'm doing the same thing my grandmother did - I'm not allowing him to make memories of this special china, which has been handed down from generations on my husband's side of the family, and has some really cool stories associated with it. He will inherit it, and I want him to have fond memories of us using it. So we're going to this year. 😊

Peckish, that's going to be quite a spread! And on real china, too. I always get out the "good" china for holidays as it makes our modest meal more festive and special. There are usually only the three of us - my son joins Paul and me. During my son's growing up years, I was a single mom, so there was often just the two of us for holidays. And I still got out the good china. I have a friend who used to sell Meissen porcelain around the world, and he and his wife have Sunday brunch every week on Meissen. "Why have it if you don't use it," and it certainly "sparks joy."

I make this also with some diced celery and a box of raspberry jello dissolved in about 1/2 cup boiling water.

The count down is on. Tomorrow, we're doing the last of the grocery shopping, then it's time to take down the china and tablecloths, clean the fridge, find the serving dishes, etc. I love getting ready, but I'm usually exhausted on Turkey Day.

This year, I'm going the easy route with the rolls by using the pizza dough that they sell in the deli. I'm doing a corn and bacon salad and some other another salad. Appetizers are going to be clean and simple...shrimp cocktail, maybe some fresh oysters, good, French cheese, crudites and french bread. I'm baking 2 small pies...apple and pumpkin...classics.

That looks really good C Joyce!

Here I am to report that the oldest grandson texted the family group could we have a spatchcock turkey. He found a recipe. I texted back, sure, sounds great, but you have to be in charge. He said I could still be in charge and I said, nope, turning over to you, but I will assist. I think it sounds great and maybe time for a change. It will still be turkey. We are flying across the country tomorrow to be with them, and our meal is on Friday.

We used to pull up recipes for the Turkey. We have tried putting lemon , Tyme and not sure of the couple ingredients. Because we tried a couple different ways witch was really good. My daughter made one of Paula Deans turkeys very delicious.
We used to have just can cranberry sauce. We now make the relish😊. Maybe going online for holiday dishes you could find something different. Hope this helps.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.