What Are Your Must-Have Thanksgiving Recipes?
 

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving dinner without this recipe. I have made it every Thanksgiving for 53 years!


Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples

3 baked, peeled, and sliced Sweet Potatoes (small to medium size)

2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup Butter

1 teaspoon Salt

Put alternate layers of potatoes and apples in an 8” x 8” x 2” (2 liter) Corelle Ware casserole dish. Dot each layer with butter and sprinkle with salt.


Topping

3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar

1 cup chopped Pecans

1/3 cup melted Butter

1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour

In a mixing bowl combine the topping ingredients and mix well. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole. Cover and bake in a 350-degree oven until the apples are soft (about 45 minutes). Uncover and bake for about ten minutes longer.

Serves 6 to 8

This sounds really good. I used to make one called Southern Peach yam bake and it is the same except with peaches. I will try your recipe this year. Thank you!

We have to have fresh raw cranberry relish: (recipe doubles & triples easily)
1 bag fresh cranberries - chopped fairly fine
1 naval orange, with peel and all chopped fairly fine (naval oranges don't have seeds)
1 granny smith apple, cored but not peeled chopped
1 can crushed pineapple, juice too - regular size can, not the small one
2 cups sugar - more or less
1 cup chopped walnuts
Mix it all together and refrigerate - this keeps well and can be made a few days ahead and kept in fridge for week+
Use leftovers on top of cream cheese for spread on crackers - might need to strain some of the liquid off before putting on top of the cream cheese.

We are so "traditional" it never changes. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with pineapple and tons of marshmallows, canned and regular cranberries, dinner rolls, green bean casserole, pumpkin, and apple pie. Lots of snacks for the games, and there's always wine.

That sounds so good... I've just put this on my menu. :)

Sweet potato pecan pie and Ambrosia!
That's what I'm taking to cousin's house for the holiday. We are a big bunch, and it is pot luck style gathering. Baked, fried, and smoked turkeys, honey baked ham, 2 pans of cornbread dressing, the pumpkin cream cheese roll, potatoes with giblet gravy...

We make the same with adding a box of Raspberry jello. Makes it congealed a bit.

I was thinking the same thing. I love this recipe and it is so easy. Keeps for days and just shouts THANKSGIVING!


My must have is pumpkin pie with a ring of chopped sugared walnuts around the rim of the pie. A sweet little crunch added to the smooth spicy yumminess of the pumpkin.

Mine is fairly simple. Crustless pumpkin pie (1/2 cup baking mix added to regular pumpkin pie recipe), smoked turkey, cornbread/onion/celery dressing, baked sweet potatoes, gravy, a little cranberry sauce, and fresh steamed green beans.
Health issues have taken away most of the good stuff during the holidays, but we still enjoy them.
All of your traditions sound so yummy.

We are traditionalists but my daughter in law loves to bake and experiment. So we have our usual regulars every year and then she finds other recipes to add in. Her dessert table is beautiful and delicious. We did spatchcock the turkey last year and will do it again. She got a much bigger pan and a cutting tool. But it was a fun family project and very delicious. And still turkey.

We have the southern traditional turkey and cornbread dressing for the star of the meal. Here is one recipe that everyone that likes sweet potatoes likes this.

Carrot Souffle

2 pounds carrots, chopped
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil carrots until tender. Drain and mash/sieve. To the carrots add melted butter, white sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and eggs. Mix well and transfer to a 2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Can add or lessen amount of sugar to taste. 1/4 cup seems to be a good balance for sweetness.

After Thanksgiving, we have Turkey Hash. Take the bits of turkey left over and shred, add diced potatoes, onion, sage seasoning, gravy, chicken broth. Cook together in a large pot, serve over cornbread. To me it's better than the turkey.

Stovetopb stuffing/dressing with Jimmy Dean Sausage added to it.

Cheese onions
 

No recipe, but jars of the little onions, make a cheese sauce and just keep testing. One of my favorite memories of time with my mom, we made and keep testing while we cooked the rest of the meal. Almost ate all the onions by the end. I continue to make, but they just don't taste as good as when mom was here.

Tradition, every year is the Bell's Stuffing mix in a red box. Add a pound of JD Sausage (hot) for flavor with the celery and onions. I just scored 4 boxes yesterday to hold us for the year. It is a seasonal item and can be hard to find.

Other items are rice and gravy (home-made), candied sweet potatoes (no marshmallows) and the green bean casserole. We have the same menu every year!

Oreo Turkeys
 

Last year I made these Oreo Turkeys for the pastor's Thanksgiving family dinner last year. The pastor has nine children and 33 grandchildren, and counting. They have a sitdown dinner for all of them (as well as others who don't have dinner with their families) at one of the children's BIG houses. I've been invited for many years.

I'm making them again this year because the wee ones absolutely loved them. The trick is to get the candy corn in October because they cannot be found in any of the stores a day after Halloween.

Onebyone...the carrot souffle sounds interesting.

My mom used to make an oyster casserole with soda crackers, evaporated milk and a can of oysters, brine and all. It was so simple, but soooo good! Alas, my dau is in charge of the dinner this year and the oysters won't be on the menu. :( She's experimenting with new dishes and ways to make the turkey. (Fingers crossed.) I'm making the simple things like the cranberries, rolls and pies.

Never thought of adding jello to the relish. Do you cut down on the added sugar or use sugar free jello?

It's just the two of us this year and we aren't planning on a huge feast. In prior years we would have a potluck style meal at my mother's house, she would provide the turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy.

Last few years I started bringing the savory version (with chilis and cheese) of the Jiffy corn casserole.

But my big thing is after the day -- turkey soup!

With the hubby's Ketovore (mostly meat) lifestyle, he eats a couple pounds of meat per day. We are already one cheap turkey done (eaten and made into soup) and yesterday I roasted another cheap empty turkey. Not planning on soup from this one.

We are planning on ordering a fresh (expensive) local turkey for Christmas if we can get on the list.

My stuffing recipe, I make two kinds Sausage stuffing and giblet stuffing.
It is so simple........
Two 9x13 pans of cornbread
One bag of bread stuffing (Pepperidge Farm)
One roll of Sage Sausage (Jimmy Dean)
Liver and gizzards from Turkey (I simmer the gizzards and liver together with the neck. Stock is later used as a base for gravy)
One medium white onion
4 stacks of celery chopped into small pieces
2 packs of white cap mushrooms (whole and sliced them yourself)
1 to 2 cartons of Chicken Broth (Swanson's Low Sodium)
3 to 4 eggs beaten like your making scrambled eggs, beat until you can see no whites among the yellow yolks)
Fresh sage, chopped rough (not to small or you won't be able to taste)
Pepper to taste
No salt (sausage, stuffing mix and broth contain enough salt)

I bake the cornbread the day before and allow it to dry out a bit. Gizzards and Liver, Neck in the crock pot on low overnight. I do this because I use a Whisky/Maple brine and let Mr. Tom Turkey lounge in it for 12 hours.
On Thanksgiving day I chop, slice and dice all the onion, celery and mushrooms I need fro the stuffing and side dishes I need to our meal. And cook the sausage, drain on plate lined with a few paper towels
In a large bowl of roaster pan mix all the stuffing ingredients EXCEPT for gizzards/livers and cooked sausage.
Divide stuffing mixture, I do 2/3 for sausage stuffing and 1/3 for the other stuffing (Husband is the only one who eats this one)
Spoon stuffing into those aluminum pans, I inset a toothpick into the gizzard/liver stuffing to tell them apart. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or internal temp is 165 degrees,
I cook my Turkey unstuffed.

Jennr8r -- wanted to say I have so far missed seeing the Oreo Turkeys -- so darn cute!

I knew the Dollar General just up the street from me still has marked down Halloween candy and I bought some candy corn for something like $0.70.

Going to make some for my Tuesday sewing group and to put in dishes being returned to one of the new neighbors.

But first, off to Walmart to get some pre-made eyes. I knew I've seen them somewhere recently and they can be found in various places from regular grocery stores to Walmart to Joann or Michaels or Hobby Lobby in various brands and costs.

We're very traditional, my family looks forward to our favorite and special recipes that I only trot out this time of year. My SIL decided one year to do all new foods/recipes, and it went over like a lead balloon. 🤣

Smoked turkey
Stuffing I make from scratch. No box mix.
Mashed potatoes & gravy from scratch
green bean casserole at my husband's request
roasted brussels sprouts served with garlic bacon aioli
fruit salad - fruits are sliced thin and served glazed with a sauce: lemon juice, Grand Marnier, and superfine sugar.
Candied yams - with marshmallows baked on top, my mom's specialty and my kids' favorite
cranberry-cherry relish, which is MY favorite
dark & spicy pumpkin pie - recipe handed down from my mom
huckleberry pie - in memory of my beloved FIL, because it was always his favorite.

My husband smokes 2 turkeys every year, because it's so good my mom will eat half of it while we're cleaning up after dinner, and take the other half home with her. The first year she did this I was so mad because I didn't have enough leftovers to make turkey pot pie for dinner the next night. 🤣🤣

We always make bread stuffing and two things that have to be in there are cooked sausage and roughly chopped water chestnuts. Mushrooms usually make into the mix too.

We make the Carrot Souffle at our house every year and even those who don't like carrots seem to love it..
I use frozen crinkle cut carrots, microwave per package directions. Put everything but the carrots in a blender and pulse til smooth. Add the carrots a few at a time and blend well. Then proceed as Onebyone's recipe. Easier than peeling and mashing carrots.

There's just my husband and I. We usually eat a bit early and then head downtown for Autorama. I do a simple meal. My husband smokes a turkey for me and he usually has steak and sometimes smoked sausage. I do some roast veggies and roasted potatoes and some type of salad. This year I'm going to make the Minimalist Baker's Pecan Pie Bars that are to die for and probably some baked apples.

Last night, I wanted to try the carrot souffle, so I cooked the carrots, put ingredients in food processor, and then discovered that I have No Flour! I put carrot mixture in fridge to finish later today!

Can you share the recipe for this please?

Sure...here's one that is very similar:
https://www.amusingfoodie.com/2011/1...casserole.html

I don't remember the worchestershire sauce in my mom's, but hey, why not? My mom used evaporated canned milk instead of half and half. I think that she sprinkled hers with chopped parsely, as I remember.

Make sure to use canned (not fresh) or jarred oysters, not smoked oysters. Fresh oysters wouldn't really work either.

I had a lot of dessert leftover last year (according to notes I make every year) so this year it’s cookies from the freezer and a cake that has pumpkin in it. There will be deviled eggs, homemade lefsa and our own frozen sweet corn.
No pie. No cranberry sauce. (nobody eats it except me )

What is lefsa?

A quick google search returned that answer. It is a flatbread made with potatoes.

Lefse is a Scandanavian holiday staple that is a very, very thin, soft, flatbread that is made from mashed potatoes and flour and cooked on a griddle in large round sheets. To eat, they are generally cut into wedges and either buttered and served with or without sugar, or used as a roll up with meats.

lefsa is sort of a flat bread made with potatoes and flour. Strange. Traditional fare in some of the Scandinavian countries.

sighhhh! I would love to have just a pizza. I don't like all the holiday foods production! I think it is because I was mom's primary assistant and was not found of baking and cooking and prep was a least 3 days long, longer for Christmas as there was fruitcake, and at least 15 different types of holiday cookies, homemade rolls, and pies, potatoes to peel. ect. And Mom want every holiday at her house. No dishwasher either. So my holidays were basically spent baking, cooking, cleaning, and dishwashing. The burner was when the rest of the family retired to the living room just leaving a few of us to clean up the kitchen. My happy memories of family get togethers was when we just roasted hotdogs over a fire and had some-mores for dessert!

I one-thousand-percent get this! My husband always loved to have huge gatherings (not just holidays) with lots of food that was very time-consuming to produce. I would try to use shortcuts or pre-made stuff, which always made him grumble. It was like he wanted to show off what a good cook I am, but he never put any skin in the game, so to speak. Finally a few years ago, I broke down, told him I was absolutely dreading the holidays, and could we please go out of town or go somewhere else to celebrate. He asked why. I said because I spend all my time in the kitchen, prepping and cooking and cleaning, and I never get to visit with my family and friends. It's NOT FUN. Sob, sniff, cry cry cry. He asked how he could help (FINALLY). I said first of all, when I ask you for help, get up and actually HELP. Second of all, take over some of these cooking chores. If you want to show off our cooking prowess, YOU do some of the cooking! So now he is in charge of the turkey - he smokes it. This leaves me with a lot more time, energy, and space in the kitchen for the other dishes.

I actually have a spreadsheet. I list each item, who is bringing/making it, and if *I'm* making it, where it's being cooked (oven, toaster oven, Instant Pot, or crock pot) and which day I'm cooking it. (Wednesday is pies, cranberry-orange relish, and assembling the green bean casserole. Thursday is mashed taters, gravy, fruit salad, etc.) I also use an app called Paprika to plan the menu and grocery shop. I have all my holiday recipes in the app. It's one click to move them to a menu for that day, another click to look at all the ingredients for each recipe. I go through the kitchen and uncheck the ingredients I already have (salt, flour, etc.), whatever is left gets added to the grocery list in the app. It syncs to my phone, so I have both my grocery list and the menu with me at the store. As I put each item in my cart, the list shrinks, and so does my stress level. I wish I'd been able to do this 30 years ago, I'd have a lot more happy memories of holidays.

First off, I wanted to say I had lots of fun making the Oreo Turkeys as a craft project! They went over well at my sewing group where they were a new thing to the other ladies too. One of them is having Thanksgiving on Friday, but will have her grandkids with her on Thursday and now had an activity for them! She was going to go to the nearby grocery store (Kroger) and pick up the ingredients on her way home. I found that the eyes there in the Betty Crocker sprinkles and frosting section were a better size than the Wilton eyes at Walmart.

Even before this message, hubby and I were considering pizza for tomorrow. Is just the two of us and we've already cooked and eaten two turkeys bought on sale this season.

Hubby follows a ketovore (mostly meat) diet. At his high weight he was around 400 and had been chubby/large most of his life. He's been maintaining around 185 for maybe 5 years now?? I lose track. Anyway, he's been wanting to try a keto version where you use a base of sausage instead of a crust, then add a small amount of sauce and additional toppings and cheese. This sounds like a good time to try it.

I will probably get a Papa Murphy pizza (with crust) today and cook it tomorrow. Papa Murphy does offer a crustless/keto option but it doesn't include the sausage base.

Peckish..I'm going to have to try your app. I keep lists on my computer and phone and they help, but the app sounds better.

I hear ya about hubbies helping. Mine is getting better, but still. I asked him to keep this Tuesday open because we had to move some furniture into the house, buy propane, clean up his mess on the patio and other misc. "man chores." So, yesterday, (Tuesday,) he informed me that he had other plans. Gee...thanks.

I should tell him next time, "Oops! I forgot to cook the turkey. I had other plans. I need to clean up all of your messes." I won't do that though. It just creates too much stress and strife.

I had my grands over on Sunday, and we made Oreo Turkeys. I had so many ingredients that after I made the tray for the Thanksgiving meal I made a plate for the neighbor on my left... and the neighbor on my right... and the neighbor across the street... and for the grands to take home... I finally threw the rest away. They are a big hit though.

Congrats to your hubby!!! I started following a ketovore diet a couple of months ago, lost 18 pounds immediately, achy sore joints went away, tummy issues went away and I got my waist back. I feel the best I've felt in years. I've made the sausage crust pizza, it was delicious and was a huge hit with the family!

Iceblossom!! I had never heard of a Ketovore pizza! DH has been Keto since 2019, lost 30 lb., and was off all his diabetic meds after 6 months. It has really changed his life. He loves pizza but the cauli crust and the almond/coconut flour crust recipes were definitely falling short. Sausage crust!! Absolutely on our list to try SOON!! Thank you!!