Can Americans (or people who live there) tell me what sides you have at thanksgiving?

[cactusdog]

In particular, is sweet potato casserole a side or a dessert?
The recipe I'm looking at has candied pecans and marshmallows on top!
Looks delicious but I can't find if it's a side.

Do you just serve everything up together? Like I keep seeing pumpkin pie and pecan pie as "sides" for thanksgiving dinner?

bellinique it's embarrassingly easy. You just throw in one pot fresh cranberries, sugar, ginger and orange, put the lid on and let it get hot until the cranberries start popping - then you stir until it turns into sauce. It thickens as it stands and then you can put it in a fancy jar. That's it!

There should be about 3:1 ratio of cranberries to sugar by volume. I've made this for so many years I can tell you that a 350g punnet of fresh cranberries needs about 200g sugar, a large thumb's worth of ginger, and one large orange. I then add a slosh of port (no water) and a couple of whole cloves studded into the orange so they don't get lost.

(If you prefer not to add port you can just add water - probably around 200-250mls depending on how loose you want it, as I said it will thicken as it stands)

Sweet potatoes (yams) with marshmallows is with the turkey, yes as revolting as it sounds. Typical sides are mashed potatoes, green beans with a can of condensed mushroom soup chucked over it (also revolting), roasted carrots normally got served too. Lashings of cranberry sauce of course and gravy. For pudding pumpkin pie.

I found the whole meal off putting because it was so sweet

And I forgot, this jelly thing but served with salad, they are odd. Did like the stuffing though, nicer than packet stuffing in the uk

@Xiaoxiong

bellinique it's embarrassingly easy. You just throw in one pot fresh cranberries, sugar, ginger and orange, put the lid on and let it get hot until the cranberries start popping - then you stir until it turns into sauce. It thickens as it stands and then you can put it in a fancy jar. That's it!

There should be about 3:1 ratio of cranberries to sugar by volume. I've made this for so many years I can tell you that a 350g punnet of fresh cranberries needs about 200g sugar, a large thumb's worth of ginger, and one large orange. I then add a slosh of port (no water) and a couple of whole cloves studded into the orange so they don't get lost.

Mine is virtually identical, but I add star anise instead of cloves.

Are those things in the tin not croissants? They look like croissants!

[quote Xiaoxiong]Jesus you might like my cranberry sauce then - it includes grated ginger, cloves, wedges of orange, and a bit of port!

I'm pretty controlling about Thanksgiving food Most people ask guests bring sides, whereas I always specify dessert or wine but not sides to the main meal unless I already know they're a truly superlative cook.

Here's a good biscuit recipe - just SR flour, salt, and double cream: food52.com/recipes/34357-king-arthur-flour-s-never-fail-biscuits[/quote]
Thank you! I'm definitely making those for a weekend breakfast soon.

I tried making johnnycakes once, but quickly ran into confusion because of the massive variation in recipes and end results. My ones ended up a bit like incredibly robust doughnuts

@SeaKingdom

Are those things in the tin not croissants? They look like croissants!

I think they're known as crescent rolls. They're kind of an American interpretation of croissants iirc, less flaky than a croissant, almost like Hokkaido milk bread, very tender. When I was a child I found the bursting container a bit of a thrill.

@Xiaoxiong

bellinique it's embarrassingly easy. You just throw in one pot fresh cranberries, sugar, ginger and orange, put the lid on and let it get hot until the cranberries start popping - then you stir until it turns into sauce. It thickens as it stands and then you can put it in a fancy jar. That's it!

There should be about 3:1 ratio of cranberries to sugar by volume. I've made this for so many years I can tell you that a 350g punnet of fresh cranberries needs about 200g sugar, a large thumb's worth of ginger, and one large orange. I then add a slosh of port (no water) and a couple of whole cloves studded into the orange so they don't get lost.

Thanks Xiaoxiong!

I will definitely try that recipe for Christmas and will be leaving the port in

Are Roast potatoes not a 'thing' in the US?

My cousin had an American stepmother and her stuffing was made out of rice, cream, bacon and smoked oysters. It sounds revolting but was AMAZING.

Has anyone heard of that before? Is it regional? (I cannot recall where she was from)

This thread is absolutely fascinating to me.

It all sounds quite (please don't slate me for this)... 70s dinner party entertaining?
I have a few recipe books picked up from various charity shops that are a bit like this. Thanksgiving sounds like the grown up version of a cheese and pineapple hedgehog?

Are those things in the tin not croissants? They look like croissants!

They are called crescent rolls, basically dinner roll dough shaped into a crescent. We have traditional French style croissants in the US, but they are different, much flakier.

Are Roast potatoes not a 'thing' in the US?

I think in parts of New England they are for some people, but not in my neck of the woods. I have never had roast potatoes in the US, and I am pretty old.

@Strawberrypancakes do it! I am also not American and have no connections 😞 other than like you, some awesome holidays and decided I'd just do it this year 😃

This thread is excellent.

We're doing an American Thanksgiving this year as a belated meal from our USA country study (we home ed).

I want to do a green bean casserole but mushrooms are the worst so could I do chicken soup with it instead?

Also I'm doing a pecan pie for dessert because pumpkin is revolting too.

I want to do a green bean casserole but mushrooms are the worst so could I do chicken soup with it instead?

As long as it's a cream soup, you can easily use a different soup. You can also make a white sauce flavored how you like it and use that.

Fantastic, thanks Seneca.

@GeorgiaGirl52 and @930onaTuesdayNight these sound like the perfect meal to me! I want to incorporate as many elements as I can.

What are bread and butter pickles!?

Another Georgia girl here. Bread and butter pickles are sweet pickled cucumbers and truly the food of the gods.

The name "bread and butter" supposedly comes from the practice of home cooks making them and bartering them for bread and butter during the Depression.

Claudia I suspect that's because 'tradition' comes from the past?

can i just ask, noticed ppl say gravy? is that the same as our gravy? (bisto or stock made!) or something else?
thanks

When I was in the States once I had a “Thanksgiving turkey stuffing sandwich” at a Deli. Our Boxing Day sandwiches have lots of stuffing in - yum - but it is chestnut and sausagemeat. So this one was a flavoured bread stuffing, set between 2 slices of thick bread - basically a bread sandwich. It was great but I really couldn’t move for about 36 hours

We eat roast potatoes all the time, but thanksgiving is mashed.

Gravy is made with the pan drippings from the turkey.