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?

@SenecaFallsRedux

A word of warning: I think most food safety experts recommend cooking the dressing or stuffing, whatever you call it, outside the bird.

Doesn't this means the bird is unsafe to eat too? I would assuming it would cook the bacteria along the bird

But I don't make turkey (I have been cooking sides) but I always ate stuffing

If you fill a turkey cavity then the air doesn’t circulate and reach a high enough temperature to kill bacteria.

The ONLY biscuit recipe anyone should be using is

www.southernliving.com/recipes/buttermilk-biscuits

(But we have cornbread at thanksgiving)

Ha we've just been planning the menu: we're having

Pumpkin soup

Turkey (natch)
Green bean casserole
Macaroni pie
Roast potatoes (controversial - had a roast or mashed argument discussion)
Gravy
Cranberry sauce
Dinner rolls (although biscuits sound like a good idea - not sure we can fit them in the oven though!)
Still debating whether to make stuffing

Actually looking at that we need more veg. Probably corn or carrots.

@SenecaFallsRedux

A word of warning: I think most food safety experts recommend cooking the dressing or stuffing, whatever you call it, outside the bird.

Good point @SenecaFallsRedux. According to this it can be done safely if the stuffing is packed loosely in the turkey and you make sure it reaches the proper temperature.

www.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/2009/11/turkey-talk-to-stuff-or-not-to-stuff

Bacteria can come from the bird or from ingredients in the stuffing mixture.

I always cook my stuffing in the bird. I know how to cook it properly so it's never been a problem. These rules are made for people who only cook this kind of thing once a year.

I've roasted a stuffed turkey at least once a year since 1995, with no casualties to report.

I make the stuffing ahead of time and refrigerate it. Both the turkey and the stuffing are stone cold and straight out of the fridge when I stuff the bird, and they go into the oven immediately.

...the sweet potatoes with marshmallows puzzled me greatly. Is it a dessert?
No, it's a side dish.

@EmpressoftheMundane

Here's a breakfast sausage recipe for you.
www.food.com/recipe/tennessee-pride-sausage-519116

Making it into skinless patties ensures a lot of bits on your pan.

@mathanxiety Thanks! The spices sound right...I do wonder if the ground pork will be too lean. Sounds funny I know, but they’ve bread pork to be leaner and leaner over the last 30 years. So many cuts taste awful and are hard to cook now! It’s even hard to find streaky bacon that is streaker sometimes.

[quote EmpressoftheMundane]@mathanxiety Thanks! The spices sound right...I do wonder if the ground pork will be too lean. Sounds funny I know, but they’ve bread pork to be leaner and leaner over the last 30 years. So many cuts taste awful and are hard to cook now! It’s even hard to find streaky bacon that is streaker sometimes.[/quote]
If it is too lean, you may not have to remove any grease at all. You probably have enough to make grave with

If you can lay your hands on a shoulder of pork in a full service butcher's you might be able to get them to grind it for you. It's a fatty joint.

Think I'm going to do:-

Roast Turkey thigh(s)
Mash
Gravy
Stuffing/dressing
Glazed carrots
Sprouts
Green bean casserole
Maybe biscuits?
Cranberry sauce

Pumpkin pie

Ooh what do people drink? I bet that's regional!

@tobee

Think I'm going to do:-

Roast Turkey thigh(s)
Mash
Gravy
Stuffing/dressing
Glazed carrots
Sprouts
Green bean casserole
Maybe biscuits?
Cranberry sauce

Pumpkin pie

Ooh what do people drink? I bet that's regional!

It varies depending on the person. Mostly iced tea (you can add sweetener or sugar) , coffee, water, soda, wine, beer, fruit punch/Apple juice for the kids, etc.

Sometime hot tea too but men here don't like hot tea unfortunately

We’re Brits in California and have been to our fair share! This year:

Turkey
Vegan thanksgiving wreath (sweet potato, cranberries and chestnuts)
Cranberry sauce
Green bean casserole
Mash AND roasties
Cornbread
Gravy

Bourbon slushies

Pumpkin pie
Pecan pie

'Soda', you say, Blueberries...

For drinks, we do:

Aperitif:
Champagne for adulta
Mulled Apple juice for children

Main:
Beaujolais Nouveau

Pudding:
Sauterne

But I have a French husband.

This is a really interesting thread. I love pumpkin pie. My Grandmother, who was a very untraditional Granny and almost never cooked or baked, used to make a pumpkin pie with Libby's canned pumpkin every year and I remember eating it as a child. Now I make it ever year around Halloween and my own DC love it (although DH thinks it is the food of the devil). It has to be made with canned pumpkin and evaporated milk though. I did it with fresh pumpkin a d double cream once and it wasn't the same.

I was thinking of trying a sweet potato pie and I'm definitely going to have a go at the green bean casserole.

Should say, my Grandmother had never visited the US nor, to my knowledge, even knew any Americans so I have no idea why pumpkin pie was one of the few things she ever baked!

mashed potatoes
gravy
stuffing (must be "instant" Stove Top brand)
green bean casserole
corn casserole (make with Jiffy cornbread mix ;)
candied sweet potatoes (I don't do marshmallows, just brown sugar and butter)
some sort of bread roll
cranberry sauce
pumpkin pie with whipped cream
pecan pie with vanilla ice cream

Yum!

It’s funny how so many American things have been embraced in the UK but it’s a struggle to get hold of pumpkin. Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes are obviously popular so you’d think pumpkin would have become more readily available in supermarkets.

It seems an odd concept to me to have a vegetable in a sweet dessert so I’ve never tried it despite having a lot of American friends. Give me pecan pie any day though!

I’ve also never understood how sweet potatoes are served in the US. I always end up having to scrape off brown sugar every time I order a baked sweet potato. I haven’t tried marshmallow topped sweet potato but it doesn’t sound appealing to me at all. I’ll save my share of the marshmallows for S’mores.

@Lightningrain I was just thinking the same. Sainsbury's had an American section but it's very small and I have just been looking online for branded American stuff, say even Kraft mac and cheese or other things mentioned in the thread but can't find anywhere!

I am thinking of making a pumpkin cheesecake. Has anyone made one and does it taste very nice ?

Sweet potato pie is a good option if you can't get pumpkin. Possibly an even better option, although I like both equally.

I'm Canadian and we do Thanksgiving as well. Similar to the American style thanksgiving dinner with a couple of differences. The main being our Thanksgiving is in October.
I'm in the UK and have always held a thanksgiving dinner. A very small this year.

We usually have,

Breakfast
Egg and bacon muffins and/or pumpkin breadloaf or pancakes and bacon and strong coffee

Lunch
Soup and soda bread

Dinner at 6ish or later because I found the wine

Turkey or if I can't get fresh turkey in October here which is 50/50 I'll do a capon.

Pigs in blankets

Roasted carrots and parsnips

Buttermilk mash potatoes

Green bean casserole

Peas

Sweet corn or corn cobletts

Milk dinner rolls (soft white rolls), buttermilk biscuits or dare I say Yorkshires depends on my mood

Cranberry sauce when I convince the fam

Stuffing, gravy

Dessert is pumpkin pie with more whipped cream than is healthy, apple cobbler or pie a la mode ( with vanilla ice cream)

Thanksgiving is my fav. I prefer it to Christmas