DS has asked for a Thanksgiving meal...

[SparrowSally]

DS is really interested in having a traditional Thanksgiving meal. If anyone has made or been to one, what have been the must have dishes please? Turkey is obviously a given, also thinking of a sweet potato dish? Thanks!

Indeed. I’m British and my GCSE history included the American West and what happened to the native people of America (and Canada). National Museum of the American Indian has some ideas on what you might do and a Haudenosaunee thanksgiving address.

I am really intrigued by the sweet potato marshmallow mixture. How did this become a thing and is it awful? 🤣

Maybe you could ask some native Americans how they celebrate "Thanksgiving"?

Macaroni cheese with essentially a roast turkey dinner? Really?

Well my neighbours have a big turkey dinner with their family and the Native friendship centre in our town put on Turkey dinner for the community. They also hold a powwow that everyone is welcome.and encouraged to attend. Is that ok?

I am going to be rude here, sorry. But my ex-American MIL (lovely woman- she was amazing) always cooked thanksgiving from cans, tins etc. I had thought previously it was like a British Christmas turkey dinner. No. Everything prepacked, including the veg. But yes - sweet potatoes with marshmallows. WTF. I've always been a veggie. It was tricky. I smiled sweetly, was never allowed to bring a dish. I loved the tradition, sense of family, community, etc, but the food, god no.

A range of ways. For some it is a day of private or public mourning. Some ignore it. Some get together to give thanksgiving. is one view

Steven Peters, a Wampanoag Tribe spokesman, was asked about his views on Thanksgiving and the fact that most people still gather to eat turkey and give thanks. Here's what he had to say:
"I think it's great. My ancestors had four harvest festivals throughout the year. Gathering with family, enjoying our company, sharing our blessings, and giving thanks for all that we have is a good thing. I say have more thanksgiving events throughout the year. I also ask that you take a moment in that day to remember what happened to my people and the history as it was recorded and not the narrative that we had been given in the history books."

Link did not get added from my last post
https://blog.nativehope.org/what-does-thanksgiving-mean-to-native-americans?hs_amp=true

Have a day off.

Why? Can't you bear the truth?

We do thanksgiving every year (I grew up in the states and dc are also dual citizens).

We have turkey, mash (never roast potatoes), roasted sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter, green bean casserole plus cranberry sauce as standard. Sometimes I also do mac & cheese (not traditional for me but dc like it) and ‘crescent rolls’ (croissants from the tin). Pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert.

It’s historically an awful holiday, but I like what it can represent in modern times. A family celebration that isn’t rooted in religion (we aren’t Christian). We all need to have a day to appreciate the value of being grateful and doing something for others.

Don't indulge him. Thanksgiving has fuck all to do with the UK.

More American crap that we can do without.

I associate the marshmallow thing with the Midwest. Here in the Deep South, we definitely have sweet potato casserole, but the more common topping is brown sugar and pecans.

I am not fond of the marshmallow version, but I do like it with the pecan topping. Plus it's very nostalgic for me because it was my mother's absolute favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

Macaroni and cheese is often a Thanksgiving side dish staple, especially with African-American families.

@BobbyBrewstersMagicTorch Oh dear, if no one can eat cuisine from other countries, we’re all going to be on limited diets!

I made chicken satay yesterday and lasagna today, oophs.

@socialdilemmawhattodo Ugh, luckily that’s not how everyone prepares it! My MIL cooked everything from scratch, thank goodness.

Thanksgiving is more than just the meal.

At the end of the day, it's a roast dinner.

Are you going to go around the table and say what you are all thankful for?

@CraftyGin I think her son just wants to try the food tbh. There’s TikTok’s of British children trying American foods, that’s probably where he’s got the idea from.

We usually do Thanksgiving on the following Saturday. It's great as all the shops are open if you have forgotten anything.

Our Thanksgiving meal is very similar to Christmas with different sides. Peculiar to our family, we have haggis as our dressing, as it is so close to St Andrew's Day and we are also Scottish.

Last year, DS1 specifically asked for green bean casserole (fab - frozen green beans, Campbell's mushroom soup, dried onions). This went down well, even though we went the trashy route. He also asked for sweet potato/marshmallow - DD's BF found this to be absolutely disgusting - thankfully, I made about a quarter of a standard recipe.

I make my own cranberry sauce - I love looking at the cranberries popping as they heat up. I use canned pumpkin for the pumpkin pie, but make my own pastry. I also make cornbread using polenta. I think I'll do a shoo-fly pie this year as an alternative to pumpkin.

My ILs had identical TG and Christmas meals. They were done effortlessly, as everything was frozen. I really couldn't fathom not putting any effort into producing a feast. I also didn't understand why they were identical.

Hate to say it, but it sounds like she couldn't cook..

It’s just like Christmas dinner (without the bread sauce and pigs in blankets). We have sweet potato at Christmas (baked, none of that disgusting thing with marshmallows - that is a relatively recent thing and is gross so no need to include it)! Ditto mac ‘n cheese - I’ve NEVER seen that at Thanksgiving. Cranberry sauce is a must though. Apple pie, pecan or pumpkin pie for dessert.

We don't do this in our family. Thanksgiving Day usually follows an election day in the US. And like most American families, we have different political views represented so we have found the need to avoid people saying they are thankful for a particular result.

Speaking of sweet potatoes, a very good alternative to pumpkin pie is sweet potato pie.

🙄

No Canadian. But I heard a lot about American Thanksgiving dishes in a mom's forum. I tried it one year and the family loved it.

Sweet potato pie is even better than sweet potato casserole. Better than pumpkin pie too.
Pecan pie is a must.

Another popular pie in the South: Kentucky Derby pie, which is a pecan pie with chocolate. And Bourbon.