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!

Well the first thanksgiving dinner was between the English invaders and the Wampanoag tribe so there is a little bit of England (and its colonial history) in the holiday.

I don't know anyone who makes their thanksgiving dinner out of cans.

The story of the first Thanksgiving is not the focus of modern celebrations. It has become about family, food, and community. It’s basically the perfect holiday.

Cranberry sauce home made delish. I use the Delia recipe. Dead simple and lovely. It goes perfectly with a Christmas dinner. Turkey if you must but for me a nut roast.

Yes and has he watched too much american telly?

If you’re going to do it properly you should deep fry the turkey in your garage then all give thanks that the house is still standing.

Hello from your thread friend! ☺️

Do you deep fry turkeys? I had an American neighbour who did and I was stunned! 😂

Sweet potatoes casserole with marshmallows is a Midwestern thing is it not? I never had it this way but I do love it topped with pecans and make it quite often. It’s really delicious!

it’s so interesting how thanksgiving varies from region to other, I’ve had things like quiche , truffle mac & cheese served.

there is a lady that always pops up on my FYP , specially this time of year and she cooks the majority from cans!

Did you take that from the link I sent? 😂

There is so much more on there.

You'd also know that Thanksgiving was also a time of fasting and praying, not gluttony. Also at some 'celebrations' thanks was directly given for the murder of indigenous tribes.

OP's wants to cook the foods for her DS, fgs.
The holiday has evolved. It's important to be aware of history and be culturally sensitive, but the holiday has been reclaimed to bring people together.
With all the political division there they need something that isn't politicized.

With mixed views within the Native Americans surely every family can decide on how (if at all) to keep Thanksgiving. the full history should be told though whatever you do on the day, Those of us not in the US or Canada are not so immediately involved, but colonial history should be taught in full. I did get to learn it and apart from anything else Native Americans have a wonderful culture and art alongside the trauma.

Also what is happen to Native American life today - the poor state of their health and education and levels of poverty and alcohol use due to trauma of things like forced resettlement.

It isn’t completely one way for me either. I was born in the UK but parents are from another part of the empire, India. It wasn’t my ancestors who invaded the land that is now America, but otoh my life here is better due to what happened through the resources of slavery (museums of art, cities built with profits)

I try not to overthink when I visit my American relatives who have definitely all learned this history.

I was used to my mum always prepping things from scratch. I grew up in SE England and there was always fresh veg, and a lot of it. I lived on the USA east coast for 3 years a long time ago and restaurants would have wonderful quality veg and salads, but the supermarkets seemed so limited. I do wonder if shipping and transport was an issue. But the use of tinned food in the States seems common even now, just reading the posts further up the thread. I loved my "in-laws" - they were lovely warm generous people, but perhaps of their age. They had both grown up and lived more inland - if you live in a State that doesn't necessarily grow a lot of produce then maybe canning is the answer. I think here in the UK we would accept frozen perhaps as good as fresh. Weirdly I dont remember much about frozen veg.

Ah I'm glad I clicked on this thread, how funny, I have decided after years of umming and ahhing to try and do a Thanksgiving style meal. We're all from the UK so have no ties at all, and we won't be doing it on the actual day, but I've just gone out and got the ingredients and will do it this weekend!

I'm doing:
Roast chicken (Turkey is way too big for a regular dinner for us!)
Stuffing
Cornbread muffins
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potatoes
Macaroni Cheese
Mashed Potatoes

For dessert, I'm making a chocolate and pecan thing. I'm really excited!!

Probably not that great! But elsewhere on this thread it is clear that many of the Thanksgiving dishes do seem to involve canned produce. So was she unusual or normal for the time? She was great, i wasnt cooking, so just stayed appreciative!

Plenty of examples on this thread alone, and not just mine!

Do post please the green bean casserole recipe.

Stuffing

I'm making one of those ones with Campbell's condensed mushroom soup and crispy dry onions on top!

Many recipes seem very similar including the one on the actual Campbell's site, but I've also had an idea to add some soft cheese and extra seasoning to suit my taste 😊

Green Bean Casserole | Campbell's® Recipes

Brilliant thank you. I think the condensed soups are a great way to get flavour into a dish.

That's quite true... my mum only opened cans of veg for dinner unless potatoes, corn on the cob or sprouts. 😂🤷‍♀️

I wasn't responding to your post but to the one I quoted.

I think a previous poster noted correctly that it's stuffing if cooked inside the bird and dressing if it's cooked outside the bird. This is generally true, except that there are regional linguistic differences. These days almost no one cooks stuffing inside the turkey, mainly for food safety reasons. In the Southern US, it's always called dressing. In other parts of the US, people call it stuffing even if it is actually dressing cooked outside the bird.

There are also often amusing fusions of regional dishes on the Thanksgiving table because of people moving around and, in particular, people of different regions marrying. I grew up in the Deep South where cornbread dressing is an absolute must for Thanksgiving. My husband grew up in New York State where his family always had stuffing ,(though cooked outside the bird) made with bread, onions and apples. Everything Thanksgiving we have both.

I’ve been reading all the posts and I think you all are spot on as far as a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The stuffing might vary in the different parts of the US. I’m not a fan of the sweet potato casserole. I also didn’t grow up with cornbread rolls but love them otherwise. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Oh! My mom would also make a pecan and a mincemeat pie for my dad. Ugh on the mincemeat!