I quite fancy making Thanksgiving dinner this year

[canihaveacoffeeplease]

Just for a bit of fun I thought it would be nice to have a family thanksgiving dinner on the weekend closest to Thanksgiving. We won't do the full on celebration, presents etc but just wanted to make a bit of effort and have a lovely meal. So, any suggestions of what we should/shouldn't have? Also, I know it's traditional but just can't bring myself to make sweet potato topped with marshmallow, fairly sure 90% of it would end up in the bin!

So far I've got:

Roast turkey (obvs)
Cornbread
Mash
Stuffing/dressing- as traditional a recipe as I can find
Creamed spinach
Green bean casserole
Some more veg...again want trad recipes not just steamed veg

Pecan pie
Another pud, maybe traditional apple pie?

I'd love suggestions!

This thread is very heartwarming. It's nice to read about others giving Thanksgiving dinner a try!

One adjustment I've made over the years is substituting pumpkin pie for the Barefoot Contessa's pumpkin roulade. I really love pumpkin pie, but my family doesn't, so this is a popular compromise.

A nice thing about Thanksgiving is the regional difference in required dishes -- in the South, for example (and for a lot of African American families), macaroni and cheese is mandatory; I understand a lot of Midwesterners demand wild rice dishes. And I have known Italian Americans who prepare a ton of things like manicotti and a huge antipasto platter ... and then offer the traditional turkey on top of all that!

Have fun, and please know that not all Americans put marshmallows on their sweet potatoes.

Where can you buy a turkey from at this time of year? Most supermarkets don't stock them year round! Interesting thread I'm tempted to have a go

@DriftingBlue

The one “tradition” you might want to add is going around the table and everyone says something they are thankful for that year.

We do this every year too. The kids and now grandkids always moan, but they usually come up with something meaningful. Worth it for Grandpa's roast potatoes that always literally vanish.

We have pumpkin cheesecake instead of pie once in a while. Very delicious! With whipped cream and pecans on top.

Ive got to agreem witj mummyj12 my (very) northern english childhood halloween was a big thing - and smelled of swede burned by candle light apple bobbing featured heavily as well.

@HeronLanyon

As an American living in the uk most of my life I find it a bit odd for the most American of all holidays (well there are others) to be celebrated in the uk by those with no links to the USA. Obviously we can all do as we please but I’ve never heard of this here and seems odd. Kind of worried that eg Bonfire night ir Diwali is going to get lost amongst British doing very American Halloween and thanksgiving stuff. Hmmm

Thanksgiving, like Halloween, was not something we Americans just came up with out of the blue. Thanksgiving has British origins. It’s based on English church thankgivings for a good harvest. The first people to observe it in the Americas were British.

I'm in the Southern US; we will have turkey, corn bread dressing (not called stuffing when it's cooked outside the turkey) sweet potatoes (no marshmallows), mac and cheese (this is more of a Southern thing for Thanksgiving); green bean casserole (only time of year we have it); brussels sprouts roasted with bacon; cranberry sauce; crescent rolls; pumpkin pie, apple pie, and Kentucky Derby pie (chocolate pecan pie with Bourbon in it).

No presents at Thanksgiving. It's one of the reasons that it's my favorite holiday.

@SenecaFallsRedux

I think you'll find that the first people to observe a "thanksgiving" in the Americans were not British:

texasalmanac.com/topics/history/timeline/first-thanksgiving

I made it quite a few years ago now.
I brined the turkey, and also cut off a leg and deep fried it!
We loved trying everything, though I hated the oyster stuffing I made, Dd really liked it
It was so much fun.
It's just me now so I rarely cook but I'm interested in following.

I stand corrected. Frobisher was first.

But "thanksgiving" was also something done in Spain and even in France so it's not entirely British and their church.

@PolarTundra

Where can you buy a turkey from at this time of year? Most supermarkets don't stock them year round! Interesting thread I'm tempted to have a go

Similar to @PolarTundra I’m interested in buying a turkey for Thanksgiving and I’m wondering where to get it.

@PaolaDiLorenzo thanks for answering and the reminder about squash. I really love acorn squash and delicata squash cooked with the skin on and sliced into rings.

I’m looking forward to making my orange cranberry sauce now!

Macaroni and cheese from scratch and banana pudding for dessert