Halloween is over, which always makes me a little sad. :( However, my consolation is that we get to start planning our Thanksgiving dishes! Yay!
Over the next few weeks, I will share several of my favorite dishes that you could easily work into your Thanksgiving menu. By the end of it, hopefully you will have a couple of new recipes for your guests!
And in a couple of weeks, after I have dazzled you with the best of our Thanksgiving recipes, I will share with you a few of my Thanksgiving fails. Hopefully, you can avoid making the same mistakes I have over the years, or else sharing my embarrassing, ugly dishes will be in vain! :)
First of all, I would like to share my personal history with hosting Thanksgiving dinner, if you all don't mind. :) Otherwise, just scroll down to see our menu!
Until I asked to start hosting Thanksgiving in college, we never had a family dinner at home. Every year we were invited to the home of a good family friend, but when the father of the family had a stroke, they understandably stopped hosting their large parties. While I was in high school, we just simply did not have a Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't really mind, since I was probably an angsty teen that did not miss family time anyways!
Then, in college when everyone went home for Thanksgiving break, I asked my mom if we could host a family dinner. The joke was on me though because my mom had never cooked a Thanksgiving from scratch on her own, so she ordered it from a restaurant!
It was just okay, and I knew that I could do better, even though I did not cook regularly at the time! The next year, I did EVERYTHING myself from soup to nuts, or rather turkey to apple pie. Unfortunately, some of the dishes were duds and it took way too long. That is when I decided that we should divide and conquer. So over the last several years, my mom, my sister, and I have shared the dishes. That way, we only have to prep and cook five dishes maximum. Much more manageable! Add to that the dishes that all of my aunts bring over, and we have tons of food to spare! We have lots of family, so that's always a concern for us. :)
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Okay, now that you know our story, here is how we plan our menu every year. We take into account everyone's likes and dislikes, dietary restrictions, popular items from the year before, and overall yumminess! It's been several years of trial and error, but we finally have our best Thanksgiving menu!
- Turkey: The main attraction and the only dish that is a must!
- Ham: We have a cousin who grew up on a farm with chickens, so she doesn't eat any poultry. For her, my aunt always brings over a ham!
- Rotating Entree #3: In the past I made a Brisket and a Spinach Lasagna, my sister made Beef Chili, my mom made Grilled Salmon, and another aunt brought over a pasta dish, which have all been big hits. We decide on the last entree depending on where there is a hole in the menu, oven timing, and whomever has the energy to take on another dish!
- Roasted Potatoes: Over the years, we have tried mashed, scalloped, fried, etc. As a whole, we decided that we like roasted potatoes the best! Mom's in charge of this dish.
- Gravy: Except for me, our family never used gravy, so we decided to nix it from the menu. :( A couple of years ago, my mom found a recipe from TV that is a total winner and now I finally have my gravy!
- Stuffing: This was the bane of my existence because once again, I looooved stuffing but no one in my family did. So, it was up to me to find a recipe that I liked. I tried a different one year after year, until I FINALLY found one that the entire family loves!
- Macaroni & cheese: My sister changes her recipe every year and swears that it was better the year before. Silly girl, it's always amazing!
- Dinner Rolls: One of cousins brings these over every year. Easy peasy!
