Thanksgiving
ChastMastr
Shipmate
in Heaven
What are people doing this year for Thanksgiving? (Or, if Canadian, what did you do for Thanksgiving?)
Comments
Interested to know what Thanksgiving decorations look like. Do you buy them or make them?
We have always celebrated it with them.
Now that the grandchildren are in school and Thursday is not an option we have moved our celebration to the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.
15 of us will gather at grandson Huxley's home as it's set up for him and also the largest space.
We'll eat Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, creamed onions, devilled green beans, cornbread and a jellied cranberry salad.
Dessert is Pecan pies and Brownies.
And, of course there are artificial mums.
Our family growing up always did big famiy gather Thanksgiving on the week-ends. Enjoy.
Those coloured corn-cobs are so pretty! ❤
Pumpkins and other decorative gourds (hat tip to McSweeney's best article ever) stay good for quite a while where I live, as long as you don't cut into them. The jack o'lanterns are long gone, but there is still lots of decorative produce in yards and on porches.
My partner and I will stay home and probably have steak -- we rarely (ha!) have red meat at home, so this will be a treat. Partner will do the steak (I am not good at dishes that are basically a hunk of meat on a plate) and I will do the potatoes, and we'll probably have salad or cole slaw as gesture toward green vegetables. There's a NY Times cooking section recipe for potato dish that's a cross between hasselback and au gratin potatoes that looks amazing. And pie. Gotta have pie.
To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.
I agree. My friend's birthday is also Pi Day and yet they dislike pie - I cannot fathom such a situation. Sweet pies (aside from individual mince pies) are not very traditional at Christmas in the UK, but I would personally welcome such a Thanksgiving-Christmas hodgepodge as I find Christmas pudding etc to be a bit too rich (although I enjoy some un-iced Christmas cake with cheese). There is Cumberland rum nicky, which sounds like it would taste very festive but I don't think it is actually specific to the festive season.
Oh my God. That sounds like the level of being pleased might get a bit overwhelming after just a few years... I mean, the first year it's only twice as pleased, the next it's four times, then eight, and so on, and so on...
A friend from Cumbria used to give us a tub of Cumberland rum butter for Christmas; the idea was to put it on mince pies, but it's actually really nice on toast.
Mix six tablespoons (175g/6oz) each of soft butter and soft dark brown sugar until pale, then gradually beat in six tablespoons of rum (brandy is an acceptable option). Store in the fridge or freezer and serve on hot toast.
Have a wonderful day everyone.
AFF
Happy 22, AFF
Happy anniversary!!
How lovely for you! Have a wonderful day and make some great memories.
And thank you for your well wishes. ❤️
All the hugs!
AFF
We’re having lunch with my sister and her family tomorrow, and then supper with my wife’s side of the family, so we are just responsible for a few side dishes and, most importantly, pies. The dressing (by which is meant what in other parts of the world is called stuffing), green bean casserole (no cream of anything soup, just actual cream and roux), macaroni and cheese (with pimento cheese) and bourbon pecan pie are done, and the chocolate chess pie is about to come out of the oven. That’ll just leave reheating, throwing together a salad and whipping cream for tomorrow.
Hope we all eat well and make happy memories today.
🧡🍁🏵️🦃🦃🦃🍽🥧🏈🦃🦃🧡🍁🏵️🧡🍁🏵️
AFF
As a Brit I've never experienced Thanksgiving, but as a carb-lover who likes to try new food this all does sound delicious! What exactly is chocolate chess pie....I'm imagining something chequered like a chess board but that's probably far off the mark!
My experience is there isn’t really an agreed-upon definition of what qualifies as chess pie. Some would say a little acid (buttermilk or vinegar) in the filling, others would say a little flour or cornmeal, and others milk. But some chess pies have none of those. I’d say the common denominator of all chess pies is the consistency of the filling—smooth and silky, and able to hold its shape (unless really warm) without being stiff or stodgy.
If you’re interested, here is the go-to recipe in these parts for chocolate chess pie. (The restaurant it comes from a Raleigh institution.) It’s ridiculously easy to make. The top is crusty and crackly, but the inside is luscious. In my family when I was growing up, it was often requested in lieu of birthday cake. I’m the odd one who would rather it not be served warm; I like it at room temperature or chilled.
(And fyi, a “stick” of butter in the US is a half-cup/quarter-of-a-pound of butter.)
Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating!
And thanks for the reminder to turn on the parade, @NicoleMR! Enjoy the day with your brother!
I am!!
Happy Thanksgiving!! 🦃🍁🍽
We watched most of the parade, and Granddaughter CJ was dancing to the music almost the whole time!
And yes, in the US “tart” generally means a smaller, perhaps individually sized, pastry. If it’s big enough to cut into pieces, it’s a pie.
Whether there is a top crust is irrelevant to whether its called a pie in the US. A pie can have a top crust (often the case with fruit pies), nothing on top (often the case with custard pies and chess pies), or something else on top, like the meringue on a key lime pie. They’re all “pies” here.
Thanks! This looks amazing - I may surprise my partner on Valentine's Day.
I broke with tradition and didn't serve pie today - I made small pumpkin cheesecakes with a graham cracker crust, and they came out well. I was cutting down a full-size recipe, as my partner and I don't need to be eating cheesecake for a week, so I had to take a guess at the baking time, but I guessed right - no cracks, and they were perfect.
It was originally going to be just my partner and me. Our families are both on the other side of the country, and we'll visit them at Christmas. We have a standing invitation at my best friend's family's Thanksgiving, but this year it was hosted by one of her brothers, someone I really don't care for, plus neither he nor his wife can cook. I was feeling a little bad about not going, but then we learned that one of our neighbors was going to be alone for Thanksgiving, so we invited her. She's doing a medical residency, currently working nights, and didn't get Thanksgiving off, so her partner went to see his family. She said her mom, also out of state, was glad she had somewhere to go today, so I feel like my unwillingness to spend Thanksgiving with someone I don't like was amply rewarded.