Share your unique "family favorite Thanksgiving recipe" that someone makes every year

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Something that not everyone makes. Here's an extremely easy side dish...

Mystery tomato mold

3 small pkg. raspberry Jell-O
1 cup boiling water
6 drops Tabasco sauce
3 cans stewed tomatoes, broken up

Place Jell-o in large bowl and add boiling water, stir until dissolved. Add 6 drops Tabasco sauce and stir. Add all the stewed tomatoes, the entire contents of the cans. Stir and pour into Jell-O mold, a ring mold works very well. Chill overnight, then unmold onto a bed of greens. Serve with a small side bowl of sour cream if desired. The reason it's called "mystery" is because when they taste it for the first time, people can't figure out what it is, even if they like the taste.

[mykpart]

1. Okay, but it contains Velveeta:

Golden Green Beans

4 slices of bacon
2 - 16 oz. Cans green beans, thoroughly drained. (any kind, but whole or
frenchstyle work best)
½ pound Velveeta
¼ Cup milk
1 Stack Ritz crackers, crushed

Heat oven to 350. Fry bacon until crisp. Set aside. Pour off some of the fat & save, but leave at least 2 Tablespoons in the skillet. Add Velveeta & milk; stir until melted. Add crumbled bacon and beans. Mix lightly. Spoon into 1 ½ quart casserole. Top with crackers. Drizzle with either bacon fat or melted butter. Bake 15 minutes.

[begin_within]

3. Sounds good, but also very, very rich.

[mykpart]

It is, and as a heart patient,

I only eat it at Thanksgiving! But it is yummy.

[begin_within]

7. I made one like that a couple of years ago, with the Velveeta cheese but no bacon,

and may family didn't eat much of it. I think they were expecting the usual green bean casserole. So last year I made the traditional one, the recipe that's on the can of the french-fried onions. The only thing I did different was I used fresh green beans, and steamed them for about 20 or 30 minutes before putting them into the mixture. The family gobbled that up - there was absolutely nothing left in the dish. I think the fresh green beans made it better.

[mykpart]

8. Oh, ya gotta have the bacon!

It helps kill the plastic flavor of the Velveeta! But I'll bet your casserole with fresh green beans was wonderful. I'm sure fresh makes a big difference. But when you cook with Velveeta, anything fresh would be a contradiction.

[begin_within]

9. I confess, I actually like Velveeta. I don't think of it as cheese, though.

I just think of it as a peculiar American invention that tastes good to me. Like some sort of recipe made partly with cheese.

[Broken_Hero]

2. Hawaiian punch mixed

with a lemon/lime soda...like 7Up, or Sierra Mist, or some knock off cheapo brand...its rather tasty...:)

[begin_within]

4. That sounds good. You know what else is really good...

Take a half-gallon of raspberry sherbet, and let it soften in the refrigerator to the point where you can stir it. Also chill one bottle of 7 up. When you're ready to serve, pour the 7-up into a punch bowl, and carefully stir and fold in the raspberry sherbet. It's really good and refreshing.

[mykpart]

5. My husband LOVES that punch.

But we use ginger ale instead of 7-Up. It's not as sweet.

[begin_within]

10. I'll try it with ginger ale - thanks

[Broken_Hero]

6. damn, I got this thread bookmarked...:)

That sounds very good...:)

[IronLionZion]

12. other good combinations

cranberry juice (juice not cocktail) with lemon/lime soda

orange juice with ginger ale (make it yourself, don't use orangina)

yoghurt with lemon/lime or even with club soda and just a small pinch of salt. This goes very well with spicy food. (we sometimes have a spicy turkey at our house).

If you like something hot, try your favorite hot chocolate (mine's Ghirardelli) with a cinnamon stick and 1 cut red chile. mmmmm.... or you can use a pinch of red chile powder and cinnamon powder. Making it in a saucepan is best because it really absorbs the flavor while simmering.

[Courtesy Flush]

11. Not really a recipe, but...

When we were newlyweds, my wife introduced me to turkey necks. Sounds dumb, but trust me on this one.

She was the baby of the family, and she always claimed the neck as a pre-dinner treat. She shared one with me and I thought it was the best thing I'd ever eaten!

When roasting a turkey, there's all that good gravy in the bottom of the pan. That's where the neck goes. Just let it float around in that gravy, and soak up all that flavor. People will be fighting over it.

^^^Be sure to obey that paragraph above, though! My mom, not wanting to be outdone, decided to cook the neck one year. She put it in the body cavity of the bird, and it was awful! (My mom never could cook). It has to simmer in that gravy!

As the years passed, my wife's family grew, and now her mom has to buy an extra pack of turkey necks to keep up with the demand.

[BigMcLargehuge]

13. I use the neck to make turkey rice soup for eating while

the big bird cooks

[bicentennial_baby]

47. Hey, what's your recipe for that?

If you don't mind :)

[KatyaR]

14. I used to have a pumpkin pecan pie recipe from Country Living

Magazine that was to die for--it was baked in layers and was just perfect, both kinds of pie but not really sweet.

Unfortunately I've lost the recipe, and I can't find anyone anywhere who has it--ARRRGG!!

Oh well-I don't have anyone to do Thanksgiving with anyway, so it'd just be a waste to make it, but it was a really good recipe.

When I was a kid, my cousin made a ham loaf that was to die for--yum!

[Sacajawea]

16. fifthgendem....Too bad you're so far from NY....You could join us.

I'm making something called "Mexican Lasagna." I'm a vegetarian. My S.O. isn't, but he eats what I cook (we've known each other about 38 years). It's either that, or, we make......reservations. But before we do this, we've volunteered to deliver sort of "Meals on Wheels on Thanksgiving" that a local restaurant is providing for people in need. I've wanted to do that for a long time and he's agreed to do it with me (in fact, the restaurant specifically said they wouldn't send women out alone, so I'm glad he'll do it). Maybe there's something like this you could do where you live. Happy Thanksgiving to you!!! :hi:

[KatyaR]

38. It is too bad--I love NY.

And "Mexican Lasagna" doesn't sound so bad either. :9

[tinfoilinfor2005]

18. Is this it?

Ingredients:
Pastry for Single Crust Pie
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 15-oz can pumpkin
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. dark corn syrup
1 t. vanilla
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1 c. chopped pecans


Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pastry crust, crimp edge.
2. In large bowl, stir together eggs, pumpkin, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon.
3. Place pastry crust on oven rack, carefully fill. Sprinkle with pecans.
4. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Cover and chill within 2 hours.

And you're welcome to my house on Thanksgiving!










:hi:

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23. Thanks, I'm going to send that to my sister, who makes all the pies.

Maybe she'll try it this year.

[KatyaR]

37. You guys are so sweet--thank you!

That's not quite the recipe, but it's pretty close--enough to make me really hungry for pie!

I really don't have any problem with being at home on Thanksgiving. It's a nice time to just chill out and enjoy the quiet--also to realize that I won't be getting up in the middle of the night on Friday morning to go shopping! YIKES!

This year's plan is to cook something (I don't have a clue as to what) and play with some dye and yarn and spinning fiber. Believe me, I'll make just as big a mess in the kitchen as if I was with 15 other people.

Happy Thanksgiving, DU!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

15. Celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese.

Mix one package cream cheese with one tablespoon very finely diced onion and a quarter cup chopped walnuts. Salt to taste. Fill celery sticks (I cut one large stick in thirds).

These make a good crunchy appetizer and aren't too awfully filling, as the dinner always seems to take longer than planned.

[begin_within]

22. That sounds good. My niece always makes one similar to that, but hers has

shredded cheddar cheese, garlic salt, and mayonnaise all mixed together as the stuffing. I think there might be a little bit of pepper too but I'm not sure of it. Then she puts it into celery sticks. It's a rich, filling appetizer, so I think the celery sticks should be loaded lightly with it. But my niece piles it on, and if I eat one, it kind of kills my appetite for the dinner. But they are good! Yours sounds good too.

[Redstone]

17. Recipe to make dealing with relatives absolutely painless:

Take one eight-ounce water glass out of cabinet.

Place three ice cubes in glass.

Fill with Maker's Mark.

Drink.

Repeat.


Redstone

[skygazer]

44. Best recipe on the thread

:thumbsup:

[kwassa]

46. Not always ....

A friend of mine talks about how his father and uncle used to get drunk and have fistfights at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

[Redstone]

48. The secret is that you don't let anyone else do it. Just yourself.

Redstone

[Lyric]

19. Sweet Potato Casserole

2 cups warm mashed sweet potatoes
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup canned milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup flour
1/2 stick melted butter
dash salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the stuff on top together in a big bowl with a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer). Spread it into a glass casserole dish (I use a size 13x9) that's been sprayed with nonstick cooking/baking spray. Then mix all the stuff on the bottom together and spread it on top of the sweet potato mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes. Your family will worship you over this. *nods*

[begin_within]

24. Sounds great. I think I'll make that.

[texanwitch]

20. I make dressing but I really don't have written recipe.

I make it the same way my mother did, just throw stuff in until it looks and tastes right.

I will be making it on Tuesday.

[Lyric]

21. Sausage Balls

1 lb bulk pork sausage (Jimmy Dean "Mild" tastes the best to me)
8 ounces sharp grated cheddar cheese
2 cups Bisquick

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix it all together in a bowl. Roll it into balls (mine are usually a little bigger than golf balls). Put the balls on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with white country gravy for dipping. :)

[reyd reid reed]

25. Kinda like mine...

well...except that I use Owen's instead of Jimmy Dean. And I add finely chopped celery. And onion. And garlic. And a teeeeeeeny bit of worchestershire. And pepper.

[Kali]

39. someone brought that to a party last August and it was really yummy.

She said breakfast sausage was the recipe but she didn't have any and used italian sausage.

[Lyric]

40. Mmmm--that sounds yummy

But I'd have to use the kind without whole caraway seeds.

Biting into a caraway seed has a way of ruining my whole mood. :D

[ruiner4u]

26. I must say I am half disgusted, half intrigued by that..

so much so I am printing out that recipe.

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27. You mean the tomato one in my OP? It's a lot like "tomato aspic" but it's also sweet and tangy.

It's cheap to make and extremely easy too.

[ruiner4u]

28. I didnt mean any offence...

Im doing thanksgiving this year and im trying to make it nice and interesting...
So please tell me if you posted that recipe as a joke.. cause I plan on making it as a test run and seeing how it it turns out..

[begin_within]

29. I have brought that many times to potlucks... it's not a "Thanksgiving recipe," but

it works well as part of the "appetizers" when people first arrive and they are putting olives, pickles and cauliflower on little plates, they can also scoop up a little of the tomato jell-o thing along with it, as a compliment to the olives and pickles. It should not be served with the main dinner on Thanksgiving because it would compete with the cranberry sauce. I would suggest that you make the jell-0 a day or two ahead, and pour a small amount into a paper cup and refrigerate that until firm, then taste it yourself and decide whether to use the rest of it on Thanksgiving. It's not for people who want a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with the same old traditional things.

Here is another appetizer you might use instead, although this is much richer and each person should only take a tiny amount of it before the main meal. This recipe is extremely popular in California, it's almost like you can't go to any kind of gathering without seeing one dish of it on the buffet.

Artichoke Dip

1 can Artichoke hearts -- plain, not the ones marinated in oil
4 ounces Green chiles -- chopped (one small can of mild green chiles)
1 cup Mayonnaise -- not salad dressing
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Drain artichoke hearts and break apart. Mix all ingredients together. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before attempting to taste or serve. It stays hot for a LONG time. Serve with tortilla chips or assorted crackers.

[Ediacara]

30. Mulled Wine

1500 ml Red wine (two bottles)
750 ml White wine (one bottle)
1 Orange, sliced
1 Pear, sliced
Cider spices (candied ginger, star anise, cinnamon etc) in a tea ball or something similar
~3/4 cups sugar

Heat the wine in a crockpot with all ingredients but the sugar. Just before it starts to boil, taste it and add sugar accordingly, and turn down the heat so it's warm, but not boiling off the alcohol. It's amazing, BUT BE WARNED: hot alcohol gets people really toasted really fast.

[Blue-Jay]

31. OK. Happy to share!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

42. Love the drawing!

And I must admit that one of my guilty pleasures on Thanksgiving is the jiggly cranberry sauce. Cranberry purists just shake their heads, but I need to have some of this on my plate or it just isn't Thanksgiving!

[Gelliebeans]

32. Gelliebeans' recipes

I make pecan/chocolate pie
I use the recipe on the dark Caro syrup bottle and add 1/2 cup of semi-sweet morsels. Btw you can pick up pillsbury roll out pie crust if you don't want to be bothered with homemade crust it is a time saver but not as flaky.

I make:

Garlic Green Beans with Almonds

I buy fresh green beans and wash and trim and add them to a bag or bowl and marinade with sliced garlic you can use garlic powder if you can't be bothered with peeling garlic and pinch of salt and 2 tbsp. olive oil let sit in refridge about 3 hours till cook time. I pan fry in butter (you can use olive oil but I like the taste of butter better) I like them still a little crisp.

Don't forget to add a handful of sliced almonds to the pan when you get ready to cook the beans. (omit this of course if someone has a nut allergy)


Apple Pecan Stuffing

I make a regular sourdough out of the bird recipe for stuffing (store brand is fine, make per directions and put aside and keep warm in low oven or hot plate).
and I then dress it up;

I saute the following ingredients before adding to the stuffing

heat pan then add 2 teaspoons of olive oil or a little butter then add in order below
2 small stalks of celery chopped finely
1/2 yellow onion chopped finely
1/4 cup of craisens dried cranberries
one med green apple peeled and cut into small pieces (1 apple per 4-6 servings of stuffing)
Cook all above ingredients until onions are translucent and everything is a little cooked but not mushy.
Add all above ingredients to already cooked stuffing and fluff with fork (they never know ;) )

*You can omit this next step if someone has a nut allergy

Add warmed sugared walnuts or pecans for that nutty taste to your stuffing
1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans and a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt in a dry pan
heat until sugar has completely melted (about 3-5 minutes) add this to the stuffing also!

Ok there are few off the top of my head.

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33. Thanks... they all sound great

[sakabatou]

34. We've now been cooking our birds with maple syrup,

honey and brown sugar.

[davsand]

35. Oysters.

Oyster dressing is the big thing in my family, and seems to gross my husband out...

Make regular bread dressing with the bread cubes, celery, diced onion, sage, and chicken/turkey broth along with a couple of beaten eggs. Mix in raw oysters and then bake until cooked thru and browned on top.

Dunno where that came from originally, but it is THE thing at my family Thanksgivings. According to my Dad they ate it at Thanksgiving as kids--even during the Depression.

-----

I was seriously shocked when I was living with a man who had a family tradition of Scalloped Oysters at Thanksgiving.

Take a bunch of fresh raw oysters and put them in a pie plate that is buttered. Break in Ritz Crackers (a couple of tubes) and add some minced onion, one beaten egg and enough Cream (or Half & Half) to wet down all of those crackers to a soupy/thick kind of batter. Bake until set.

You can add some Cayenne if you like more "snap" but his Mom always added just a bit of nutmeg for extra flavor.

I had to call his sister for the recipe because his parents were both gone. It isn't bad, but I still personally think Oyster Dressing is better.

And finally, no holiday in my family is complete without chocolate of some kind. I dunno why, but you have GOT to have chocolate pie, or fudge, or even brownies if it is a holiday. I used to TAKE my own chocolate to the in-laws just so it'd feel like a holiday. Those folks are all FRUIT PIE fans!

Have a good holiday everyone!


Laura

[trof]

36. I LOVE oyster dressing.

A close friend used to make the best I ever had every year.
She died a couple of years ago and Thanksgiving just never will be the same.
:-(

[Kali]

41. Mom's Anchorage Alaska Sausage Stuffing

2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 lb (+or- they are usually 12 oz) bulk pork sausage - jimmy dean SAGE is the best
2 8 oz pkgs cornbread stuffing (or you can make cornbread a couple days ahead of time - much better)
1 cup broth (from neck or just hot water)
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon pepper

butter, margarine, or oil (I just use the grease from the sausage)

Brown sausage, saute vegs until just softened. In large bowl, combine cornbread stuffing, and hot broth. Add vegs, sausage seasonings and eggs. Mix well. Lightly stuff turkey. Extra can be baked in a dish until hot and top is crisp. (I use cheese cloth inside the bird, so I can get all the stuffing back out)

Enough for about a 16 lb Turkey, double for a hugemongous 20+ pounder.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

43. Years ago when I was still nursing, I led an activities class for Alzheimer's

patients. Every Thanksgiving I would stand up in front of my class and tell them that the cooks in the kitchen had requested suggestions for the Thanksgiving meal. At first I would get one or two half hearted suggestions, but as I wrote them on the chalk board, someone would suddenly remember a recipe from long ago, and soon hands were fluttering in the air, and people were nodding their heads and buzzing about foods they were remembering from long past Thanksgivings. By the time we finished, the board was full of wonderful foods and memories.

Happy Thanksgiving, DU!

[Roon]

45. Frog Eye Salad

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/frog-eye-salad/detail.aspx