A small Thanksgiving success

[theelfqueen]

I talked my mom out of making green bean casserole -- that only my Dad eats.

I will make roasted green beans with bacon and it will be ok. 

Now if I could rein in the enormous Thanksgiving menu a bit more.

I discussed it with my mom and she just kept trying to add things. "What about noodles? What about green bean casserole? What do you mean there are 4 desserts but not apple pie?" (I'd prefer apple to cherry too but my Dad loves cherry.) 

But still I have defeated the green bean casserole. 

 

[Faith-manor]

Good for you! My mom also keeps trying to talk us into an unholy amount of food that no one can eat, and will just make the day so darn hectic to bring to fruition. I put my foot down on some of it. Mark is working on his mom as well in order to keep the number of dishes reasonable, and the kind of food palatable. No mom, we do not want pistachio flavored Jello with walnuts and cool whip smooshed together, and squash with marshmallows and raisins that even you do not eat!!! Nope nope nope.

[Carol in Cal.]

Squash is a complete waste of cooking time.  It’s pretty as a centerpiece.  For heaven’s sake let it be there and do its pretty thing.

[El...]

Ew, squash! But I must admit, I do love that green jellow pistachio marshmallow stuff. I can't bring myself to make it, but at a potluck, yum! 

[KSera]

We love squash! I hated it growing up, because it was watery and flavorless. Now that we know how to cook it, it’s delicious! 

[marbel]

Ah, I fear someday I am going to be the mother/MIL who is saying "wait, what about this; we need this!" I love the feast/abundance aspect of Thanksgiving and love to try new side dishes, desserts, etc.  Green beans, brussels sprouts, and roasted squash?  Bring it on!  Pumpkin pie sure, but how about this cranberry cake too, and something for the chocolate lover?

That said, I don't make tons of everything; only reasonable amounts that people can/will eat during the tasty/safe life of the leftovers. Many things cannot be frozen but special things that are only made once or twice a year will get eaten daily till they are all gone. I am not a fan of food waste - who is?  But seeing a lot of dishes with various tastes to sample makes me happy. 

Edited November 17, 2021 by marbel

[theelfqueen]

I'm allergic to winter squashes (like butternut and acorn) ... I can eat summer squashes (like zucchini). I can eat pumpkin but I have a contact allergy so I cant like carve a pumpkin. 

No squash at our Thanksgiving.

 

[mmasc]

We’ve never had a green bean casserole at a holiday meal, BUT it’s traditional for it to be green beans from a can, unfortunately. I find this sad because they are SO much better sautéed, roasted, pretty much anything! But we are never, ever with family on Thanksgiving due to physical distance, so I always do everyone’s (dh and 3 dc) favorites/must-haves so it’s comforting and delicious. We’re probably the one American family who isn’t “sick of holiday food” around Christmas time. When we go home for Christmas, everyone has already had 2 or 3 Thanksgiving meals, then 3 or 4 Christmas meals, all traditional and similar. But not us!!! We get the ONE Christmas meal made at MIL’s house and my dh and I enjoy it very much. Me especially, since I have to make all of the thanksgiving stuff! One year, my extended family tried to un-tradional it with bbq or something, and I was like no way, please, this is our only Christmas meal!!! I super duper love dressing (the cornbread kind of course😉), and sweet potatoes, and pecan pie. The rest is fine too. 😁

[kbutton]

54 minutes ago, KSera said:

We love squash! I hated it growing up, because it was watery and flavorless. Now that we know how to cook it, it’s delicious! 

My DH said almost exactly this and gleefully made squash from time to time. Several years into this, he said, "I don't really like squash; I've just been telling myself I do because it's good for me." The mind is a powerful thing. I'm just trying to save you time and spare your family. 😉 🤣🤪

(You can enjoy squash. I'm just teasing, though the story is completely true.)

[KSera]

Here’s one of our favorite squash recipes: Delicata squash fries

[Tree Frog]

18 minutes ago, KSera said:

Here’s one of our favorite squash recipes: Delicata squash fries

I'm not a big squash eater and don't like pumpkin flavor. I'd never heard of delicata squash until my dd suggested having this salad for Christmas last year. She suggested it for Thanksgiving this year instead of a cranberry spinach salad. It is delicious! https://cookieandkate.com/roasted-delicata-squash-pomegranate-arugula-salad/

I really like that my young adults are now wanting healthier foods. The standard cranberry/whipped cream salad is being replaced this year. No one has requested it. Green bean casserole will be a much smaller dish because dh is the only one who wants it. Instead, we're having Green Bean Almondine.

 

[saraha]

Don’t  you need the noodles to top the mashed potatoes?!? 😆

3 hours ago, theelfqueen said:

I discussed it with my mom and she just kept trying to add things. "What about noodles?

 

[cjzimmer1]

We have a lot of foods because they are super important to one or two family members and so to keep everyone happy we end up with everything.  Only 3 people out of 15 eat mashed potatoes but for all of them it is THE thing they looked forward to at Thanksgiving.  Only 5 people eat stuffing but that is their THE thing.  One of those stuffing eaters insists on having raisins in the stuffing (which the other 4 find to be an abomination) but since that person is the cook, that person just makes 2 kinds of stuffing.  3 people out of 15 eat sweet potatoes.   Not everyone even eats turkey (though we haven't gotten to the point of providing an alternative meat).  So far the only things that everyone eats is asiago bread, strawberry jello salad, and kale salad (although there is disagreements about the toppings and how much dressing so there is 2 variations of that too).  We only have 2 kinds of desserts.  Pumpkin Pie and whatever dessert one of the non-pumpkin eaters chooses to provide.  

We did get to drop the green bean casserole and yucky cranberry orange relish when the older generation passed away although one of my nephews loves the canned cranberry jelly so sometimes that makes an appearance just for him (but he has to take home all the leftovers since no one else will touch it)

[HomeAgain]

Our menu got a little bigger.  Ds11 found out there wasn't going to be mashed potatoes & gravy.  The kid would live on mashed potatoes if he could, and dh caved.  Older ds is coming home after being away and was disappointed we weren't making mac & cheese.  So...... and now dh wants to try a new stuffing recipe.  Three dishes added in a week. 

I have a feeling the fridge is going to look awfully carb heavy the day after.

[Carol in Cal.]

I make a great marinated green bean salad instead of the traditional casserole, and it’s a really nice contrast with all the warm gooey other foods.  Kind of a palate cleanser.  Plus I can make it in advance and it holds well, even though it uses fresh green beans, so it’s convenient, too.   Great for potlucks because I can transport it in my big Tupperware marinator, which seals against leakage, and then dump it into a shallow serving dish on site.

[Tree Frog]

I goofed this year and didn't realize it until I was texting with my kids. I preordered dinner rolls and focaccia bread, thinking I was planning ahead. I now have requests for cranberry bread and crescent rolls, which I agreed to without thinking about what I'd already ordered. So we have 4 types of bread, each type enough for our family. I told dd I will probably freeze some. (And I don't think the crescents will be cooked. I'll cook those another time.)

[Tree Frog]

16 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

(though we haven't gotten to the point of providing an alternative meat

You can do as they do in Texas and add a ham. I can't imagine the amount of leftovers we would have if we added a ham to our meal (Though I'd prefer a ham because I don't much care for turkey.)

Or maybe change turkey to turducken. lol

Edited November 17, 2021 by wilrunner

[prairiewindmomma]

Thanksgiving is essentially a harvest festival. This is the one time of the year that I go wild with making dishes.....and then we eat leftovers for a week.  If your mom wants to make lots of different things......let her have that joy, iykwim. I'm the only one who is going to eat my sweet potato/cranberry/marshmallow dish, but eating it brings back a ton of happier memories for me.  I wonder if your mom also experiences memories through foods...

[cjzimmer1]

2 minutes ago, wilrunner said:

You can do as they do in Texas and add a ham. I can't imagine the amount of leftovers we would have if we added a ham to our meal (Though I'd prefer a ham because I don't much care for turkey.)

Or maybe change turkey to turducken. lol

The non turkey eaters haven't complained so at this point there is no plans of adding a second meat.  And we have ham for Christmas so I don't want to have it twice in that short period of time (because there are guaranteed to be several meals of leftovers of it as well in there).

My dad had a poultry farm when I was growing up so we ate a lot of poultry that only my dad liked growing up because it was "cheap" food.  I can say with great certainty that a turducken isn't going to fly with our group.  Only 2 people of the group would eat a duck (and those people also eat turkey). 

Generally the approach my family has taken is, if you don't like the offerings feel free to bring something you like better. Hence the non-pumpkin eaters had 20- 30 years of no dessert on Thanksgiving until they decided it was worth the effort to provide an alternative.  So it will be with meat.  But of this group, 12 are adults and 3 are minors so it's a completely reasonable request to have them provide something.  Most just don't care as there are plenty of other foods they do enjoy to fill up on.

[Tree Frog]

2 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

The non turkey eaters haven't complained so at this point there is no plans of adding a second meat.  And we have ham for Christmas so I don't want to have it twice in that short period of time (because there are guaranteed to be several meals of leftovers of it as well in there).

My dad had a poultry farm when I was growing up so we ate a lot of poultry that only my dad liked growing up because it was "cheap" food.  I can say with great certainty that a turducken isn't going to fly with our group.  Only 2 people of the group would eat a duck (and those people also eat turkey). 

Generally the approach my family has taken is, if you don't like the offerings feel free to bring something you like better. Hence the non-pumpkin eaters had 20- 30 years of no dessert on Thanksgiving until they decided it was worth the effort to provide an alternative.  So it will be with meat.  But of this group, 12 are adults and 3 are minors so it's a completely reasonable request to have them provide something.  Most just don't care as there are plenty of other foods they do enjoy to fill up on.

I don't know anyone who would like to eat a turducken. I think it sounds odd and have no interest in trying it!

Your second paragraph is kind of how we do our family dinner. It's only our young adults so far (and maybe one or 2 guests), but the first question I ask is what would you like to have for Thanksgiving that you'd like to make? Since they're staying here at home, I buy the ingredients, then it's a fun dance in the kitchen as we all work together to get the meal prepared. It's one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving. As they all move out and have families of their own, I expect they'll bring their dishes with them for us to share.

[theelfqueen]

We are having both ham and turkey...and mac n cheese and stuffing and mashed potatoes and... so much stuff. 

[Harriet Vane]

45 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I make a great marinated green bean salad instead of the traditional casserole, and it’s a really nice contrast with all the warm gooey other foods.  Kind of a palate cleanser.  Plus I can make it in advance and it holds well, even though it uses fresh green beans, so it’s convenient, too.   Great for potlucks because I can transport it in my big Tupperware marinator, which seals against leakage, and then dump it into a shallow serving dish on site.

Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables. I'd love to have the recipe if you care to share. 

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, theelfqueen said:

1 hour ago, theelfqueen said:

 mac n cheese and stuffing 

 

this would be my dream holiday meal.  😛

[hippymamato3]

But if your dad likes it, why cancel it? Poor guy!

[kbutton]

2 hours ago, wilrunner said:

Instead, we're having Green Bean Almondine.

Does your recipe include citrus? I love this, but I assume they all use citrus, and I can't do citrus.

2 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

We have a lot of foods because they are super important to one or two family members and so to keep everyone happy we end up with everything.  Only 3 people out of 15 eat mashed potatoes but for all of them it is THE thing they looked forward to at Thanksgiving.  Only 5 people eat stuffing but that is their THE thing.  One of those stuffing eaters insists on having raisins in the stuffing (which the other 4 find to be an abomination) but since that person is the cook, that person just makes 2 kinds of stuffing.  3 people out of 15 eat sweet potatoes.   Not everyone even eats turkey (though we haven't gotten to the point of providing an alternative meat).  So far the only things that everyone eats is asiago bread, strawberry jello salad, and kale salad (although there is disagreements about the toppings and how much dressing so there is 2 variations of that too).  We only have 2 kinds of desserts.  Pumpkin Pie and whatever dessert one of the non-pumpkin eaters chooses to provide.  

"Only some fraction eat xyz, but it's THE thing..." x entire menu = I would mutiny, unless they are cooking and bringing it, lol! 

[cjzimmer1]

10 minutes ago, kbutton said:

"Only some fraction eat xyz, but it's THE thing..." x entire menu = I would mutiny, unless they are cooking and bringing it, lol! 

My mom is the "main" cook so it's on her to make that call.  That said, my siblings and I have pulled everything off her list that can possibly be made elsewhere and is still tasty when transported.  So she makes the turkey, stuffing (she is the raisin fan and my dad is in the other camp so there will always be 2 because she tries to make things special for him too and if anyone else makes the stuffing there will be no raisins), potatoes(my dad is in the potatoes are "THE" thing and he washes, peels and chops them so all anyone else has to do is cook and mash them) and lastly squash is one of her "things" so she will make it even if no one else will eat it.  So maybe that makes it easier to bear.  The siblings and I all bring things that we know don't appeal to everyone but are beloved by some and together it makes an abundance so no one leaves hungry. But yeah, if one person were trying to make it all, I agree mutiny seems the best option.

Edited November 17, 2021 by cjzimmer1

[marbel]

22 minutes ago, kbutton said:

Does your recipe include citrus? I love this, but I assume they all use citrus, and I can't do citrus.

I'm not the poster you asked, and I don't know if I actually make green bean almondine, but we like what I make. I just lightly cook green beans, then saute in olive oil with shallots, maybe garlic, S&P, and toss with slivered or sliced almonds (chopped nuts don't seem to work right). Last year we tossed fried onions - the ones used for GB casserole - into the mix too, as it went into the serving bowl.  No citrus.  

ETA: Here's a no citrus recipe:  https://themodernproper.com/green-beans-almondine

Edited November 17, 2021 by marbel

[theelfqueen]

48 minutes ago, hippymamato3 said:

But if your dad likes it, why cancel it? Poor guy

Nah, my dad will eat anything... he is just the ONLY one who will eat green bean casserole lol - the cherry pie is his favorite.

[Carol in Cal.]

2 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables. I'd love to have the recipe if you care to share. 

Drat, I don’t really have it exactly written down.

I buy the thinnest green beans I can find, usually about 1-2 lbs.  I trim and wash them but don’t cut them up—leave them long.  (Blue Lake Beans are my favorite.).   

Then I blanch them in boiling water for just a minute or two.  They turn bright green but are still kind of crisp.  I quench them in cold water right afterwards so they stop cooking.  

I chop up about 3-4 large shallots, very finely, minced.

I mix those with an equal volume of Dijon mustard with a whisk.  Then in a separate bowl I whisk up a nice vinaigrette—that’s the part I don’t have written down.  I use good EV olive oil, white pepper, garlic powder, and wine or champagne vinegar, and herbs that I grind up right then—Oregano, basil, thyme, tarragon.  When that is nicely whisked up and emulsified, then I whisk in the mustard mixture.  At that point I taste it and adjust the amount of olive oil and vinegar.  Normally I start with about 3/4 cups of oil, and 1/4 cup vinegar, and sometimes I need more later to balance the shallots if they are strong, for instance.  If I have fresh Italian parsley around I add about a cup  of it chopped up at that point.  It’s not essential but it’s good.

I put the green beans into my big Tupperware marinator, and pour the dressing over it, and close it up and put it in the fridge.  Every once in a while I flip it to mix things up a little more.  It works well to do this the same day, but a day or two before hand is still good.  The green beans do fade in color a bit after the first day or so but they are still very good.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Carol in Cal.

[kbutton]

26 minutes ago, marbel said:

I'm not the poster you asked, and I don't know if I actually make green bean almondine, but we like what I make. I just lightly cook green beans, then saute in olive oil with shallots, maybe garlic, S&P, and toss with slivered or sliced almonds (chopped nuts don't seem to work right). Last year we tossed fried onions - the ones used for GB casserole - into the mix too, as it went into the serving bowl.  No citrus.  

ETA: Here's a no citrus recipe:  https://themodernproper.com/green-beans-almondine

Oh, good! I've never known anyone else that makes them, so I wasn't sure if not using citrus would be deviating from some kind of norm. These sound good. It also makes me wonder if they'd be good with some sesame seeds tossed in as well or a little sesame oil (olive oil makes me itch). 

[hippymamato3]

14 minutes ago, theelfqueen said:

Nah, my dad will eat anything... he is just the ONLY one who will eat green bean casserole lol - the cherry pie is his favorite.

That's a whole different story! Our family is full of ARFID and picky eaters, so most of us like one or two things and won't eat anything else! 

[theelfqueen]

Just now, hippymamato3 said:

That's a whole different story! Our family is full of ARFID and picky eaters, so most of us like one or two things and won't eat anything else! 

Also most of my moms recipes are "a can of this and two cans of that" so she can't make a smaller portion. 

[Ditto]

3 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

The kid would live on mashed potatoes if he could,

This is my teen!   That is why we are having both mashed potatoes and mashed potato muffins as part of our Thanksgiving menu.

[HS Mom in NC]

I say let her or your dad make whatever dishes she says she wants, but she has to take home what others don't want to take. We tell everyone to bring take home containers to Thanksgiving for the leftovers. My husband and I are conscientious objectors to green bean casserole.  Oldest likes it, oldest makes it, oldest eats it, oldest takes all the leftovers home. 
 

Edited November 17, 2021 by HS Mom in NC

[marbel]

36 minutes ago, kbutton said:

Oh, good! I've never known anyone else that makes them, so I wasn't sure if not using citrus would be deviating from some kind of norm. These sound good. It also makes me wonder if they'd be good with some sesame seeds tossed in as well or a little sesame oil (olive oil makes me itch). 

The thing with green beans - they are so adaptable. You can really do whatever you want. We do sometimes use sesame seeds and sesame oil. Or sometimes we just use a seasoning mix like Trader Joe's Ajika Georgian seasoning blend. Or some za'atar. Really depending on the main dish, you can go any direction with green beans.

[City Mouse]

I intentionally arranged my travel to visit my mom to avoid Thanksgiving day. I will leave there on Tuesday and get back home on Wednesday just to avoid all the drama that she causes around the Dinner (Thanksgiving or Christmas). Over the years I have tried all kinds of way to tone it down, but nothing but avoiding it works. 

[Shoeless]

I don't even know what we're having for Thanksgiving. 🤣  It's just me, DH, and DS. I have all the stuff in the freezer to do a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm kind of "eh" on it.  

DH grew up on "a can of this and a box of that" style cooking, so no one here cares if that's what I do. 

[itsheresomewhere]

I love green bean casserole but not the kind made with crap in a can.  I make it from scratch.  Fresh made cream of mushroom soup is awesome along with fresh fried shallots on top.  
 

One thing I started doing years ago, is making all the sides everyone loves slowly over the best couple of days.  I make a few one night, a few the next night so it is not so much at once.  Perfect to change up the leftovers over the next few days.  
 

Now to get everyone to decide the desserts they want before next Wednesday…..

[Tree Frog]

18 hours ago, kbutton said:

Does your recipe include citrus? I love this, but I assume they all use citrus, and I can't do citrus.

 

Mine does have lemon in it. I wonder if you could sub another acid, maybe a flavored vinegar? 

[kbutton]

42 minutes ago, wilrunner said:

Mine does have lemon in it. I wonder if you could sub another acid, maybe a flavored vinegar? 

I am considering this, but I am more likely to make it plain or to do something with sesame instead or with the almonds.

[Quarter Note]

On 11/17/2021 at 10:16 AM, marbel said:

Ah, I fear someday I am going to be the mother/MIL who is saying "wait, what about this; we need this!" I love the feast/abundance aspect of Thanksgiving and love to try new side dishes, desserts, etc.  Green beans, brussels sprouts, and roasted squash?  Bring it on!  Pumpkin pie sure, but how about this cranberry cake too, and something for the chocolate lover?

That said, I don't make tons of everything; only reasonable amounts that people can/will eat during the tasty/safe life of the leftovers. Many things cannot be frozen but special things that are only made once or twice a year will get eaten daily till they are all gone. I am not a fan of food waste - who is?  But seeing a lot of dishes with various tastes to sample makes me happy. 

@marbel, I'm with you!

Since none of you will ever meet these people, I'll tell this story:  My mother-in-law "owns" Thanksgiving, and she has the attitude "Since I'm on a low-carb diet, everyone else has to be, too."  Celery sticks without dip.  No stuffing.  No potatoes.  No rolls. Her only concession to the holiday is a store-bought pumpkin pie.  She's the hostess, and this is her menu, and this is what she wants.  She's happy.  That's fine.

For Thanksgiving 2019, we went to the in-laws for their meal, and then left and went, at the invitation of a friend, to a church's big community potluck Thanksgiving dinner.  There were tables and tables of lovingly-made potluck dishes, and both turkey and ham.  My then eight-year-old son went through the line and filled up his plate.  Then he filled up his plate with desserts.  "This is the best Thanksgiving ever!" he declared to me.  

"Why is that, son?"

He sighed a happy sigh.  "Because there's so much food."

Sometimes, more really is better.

[KungFuPanda]

On 11/17/2021 at 1:58 PM, cjzimmer1 said:

We have a lot of foods because they are super important to one or two family members and so to keep everyone happy we end up with everything.  Only 3 people out of 15 eat mashed potatoes but for all of them it is THE thing they looked forward to at Thanksgiving.  Only 5 people eat stuffing but that is their THE thing.  One of those stuffing eaters insists on having raisins in the stuffing (which the other 4 find to be an abomination) but since that person is the cook, that person just makes 2 kinds of stuffing.  3 people out of 15 eat sweet potatoes.   Not everyone even eats turkey (though we haven't gotten to the point of providing an alternative meat).  So far the only things that everyone eats is asiago bread, strawberry jello salad, and kale salad (although there is disagreements about the toppings and how much dressing so there is 2 variations of that too).  We only have 2 kinds of desserts.  Pumpkin Pie and whatever dessert one of the non-pumpkin eaters chooses to provide.  

We did get to drop the green bean casserole and yucky cranberry orange relish when the older generation passed away although one of my nephews loves the canned cranberry jelly so sometimes that makes an appearance just for him (but he has to take home all the leftovers since no one else will touch it)

I LOVE cranberry orange relish. It’s zippy and bright and cuts through ALL the beige/yellow/brown rich-savory foods. It’s the only acidic thing on the table and I feel it’s very important. 🤣