Can we talk Thanksgiving? (1,869 views)

I'm so sorry on your stress. Even though you are not alone, the stress is hard. I feel it too.
The last several years, I've purchased heritage/free-range turkey thighs, since we adore the dark meat. It is a treat this time of year and expensive as heck out here.
Otherwise, we have made duck breasts (do you see the dark meat pattern?).
Since it is just you and DH, there are no rules or expectations. That's how I feel, anyway...from Halloween on, any "special" days, we make something out of our ordinary....
As for sides, I tend to keep it simple. Used to go all-out (even just for the two of us) and never enjoyed the day....

Right now, the turkey thighs, something cranberry (DH "has" to have his canned crap), maybe brussel's sprouts and either roasted potatoes or some creamy beans.

Can you post your DH's fav tuna casserole recipe please.

Thanks Wallycat. We've been much more fortunate than many but it doesn't look like there's any end in site which really scares me. As for the tuna casserole, it's nothing fancy and actually uses canned soup . I've tried making it from scratch but he prefers the soup version so that's what I use. The original recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook from the 70s - my very first cookbook. I got rid of the cookbook (wish I hadn't) but kept the page with this recipe even though I haven't referred back to it in years.

I don't measure the ingredients other than the noodles but I think I will next time I make it. Sometimes mine isn't quite as creamy as I'd like and it's probably because I use less mayo and probably less cheese as well. While it's delicious right out of the oven, we prefer the leftovers the next day. I get 4 servings out of this but the recipe says it serves 6. Now I'm hungry for tuna casserole - I think I know what I'm making for dinner .

Tuna-Noodle Casserole
From the 1974 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

6 ounces (3 cups) medium noodles
1 (5-ounce) can tuna in olive oil, drained (recipe calls for 6 1/2 - 7-ounce can but I don't see that size in the grocery stores)
½ cup mayonnaise (I don't use quite this much but to me, it's the secret ingredient.)
1 cup sliced celery (I don't measure, I just chop a couple of sticks until it looks right to me)
⅓ cup chopped onion (I don't measure this either)
1/4 cup chopped green pepper (I sub frozen peas but don't measure)
¼ cup chopped canned pimento (I don't use)
½ teaspoon salt
1 (10¾-ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup
½ cup milk
4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (I don't measure)
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds (optional)(I use Ritz crackers instead)

Combine the noodles, mayo, celery, onion and peas in bowl. Combine soup, milk and cheese in saucepan. When smooth and well-combined, add to noodle mixture. Transfer to casserole dish and crush Ritz crackers on top. Bake in 425 degree oven 20 minutes or until hot in the center.

Wallycat, I forgot to say that when I started this thread, I said to myself, "Wallycat is probably having turkey thighs."

 I'm tired of all those  topics too.   hopefully all will happen in an orderly fashion  on the third and we wont be in a bunker  somewhere by thanksgiving. 

for DH and I, this will be  our first thanksgiving in  decades alone.  the guest list has slowly dropped over the years. our last  remaining family (locally)   moved to AZ  a short time  ago.  we can Zoom with them but  we will eat alone.  with the virus revving back up, that's probably smartest anyway.  I make a turkey breast, either a rolled roast, or a  separate  breast on the bone.   last year I found Jenny O breasts that didn't need to defrost, straight freezer to oven.   no one here will eat dark meat turkey!   when I made a whole bird Id sneak the dark meat into soup or casseroles  but  ended up tossing a lot of it. 

 we are not sports fans, especially not football,  so this may be a total  downer of a day, no matter what we eat.    If anything   else pops up, I  will jump at it.  If it werent for the virus, it would be a good reason to branch out  for  a guest list,  but I don't feel OK doing that this year. 

Sorry this is going to be your first Thanksgiving alone - that would be difficult. I'm not a big fan of football but DH is so I putz in the kitchen. I start the morning off with Ramos Fizzes and then make either home made bagels or eggs and bacon. After a couple of hours of relaxation I get going on the feast. It's not the Thanksgiving I grew up with but it's what I've come accustomed to although I would love a big get-together.

We have gone to visit family a few times in the past but even without Covid that wouldn't be possible this year. Both of my sisters are on the opposite side of the political spectrum than I am.

It will either be just DH and I or the 2 of us and 2 of my 3 kids. The 3rd is in L.A. so he won't make it. I never do turkey since we don't like it but still have not decided what to do this year yet. Maybe just a simple roast chicken with some sides.

Varaile-too funny you mentioned lasagna as yesterday I said to my husband that maybe I'd just do some lasagna or lasagna rolls, homemade bread, salad and one side.

I am still trying to decide but I still want to do something festive even if the holiday is very different this year.

Karen

It's often only been the two of us for Thanksgiving, although in recent years we've had a close friend join us, and I'm sad that the pandemic makes that not possible this year. I'll probably do a 12-14 lb turkey (we like having leftovers and always make a huge pan of turkey tetrazzini to freeze in portions), mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and pumpkin pie. We're not really stuffing people (it reminds me of my childhood Thanksgivings and I love having one scoop of it, but then the leftovers just languish) and I want another vegetable, just not sure what. Maybe Smitten Kitchen's baked spinach--that's always way more than the sum of its parts, but it's easy to do and can be done in advance.

Thanks mcgee.. we  are alone but not lonely. DH and I are  inclined to hike  or ride our road or mt bikes, and were never into  really big dinners.  we'd usually do 2-4 guests.    the  politics of late November may  be especially daunting this year .... too many reasons not to push forward on guests,  with virus numbers climbing again.  a lot of Zoom will happen. I wonder if the app will get overwhelmed?  we will try to Zoom with more people than usual   since travel  to other homes will be off the list this year. 

I hoarded pumpkin late last year. I have a few cans. Haven't paid attention but will check. Costco or sams usually has the huge cans, but that is too much for us.

I am just tired of it all - the election, working from home and covid.  I am in Iowa and our cases per day are rising and rising (we had 2 2800+ days this weekend). I have one kids back in school full time and the other is hybrid, with her full time date sliding out more and more as our numbers go up.

I am not really ‘allowed’ to change the menu, except for the vegetables, so we always have:


* Bacon and apple stuffing from Cook’s Illustrated
* Make ahead gravy from Cook’s Illustrated
* Pioneer Woman make-ahead mashed potatoes
* Smashed Sweet Potatoes from Ina
* Cranberry sauce - Ocean Spray bag, using orange juice instead of water, a little less sugar
* Pumpkin cheesecake pie from King Arthur Flour
* Dutch Apple pie - local Christian school fundraiser (parents make!)
* Stuffed mushrooms - an old Three Rivers cookbook DH has from home

The kids will pick another appetizer, DD always makes bread of rolls and I will figure out some vegetables to round out the meal.  it is always just the 4 of us for Thanksgiving, so no changes there.

hi Bawstinn - I don't know if you remember, but I'm in Iowa as well, so yeah, I'm watching those numbers with alarm. I also work in healthcare, and hearing some of the contingency planning that's starting again (I was in on some of it early on, in March/April, but this is much more dire) is incredibly sobering.  I think we are in for a world of hurt this winter---the bars have been packed here ever since the college students came back.  Even when the bars maintain their 50% occupancy, it just spills out into house parties.  You see masks on maybe 1 in 3 people (in the bars).  I'm in charge of our dept holiday event, and when I called our DJ to cancel for this year, I asked how he was doing, because I assumed his business would have tanked over the last 6 months.  Oh no, he said--yeah, it was pretty non-existent in March and April, but once the weather got nicer, he said he had pretty much the usual number of parties, weddings, etc starting in May, he's still pretty booked from now through the holidays, and hardly anyone wears masks.  He's 45 mins south of us, and it's unfathomable to me that people are being that cavalier given all the information we have.  (There again, my own father keeps telling me it's no worse than the flu, and going into town for errands and socializing every dang day.  He's 92 and I keep pointing out that the death rate in his age group is TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT last time I checked.  He just doesn't believe it will happen to him.)  I hope everyone stays safe

I was in Walmart yesterday and there was a huge endcap display of canned pumpkin

My Thanksgiving menu is pretty much the same, whether I serve 8 or 20.

Turkey stuffed~stuffing with sausage, celery and onions. I also make so much I bake some in a separate pan as my oldest doesn't like stuffing in the bird.
Homemade Mashed Potatoes
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole (one year I didn't make this..and BIL at the other end of the table said..pass the green bean casserole..and I had to tell him I didn't make it. His response was "Say it isn't so...." LOL
I bring out some of our frozen sweet corn
Always have cranberry sauce~2 kinds~Jellied and whole
My MIL usually makes the pies for dessert.

Other than that..we also have rolls.

Explanation for the pumpkin shortgage?  www.thepioneerwoman.com/news-entertainment/a34302324/canned-pumpkin-puree-shortage/

I saw at Trader Joe's and our local grocery store (HyVee).

gilgamesh - amazing how much changes in a week, the number of positive cases this last week are astounding.  We were thinking of asking a coworker and his wife to join us or Thanksgiving, but with the rise in cases and my kids still in school we opted not to risk it.