Whatever I bring. Seriously, the ex gets my kids this year. Of course I’m going for them, but:
- no alcohol
- no soda
- low sugar
- no corn anything
- very little spice of any kind
- none of my family’s traditional foods unless I bring it
While they’re making my favorite pumpkin pie, somehow it can’t have any spices this year. Just pumpkin. So bland but might as well be mayo
Is this some kind of weird puritanical family or something?
Sure I tell them they’re weird all the time, but in this case it’s just understandable compromises adding up to wtf
My ex’s father came to live with her. He doesn’t drink, is diabetic, and is having digestive issues. He also had a bad food experience involving corn so can’t stand the smell. My ex has banned soda to improve her health. I can be understanding of any of these, but it adds up to too much
That does suck. The stuff with the Father I get. The soda ban I’d let slide, especially if it’s a recent change.
But banning flavor is criminal.
The soda ban is actually the tough one: I wish they’d pick a ban: soda or alcohol. I’m fine without either but when your banning both, the number of tasty drinks goes way down
Dump some into a nontransparent water bottle; you get your soda, your ex doesn’t have to see it and be “tempted” by it.
Not a bad idea!
Just be prepared for the yelling when she finds out and crys about it.
Stuffing and deviled eggs. However my family is also full of deviled egg fiends, so mostly stuffing
Collards. I only recently discovered them as a transplant to the southern part of the country, and I love making them because they’re phenomenally tasty. Plus you can justify that they’re dark leafy greens (never mind the gratuitous pork fat).
Stuffing. I would eat stuffing every Goddamn day of the year except I’d get fat as fuck. I have to literally limit myself to eating it once a year for Thanksgiving or I’ll gradually work it into my regular dinner meal plans and even that is too much.
Stuffing has no flavor when my family makes it. Plus the texture makes me gag but texture is like 90% of my hangups with food. I’m a picky eater but I really don’t want to be.
I add spicy breakfast sausage and bake it crispy on top. It’s so good!
Sounds better than the flavorless mushy bread crumb mess my family serves
Yes! Another fan of spicy sausage in stuffing! My mom one year made the stuffing (not cornbread-based–Stove Top brand with savory herbs, I think) with half mild sausage and half spicy sausage for younger me who didn’t like much spice. We also added pecans and dried cranberries in addition to onion and celery. We’ve barely ever deviated from that recipe since!
It’s so good! I can’t wait!
Man then your family is doing it wrong, sorry. I use fresh bread, a ton of butter, onions, celery, thyme, sage, salt and pepper, then bake it so every bread cube is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I have food texture issues too, so I feel your pain, but there’s definitely a wrong way and a right way to make stuffing. Also, NEVER put stuffing inside the turkey, it can result in undercooked stuffing and salmonella from the turkey.
They don’t do any of that lol they just open the box and cook it. Glad I live 1700 miles away from mess this year
Green bean casserole.
I was grossed out as a kid, but that stuff is the bomb.
I don’t like mushrooms so I make what’s basically cream of onion soup as the sauce and it’s amazing. Also, stuffing. My mom doesn’t really like either one and it’s just us, so I get to eat all of it myself.
It’s my sister-in-law and I who practically eat the whole dish, lol.
Now I’m hungry lol
Nice! My family doesn’t like mushrooms either, so my mom has always subbed in cream of chicken, but onion sounds pretty great too.
The stuffing. I frickin love stuffing
Political discourse.
Leftovers
Stuffed mushrooms, my aunt’s scratch made wheat rolls, and bacon wrapped asparagus.
Candied yams from a can with toasted marshmallows is all I need! Everything else is details.
I ordered the Popeyes Cajun turkey and i make great stuffing so I’m looking forward to both of those.
Popeyes makes turkeys??
Yep. I’ve seen them advertised but never bought one before. It’s $100 (which i though was kind of a lot) and says it feeds 8-10 people. Arrives frozen, fully cooked - thaw for 3 days and then heat.
Whoa $100?! That’s criminal. There’s no turkey in the world worth a bill. Then again I don’t like turkey, but still. Shits like .80¢/lb.
I guess if everyone chips in on it it’s fine but it can’t possibly be that good. Popeyes is sub-par at chicken, which is like their whole thing.
We’re cooking in an airbnb, so I’m paying for no prep. There will only be 5 of us and one is vegan so it will likely become sandwiches and gumbo on Friday and Saturday.
That’s fair then. I’m just blown away at that price tag though.
Deep fried turkey. We have used the Butterball electric frier for over a decade and it turns out awesome every year.
Always mashed potatoes. I am a freak for some potatoes.
Also my wife’s grandma always makes Mac and cheese and usually 2 different kinds. I’m a big Mac and cheese fan so I’m hoping they have that but maybe not since she’s getting pretty old now. Maybe I’ll have to make them this year!
Stuffing and mashed potatoes. I make the mashed potatoes, and I am really good at it. I am not sure why, since it’s just ordinary yellow (or russet, depends on what they have) potatoes, milk, salt, and butter. I don’t even peel them, but it gets all the rave reviews.
Making good mashed potatoes is an art form honestly. I’m really good at it too. I go as far as weighing each potato just so I can have the perfect ratio of ingredients. I think most people’s potatoes are hit or miss because they just add shit until it looks right but if you have a method they can be consistently awesome.
Mine are not consistently good - sometimes good but sometimes gluey. What am i doing wrong?
Measure everything. I use a fancy cooking scale I got for Christmas and I weigh the potatoes after peeling and then adjust my usual amount of ingredients to the weight of the potatoes. Plus you might be over or under boiling the potatoes. You don’t want them mushy but also not too hard. I usually test it with a fork. If I can stab the chunk in the water with a fork and pick it up it isn’t finished, but if I stab it and almost falls apart then it is good. I also soak them in water for hours before cooking to remove some of the starch, might help, might not but I do it. I also cut them in to consistently sized chunks before boiling so each potato is of similar consistency. Also gotta use the right type of potato. Golden will get mushy easily but russet is more forgiving.
Also, this is important. After you drain the potatoes put them back in the pot and cook over low heat to remove the excess moisture. That’s prolly why they’re gooey. If you immediately start mixing them after draining they’ll have too much water.
Thanks. I think I’m overcooking them and then overwhipping because they’re too wet.
That’s what I suspected. Definitely put them back in the pot after draining over low heat for like ten minutes. That will remove the moisture. The butter and milk are the only moisture you want really. I also melt the butter and whisk it into the milk then add them together slowly as I mash. That way you can get the consistency where you want. You can’t be certain how much water is still in them so sometimes it takes a bit less than you planned but this way the ratio of butter to milk is consistent no matter how much or little you needed.
I’m making Bizzle’s Sticky Wieners, which I’m sure already have a name but holy cow I couldn’t pass up that joke. It’s lil smokies wrapped in bacon and topped with brown sugar, then baked. It’s pretty decadent though so I only make them for thanksgiving, I’ve been looking forward to it all year.
