ILONA ANDREWS

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Thanksgiving Menu

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First things first, happy belated birthday to Mod R.

Lo, it is the traditional Thanksgiving Menu post. I planned to skip it, but Mod R tactfully asked when it would be coming.

Thanksgiving is a big holiday for our family, because life is short and we must celebrate whenever we can. It is also one of the more relaxing holidays we have. There is no pressure of gift giving, and everyone just eats too much of the kind of food that you indulge in a couple of times a year.

We are looking at for sure seven people for Thanksgiving, probably at least a few more, and we focus on variety and quality over volume. We use smaller pans and lay everything buffet style on the island, so people can make their plates and then head to the dining room. In the end, the kids and guests are loaded with leftovers, which they conveniently take to their house. The goal is to make just enough for the majority of the sides to be either eaten or taken home.

Menu

Meats

Popeye’s Cajun Turkey with Turkey Gravy

H-E-B Bone-in ham, smoked with home made cider glaze

Sides

Turkey Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

Mac and Cheese

Mashed potatoes

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Dried Cranberries

Sweet potato casserole

Corn

Cranberry Sauce

Bread (I’m going to attempt to plait some bread, Universe help me. Too much Great British Baking Show and Paul Hollywood.)

Desserts

Apple Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Sweet Potato Pie

Drinks (non alcoholic)

Mulled Cider Sangria

Rosemary Ginger Cocktail

Normally we do some recipes but I’m not sure what you guys want to know more about as these are all pretty basic. I will stick to tips this year.

Gravy and stock:

I thought of adding a pot roast to all of this, but decided against it due to Gordon wanting ham. One thing that I see about people who opt for pot roast or stews for Thanksgiving: a lot of time people will brown their meat and then add chicken or beef broth to the pot to cook it in. Same with stove-top stuffing – chicken broth is the go to.

Here is the thing: you already will have meat broth naturally as the meat cooks. I recommend swapping half of your broth for vegetable stock.

Good vegetable stock packs a lot of umami flavor. When I make stew or pot roasts, I typically add vegetable stock and water to the pot instead of broth and it turns out delicious. For our Thanksgiving, if you are doing Popeye Turkey, the drippings from this turkey as it cooks are super yummy. I usually pour them into a pot and add a tiny bit of apple cider and either good quality turkey gravy or just thicken it with corn starch.

For stuffing, I’m going with the Stove-Top Turkey option. I know, blasphemy. My oven space is at a premium, and having cooked a whole bunch of gourmet stuffing from scratch in previous years, I can confidently report that everyone just loves the Stove-Top Turkey as the base. You can doctor it with bacon or caramelized onion and dired cranberries, but as far as the stuffing itself, it works.

The key to making it super delicious is using quality bone broth instead of watery chicken stock.

Brussels Sprouts

I am going to be trying something new with Brussels sprouts this year. The basic recipe is to cut them in half, toss them in oil and spices, arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet and cook them at 400F for about half an hour. Here is a good write up. I read about a method that involves preheating the baking sheet in the oven. Supposedly this caramelizes them faster and better. I will report on success or failure.

Mac and Cheese

Block cheese is essential. You will find recipes that are calling for shredded cheese, but shredded cheese is coated, so it doesn’t melt the same. This year we have a good smoky Cheddar, Gruyère, and Parmesan with heavy whipping cream as the sauce base.

Apple Pie

Tried and true apple pie recipes call for Granny Smith. I am swapping half of the apples for Pink Lady. Pink Lady bakes well and having two apple varieties adds richness to the pie.

And that about wraps it up. We are going to start cooking pies on Wednesday and Thursday will be busy, but I bought a charcuterie board, so i am going to throw that at the kids and guests to buy us time to get the dinner ready.

This year I’m thankful for surviving. The truth is, the surgery and the three months immediately before it took a lot out of me. There was a period of self-imposed starvation, punctuated by a lot of pain wrapped in uncertainty. I knew something was seriously wrong, I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t have a definitive diagnosis, and I felt guilty for going to ER. I never before had surgery and when I was done, it messed with my head. The gallbladder attacks were so severe that after I was released from the hospital, I had 24 hours of irrational panic that the surgery hadn’t worked and the pain would come back.

When I think about it, it seems so far away, but it was six months ago. This is my first no-gallbladder Thanksgiving. My scars have healed. I’m grateful for making it through and writing silly posts about cooking too much food which I will gleefully offer to my family.

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Comments

  2. So glad you’re able to have a gallbladder and pain free Thanksgiving this year! Toast yourself and your loved ones for making it through and bringing joy to so many despite it all. We love you, HA!

  3. That sounds delicious! I can’t wait to start cooking for thanksgiving. I’m doing shortbread this year. I have a really cool mold that imprints them with thistles, dragons, lions, and Celtic knots. It’s so pretty!

    • That sounds awesome! Shortbread is my holiday obsession.
      I don’t eat it in the rest of the year, but come winter fest, give me all the flavours. Last year, I went all out on coffee flavoured shortbread, the year before heather honey shortbread. I even found panettone shortbread, which combines two iconic things.

      • Almond shortbread cookies are the favorite at my house. 1/2 lb. of unsalted butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 cups sifted flour, 1 and 1/4 cups ground almonds, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cream butter and sugar together till fluffy. Add flour a half cup at a time. Then add almonds, vanilla and salt. Continue to mix until you have a slightly stiff dough. Shape into a ball and chill 1 hour. Pinch off walnut sized balls and shape into crescents 2.5 inches by 1 inch and 1/2 inch thick. Bake on parchment paper at 350 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly colored. I also use the same dough to make raspberry jam thumbprint cookies. Happy Thanks-giving everyone!

      • Um. Shortbread is my favorite. But also coffee is my favorite. I think my brain shorted out at “coffee flavoured shortbread”. Do you have a recipe? A shop? A god to whom you pray for it’s deliverance? Please please share, O Mod R.

          • As a Scot I like my shortbread plain with just the natural flavour. This is the best shortbread recipe.

            225 g/8oz butter (slightly salted), softened.
            110 g/4oz caster sugar.
            225 g/8oz plain flour, sifted.
            150 g/5oz cornflour (UK), sifted (in the US this is called cornstarch not cornflour so don’t get mixed up as this is the magic ingredient)
            Caster sugar for dredging
            Preheat oven to 150c / 300f / Gas 2
            Place the butter and sugar in a mixer or food processor and cream until
            pale.Add the flour and cornflour and blend in briefly, just until thoroughly combined. Tip into a buttered 23x33cm / 9x13inch swiss roll tin and, using floured hands, press down so it is level. Prick it all over with a fork ( do this carefully so that you don’t disturb the level surface), then bake for 50 – 60 minutes until it’s a uniform pale golden colour all over. Do NOT let it become golden brown. Remove from the oven and dredge all over with caster sugar, then cut into squares. Leave for 5 minutes or so, then carefully decant onto a wire rack to cool.

            Try it, and have coffee on the side 🙂

            • I had never heardof using cornstarch for theflour, butit makes perfect sense.

              Do you have a traditional Christmas cake recipe as well? I lost the vital pagewith my recipe. It was from an Irish magazine of the seventies.

              It was a seven pound cake, before the almond paste and royal icing.

              I would make it in a large lined cookie tin, then pour on a cup of Hennesey and put the lid on, storing it for the flavor to develop

            • Yum! Our family recipe is pretty similar to this, but a good friend of mine uses rice flour rather than cornflour/cornstarch and his shortbread is also delicious. I suspect that having a small amount very fine-milled flour in addition to the plain (wheat) flour improves the texture of the shortbread.

        • I’ve made these Martha Stewart Espresso biscuits before and really liked them. The base is pretty much shortbread (butter, flour, icing sugar) with cocoa and espresso beans added. The espresso beans need to be very finely ground, like powder. You could probably substitute regular coffee (also very finely ground), but the coffee might would be less intense. If you wanted to leave out the cocoa, you’d probably need to up the flour to compensate.

          https://noblehorizons.org/our-favorite-holiday-cookie-recipes/ (First recipe)

      • Short bread yum. I never had the knack of baking. 🙁 I love my British fruit cakes though, (not the commercial American sticky nasty ones) and found emergency fruit cake in a tin with a key… really I did! Its Buckingham-Cakes.com cake. Sealed in a peel up lid tin. LOL. Emergency Cake. And it really comes in a tin, just like.. well Sardines! I got classic for Mom for Christmas and told her to open at Thanksgiving to liberally soak it in the Whiskey because hers is not a Whiskey Cake :). keep it nice moist and erm.. alcoholic! I got a variation regular packed in non peel top tin for myself. Not the classic I think I got the spiced one with an orange tin. Looking forward to sampling what I alas cannot bake. I might try Boss biscuits too for mom, and sister as shortbread doesn’t use egg.

      • You must try rosemary shortbread- add a tablespoon of finely shopped fresh rosemary to basic recipe. My family calls it ‘crack’.

  4. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy belated Birthday to Mod R!
    I’d eat everything from your feast, except Brussel Sprouts. Ew.

    • I’ll take your Brussel sprouts if you will manage the mac and cheese and the potatoes for me.
      I actually like Brussel sprouts and the potatoes and macaroni are on my “avoid” list in an attempt to manage my blood sugar. Generally, I don’t miss them very much. (I *would* steal a tiny piece of apple pie because I love it.)

      I hope your Thanksgiving is as lovely as you folks are. Have fun!

    • give roasted brussel sprouts a tiny bite. very different texture from standard boiled slime. everyone i’ve known who hated the little suckers at least didn’t hate roasted ones. most even liked enough to have a couple bites amongst the thanksgiving feast

      • This is true. Back in the ’60s and ’70s, Brussels sprouts were hideous things. My husband outright refused to eat any when a friend had us over for dinner around 1990, but the friend had roasted them and they were a revelation to me and my toddler. A few years later my husband gingerly tried the ones my brother roasted for Thanksgiving. He loved them (as my brother pointed out, put enough cream and garlic on anything, and it will taste good).

  5. Stove top is not bad, but on Amazon you can order Bells stuffing mix or just the seasoning from New England. It’s mostly sage but has other herbs and is a really unique flavor. When I checked it said the stuffing box was all sold out so maybe next year.

    • Does any culinary historian know why sage has such a chokehold on the stuffing industry? I haven’t really grown up with stuffing, and every time I’ve wanted to partake to see what it was about, there was the sage, and overpowering loads of it.

      It is to do with cleansing the evil spirits around the festive table? Because I was usually specifically invited, just saying 😛

      • Hahaha! That is a great theory! I have felt the same way, both about the sage and the invites.
        Happy Birthday! Hope it was celebrated in style.

      • That’s an interesting question. I have an interest in culinary history, but have no idea on the answer to this one, I suppose that possible answers might be:

        – Tradition: The earliest stuffing recipes are Roman and sage is a traditional herb still used today in Italy. Similarly, English sausages often contain sage
        – Digestion: Sage is useful with rich meats (like a sausage meat-based stuffing) as it has a calmative effect on digestion
        – Practicality: sage is evergreen and would likely be still available fresh for Thanksgiving (and, in the UK, for Christmas Day).

        I take it, Mod R, that you have encountered the horror that is Paxo-branded sage and onion stuffing in the UK? My apologies to fellow-Brits that love Paxo stuffing (my family are amongst them), but it contains way too much dry sage for my tastes. We are all different, but for me a bit of fresh sage is nice – whereas dried sage needs to be used with caution.

        • They used to sell seasoned Paxo breadcrumbs in Canada, and it was a sad day when it got discontinued. My Mom uses regular breadcrumbs now, and I could just eat that stuffing and nothing else (for some reason, Canadian Thanksgiving is held before American Thanksgiving, so we’ve already had our meal weeks ago). My daughter says she prefers my MIL’s Stovetop Stuffing, but my husband and son wisely don’t take sides.

          Happy belated birthday, Mod R!

      • Sage and onion stuffing is a centuries-old traditional English stuffing for roast goose. So carried over to turkeys, which is also a large bird. To my taste and my family’s, there is a huge difference between dried sage and fresh sage. If you can get fresh sage, please do so.The quantity to use is different from the quantity of dried sage, so be sure to check on that BEFORE you add any to your stuffing. I grow sage just to use in stuffing, but nowadays in the USA you can buy fresh sage in the grocery store – if they aren’t sold out. One year my sister was calling all over Glendale, trying to find a store that still had fresh sage.

            • My family (British) have never done sage and onion stuffing, I was not impressed when I first encountered it because it is so blinking sage-y as you’ve found. Our go to is thyme and onion stuffing, always with sausage meat never just breadcrumbs. You can over do the thyme too especially if using dried, my mum always had thyme growing in her herb patch so she used fresh, more difficult to over do and a slightly different taste. We had stuffing whenever we had roast chicken as there were six of us kids, plus at least an aunt or uncle so it ‘stretched the chicken to go round’!

        • Exactly right! Sage can be overpowering. A whiff of fresh sage, with other herbs, can be nice. A lot of sage can be nasty and it’s easy to overdo it with dried sage. For some reason, it’s the only perennial herb I can’t seem to grow, so I keep some dried on hand in case I can’t get fresh at the store. I really only use it for stuffing and for sage and brown butter sauce on butternut squash ravioli or gnocchi.

      • I’ll take your sage if you’ll take my rosemary! I REALLY don’t like rosemary, and it seems to be used in sooo many things, especially if potatoes are involved. (Plus it smells exactly the way it tastes 🤨)

      • Mod R — your last line made me audibly blurt laugh. Thanks, I needed that. Thank goodness I wasn’t mid sip.

        • Same here re: the last line.

          Also not a fan of sage-y stuffing – as a kid I refused to eat any stuffing at all, for precisely that reason – but I agree with those who point out that fresh sage is a different beast. Once I started growing it because it looks so pretty, I discovered that it tastes a lot better than the dried version.

          However on those occasions when I did make stuffing, it was an apple-tarragon one. I’m not too enthusiastic about making things I don’t want to eat myself. There were never any leftovers of that.

          • Tarragon is delicious! I use it in potato soup, I might be convinced by a stuffing with that profile…

            • Yeah, hard to go wrong with tarragon. The stuffing was basically diced apples and cubed bread with chopped tarragon. This was back in the Before Times, and I may have forgotten an ingredient, but that’s the basis.

              • I looked up the old recipe and my notes on substitutions. I had forgotten more than one ingredient. Original also included chopped celery – I can’t remember whether I substituted chopped apple entirely, or in addition to the celery. Also substituted chopped chives for the onion, olive oil for the butter, and of course tarragon for the paprika. The original was called Dry Dressing, from an old Joy Of Cooking. It’s not actually dry though, and I’ve used it as stuffing for roast chicken as well.

      • Mod R, I don’t like stuffing with too much sage either (it’s a bit overpowering), but the weird thing is I actually really love the smell of sage and enjoy it in other things!

        One of my favorite easy dinners is gnocchi in a simple sauce: while 1 pound of frozen gnocchi is simmering in a pot of water(according to package directions) melt app. a stick of butter, continue cooking (carefully so it doesn’t burn) until it’s a lovely golden brown.

        Next, frizzle some sage by throwing a small handful of fresh sage into the browned butter. Let the sage cook a few minutes until it’s crispy and the whole thing smells delightfully nutty, then toss with the gnocchi and some grated parmesan.

        For some reason, the butter, cheese, and gnocchi ‘tone down’ the sage….delicious! 😋

      • In my country stuffing is made with parsley and people consider me weird because I like it with sage instead. I showed some friends the English recipes I used to show that it’s not just my crazy invention.

    • Interestingly, the Washington Post did a review and rated Stove Top as the best stuffing mix (over Pepperidge Farm, Whole Foods, and others). That was my go-to when living alone.

    • I like Stove Top stuffing. I’ll get mainly the turkey flavor. However, I’ll get the chicken one if I can’t get the turkey. I add a little more water than the instructions to compensate for the microwave.

      Even if sage is used in cooking or burning. you’ll always will be invited Mod R. 😁

  6. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!

    I’m so glad I’m not the only one watching GBBS and thinking “I can make that.” Good luck with the bread plaiting!! I hope we get pictures.

    Grateful for House Andrews and the BDH!!

  7. Thank you for the post!

    Our dressing is the good old Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing in a bag…That yellow trimmed bag is the first thing I buy for Thanksgiving (or Christmas)!

    Everyone loves it, it was what my mom did as far as I can remember. I tell people it is our family recipe! Hahaha.

    May your Thanksgiving prep and day go smoothly and peacefully!

  9. I like your odds of success with braiding bread. I find it to be like egg glazes and sprinkling seeds on the top: Looks much harder than it really is.

    Jealous of your pie plans. I’ve been craving apple pie but my mom and daughter have requested danish pastry. I guess I could do both but that’d be a lot of leftovers of dishes that are best fresh.

    • Pete, will be toasting you with apple pie at my house. I found a recipe for salted caramel apple pie this year and have already made the caramel sauce. Now I’m ruined for any commercial ones.

  10. Happy Birthday to Mod R! May your next year bring all the happiness!

    Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Food sounds delicious and I know your guests will enjoy the holiday for sure.
    So happy that you got through the surgery and have been on the mend.
    Enjoy your time with loved ones!

  11. Can I say I absolutely love these posts? They are such homey and kind reminders that we are all part of a very special world. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

  13. Happy belated birthday, Mod R 🎉

    Thank you for the tips, Ilona! I’m so glad that you’re feeling so much better – that’s definitely cause for thanks!

  15. I have plaited bread in the past and found it amusing. It also looks very pretty when finished. The brussels sprouts with cranberries looks yummy. Pink Lady apples are my absolute favorites. And vegetable broth to go with pre-browned meat works really well.

    Enjoy your day with family and friends. Relax when all the cooking is done. Busy but not stressful is a good goal.

  16. That sounds like a lovely meal 🥰 I am going to steal the charcuterie board idea because that is brilliant. Throw the starving hounds a bone so they don’t trip you while cooking 😆

  17. Happy belated bday, Mod R! Hope you had a great day full of fun, friends and food!

    Tday dinner sounds yummy, especially the ham! But no to stove top, sorry. I finally managed to do my mom’s bread stuffing (without the turkey to stuff it into). Yea!!!

    It’s just me and the bro now and he just doesn’t like turkey SIGH. There will be stuffing, gravy, roast Brussel sprouts with pecans (bacon sounds like a yummy addition there). And of course his beloved steamed broccoli. Scalloped potatoes to go with my meatloaf, both of which he loves. And we’re possibly done. Thankfully neither of us care about desserts. Maybe brownies, maybe not. Most of my friends gang are out of town, so it will be a very quiet holiday this year.

    Everyone who is celebrating, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

    • Quick Fudgy brownies: Preheat oven to 400 F. Melt 1/2 cup butter and 6 tablespoons cocoa in medium saucepan, add 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir in 2 eggs. Add 1/2 cup all purpose flour and a dash of salt. Pour the batter into a greased 8″ or 9″ pan and bake approximately 10 minutes or until set (doesn’t jiggle in the middle). Cool and enjoy! I can have these ready in half an hour and everyone seems to enjoy them, even if they don’t usually care for sweets.

  18. 🎶Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Mod R. Happy birthday to you!🎶

    Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates Thursday.

    I’m very grateful for all of you. Books and Horde…😍

  19. Your menu sounds yummy. I do love brussel sprouts. Mac and cheese is my specialty but I don’t include it on my Thanksgiving menu; that’s a dish for so many other group meals for us. I have made it for others for their own Thanksgiving, however.

    So good to hear that you’ve finally gotten relief with the gall bladder surgery. Wishing your household a delicious and relaxing ceremonial meal day.

  20. Glad your recovering went well. the menu sounds delicious! hope you and your family and friends have a great holiday! And, happy belated birthday, Mod R! 🎉

  21. I’m so glad the surgery worked and that you’re doing better. The menu sounds perfect!

    This year, we had Thanksgiving early. My dad is having knee replacement surgery in a few days and only my mom will be at the hospital with him. I’ll be doing my Christmas baking so I don’t go crazy with worry. I’m going to try to pack a sticky toffee pudding into muffins – my own theoretical recipe – along with several other experiments. Wish us luck!

    • Emily. good luck on the experiments and please do post updates as to your success – inquiring minds want to know more about such deliciousness!!

  23. Happy Birthday Mod R!

    And happy surgery recovery. Surgery for anything is no joke and is a lot. Hope that you continue to have the better experience.

  24. I used to have a cookbook that had a sweet potato pie recipe that called for 3 eggs and a pecan pie recipe that called for 3 eggs. This made it very easy to come up with a sweet potato pecan pie recipe, especially since the recipe ingredient measurements were (except the eggs) divisible by two.

    I have it somewhere, but I haven’t made it in a couple of years. The only change I made to anything is using maple syrup instead of corn syrup.

    I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

  25. Happy Thanksgiving to all. The menu sounds fantastic. I will be making the stuffing from scratch. My daughter would rebel if I didn’t and since dinner is at her house I will make it with joy. Carrots, celery and onion sauted in butter and olive oil, a light sprinkling of salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning (which, yes Mod R, includes sage) 2 loaves white bread and 2 of wheat. Moisten with chicken broth. Stuff the turkey and the rest goes in a 9 by 13 pan so daughter can have leftovers.

    Happy Birthday to Mod R!

  28. Our family enjoyed Tee’s Corn Pudding from Southern Living and Nantucket Cranberry Pie (can’t remember source) in addition to all on your menu. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

    • Thanks for a very interesting rabbit trail about Nantucket cranberry pie – actually a cake or buckle baked in a pie pan. I am guessing it may be a home cook’s personal recipe for a cranberry buckle since every trail seems to lead to Laurie Colwin’s Gourmet column in 1992 and her book, More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen. Colwin attributed it to the mother of a friend, who could no longer remember where she got it.
      http://themailifiles.blogspot.com/2009/09/laurie-colwin-and-nantucket-cranberry.html
      There are multiple variations on the Internet.
      Also, for those who like corn pudding:
      https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/tees-corn-pudding-recipe

      • I have Home Cooking; did not realize there was a second one. Home Cooking made me want to make Jamaican Black Cake, even though I hate rum. Fortunately good sense prevailed and I never did try it. I read all of her fiction back in the day. She was a lovely writer.

    • I made a Nantucket cranberry pie yesterday to test the recipe and it is gone. Luckily I have enough cranberries to make a second one.

  29. I am thankful for y’all and the stories that you share with us. Your feast sounds amazing. Sending you all the love and joy that we can all find as we go into this holiday season.

  30. When you go to an Italian wedding, you get a “bomboniere” (bome-bome-nee-erre), which is a sort of thank you gift. Can be a piece of China or an espresso cup and saucer or little espresso spoons or many other things (some useful, some decorative, some to laugh at)

    Anyways, whenever we have family celebrations, there is always way too much food*. So everyone gets Food Bomboniere, which is always well appreciated.

    *if there isn’t too much food on an Italian table, you have to made sufficient food for your guests.

    I am sure the Kids love their Food Bomboniere.

  33. Happy B-day, Mod R! Here’s hoping this one was your best ever, and that the years to come continue improving. 🙂

    Whatever pleases the participants without breaking the cook(s) is the right answer for holiday feasts. The nice professionals at America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated agree, and wrote an entire article a few years ago about which Thanksgiving shortcuts they like best, after taste testing a bunch of possibilities. (https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/6483-thanksgiving-storebought-ingredient-shortcuts)

    Happy feasting to the American cohort of the BDH! We’ve survived all life has thrown at us this far, and on top of all else there is to be grateful for are Ilona Andrews books past and future. 🙂

    Here are their winners:
    The Best Boxed Stuffing: StoveTop Stuffing Mix

    Best Cranberry Sauce: Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce

    Best Premade Pie Dough: Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts

    Best Ready-Made Graham Cracker Pie Crust: Keebler Ready Crust Graham Pie Crust

    Best Frozen Dinner Rolls: Pepperidge Farm Stone Baked Artisan French Dinner Rolls

    Best Ready-to-Bake Biscuits: Immaculate Baking Organic Flaky Biscuits (from a can!)

    All ought to be available from Amazon and your local grocery store.

    • I’m going to need this one, too, please! Love cocktails but would really like to have some more non- alcoholic ones, especially if we’re already eating so much rich food…

      Menu sounds delightful. Thanks for sharing!

  36. My sister married an Italian & they showed her to use sage& onion stuffing(a o) & add sausage meat & garlic. Mix altogether put it into a meat loaf tin & have it in cooked slices . Drooling as I speak.
    Happy Thanksgiving to you

  37. Your menu sounds lovely and I am so happy that you are feeling better after having to deal with pain and then recovering from surgery for so long. I was able to find a small ~8lb turkey today so it is defrosting in the fridge. I also got a loaf of bread to make into chunks for the stuffing/dressing. Tomorrow I will pre-cook some of the apples that will be going into the the pie and possibly make a lingonberry relish (the cranberries here are not that great for some reason).

  39. Happy birthday Mod R and happy thanksgiving everyone!

    Stuffing here is Mrs Cubbison’s cornbread stuffing, with bacon (and rendered bacon fat) and apple slices added in. I started doing it in my slow cooker a couple years ago, to free up oven and stove top space. Still tweaking the cook times to get it cooked but not too crispy on the edges.

    I’m the only person in my family who likes pumpkin pie, alas, so I usually go to the store the weekend after and buy a slice or half pie…

  41. Happy Birthday Mod R – And best wishes for many more.

    Happy Thanksgiving to all that give thanks and hope you too enjoy many more.

  43. My pal is guving a talk in Poland (via Zoom) T-day morning so we decided to go with the theme – it’s Pierogi Thanksgiving. I cannot wait!

    Happy to all!

  44. OK – I do a Stove Top shortcut too. However, I also do a package of seasoned wild & (longgrain, brown, any) rice … MJB rice mixes were always my go-to. Combine both “seasoning packets” with amount of water for both rice and StoveTop, cook the rice in seasoned water, add stuffing mix to cooked rice and what is left of the water, …. and what way you get a rice stuffing that is not bad. It’s not Joy of Cooking rice stuffing, but close enough for me without the staggering amount of time that JoC takes.

    I also like brussels sprouts, but cannot get my sisters or their spouses to eat them … and the last batch I made was loaded with bacon, cream and gruyere cheese!!!

    Hope all have a Happy, and Restful Holiday. I am enjoying dinner with friends on Thursday and dinner with family on Saturday. Nice not to try and cram it all into one day.

  47. I’m in the anti sage and rosemary group. I make bread stuffing without them. No one has complained.

    I ate at a restaurant which used too too much rosemary and told the chef, he must have spilled a bottle of Pine-Sol in the pot.

    I don’t know if they’ll let me in the door now. And, that’s alright with me,

    • I use only thyme and salt in my turkey stuffing. And of course, Baconfat.

      And my delicious apple pie secret.I make a liquidy paste of lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger and dribble it over the apples. This is a flavor bomb so how much you use depends on how much flavor you want, but roughly a quarter cup. You can make a bunch and store it in the frdge along with a supply of pastry dough, and then you can make a pie or turnover in minutes, anytime.

  50. I like to use sweet apples Braeburn or Honey Crisp in any apple recipes so it doesn’t need as much sugar (I’m diabetic). Including homemade chunky applesauce. Yum!
    And turkey isn’t turkey without cranberry relish (fresh, not cooked).
    2 bags cranberries, 3 apples, 3 naval oranges. Grind coarsely including all peels. (I use food processor). Add a pinch of salt, and 1 1/2 C sugar (more or less to taste, some years I need more). Refrig overnight, keeps for at least a week.
    Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And happy belated birthday Mod R!

  51. I respectfully suggest adding a buttermilk pie to your pie board. It is a southern staple and should be on every Thanksgiving menu. Plus it’s much tastier than pumpkin pie.

  52. May you all have a lovely Thanksgiving, and may you have good times in the next years.

    Totally off this subject, but you raised the hair on the back of my neck, the time you posted the scene of Hugh arming himself with the King Arthur Pendragon music to go with the reading.

    I listened to that music tonight, and thought about that scene, and the hair raised on the back of my neck again. Thank you for your story telling, House Andrew’s. I am thankful for it.

  53. Happy Thanksgiving.
    Not a holiday celebrated where i live (Denmark) but even without the food and get-together and public celebrations, it’s a good opportunity to feel grateful and thankful for life.

  54. Happy birthday Mod R!

    Thank you for the tips. I always put a couple of different types of apple in my apple pies. It does make for a better pie.

    Happy Thanksgiving to all at House Andrews and the BDH.

  55. Sounds great; I hope all enjoy it. And respect the work involved. And thanks for the link to the Brussel Sprouts technique. It sounds great, and I’ve gone to a couple of the links it has. (I’ve sent a couple to my sister & they might get her to start to forgive me for the dessert recipe I recently inflicted on her. Chortle.)

  59. Wonderful tips! I will have to do the veggie stock trick. Unfortunately, there is no poultry in my future on this or any other Thanksgiving. A little over 11 years ago, hubby was suffering from chronic angina, and we all started the Ornish diet (veggies, no fat other than that found in food naturally), so vegan and severely restricted on the added fats (I kept mine to 10 grams or less a day). It is great for dropping weight but not sustainable unless you have a will of iron around cheese (I don’t). The diet didn’t do the trick, and my husband had a quadruple bypass. The day after the surgery, I went down to grab a bite at the cafeteria and, with no vegan options, got a turkey and cheese. I tried the tiniest bit of turkey, and immediately, my throat started itching like mad. Long story short, I’m allergic to poultry (but not eggs, strangely enough) and have to forego the traditional turkey. It’s difficult because nearly everything crafted to help folks keep calories down and manage things like type 2 diabetes is based on chicken or turkey. I’ll still enjoy my partial holiday (I’m working) and will indulge in the things I can. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. May your holidays and beyond be filled with love, joy, and contentment.

  60. We started using homemade Cumberland Sauce instead of cranberry sauce once I decided to make it every year. It takes time but is worth it when put on turkey, steak, ham, or chicken. The dessert list looks yummy.

  61. Happy holidays to you all! So grateful for another year of survival — with some good stuff coming in as well.

  62. I’m about 3 weeks post-surgery. The thing that could go wrong in one-in-a-few-thousand patients went wrong with me, so now I’m wearing a brace and using a cane. My daughter will be cooking Thanksgiving this year. Her second time. I’m thankful that things didn’t go worse wrong.

    • From one one-in-rare person to another, sending you all the hugs and love. I also did surgery (stupidly before the holiday) so now others are cooking for me. Here’s hoping 🤞

  63. I’m thankful for your writing. It’s not easy. Resistance. Dread. Overwhelm. And you keep going. A gift to me! Thank you. 🥂

  64. This year will be our first, bittersweet Thanksgiving (and Christmas etc) without my older daughter, who died in October. I’m thankful for my amazing second daughter, who has been working too hard as her sister’s executor and organizing everything, my hilarious niece/daughter-by-love and her exuberant partner, and the grandkids who make me laugh and give great hugs (except the 12-year-old, who only allows head scratches at present). Whoever hosts — us this year — cooks the turkey, mashed potatoes, cider gravy (made with veggie broth for the pescatarian, with turkey drippings added for the meat eaters) and stuffing (oyster and plain, made with veggie broth). Everyone else brings the rest: candied yams, green bean casserole, bread rolls, a squash dish (varies), apple, pumpkin, and pecan pies. We’ll toast our beloved Melissa’s memory with cider, sparkling water, and Beaujolais, laugh and cry, and continue our healing journey.

    • I’m so sorry for your loss, Virginia. May her memory be a comfort for you and all your loved ones!

    • I’m sorry for your loss Virginia. I hope you have a peaceful Thanksgiving and that happy and lovely memories will help you share your day with your daughter, who will always still be there with you. 💕💕💕

    • So sorry for your loss. Best wishes to you as you navigate all the firsts without Melissa. May her memory be a blessing to you.

    • My condolences on the loss of your daughter. Enjoy the dishes she loved in remembrance of her.

  65. Happy belated birthday, ModR! I’m grateful for many things this year, mostly just glad to have survived it, lol. Too tired to cook this year, and the family will most likely go to MIL for Thanksgiving. I will stay here and sleep instead of cook. The only thing I plan on making this year is the homemade cranberry sauce that my daughter asks for every year. It’s easy and so delicious! I enjoyed reading everyone’s posts and food. Thankful for this group, and thankful for the authors who provide this lovely space-and the best books!

  66. That Paul Hollywood, though….Happy Thanksgiving to all the BDH; how grateful we are for Mod R and House Andrews! Time to get going on the pies!

  68. Your menu is more varied than mine, but I have sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing, turkey, gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, chocolate meringue pie, and a lemon pie that I hope, hope, hope is like what my grandmother made (I was told it was), sweet tea, whatever I decide to drink (probably water), then wine and drinks later. I usually do an apple pie, but decided on lemon this year.
    We expect our son and DIL, my MIL, and a friend of my husband’s that staying with us so he can hunt. Later, we will probably have my DIL’s sister, husband, and baby over (the husband is my son’s best friend), and possibly one of our nephews and his new wife to eat the leftovers. Add 4-5 dogs (most very large) to the mix and it will be a lively, chaotic, happy time. Thanksgiving is also the most relaxing holiday for me because other than traveling up to our “camp” (parents’ old house), we don’t have to go anywhere, swap gifts, etc., though I do have to do most of the cooking. Somehow, I became the designated cooker 20+ years ago when Mom still had her memory and Dad was still alive. Never figured out how that happened.

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING! and hopefully, no more surgery for you.

  69. First: Happy Belated Birthday Mod R. Second my family loves Stove Top Stuffing. And last but not least long live the Great British Bakeoff, just make sure you don’t have a soggy bottom.

  70. Happy Birthday Mod R!

    Ilona, I’m glad you are feeling so much better than before your surgery…gallbladder attacks are definitely no fun. Good luck with the cooking and baking!

    Here’s wishing a happy, healthy, and peaceful Thanksgiving day to HA and guests, Mod R, and the BDH whether or not they celebrate Thanksgiving (wonderful days don’t have to occur only on holidays!) 😁

  71. The Great British Baking Show and Paul Hollywood are responsible for so much baking at my house and our new ability to recognize obscure pastries by name…. Here’s hoping for a relaxing holiday for the House Andrews and the entire Horde

  72. Happy Horde Thanksgiving to everyone.

    I am thinking about a reread of all of the Kate books–including the Wilmington 2–for my pre and post dinner occupation. ok, also for my whole holiday weekend reading. I’m a fast reader, but even I can’t read all the books in a single day. But I thought it would be a proper Horde plan.

    Off to plan my conquests for the Holidays.

  73. some spread! just three of us here this year, and we don’t really like turkey. prob do a roaster ( will be torture for the dogs, they are on a diet bc they both are ridiculous mooches and my wife is a softie), will do deviled eggs for the appetizer, either bread or stuffing, big salad.

    btw your sub zero story must have triggered something in ours ( which is now approaching 30 years old), we had it rebuilt ago bc it was cheaper than getting any kind of new fridge. a couple of times it seemed to go into defrost mode when it hadn’t been left open.

    I know it has been happening a while but my wife and I are sad about just how much Christmas season has extended into October, it is like Thanksgiving is now seen as a barrier to get past rather than a special thing on of itself. We are goofy, we love the Christmas movies on Hallmark as cheesy as they are, but we refuse to watch before Thanksgiving.

  74. Thanksgiving at your house sounds amazing. This year my husband will be sharing the dinner at the rehabilitation hospital. It seems I tripped and fell, fracturing my skull, while trying to jump my car on November 11. Now they are estimating my discharge on December 3. I’m so happy to be receiving the newest book of yours, signed and numbered. Okay, brain just said enough.

  76. The trick to braiding bread evenly is to start from the middle. Our family’s traditional braided holiday bread is “Finnish Biscuit” a mildly sweet yeast bread with cardamom in it and cinnamon sugar sprinkled over the top.

  78. Bacon fat is my stuffing special ingredient, because, as we all know, everything is better with bacon.I’ll have to try adding Pink Ladies with the Granny Smiths inmy next pie.

    I wanted to say that my mother had her gallbladder out when she was 23. That would have been 1954. The only trouble it gave er was in digesting large amounts of fats, since no more bile.
    Fortunately we live in an age of wonders. You can get lipase over the counter and take it with fatty meals.
    I got my husband a multi-enzyme from Puritan’s Pride, to help with his problem gut.

    Hail to the smoked, glazed turkey! On the brussel sprout topic, Have you tried Trader Joe’s Kung Pao brussel sprouts? To die for. I am stealing that recipe. There is more tobrussel spout life than gravy and butter.

    Please everyone enjoy your feasting. I leave you with a recipe hot hot buttered rum. It”s really very simple. The key is good ingredients, because it only has a couple.

    Your favorite dark rum
    The best dark demerera sugar you can find
    grass-fed, salted butter
    water

    Everything is in to taste proportions. Heat the water, add a spoonful of sugar and one of butter, and as much rum asyou like. You should have a salty layer of butter on top as you sip through it to the sweet rum flavor beneath,

    Save money on Irish Cream. Imake myown. It isn’t hard. Equal amounts of heavy cream and Jamesons or Bailey’s, lots of brown sugar.

    I usually make a quart or two. Pour the rum into the cream while mixing slowly to keep it from curdling. Add dark brown sugarabout a quarter cup at a time, to taste. You can add vanilla if youlike, but it works perfectly fine with three ingredients.
    Refrigerated, it will keep far longer than it is likely to last. Serve over ice and top with fresh grated nutmeg, if you are so inclined.

    May all your feasts be happy ones.

  79. Just for fun- how many guests are the Andrews having for Thanksgiving Dinner? The menu makes me tired just thinking of preparing it all! Have a wonderful day to all and to all our fellow Book Devouring Horde!

  80. Happy Thanksgiving!!
    My menu requires a bit of backstory to understand. My family -siblings- with spouses and children used to spend holidays with my mom when she was nearer but she has moved away, living now with my older brother in Florida. The rest of my siblings are gravitating in that direction leaving me, husband and offspring — among the youngest of their generation — pretty much alone. Hubby will not touch poultry so at the gatherings he grazed sides, accompanied by my older pescatarian offspring. Later he would join my younger brother (always game for shenanigans with the hubs) on a Chinese food run. Shenanigans ensue as mom was not in an area with abundant open on holidays Chinese restaurants and there was no advance planning.
    This year we can’t justify a whole turkey for me and my 98 lb soaking wet teen. So older kid suggests we cut to the chase and just get Chinese. Hubs is now in charge of thanksgiving dinner with the exception of one stuffed turkey breast and cranberry sauce becasue I need my leftover gobbler sandwiches. There will be advance planning because the firstborn is on it.

  81. I’m glad you survived too.
    thank you for sharing your gallbladder experience. it helped a family member going through it too .

    or i should say, it helped the rest of the family be more understanding and supportive.

    I’ll forgo sharing the dramatic details so it’s not triggering.

    hugs and happy holidays!

  82. I miss the Old Days when my ILs were alive and we had 15-20 family, before friends were added. A ton of food. One year we had 6-7 pies. Glorious.

    I have now discovered Trader Joe’s turkey gravy. It’s delicious and gravy making isn’t one of my skills, and I’m just not doing it. I’m making 2 pies, a bird, sprouts, stuffing, potatoes, and that’s enough. I’ll have left overs for DAYS.

    I wish you all the best, with no weather ugliness!

  83. Spec’s (the liquor store) has Maple Bourbon Pecan Pies for this time of year, so that’s dessert taken care of.

  84. I’ve just been diagnosed with gallbladder issues, only one attack so far. I, on a low fat diet but planning thanksgiving dinner anyway as my US based MIL is staying with us at present . Fingers crossed I don’t get another attack as a result ! Happy to hear you have recovered well

  87. Happy thanksgiving- it still sounds like a lot of work.

    For the apple pie, I can only recommend trying an old apple sort, Belle de Boskoop or shortBoskoop. It’s the traditional apple for strudel or any other apple cake or torte in German speaking countries. It’s full of flavour and bakes wonderfully.

  88. its my first non-gallbladder thanksgiving too. and i TOTALLY understand that irrational fear after the surgery that the pain is going to come back! that is some serious freaking pain. it was even worse than my appendix pain. but yeah, it was on my mind too, fear that the pain would come back.

    ain’t nothing wrong with stove top stuffing. it wouldn’t still be around after 50+ years if it wasn’t good.

  89. G’day Mod R on your happy food day!

    Heat wave conditions on our east coast for a week mean I’m craving som tam (Thai famed Green Papaya salad) with pork and prawn not a home made salad! Or a banh mi with crispy pork belly (a fully loaded… sandwich) and fresh chilli.

    Daikon and regular radish along with fennel and green apple or pear are the order of the day (past week) so far. Salad is easy prep. So is ice-cream hahaha

    Some of the dishes I’ve never heard of could be worth an internet trawl. (Bourbon pecan pie? New ways with Brussels sprouts? I’ve only roasted them with garlic or microwaved them with butter and nutmeg. Hmmm…)

    Thanks for the food education!

  90. Happy Turkey Day. Yes we all have much to be thankful for. What a great menu.
    We have two turkeys. I roast on Wednesday so I can reheat on Thursday. I make a roaster full of dressing on Thanksgiving. And yes although my oven is large, roaster on top of washed/dryer is easier on this 71 yr old.
    I do turkey, dressing, gravy, rolls and cranberry sauce. Everyone one else brings the sides and desserts.
    It doesn’t really matter what is served, it is the family time.
    We average 25 family members for the day. Crowded and fun.
    Pray for good weather on Texas Gulf Coast for kids to get outside.

    • Sounds wonderful! We’ll have eight adults and five kiddos, all under four years old. My DILs are bringing sides, and we’re doing the turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, and homemade cranberry sauce.

  91. Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Belated birthday Mod R.
    Thursday will be out 3rd Thanksgiving this season.
    1st was last Sunday, my side of the family.
    2nd was Husbands friendsgiving with an old friend from HS and his family.
    3rd will be Thursday at my house, my sister her kid and my family.
    4th is Saturday at Husbands fight group.
    Sister and I split the cooking for Thursday and its pjs and movie so super low key. All other I did the mac and cheeses and we kind of semi formal. By Saturday I would have made 10 pans of mac and cheese.
    I took Monday off so that I can sleep in the dark and recover

  92. Thank you for your posts! It’s been a weird few days for me. Last Friday I found out I’m pregnant and experienced ALL the emotions that go with it lol by Monday I had convinced myself I must have done “something wrong” with the first test so I took a second one, which was also positive. As part of my anxiety coping mechanisms I’ve been going back through the blog’s “food” posts. There’s something so comforting about reading about food. I’m about to experience a huge life change, which is both exciting and terrifying, but I now have a recipe for mango salsa and want to try raspberry preserves in my black tea. And somehow that makes things better. So thank you for the food posts, the life updates, and the books! They all make life, and all it’s chaotic changes, just a little bit better. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

  93. Ilona, thanks for sharing. About oven space being at a premium during the holidays? A countertop oven roaster can save the day. I bought one after realizing that I was actually contemplating selling the house to buy one with two built-in ovens. Reality kicked me in the butt–surely there was a better option!

    My kitchen is a small galley-style efficiency kitchen with two arched exits and a center aisle wide enough to accommodate a busy family. It’s fine for a couple of retirees and an adult household of four, and I’m married to the King of DIY guys. However, it wasn’t worth the stress and cost of another kitchen remodeling project.

    So, a couple of years ago, I bought a countertop roaster oven that handles large turkeys and/or hams with ease and leaves the built-in oven free for everything else. This is my third year using it for the holidays, and I love it! You have enough counter space in your glorious kitchen for a countertop roaster oven. Just sayin’.

  94. So organized! Everybody knows what they are having. My family dynamics are strange. We never know till the day before what the meal will be, LOL. Sister has a host of don’t eats/won’t eats/can’t eats. So special meal for her. Brother volunteers to use every pot and pan to make giant kitchen mess for his admittedly good food. Mom struggles to rein him in from his dreams of culinary excesses to mitigate the mess to clean up in the kitchen. Dad and I stand back and just shrug and say ‘we’ll be happy to eat whatever is decided on’. Sometimes it is roasted Goose, or smoked turkey or ham, sometimes meat like rack of lamb, sometimes its fresh pan fried fish. Of course you just never do know. I can guarantee however there WILL be potatoes, either mashed, boiled and pan fried in Goose fat (so so good!), or roasted in oven, maybe even pommes d’anna – I did mention bro makes complicated food and will use every clean pan, pot and dish up in making his style of food didn’t I?. 🙂 Parsnips sometimes if we can find them. Carrots because that’s the only veggie all 5 of us eat happily (besides the potatoes). Peas possibly. Dessert is catch as can, and is usually a choice of fresh fruit soaked in alcoholic syrup, sorbet, or the to die for Dark Chocolate Mousse of my brother ( you will be comatose after eating it as you digest, but is yummy going down).

  96. If you’re still looking, The NY Times challah recipe is a really great braided bread recipe, and it has a solid video showing the braid.

  97. Sounds good! I learned something last week on insta about cooking Brussels sprouts. When they’re halved, if you put them cut side down they’ll be mushier and cut side up will be toastier/crunchier. So however you like them.

  101. I’m not in the US. Translated the menu to my Mom and just the thought of cooking this much gave her anxiety. LOL.

  102. Ilona, just an fyi. Some people who have their gallbladder removed do have problems digesting fat. This was explained to me at the time I had my gallbladder removed. I didn’t have any problems for years and thought I was a lucky one. Then after 3-4 years once or twice a year I would feel nauseous after a high fat meal. A year and half ago everything exploded, nausea, diarrhea, reflux. I am now on a low fat diet. I would suggest lower fat intake now and hopefully you never have to reach the low fat diet level.

  103. Thanks for the stuffing comments. I love doctored boxed stuffing. It is never fail. I rarely talk about it to people outside of the family because everyone has an opinion on what makes good stuffing.

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