Making thanksgiving dinner..Not sure what to make..any advice?!


Question: OK so this is my second year making thanksgiving dinner(i figure im doin good im only 19, and last years dinner was a wonderful success)..ok
so so far i have got:
Turkey(im smoking it in my father in laws smoker)
Chicken Dressing
Macaroni and cheese
Brocolli and cheese-maybe rice with it
Potato Salad
Mashed Potatos
Green bean casserole
Sweet potato pie
Homemade cranberry sauce
Rolls
Salad
Corn
Gravy
Deviled eggs
Cocktail sausages with bbq
Shrimp(for husband and mother)
Fruit salad
Carrot Cake
And chocolate cake..


OK so I guess i have what im making..so i just want your opinions on if this is a good dinner list..and what are some of your recipes for some of these things.

Just comment..give some advice..What do you think about my meal idea?

Do i get frozen or fresh shrimp-how much shrimp-what do you dip shrimp in?I donno cause i dont eat seafood..

Thanks for any input you have..
I hope this year will be a blast,and success.


Answers: OK so this is my second year making thanksgiving dinner(i figure im doin good im only 19, and last years dinner was a wonderful success)..ok
so so far i have got:
Turkey(im smoking it in my father in laws smoker)
Chicken Dressing
Macaroni and cheese
Brocolli and cheese-maybe rice with it
Potato Salad
Mashed Potatos
Green bean casserole
Sweet potato pie
Homemade cranberry sauce
Rolls
Salad
Corn
Gravy
Deviled eggs
Cocktail sausages with bbq
Shrimp(for husband and mother)
Fruit salad
Carrot Cake
And chocolate cake..


OK so I guess i have what im making..so i just want your opinions on if this is a good dinner list..and what are some of your recipes for some of these things.

Just comment..give some advice..What do you think about my meal idea?

Do i get frozen or fresh shrimp-how much shrimp-what do you dip shrimp in?I donno cause i dont eat seafood..

Thanks for any input you have..
I hope this year will be a blast,and success.

My goodness! That's quite a menu you have there. Here are a few recipes you might want to consider trying. I know your dinner will be a great success. Happy Thanksgiving.

OLD-FASHIONED STUFFING

1-1/2 c. chopped or sliced celery (3 stalks)
1 c. chopped onion (1 large)
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 tbsp. snipped fresh sage or 1 tsp. poultry seasoning or ground sage
1/4 tsp. black pepper
12 c. dry bread cubes
1 to1-1/4 c. chicken broth *
Sage (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. In a large skillet, cook celery and onion in hot butter over medium heat
until tender but not brown. Remove from heat. Stir in sage and pepper. Place bread cubes in large bowl; add onion mixture. Drizzle with enough chicken broth to moisten; toss lightly to combine. Place stuffing in a 2-quart casserole dish. Bake, covered, for 30 to 45 minutes or until heated through. Top with fresh sage. Makes 12 to 14 servings.

* If using to stuff a turkey, reduce broth to 3/4 to 1 cup. Try a mix of whole wheat, white, and multi-grain bread cubes for extra flavor.

Stuffing Additions:

- Stir 2 medium cored and chopped apples into bread cubes.
- Omit 1 cup of the celery and substitute 2 cups sliced mushrooms. Cook mushrooms with the celery in Step 1, above.
- Stir one 15-ounce can chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped, into bread cubes.
- Stir 1 cup cooked wild rice into bread cubes.

DILLY POTATO SALAD

4 lbs. red potatoes, halved
5 hard-cooked eggs
1 cup chopped dill pickles
1 small onion, chopped
1 to1-1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Paprika

Place potatoes in a large kettle. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool. Cut potatoes into 3/4 in" cubes. Chop four eggs. Slice the remaining egg for garnish. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, chopped eggs, pickles and onion. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, celery seed, salt and pepper. Pour over the potato mixture and stir gently to coat. Sprinkle with paprika. Garnish with sliced egg. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Makes 12-14 servings.

14 KARAT CAKE

CAKE
1-1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup golden raisins

FROSTING
6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons flaked coconut, toasted

In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients until smooth. Combine the flours, baking soda, salt and spices; add to the egg mixture and mix well. Stir in carrots and raisins. Pour into a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 350 F. for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For frosting, in a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Beat in sugar. Frost the cake. Sprinkle with walnuts and coconut. Refrigerate. Makes 18 servings.

oh my nog that is a lot of food.....but a good list.....you can dip cold shrimp in cocktail sacue or my favorite way to eat shrimp.....you saute it in butter, minced garlic, and a bit of hot sauce. good luck!

That's a lot of food. Don't waste your time on 3 potato dishes. Leave out the potato salad and have mashed potatoes to go with the gravy. Can have sweet potato casserole since it is traditional. Desserts sound good but where's the pumpkin pie? Or any pie, not everyone likes cake.

It sounds like A LOT of food. It's my favorite holiday too. But as I've gotten older, I have learned not to make myself so crazy in making so many dishes.

This is my fav cranberry sauce:

Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce

This sauce is fantastic. It should be made at least 2 weeks before use, however I've made it the day before and it was still really good.

2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup Grand Marnier

Mix ingredients well in a Pyrex baking dish. Cook in a preheated 275° oven for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes. Keep in a tightly covered container in the fridge.
------------------------
Note: The original recipe called for apple brandy and only used 1/4 cup. I've made it with Calvados, as well as Grand Marnier and both versions are delicious!

Your list seems great! Where is the pumpkin pie? Are you substituting the sweet potato pie for the pumpkin? It all sounds really really good! For the shrimp how are you preparing them? Are they going to be cocktail shrimp? If so I would buy them cooked, and peeled! If you are going to be serving them hot then I would get them raw and cook them myself...you don't want to overcook shrimp because it will get very rubbery! I don't think frozen or fresh would matter! I have gotten both and they always turn out great for either prepared method. I dip my shrimp in cocktail sauce. Mine isn't traditional. I put some ketchup in a bowl and add some horseradish until desired heat has been reached. You can buy cocktail sauce as well...which may be easier and quicker for you since you are the only one cooking! Good luck, the menu sounds fantastic!

It sounds great!

Most of family aren't crazy about cranberry sauce, so I make this, too, and everyone loves it:

Holiday Raspberry Salad

1 (12 oz.) pkg. Frozen Raspberries
1 can (15 oz.) Applesauce
2 (3 oz.) pkgs. Raspberry Jello
2 cups Hot Water

Dissolve Jello in 2 cups hot water. Add applesauce and thawed raspberries. DO NOT ADD additional cold water to the Jello. Chill until set. Don't worry about a little berry juice, but don't buy berries packed in juice. If so, drain them. You can use strawberry Jello with frozen stawberries, or orange Jello with canned mandarin oranges, instead. Makes 4 servings.

I always double or triple the recipe.

That is a lot of food, how many people are you feeding?

As for the shrimp, rarely do you get it fresh unless you live near a shrimping community. You can get it frozen and it's pretty good. Just defrost in the fridge. In my supermarket you can even get it already cooked. They steam it right there for you. Chill and serve with cocktail sauce. Another idea is to check your Asian food aisle for a peanut dipping sacue. It's spice and great with shrimp.

how many people are you feeding; are you preparing all of these dishes yourself? and why are you doing "chicken dressing?" does it come from a box? Aside from the smoked turkey (depending on whether you "brine" with lots of salt) the only thing on your menu I can eat is fruit salad ... assuming it is merely a compilation of fresh fruit or fruit canned in its own juice.

Have you delegated any of your menu items? When my family gathers more than four adults in one spot, every adult brings something. My BIL makes a killer cheese ball; my late father-in-law made awesome sourdough bread. One of my aunts makes baked beans that are to die for; and no one can beat my mom's potato salad.

If you buy a fresh turkey for your smoker, you will have lots of giblets, neck, etc. to prepare broth for both gravy and fresh turkey dressing.

As for the shrimp, we don't use it anymore because of the scandal in the Asian seafood processing plants. If you can buy fresh domestic shrimp, go that route. You can buy either raw or boiled cocktail shrimp (they should be BIG); of course you need to boil the raw ones. There are a couple of ready-made cocktail sauces on the market; the counterperson at the seafood market can recommend one or two, or direct you to a great recipe. Good cocktail sauce has a tart tomato-y base (think ketchup), freshly grated horseradish, worcestershire sauce, and of course you want to provide plenty of large lemon wedges for the dunker to use as preferred.

Good luck with your dinner; I hope you have set aside two days afterwards for the cleanup.

Personally, you're making way more than I would make..why don't you trim down the list some so YOU can enjoy Thanksgiving, too!!! 2-3 side dishes is plenty with Turkey, then your rolls, and 2-3 desserts. That will be plenty of work for you....Broccoli and cheese can be thrown in the crockpot--frozen broccoli, a block of velveeta and some milk, let it melt.
Mashed potatoes is usually a thanksgiving standard. Green Bean Casserole is easy, 2-3 cans of green beans, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, mix, put in casserole dish, top with french fried onions, put a few pats of butter on top and bake at 350 until bubbly. Rolls--get the frozen packaged rolls, put 2 to each muffin tin, let rise, bake (makes huge rolls), as far as what you dip shrimp in, it is cocktail sauce, you can buy it at any grocery store by the ketchup. Better yet, instead of YOU making everything, why don't you make the turkey, shrimp, and a dessert or 2 and sign everyone else up for side dishes!!!! That's what we do!!! Makes thanksgiving/Christmas a lot more enjoyable for all of us!!! (And we eat off paper plates so we don't have to worry about dishes--we can all visit and enjoy each other after dinner).

It's a nice menu, but you have a lot of sides. I'd ditch the potato salad because that's more of a summer dish. Grand Marnier is a orange flavored liqueur, so you'd have to have someone of age to purchase it for you. It's very expensive. As for the shrimp, if you can buy fresh, do so, but make sure it's deveined, because it's pretty gross having to devein the shrimp. You can just purchase a premade cocktail sauce to go with it. I also do not like pumpkin pie so I'm looking at making a pecan tart instead. You've done well planning this for only being 19. Have a nice dinner with your family.

Oh, since that's a lot of food to prepare, why don't you ask people in your family to help out with the dishes? Thanksgiving does have the word give in it so I think it would be nice to have everyone bring in a dish. Ask them to bring the recipe too, in case people would like to make the dish at home.

For me a traditional Thanksgiving dinner is a baked turkey with bread stuffing, whipped potato, squash, turnip(some call rutabaga) cranberry sauce, fresh baked bread, sweat potato, maybe one more vegetable. Then lots of pies mice meat, chocolate cream, lemon meringue, apple and pumpkin or squash pie.

Looks great! If people are going to be staying late, add a relish tray, pickles of all kinds, carrot sticks, celery sticks, black and green olives. That way, if they get munchies later, you can let them have sandwiches out of the left over turkey and relish items. Ask some family members to bring their favorite pie to share for an after dinner party if you want, have it 3-4 hours after dinner is over. Serve beverages of your choice. What you have listed looks great! Have a blessed time with your loved ones!





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