Thanksgiving Menu

[peachexploration]

What's on your Thanksgiving Menu this year? :D In the US, its November 23rd. Got your turkey yet? I'm doing my traditional Roasted Duck. Not sure what I'm adding along with it. I have tested a Red Velvet Cake recipe last night that came out pretty good. Yummy! :)

[peachexploration]

Wow, no one else having turkey this year? :(

[peachexploration]

Happy Turkey Day in the US. :D

[AndrewD]

Too many brits on the salsa forums? :?:

Or too many vegetarians? :lol:

Happy Thanksgiving either way.

[peachexploration]

Thanks AndrewD. I think most are just on vacation. :)

[Terremoto]

I'm visiting my parents in phoenix over the holiday. We had the traditional US thanksgiving dinner, turky, stuffing, yams, mashed potatos, a little bit of salad, carots, and afterwards pumpkin pie.

[peachexploration]

That menu sounds very good. We had the everything but the pumpkin pie. What's with that. My family loves sweet potato pie. :roll: Not particularly into sweet potato so, I'm going bake something with pumpkin in it tomorrow. :D

This is the best Thanksgiving that I've ever had. :banana: I am finally getting acquainted with my father's side of the family! I have five uncles and five Aunts, six more brothers and a sister. :banana: I am so excited! After this terrible year that I've had, I am blessed with getting to know my lost family. I am so happy. This has truly been a holiday of thanksgiving for me! :D

[peachexploration]

:banana: It's Turkey Time in the US! :banana:

[sirenita]

Turkey indeed!
There is a Thanksgiving salsa party tonight :banana: - don't think I can go though. :cry:
It's a real bummer not living in Portland anymore!

:banana: too bad there are no turkey emoticons. :banana:
>shrug< Dancing Banana will do :banana:

[peachexploration]

Here you go :arrow: http://norbert26.com/thanksgiving/waveturk.gif http://norbert26.com/thanksgiving/16.gifhttp://norbert26.com/thanksgiving/13.gif

[peachexploration]

So Sirenita, what's on your menu? :) I usually roast a duck but could not find one. Stores are all sold out. I guess they really love roasted duck in North Carolina. :lol: Anyways, I just got a small turkey. Will cook some brussel sprouts and turkey stuffing. Staying away from the desserts this year. :)

[Terremoto]

HHHmmm - taco bell this year :shock:

Hehehehehe - I celebrated thanksgiving early this year. My parents flew up last week and celebrated. So tomorrow (Thanksgiving) I don't know what I'll be doing.

[peachexploration]

Dude? Taco Bell? :lol: Hopefully, you'll find some friends with a turkey and all the fixins. :)

[lolita]

A big Leg of Lamb :D
No turkey this year, i am sick of turkey on thanksgiving, already seasoned it and waiting for tomorow.

Beets salad with cranberries sause and carrots
Mashed potatoes with butter, and thick brown sauce

and i am baking a hot home made pumpkin pie... I am pimpin

Happy thanksgiving yall :)

[peachexploration]

Roadtrip to Lolita's for dinner, anyone? :D Sounds yummy. :)

[MacMoto]

Turkey is for Christmas in the UK, so we've got another month for our turkey day... I'm going to dim sum lunch on Saturday - nothing to do with Thanksgiving, it's my early farewell party :)

To SFers celebrating the holiday, have a happy Thanksgiving! :D

[lolita]

Roadtrip to Lolita's for dinner, anyone? :D Sounds yummy. :)

Comeover yall :D that would be the greatest thanksgiving :)

[peachexploration]

¡Mi cena de Turquía es deliciosa! :D

[Jones, Nikka]

¡Mi cena de Turquía es deliciosa! :D

Peach.. ahem.. you just wrote that your Turkish dinner was delicious.

If you meant turkey as in the bird and not as in the country, the word is pavo.

[peachexploration]

:lol: :lol: Thank you Nikka! Just goes to show you, not all computer translators are good ones. :lol: :lol:

[tj]

I cooked a turkey this year. Just the breasts, not a full turkey.

Also, made a side of green beans, some garlic bread (whoops, breaking traditions, lol), tater tots, and apple pie for dessert.

Lots of leftovers in the fridge (and freezer).

[bailarina]

I cooked a turkey this year. Just the breasts, not a full turkey.

Also, made a side of green beans, some garlic bread (whoops, breaking traditions, lol), tater tots, and apple pie for dessert.

Lots of leftovers in the fridge (and freezer).

?tater tots?! not sure about that TJ.

Not to toot my own horn, but I make the BEST stuffing (dressing) you could imagine. It takes 3 days preparation..... But worth the effort. I wound up at a quite gormet thanksgiving this year: 2 turkeys (one classically baked and one done on a barbeque grill) - potatoes scalloped w/mushrooms & cheese rather than mashed, a unique creamy vegetable soup, and chocolate pecan pie! Yum.

preceded by 2 nights of dancing make for a fabulous thanksgiving so far!

[tj]

I cooked a turkey this year. Just the breasts, not a full turkey.

Also, made a side of green beans, some garlic bread (whoops, breaking traditions, lol), tater tots, and apple pie for dessert.

Lots of leftovers in the fridge (and freezer).

?tater tots?! not sure about that TJ.

Lol, I'm like Joey on Friends... (I'm not a big mashed potato fan)


Not to toot my own horn, but I make the BEST stuffing (dressing) you could imagine. It takes 3 days preparation..... But worth the effort. I wound up at a quite gormet thanksgiving this year: 2 turkeys (one classically baked and one done on a barbeque grill) - potatoes scalloped w/mushrooms & cheese rather than mashed, a unique creamy vegetable soup, and chocolate pecan pie! Yum.

preceded by 2 nights of dancing make for a fabulous thanksgiving so far!
Very nice!

[peachexploration]

¡Mi cena de Turquía es deliciosa! :D

Peach.. ahem.. you just wrote that your Turkish dinner was delicious.

If you meant turkey as in the bird and not as in the country, the word is pavo. Nice story for a Turkish Thanksgiving feast. :D

A Turkish Roast-Turkey
by Kate Heyhoe

Kate's Virtual Journey: A Progressive Feast
8th Stop: Istanbul, Turkey

In November, Americans overseas share one thing in common: a longing for Thanksgiving. Or rather, a longing for a true Thanksgiving dinner. Turkeys, cranberries, and pumpkin can be hard to come by in the far corners of the globe, but fortunately, my latest trek brings me to a most unusual—but scrumptious —Thanksgiving feast....

Sonia opens the oven door and the aroma of roasted, stuffed turkey makes me feel just like I'm home at Thanksgiving. But I'm not. A glance out the window at the Bosphorus reminds me that I'm in a land with traditions and heritage far older than the first Thanksgiving.

Ironically, I am being hosted to a turkey dinner in Turkey—a country whose name was given to our favorite Thanksgiving bird. The English so-named them turkeys because of Turkish traders, who picked up the plucky birds in Spain. Spain, as you recall, did quite a number on the Indians of the Americas, and in their conquests, also captured some of our native birds. Wars being wars, the Spanish later didn't trade directly with Britain, so the Turkish traders brought goods from Spain to the English and back to the Near East, thereby introducing our beloved turkey fowl to both England and Turkey.

But the scrawny, 6-pound turkeys in Turkey don't much resemble the overgrown, heavy breasted beasts Americans have come to produce. So, using her connections at the American consulate, Sonia has managed to procure a real American turkey—or at least part of one: a whole turkey breast.

Though Sonia has never been to America, let alone to a Thanksgiving dinner, her American husband, Jeremy, has described it to her. This year, she's making their first Thanksgiving dinner together. Being an accomplished Turkish cook herself, Sonia puts her own cultural stamp on the meal, in large part I suspect because you can't really get cranberries here and she's never tasted our traditional dishes, so she works with what she can get and the foods she knows.

"Jeremy has been great at telling me about the wondrous feast of Thanksgiving, but he's not much help otherwise," she cheerfully laments. "A kitchen is as foreign to him as a spaceship. I found a few recipes in English-language magazines, but in the end, I've made up my own. I hope you don't mind."

How could I mind! Looking at the ingredients spread across her counter (the kitchen does resemble the typical Thanksgiving one, strewn with spices, pots, pans, and vegetable trimmings), I feel confident that whatever we end up eating will be more than just fine. The day before, we took a tour of Istanbul's famous Spice Bazaar, where Sonia picked up cinnamon, cloves, allspice, walnuts, pistachios, dried cherries, pumpkin and pomegranates for tonight's meal. While we may be missing cranberries, many of these common Turkish ingredients are also authentic Thanksgiving elements. I'm intrigued to see what Sonia plans to do with them.

"Normally, being in Istanbul, we'd celebrate a holiday with fish and the ubiquitous eggplant," explains Jeremy, "but the thought of fish on Thanksgiving just seemed...well, just too foreign for me." Istanbul's pristinely fresh fish is certainly a gourmet's delight, but I understand what Jeremy means. You just can't mess too much with tradition.

"Time to eat!" Sonia proclaims and we all sit down at a table so laden with serving platters, bowls, and small dishes that I can barely see the beautiful embroidered tablecloth below. "Well," I comment, "even without tasting the food, I can attest that you've mastered the first rule of the Thanksgiving supper: making more food than any human could possibly eat! Well done!"

The menu is incredible: Roast Turkey Breast; Turkish Pilaf Stuffing; Circassian Walnut Gravy; Spinach, Pine Nut, and Pomegranate Salad; pumpkin glazed with portakal (Turkish orange-blossom honey), and rich, nutty baklava.

I am amazed how much the meal resembles the traditional Thanksgiving feast. Pumpkin may not seem Turkish, but on the contrary, pumpkins are grown and greatly enjoyed in Turkey along with other winter and summer squashes. The pilaf stuffing is certainly as authentic as any American rice dressing—with crunchy nuts, sweet spices, and raisins. The turkey breast is roasted simply, with a minimum of seasoning, so that it compliments the savory stuffing, and Sonia's version of turkey gravy is a delightful adaptation of the famous Turkish dish, Circassian Walnut Sauce.

But the height of the meal is Sonia's innovative "Faux Cranberry Relish." "I don't know these red cranberries, she explains, but Jeremy says they are very tart, like pomegranates. So I mixed chopped dried cherries with our pomegranate molasses, some honey, and this is what I came up with. Is it OK?"

Jeremy and I swoon in agreement, our mouths too stuffed to utter words. Sonia may never have made a Thanksgiving dinner before, but in this one elegant meal, she has managed to put an innovative "Whirling Dervish" spin on tradition, with exciting dishes that I guarantee will grace my own Thanksgiving table for years to come—wherever I may be.

I hope you enjoy these Thanksgiving recipes, and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Global Gourmet...

Kate Heyhoe
The Global Gourmet

[sweavo]

I cooked a turkey this year. Just the breasts, not a full turkey.

Also, made a side of green beans, some garlic bread (whoops, breaking traditions, lol), tater tots, and apple pie for dessert.

Lots of leftovers in the fridge (and freezer).

Napoleon! Gimme yer tots!

(sorry, that's the only other place I've encountered Tater Tots)

[tj]

I cooked a turkey this year. Just the breasts, not a full turkey.

Also, made a side of green beans, some garlic bread (whoops, breaking traditions, lol), tater tots, and apple pie for dessert.

Lots of leftovers in the fridge (and freezer).

Napoleon! Gimme yer tots!

(sorry, that's the only other place I've encountered Tater Tots)

Lol, how about we just go and get some Napoleans instead.