Thanksgiving FAQ for the whole AW Community

mario_c

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Wow!
Yes, but which stuffing? In our house, anything that comes out of a box or a bag is NOT stuffing. Stuffing is 2/3 cornbread, 1/3 white bread with lots of sage, onions and celery. Period.

None of this Yankee oyster stuffing stuff for us, thank you no.
We're as Yankee as they come, New England Yankee actually, and there's no oysters that I know of in Auntie's mix (Mom is allergic). Lots of croutons and spice are involved, fresh bread, and a few other things. Goes great with gravy and mashed yams.
 

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Y'all ever heard of milk stuffing--soak the cornbread or bread croutons in milk?

It's in a lot of my antique American and British pre-1900 cookbooks.
 

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Y'all ever heard of milk stuffing--soak the cornbread or bread croutons in milk?

It's in a lot of my antique American and British pre-1900 cookbooks.

Huh-uh, but that's how my mom's side fried everything. Fried chicken, okra, etc. Always milk. I don't know if that's unusual or not - I don't look up fried food recipes.
 

Deleted member 42

Huh-uh, but that's how my mom's side fried everything. Fried chicken, okra, etc. Always milk. I don't know if that's unusual or not - I don't look up fried food recipes.

My mom and her kin used buttermilk, and cornmeal.

In Maine, they used crackermeal; which is also good, but it was new to me. It's crushed crackers; matzo works too.

I love fried okra; can't stand it in any other way, and loathe detest and abhor picking it.
 
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Ken

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... a good substitute for catsup, gravy, or salt is juice from a lemon. Flavors up potatoes and turkey and whatnot really well, without stiffling the flavor of the entree. To apply the juice, simply poke some holes in a lemon with a fork. Then give 'er a squeeze. Bon appetite :)
 

Inky

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Candied yams made with 'bout 2 cups of Crown Royal...or whatever Single Malt Whiskey I have on hand, brown sugar, butter, marshmallows and various seasonings such as cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg....a dash more whiskey--ye' can nevah 'ave enough!

After a good dollup of 'em, I no longer give two figs that it's not a properly labeled holiday.
It SHOULD be called: WIFE, GET IN THE KITCHEN & COOK DAY.


But I'm not bitter.
 

~*Kate*~

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We have a tradition that everyone gets to pick one side dish (in addition to the standards, which are pretty much what Hapi outlined). I started picking macaroni and cheese at some point, but I might have to break out this year and request the gumbo that Kitty mentioned...
 

icerose

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I've always wanted to try gumbo. My husband is deathly allergic to sea food and iodine. I myself love seafood which puts a crimp on my ability to eat it. Ah, sacrifices made out of love.

Can someone describe the dish?
 

Kitty Pryde

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My mom and her kin used buttermilk, and cornmeal.

In Maine, they used crackermeal; which is also good, but it was new to me. It's crushed crackers; matzo works too.

I love fried okra; can't stand it in any other way, and loathe detest and abhor picking it.

Ooh! I had oysters dipped in buttermilk batter fried this week, and they were so good I died. A Nancy Silverton recipe from Twist of the Wrist (if you love fancy-pants gourmet food and you're lazy, this is the Bestest Cookbook Ever)!

I've always wanted to try gumbo. My husband is deathly allergic to sea food and iodine. I myself love seafood which puts a crimp on my ability to eat it. Ah, sacrifices made out of love.

Can someone describe the dish?

OK, it starts off with a roux made with gumbo filé, which is green and mucky and made from sassafras. Then you boil up all the fish heads and shrimp shells you've been saving all year (or you buy fish stock at the store, but it's not as good). Then you clean and cook a bunch of dungeness and/or blue crabs and shrimp too. Then you cook up the stew and throw in some sausage (hot links!) and a few veggies. Yum! Oysters are cooked separate and they go in right before you eat it, otherwise they kind of disintegrate.

At this point gumbo is a slightly alarming bile green color. I noticed that the color was distressing to people not of creole descent, and now she adds tomatoes to make it a sort of murky red color more associated with tasty stews. But it's better without! You can put in okra, but then you have to listen to my lecture on how okra is the booger of the vegetable world, and it's just not worth it, trust me.
 

Lavern08

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There'd be trouble in River City if I didn't make my Million Dollar Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas! ;)


Oh, and it's pronounced: Pee-Cahn

(a Pee-Can is what Grandma kept at her bedside at night) :tongue
 

Dicentra P

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Home baked cloverleaf rolls. The white bread recipe which was a Thanksgiving only recipe even though she baked bread weekly. The rest of the year it was whole wheat which is lovely in its own right but for thanksgiving it was white flour, white sugar and milk.
 

icerose

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OK, it starts off with a roux made with gumbo filé, which is green and mucky and made from sassafras. Then you boil up all the fish heads and shrimp shells you've been saving all year (or you buy fish stock at the store, but it's not as good). Then you clean and cook a bunch of dungeness and/or blue crabs and shrimp too. Then you cook up the stew and throw in some sausage (hot links!) and a few veggies. Yum! Oysters are cooked separate and they go in right before you eat it, otherwise they kind of disintegrate.

At this point gumbo is a slightly alarming bile green color. I noticed that the color was distressing to people not of creole descent, and now she adds tomatoes to make it a sort of murky red color more associated with tasty stews. But it's better without! You can put in okra, but then you have to listen to my lecture on how okra is the booger of the vegetable world, and it's just not worth it, trust me.

I don't think this helped much. I have no idea what a roux is or a gumbo filet.

I do live in Utah so Gumbo does not exist here unless probably up state where the restaraunts are.
 

Kitty Pryde

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I don't think this helped much. I have no idea what a roux is or a gumbo filet.

I do live in Utah so Gumbo does not exist here unless probably up state where the restaraunts are.

LOL! Gumbo filé is a brownish powder you can find in the spice aisle at the grocery store. A roux is flour+fat, that you cook up in a pan, it forms the base and thickens lots of different sauces (especially in french cooking, thus the frenchy name). You might have a hard time making it in Utah but you could probably do it with frozen shellfish or something. It's my partner's family recipe of secret deliciousness, but the most similar recipe comes from here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0394752759/?tag=absolutewritedm-20
 

DeleyanLee

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In my family, you can serve any meat you want, any form of starch or veggie or whatever--but if there's no pumpkin bread, it's not Thanksgiving.

The recipe I make (and I've been the designated pumpkin bread baker since I was 14) has been in my family for 5 generations now. I'm trying to teach my niece-in-law how to make it but the next generation is looking a little shakey. I keep hoping, though.

Ours starts as a batter, not dough, and we bake it in cans (seasoned over years of repeated baking) so they come out nice and round. It looks really nice with all the other food and tastes better than pie.

I've already got a baking date with the next generation the Sunday before so I can make enough for everyone to eat and take home.

Freezes good too.
 

icerose

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LOL! Gumbo filé is a brownish powder you can find in the spice aisle at the grocery store. A roux is flour+fat, that you cook up in a pan, it forms the base and thickens lots of different sauces (especially in french cooking, thus the frenchy name). You might have a hard time making it in Utah but you could probably do it with frozen shellfish or something. It's my partner's family recipe of secret deliciousness, but the most similar recipe comes from here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0394752759/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

Thank you very much, but Gumbo or anything else seafood isn't something I can bring in my house. Something about killing my husband off just doesn't sit right. ;) However, if I travel up north and visit my family I'll indulge in seafood when I know I can wash all my clothes, get a shower, brush my teeth, and use mouth wash before I'll kiss him again.

I do really appreciate it. We just have to take extreme precautions in my home. I just never knew what was in gumbo and I've heard so many people talk about it on the internet. I hope I can try it sometime when we are apart.
 

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Our people are far enough removed from Louisiana that we call too many things gumbo, but you can find some good chicken gumbo recipes, I think. Sausage and chicken... mmmm. Always use a roux though. I don't know what it'd be without a roux, but it won't be close.

Kitty, that is some seriously proper gumbo! I bow to y'all :D I can catch and clean blue crab like nobody's business if y'all ever need help at dinner :)
 

icerose

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Our people are far enough removed from Louisiana that we call too many things gumbo, but you can find some good chicken gumbo recipes, I think. Sausage and chicken... mmmm. Always use a roux though. I don't know what it'd be without a roux, but it won't be close.

Kitty, that is some seriously proper gumbo! I bow to y'all :D I can catch and clean blue crab like nobody's business if y'all ever need help at dinner :)

Thanks for letting me know it's possible with other meats, I'll have to check it out. I'll also see if there's a substitute recipe for roux as I know we can't get it here.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Kitty, that is some seriously proper gumbo! I bow to y'all :D I can catch and clean blue crab like nobody's business if y'all ever need help at dinner :)

Yay! My sweetie takes a pot lid in one hand to use as a shield (for real) and goes after the crabs with kitchen tongs, shouting things like, "He's got ahold to the faucet! He doesn't want to die! I'm sorry, brother, but you're goin' in the pot!" I'm going to take pictures this year because it's extremely amusing. The blue crabs are little, but they're feisty!
 

Kitty Pryde

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~*Kate*~

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Thanks for letting me know it's possible with other meats, I'll have to check it out. I'll also see if there's a substitute recipe for roux as I know we can't get it here.

I'm sure it's not Cajun proper, but you can make your own roux from flour, water and some other spices. I'm not much of a cook but my DH does it all the time. Just Googling some recipes should hook you up. :)

ETA: Bows to Kitty's expertise. ;)
 

Deleted member 42

Thanks for letting me know it's possible with other meats, I'll have to check it out. I'll also see if there's a substitute recipe for roux as I know we can't get it here.

A roux is basically just seasoned flour and fat, often butter.

Filé powder is often available at a health food or organic store. It's just dried ground sassafras. Zatarain's, Rex or Yogi, the tea company, all make Filé.

You can find it in Maine; bet you can find it there, and you can get it from Amazon, too.
 

Little Red Barn

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Great thread, Mac, thank you! My favorite, is an old secret recipe for fresh oyster stuffing. Make buckets of it only once a year... that'd be huge pans.:D
 

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Yay! My sweetie takes a pot lid in one hand to use as a shield (for real) and goes after the crabs with kitchen tongs, shouting things like, "He's got ahold to the faucet! He doesn't want to die! I'm sorry, brother, but you're goin' in the pot!" I'm going to take pictures this year because it's extremely amusing. The blue crabs are little, but they're feisty!

I'd love to see pics :D :D We've had them loose in the beach cottage before, trying to pinch our toes.

Old Bay, a huge steamer, and a scary bag of live Blue Crab. This is a ritual every boyfriend of mine must endure at least yearly to be a part of the clan ;)