Isn’t it amazing that Thanksgiving is this week? Are you guys ready? Do you host or take a dish to someone else’s house?
We are going to be spending the holiday at other’s homes this year and I’m taking a couple of my favorite things to make:
These 100% Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls (spelt works, too). They are so soft and tender, you won’t believe that they’re make with only whole grains. And they’re easy, to boot!
And a berry pie made with berries from our freezer stash. I use a recipe similar to this one (because I never want to bother with thawing the berries), except that I always make my own crust. Which may or may not turn out very well, but I still keep trying. I think until I find a source of good lard (or the fat to make my own) I’m destined to turn out so-so crusts because I will not buy shortening for any reason. at. all.
But this is what I really want to know- if you eat Thanksgiving dinner somewhere else, do you still make your own turkey and fixin’s sometime during the holiday weekend?
I do!
We’ve eaten our turkey on so many Saturdays after the holiday that it’s a tradition now. I do it so we can have all the great leftovers (making Turkey Noodle Soup from the bones is what I always look forward to!). And if I’m completely honest, it’s also because I want to have my favorite dressing and other dishes that I may not get somewhere else.
Most of my family thinks I’m weird in this, so I’d LOVE to know: am I the only one who does this?
Here are the other things we’re having this week. I usually pick things very different from meat-and-potato fare, since there’s a lot of that the rest of the week.
Monday- Cauliflower-Cheese Soup, Easy Artisan Bread, chopped bean and vegetable salad
Tuesday- Lasagna (daughter’s request), green salad
Wednesday- Oven-baked Bean Burritos, cabbage slaw, chips and home-canned salsa
Thursday- HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Friday- More Thanksgiving…
Saturday- Our turkey dinner with all the fixin’s
Sunday- Lot’s o’ Leftovers!
-Jami
I believe a cottage can be anywhere or anything (condo, ranch, farmhouse) as long as you have a "cottage mentality" which puts people above things, celebrates imperfections, embraces simplicity, and finds joy in everyday life. Thanks for joining me!
YUM!
Have a lovely Monday!
Happy Thanksgiving! Dinner rolls are the only food I need to make for dinner. Dh is taking care of the rest. Now I call that a holiday!
No way…if I’m eating somewhere else, I’m only cooking what I’m taking there! I don’t like Thanksgiving food enough to make it if I don’t have to.
The secret to pie dough is to replace half the volume of water with vodka. Vodka doesn’t develop gluten (which makes a tough pie crust), so you can make a wetter dough that is easier to work with. The vodka bakes out and leaves no taste behind. I have used this trick with all butter crust, part butter part lard, and all lard crust.
This made me smile. My family holds what my stepdad and I dubbed “Second Thanksgiving” expressly for the leftovers and to enjoy our favorite sides! Glad to know we’re not the only crazies out here.
Way back when we would go to the in-laws for Thanksgiving, I would indeed make my own turkey later in the weekend so as to have our own leftovers and my own favorite childhood dishes. But once they became too elderly to handle dinner themselves, I began cooking Thanksgiving dinner and my husband would drive them here and take them back (because they didn’t like sleeping in strange beds) — about 1 1/2 hour drive away, and my parents would also come here. In-laws are both deceased since 5 years ago and now I cook it all, since my mother does not cook anymore, and I’ll have one grown daughter coming in from Austin, and the other grown daughter with 2 preschool kids may or may not come, and it looks like we will have our #3 daughter’s boyfriend joining us for our dinner at 5:00, after they eat boyfriend’s family’s dinner at 1:00.
I actually always get 2 turkeys. The second one I cook between xmas and new year, because my mother always buys a prime rib for me to cook for xmas dinner (which is also at my house these days, and involves out of town siblings and their families coming in), but I still like to have a turkey for all the great leftovers: turkey soup, turkey tetrazzini, turkey hash, turkey pot pie, hot turkey sandwiches, etc. So, you are definitely not the only one!
Me, too, I always have to make a turkey and all the fixing even if we’re having Thanksgiving elsewhere. After all, it’s all about the leftovers! Oh, and thanks for the roll recipe. I thinking that’s the one for Thursday.
I always make a turkey and our favorite sides when we are having dinner at someone elses’ house. We love leftovers and I count on them during the hectic season ahead. I never know if there will be enough to split between the family so I let my brothers and parents take what they want since I know that I have some at home.
One year it was just me and my Mom, so we went out for a fancy buffet. It was so delicious, and had the advantage of no cooking, no cleaning. But then, no leftovers – ugh! So now, I cook at home no matter what the Thanksgiving plans.
Oh, one year the guys had some big hunting trip planned over Thanksgiving, so five of us girls went on a cruise over the holidays. I have to say I didn’t really miss the leftovers that year.
brenda from arkansas
What a yammy plan!!! Sounds delicious!