# Thanksgiving Holiday



## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

Not too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving and turkey (at least in America where the Holiday is a tradition)!
We may be having less guests and a smaller turkey this year, but the celebration and giving of THANKS will be the same!

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/turkey-cooking-and-carving-tips/


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

My daughter and I are sharing duck legs in red wine and dried fruit. Side dishes TBD.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

As Andy mentioned, our Thanksgiving group size will be reduced from the standard 16 to 18 down to perhaps 10 (family only this year). Our Turkey will be downsized to an 18 pound bird (already purchased), filled with our traditional fruit and nut stuffing, served with candied yams, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and a variety of fruit and pumpkin pies for dessert. The feast promises to be a diet buster! LOL.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Not sure what our Family will do this year.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

Much like Eagle's nest, the Irvine household will have only the five immediate family. The menu will be turkey (cooking method TBD...either roasted with wine and butter baste, deep fried, or spatchcocked and smoked); dressing with pecans and lots of fresh sage; vegetarian gravy with Sherry and oyster mushrooms; a roasted mix of sweet potatoes, fingerlings of different colors, parsnips, and leeks (this requires juggling since these each have different roasting times!); blanched haricot vert tossed in garlic, olive oil, bits of torn baguette, and grated Parmigiana Reggiano, heated until the outer crumbs crisp; home made Parker House rolls; cranberry treatment TBD...could be simple cranberry with orange, could be mostarda, could be chutney; home made chipotle mayonnaise to go with the rolls and leftover turkey; a gingery pumpkin pie; and Oregon Pinot Noir, including one Patricia Green and one Drouhin. Touch football may get 86ed due to small teams this year? Cigars on the deck by the fire pit if the weather is good. I feel both bloated and blessed just writing this.


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## Big T (Jun 25, 2010)

6 or 7 adults, 4 grandkids. Standard food stuffs: turkey, dressing, lasagna, sweet potato pie (our older kids (38 & 40) get upset if menu changes), Guinness, wine and ceegars, on back porch.

Next day is poker day at my workshop (twice a year at Thanksgiving and Christmas).


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

Big T said:


> 6 or 7 adults, 4 grandkids. Standard food stuffs: turkey, dressing, lasagna, sweet potato pie (our older kids (38 & 40) get upset if menu changes), Guinness, wine and ceegars, on back porch.
> 
> Next day is poker day at my workshop (twice a year at Thanksgiving and Christmas).


Lasagna. I am impressed (and salivating). I miss the Italian food you have in PA. I had family in Indiana, PA, and visits always involved Italian food.


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## Big T (Jun 25, 2010)

TKI67 said:


> Lasagna. I am impressed (and salivating). I miss the Italian food you have in PA. I had family in Indiana, PA, and visits always involved Italian food.


I had distant relatives stretching from Punxsutawney, to Rossiter, to Indiana, to Arnold and New Kensington! Small world!


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## SteveMCG (Oct 26, 2020)

Buttermilk pancakes, bacon and sausage to start the day as we watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (likely not on this year). Anti-pasta around noon followed by lasagna, salad and Italian bread between 1 & 2pm. Football on TV. Then turkey, stuffing, corn, homemade mash potatoes and sweet potato between 5 & 6pm. For dessert homemade Italian Rainbow Cookies, apple pie and pumpkin pecan bread. Lots of wine and beer. Cards and board games in the evening followed by reheated food for late night snacks. A food indulgent day for 7-10 people.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

SteveMCG said:


> Buttermilk pancakes, bacon and sausage to start the day as we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (likely not on this year). Anti-pasta around noon followed by lasagna, salad and Italian bread between 1 & 2pm. Football on TV. Then turkey, stuffing, corn, homemade mash potatoes and sweet potato between 5 & 6pm. For dessert homemade Italian Rainbow Cookies, apple pie and pumpkin pecan bread. Lots of wine and beer. Cards and board games in the evening followed by reheated food for late night snacks. A food indulgent day for 7-10 people.


I love the full day approach! My favorite part of Thanksgiving is grazing on jalapeño poppers and drinking bloody Marys made with V-8, Clamato, gin, and seasonings while we prep and cook.


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## Big T (Jun 25, 2010)

TKI67 said:


> I love the full day approach! My favorite part of Thanksgiving is grazing on jalapeño poppers and drinking bloody Marys made with V-8, Clamato, gin, and seasonings while we prep and cook.


This thread is close to having me open a Guinness and light up a Montecristo!


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

SteveMCG said:


> Buttermilk pancakes, bacon and sausage to start the day as we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (likely not on this year). Anti-pasta around noon followed by lasagna, salad and Italian bread between 1 & 2pm. Football on TV. Then turkey, stuffing, corn, homemade mash potatoes and sweet potato between 5 & 6pm. For dessert homemade Italian Rainbow Cookies, apple pie and pumpkin pecan bread. Lots of wine and beer. Cards and board games in the evening followed by reheated food for late night snacks. A food indulgent day for 7-10 people.


Just showed this to my girlfriend and we are impressed that you guys have that much food. And, more importantly, it sounds like you all have a blast.

I'd run out of steam after the 1-2pm period (or, if allowed, I'd just nibble at that one as I'd need to if I was going to be ready for the 5-6pm eating). Also, I'd sneak into the kitchen early for one of my favorite of all Italian cookies, the rainbow one.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

Fading Fast said:


> Just showed this to my girlfriend and we are impressed that you guys have that much food. And, more importantly, it sounds like you all have a blast.
> 
> I'd run out of steam after the 1-2pm period (or, if allowed, I'd just nibble at that one as I'd need to if I was going to be ready for the 5-6pm eating). Also, I'd sneak into the kitchen early for one of my favorite of all Italian cookies, the rainbow one.


Well I did sort of gloss over the part where I sprawl in my chair like Jabba the Hutt, noshing intemperately on cold turkey/chipotle mayonnaise/Parker House roll sandwiches, plates of reheated dressing and gravy, and a collection of very small wedges of a pumpkin pie that add to a fifth of a pie, keeping an eye barely open to follow a football game and drifting in and out of a Pinot Noir stupor to hear snatches of conversation.


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

TKI67 said:


> Well I did sort of gloss over the part where I sprawl in my chair like Jabba the Hutt, noshing intemperately on cold turkey/chipotle mayonnaise/Parker House roll sandwiches, plates of reheated dressing and gravy, and a collection of very small wedges of a pumpkin pie that add to a fifth of a pie, keeping an eye barely open to follow a football game and drifting in and out of a Pinot Noir stupor to hear snatches of conversation.


Sounds like a great day to me.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

Fading Fast said:


> Sounds like a great day to me.


To be followed by a return to moderation which, for a week or so, will border on being abstemious and extra miles, lifts, and time on the rowing machine!


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## Dhaller (Jan 20, 2008)

The weather is looking promising, so we're still planning on a campsite Thanksgiving. I'm adding an additional camp Dutch oven (10") for good measure.

Backup plan is a my dad's "farm" (quotation marks because while it's a farm, he does not actually farm), based on the setup we had for Halloween.

He has a (former) cotton field, bounded all side by trees, so essentially a big lawn. For Halloween, we set up tables and chairs out in the field ("fancy picnic" style), set up games for the varied ensemble of my daughter and her cousins (corn hole, horseshoe toss, badminton), and had a washtub to bob for apples. Kind of a mini, family-only Fall festival... it worked well!

If we wind up doing Thanksgiving there, I'm thinking of setting up an archery range for the kids: get a few bows, set up some targets, cobble together some prizes and have a competition. That seems sort of "Thanksgiving-ish"?... not as much a a blunderbuss firing range, perhaps, but less likely to disturb the neighbors.

There is a heretic in the family who has suggested *Turkey lasagna*, but what is a family without at least one member you need to lock away in the North Tower?... we keep it traditional.

DH


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

TKI67 said:


> Well I did sort of gloss over the part where I sprawl in my chair like Jabba the Hutt, noshing intemperately on cold turkey/chipotle mayonnaise/Parker House roll sandwiches, plates of reheated dressing and gravy, and a collection of very small wedges of a pumpkin pie that add to a fifth of a pie, keeping an eye barely open to follow a football game and drifting in and out of a Pinot Noir stupor to hear snatches of conversation.


The breast meat left over from the Turkey after the main feast in the Eagles Roost is sliced down and used to make sandwiches, dressed out with mayonnaise, cream cheese, slices of chilled cranberry sauce and leafs of fresh lettuce. Very tasty and quite filling!


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

Big T said:


> This thread is close to having me open a Guinness and light up a Montecristo!


This has set me to pondering. My son in law almost always brings a few Rocky Patels, and I usually have some H. Upmanns or Punches in my ******* humidor (Ziploc with a damp sponge). Back in the years when I had an actual humidor on my credenza at work, it was usually filled with Monetcristo, Partagas, or Upmann. I had been thinking of a Cohiba, but a Montecristo is an inspired choice. Next time I am at Total Wine I'll cruise their walk-in.


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## Big T (Jun 25, 2010)

Ah....I have two humidors, one at my office and another at home. If you're a fan of Montecristo's, there are many with similar flavors, all no costlier. Try Oliva with Connecticut shade wrapper, or The Griffin (one of my favorites, and made by Davidoff, but quite a bit less), or San Cristophal Elegencia, with a Connecticut wrapper.

Rocky Patel makes some great cigars, but they also make a lot just to sell the name. Try their Vintage 1999 or 1992 series for a really premium smoke.

As for Guinness, well, that goes without saying! It is the nectar of the gods! All cigars pare well with Courvoisier.


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

Big T said:


> Ah....I have two humidors, one at my office and another at home. If you're a fan of Montecristo's, there are many with similar flavors, all no costlier. Try Oliva with Connecticut shade wrapper, or The Griffin (one of my favorites, and made by Davidoff, but quite a bit less), or San Cristophal Elegencia, with a Connecticut wrapper.
> 
> Rocky Patel makes some great cigars, but they also make a lot just to sell the name. Try their Vintage 1999 or 1992 series for a really premium smoke.
> 
> As for Guinness, well, that goes without saying! It is the nectar of the gods! All cigars pare well with Courvoisier.


I shall look for them. I always felt that although they make some great cigars, Cohiba traded a bit on their name. Another in my list 0f faves would be R&J, but it has been a l o n g time!


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## Big T (Jun 25, 2010)

Cohiba Red Dots are great! R&J have slipped a bit, but still a good call. About a decade ago, or so, I lost a bet, with the loss being paying the other with some cigars. I agreed to Romeos, and since I was going to be in Canada, I said I would mafe sure they were Cuban! Anyhow, in between the previous time I was up north and that time, Canada enacted their (to me!) tobacco tax. What should have cost me about $3.00 per stick, ended up costing me $3.00 per!


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

Sprawling in a chair like Jabba the Hut is an attractive idea. Someday I will host enough people that someone else will insist on doing the dishes after I'v cooked so I can do that impersonation.


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## Big T (Jun 25, 2010)

Our get together is evolving! My sister and brother-in-law will not be in attendance, and neither will my brother. Our daughters and their families are scared of even family crowds.

It might just be dear wife, our youngest daughter and me! If that is the case, vittles will be tailored to our taste buds (very similar!).


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Our Family will probably bring food in from a restaurant, since we don't have family togethers any longer this year it will be the 3 of us.


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