Thanksgiving is great because I love turkey, ham, duck l'orange, giblet gravy, cornbread stuffing, bread stuffing, oyster stuffing, cranberries, (whole, crushed, gelled and mixed with oranges), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, riced potatoes, whole potatoes and raw potatoes, devilled eggs, sweet pickles, olives, stuffed celery, fresh baked breads, iced tea, coffee, milk, egg nog, mince pie, pecan pie, peach pie, chocolate pie, pumpkin pie and afternoon naps while the game is on.

I love Christmas for all the same reasons. But New Years is only good because it's a federal holiday and I get the day off from work for no other reason than it's the first day of the new year. My mom says you're supposed to eat black eyed peas for good luck on new years day and I don't really dislike them, but if I never ate one again that would be OK too. Cheryl

I used to hate dressing; now I like it. I used to hate cabbage (new years); now I like it.

It seems the older I get, the more I will eat anything that doesn't eat me first! lol

You are not alone, Billy. I have a daughter and a niece who totally dislike the whole Thanksgiving Menu. They just eat the rolls! I like some of the dishes but not all. I can live without the turkey, sweet potatoes or deviled eggs. However, I totally dig the pies, mashed potatoes, bacon & broccoli salad, fresh baked rolls, ham, eggnog and green beans. Being a latino, we "enhance" the menu with our salads,tamales,rice with vegetables and other desserts. Yum!!God bless America!!

Omar

The Thanksgiving menu, is what you make it. If you don't like traditional turkey, fix something else. Try venison, elk, or bison, for instance. All very healthy meat options.

If you don't like stuffing, try a different approach. We always make corn bread stuffing, in a separate pan. Much better tasting, and a lot nicer going down.

Realize, that the average American kitchen, knows very little about good food preparation. Americans are too busy to care about fixing dinner well. (My wife relies on me to help fix anything special.......which means most anything that doesn't include heating up a can, or a frozen food pouch.)

I love cooking, and I especially like cooking for the holidays. And I like to cook lots of unusual foods.

A few years back, my sister and I decided to prepare a "non-traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner"! Oh that was a mistake with our family. We had all these leftovers that no one would eat. Since then we make our traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner (our version), but then on Christmas we vary our menus! Makes everyone happy that way.

A few years back, I was doing reserch for an article I wrote "TURKEY DAY FOODS & HERBSOLD AND NEW". I found the research to be very interesting. If you are interested here are some facts that I discovered.

"With few supplies, cold, sick and slowly starving to death, less than half of the original Pilgrims managed to survive the first winter of 1620-1621. However, with the help of the Wampanoag, the remaining Pilgrims had a bountiful 1621 fall harvest. Sometime between September 21 and November 11, 1621, the 52 Pilgrims shared their bounty with the 90 Wampanoag at a three-day harvest feast, now known as Thanksgiving.

Items most likely on the menu included the following:

 CORNBREAD: admired by both the English and Native Americans
 ENGLISH CHEESE PIE: cheese was important to the English
 VENISON: five deer were brought by the Native Americans
 DUCKS & GEESE: gathered by the English
 WILD TURKEY: Native Americans and English alike enjoyed this meal
 STUFFING: with herbs, onions and/or oats
 GARLIC AND ONIONS: staples of the diet
 PUMPKIN PUDDING: there wasn't pumpkin pie at the time
 INDIAN PUDDING: can be served as a warm or cold dessert
 FISH: cod, bass, herring, shad, bluefish, and lots of eel.
 SEAFOOD: clams, lobsters, mussels, and very small quantities of oysters
 BIRDS: wild turkey, goose, duck, crane, swan, partridge, and other miscellaneous waterfowl; they were also known to have occasionally eaten eagles (which "tasted like mutton" according to Winslow in 1623.)
 OTHER MEAT: venison (deer), possibly some salt pork or chicken.
 GRAIN: wheat flour, Indian corn and corn meal; barley (mainly for beer-making).
 FRUITS: raspberries, strawberries, grapes, plums, cherries, blueberries, gooseberries (these would have been dried, as none would have been in season).
 VEGETABLES: small quantity of peas, squashes (including pumpkins), beans
 NUTS: walnuts, chestnuts, acorns, hickory nuts, ground nuts
 HERBS and SEASONINGS: wild onions and garlic, leeks, strawberry leaves, currants, sorrel, yarrow, carvel, brooklime, liverwort, watercress, and flax; from England they brought seeds and probably planted radishes, lettuce, carrots, onions, and cabbage. Salt was available on the table, but pepper was used only during cooking. Olive oil in small quantities may have been brought over, although the Pilgrims had to sell most of their oil and butter before sailing, in order to stay on budget.
 OTHER: maple syrup, honey; small quantities of butter, Holland cheese, and eggs."

So we can always vary our Thanksgiving Day menu with some of the above foods.

I love turkey and the trimmings. But for variety, we're planning to have prime rib on Christmas. Hey, those cattle may not have gotten over here in time for the first Thanksgiving, but maybe they made it over in time for the first Christmas!

Prime rib sounds wonderful!

DH is allergic to all birds, so I usually make a pork roast, but that prime rib sounds so much more special. :)

The only other problem I have with cooking is SIL only eats poultry. So, it's like having to fix two meals. I tried fixing rabbit one year, thought I could please them both, but SIL wouldn't touch it. (just my little rant)

Wild rabbit is great. I found that tame rabbit, is a little like people these days....lots of fat.

Still, I have personally made the commitment to never hunt any creature, so if I have rabbit, it will have to be the tame kind, I can buy in the store.

I shouldn't have read this post before lunch. Now I'm starving!!!!
Tally HO!