@jakebedy...Yes!

I agree....dog toys...or cat toys...pure joy to be strewn around the house!

🐁 🐁 🐁 🦴 🦴 🦴

I'm on my own as our normal Friendsgiving participants are scattered around the U.S. this year. I'm roasting one-half of a small bone-in turkey breast that I'll serve with fresh cranberry salad and warm edamame. Oven is preheating now. I made the cranberry dish last night and the edamame can be warmed at the last minute.

Slightly overcooked, because I did not think it could get done that fast.

Only way I will cook a turkey ever again!

I’ve never been good at crusts and this is made with einkorn flour besides, but the filling was delicious when it went into the oven. :) My turkey should be ready in about an hour!

PM, I specialize in making ugly (delcious) pies. Yours looks nice to eat!

Thanks, plllog! Whipped cream will make it look better too. :)

DS arrived with a casserole just like mine. I said, we will have a confusion of casseroles. The other DS said, is that the collective term for Thanksgiving dishes! Yes! So, wishing you all a delicious and abundant confusion of casseroles!

Sherry - one of these days, I want to try the sheet pan/open roaster pan method you posted. For your almost 12 lbs. of turkey, how much time did you bake it for and what temp?

350* I lost track of the time. It had to be under 2 hours? I did like it better in the roaster. A sheet pan would of overflowed. Salt, pepper, and a small amount of olive oil. on top of the pieces. We never put the whole cooked turkey on the table. This way I did not have a hot turkey shooting juice everywhere!

@Sherry8aNorthAL - I made a spatchcocked turkey for the first time four years ago (there are a lot of funny stories about that Thanksgiving) - and I've never gone back to making a turkey the "normal" way. Crispy/juicy/less cooking time. It doesn't provide a "photo perfect presentation" - but it tastes amazing!

Dad used to put the whole turkey on the table. I did a few times, but ir was much easier to serve cut up. (Tiny kitchen.) I did the spatchcocked last year??? Year before??? This is the next level up.

I don't put the whole cooked turkey on the table either.

Thanks for sharing this option!

I never put the turkey on the table, either, even when I have a beauteous, whole roasted one. This is my first Thanksgiving, my turkeys are usually for Seder, but either way... I'm also doing my turkey in pieces in a roaster. The box says 19.5 lb. They do 2lb. ranges, and I'd been hoping for closer to 18lb. Some will be giblets and trimmings. I'm so glad I did this! In my goose pot in my own oven, with a table between the oven and island is one thing. Here, with a smaller oven and Graniteware roaster that barely fits, and little counter space, I'm glad for every bit of ease. :)

Beagles, so adorable. The kids look like they are cracking up at the dogs, especially the one in the pot? Is he wearing a turkey costume? Thats hilarious.

Your table is gorgeous.

You've all seen my Thanksgiving table----it was set a month ago for a dinner when my cousin visited for a day but was relocated to the club when DD and family decended on us after their plumbing woes. We had a turkey breast this year that I dry brined uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking this morning. It was the juciest and best turkey yet! It was about 8 and a half pounds and we have about a third left. I did not photograph the turkey but did take a shot at my plate:

From the roasted carrot counterclockwise: bread and cornbread and sausage dressing with Ina Garten’s cognac gravy, Alton Brown’s green bean casserole (with homemade french fried onions!), Beth La Manach’s cranberry sauce and the turkey, also with gravy. Not pictured because I did not eat them: homemade yeast rolls and mashed potatoes. Desserts were a clementine cake with chocolate ganache glaze, chocolate poundcake and an apple rum raisin pie with black walnut ice cream. I had a sliver of each 😎 Taking the rest of the clementine cake to my gluten free Sister- in-law in South Carolina tomorrow.

dedtired yes Jumper is in a turkey costume. We had some trouble with the pictures this year, as puppies are somewhat wigglier than an 18-year-old beagle.

Outtakes:

And last year's version:

Y’all asked for it. Straight from the Sheraton buffet .

I had Bob Evans carry-out, as our family had TG last Sunday at a restaurant - a Sports Bar(!) I had a reuben sandwich and sweet potato fries.. The BE take-out was....."fair". Two small scoops of dressing (dark, kind of solid), one scoop of mashed potatoes (with sour cream I think), two THIN slices of turkey on top of the dressing, not enough gravy. Green beans and onions (which I didn't eat, I had made my own green bean casserole), two rolls, and a dab of cranberry relish. As mentioned, the overall taste was "eh".

I ate half of it at noon, then the rest for supper. I think it was like $17.

Oh, there was also a piece of pumpkin pie with a tiny cup of whipped creme. But I had bought a whole pumpkin pie at the local bakery the day before - it's delicious. In fact I had two pieces of that last night!

Beagles, nice to see Molly again. Those pictures are funny.

I lost track of time and my turkey breast was kind of dry. However if you soaked it in enough gravy, it was fine.

Here’s my table with the food. Not as fancy as many here! I should have put Emmy the dog on the table but she’s too big!

I did not host. My niece who lives about 20 minutes away, had her sister and her family, including boys 6, 4, and 1 staying with them from Houston. Then there were their own kids (12, 10, 4), my brothers and their wives, DD, and DH and I, plus one of their good friends whose family plans had to be cancelled and their kids (twins age 11, boy 8). We all know their friends well so they are like extended family. I took 2 kinds of potatoes, including mashed for the kiddos, 2 pies I made, and 3 bottles of wine. We had delicious smoked turkey, a smoked ham (brother #2) , and a beautiful pumpkin cheesecake (thanks to my brother #1 who makes the very best), homemade dressing, deviled eggs, sweet potatoes, squash casserole, green beans, and creamed corn. Plenty of everythingmfor all, and I’m probably leaving something out. I managed to get a photo of a couple of appetizers but nothing of the other food. Too busy enjoying the kids and family.

This was cheese fondue my DD brought. So good with sliced red and green apples, pretzel bites, celery & carrots

I’m remembering this for another time…boursin covered in pistachios, crispy crackers or pita chips for dipping. You could use almost any nut on top. So good.

I have been trying to copy and paste the recipe I sorta followed for the turkey. Not working, lol. It was ”TheTypical Mom”

https://temeculablogs.com/sheet-pan-turkey/

I had googled sheet pan turkey and this was the easiest.

I did cook the back also. I should checked sooner and used my Thermo with the alarm, because it cooked much quicker than I thought.

ETA: I used my open roaster pan instead of a sheet pan. It is much deeper.

I really enjoy seeing all the lovely table settings and hearing about the get-togethers.

We had a small group — my DD and SIL, my dad, DH and me. I make the meal very close to how my grandmother did, it makes my dad so happy. He looks forward to it every year.

My DD and SIL are vegan, so they bring much of their dinner and have a few things I make for them.

DH makes the turkey in our roaster oven, and uses butter, oil, fresh rosemary from our garden, garlic, and other seasonings. It’s so good. For just us, I get a 7-8 lb bone-in breast from Aldi every year.

I made cornbread dressing (my fav dish) and lots of other traditional sides, and had wine and sweet tea with lemon, desserts, etc. Deviled eggs for the app. I assemble most of the casseroles the day before and they’re ready to go in the oven the next day. I prepare my mashed potatoes ahead and reheat in Crock-Pot.

My grandmother’s drinking glasses …. they’ve seen many decades of holiday dinners!

No food pictures because I fainted just as I was finishing up cooking! i was plating the green beens and pouring the gravy into the gravy boat and just started feeling terrible. I was trying to figure out what I could say to get out of dinner. I took a step backwards, my leg buckled, and I went down like a sack of (mashed!) potatoes. Very embarassimg. Nothing like that has ever happened to me.

The guys got the rest of the food out and made me a plate, but I couldn’t eat anything. They cleaned everything up, and I went to bed early. Feeling better today but still very tired.

I feel like I have a lot of years of, “Do you remember the time Mom passed out at Thanksgiving?” ahead of me!🤣

Oh no, porkandham! I’m so sorry that happened to you! Glad you’re feeling better today, hope every day brings more healing. ❤️

The fainting is scary!

We had roast chicken, pork tenderloin, ttruffle mashed potatoes, cauliflower steaks, garlic green beans, pumpkin spice buns, sweet maple butter with chili spice, traditional stuffing, vegan mushroom gravy, salad, and some pies.

I was ordered to roast the chicken in a deep heavy Le Creuset pot, because it was someone's gift to SWMBO. I wanted to make a really good one, so took my time dry brining overnight then separating the skin and putting basil-thyme-butter between skin and meat throughout and dry rubbing the outside with herbes de provence. However, the chicken didn't brown well in the heavy, close pot; the top was getting too dark and the sides were pale. Big fail :-(

The pork tenderloin was done old-school, no sous vide, just salted overnight, cut into medallions, salted and peppered, seared in oil and butter. Then I made a mushroom sauce (there were lots of mushrooms to use up) and finished the medallions in the sauce. This was not a fail :-)

As usual, I didn't have much appetite after all the cooking. Our dishwasher is still hors service so cleanup took forever. By then my ankle was flaring up - the gout is controlled but can flare occasionally - and it was a work night so I took some meds and went to bed where I tried to sleep. Guests stayed, loudly, until 11 pm when they finally left and then I was truly thankful. Grinch.

P&H, you ok today? Jilly, I have those glasses. They are Fosteria American.

Sherry, yes … I treasure them. :)

Sherry....I've not tried that. Looks like a great success!

John...You outdid yourself. WOW! Yum!

outside...Great presentation & a great idea!

Beagles...Hilarious photos...thanks for sharing...LOVE your Beagles!❤️

Ded & Jilly....Beautiful plates, candles...your serving pieces are to die for Ded!

porkandham...I'm so sorry your making future holiday stories for the kids. smile Are you better today? I hope it was just a fluke....? update...please...worried....

If I missed anybody...just worried about Ms...porkandham....

P&H, that is scary! I wonder if you became dehydrated with all the activity? That happened to me, but thankfully it wasn’t with people waiting around the table!

Here’s our table

We serve buffet style in the kitchen, and the long sideboard in the dining room is for extra dishes and glasses and the dessert dishes. I have been sorting through all the tablecloths from my grandmother and mother, so combined two that haven’t seen the light of day in a good 60 years. They got ironed too quickly and it didn’t hold. Our group was 8 guys (4 bachelors) and 2 gals and no one said a word about it.

@porkandham, fainting is scary. Next time you feel wobbly, sit down, even if it's on the floor. No need to add a fall injury. Hope you get the fainting figured out so it doesn't happen again.

LOL, Bpath! I didn't even try to iron the cheapa$$ anonycloth fresh from the package tablecloths. People commented on how festive they were (autumnal with pumpkin sides), but I don't care if they noticed creases. Though I suppose my guys, only one bachelor, might have commented if they saw the nicely pressed cloths spring up creases before their eyes. Congrats on guests with good manners! I hope using the inherited cloths brought you joy!

P&H, I hope it's something simple, but please get a checkup to rule out anything more serious!

I'm ever so thankful I went with paper plates and cups (though I gave the coffee drinkers real coffee cups even though the paper ones I had were good for hot, too). I also served in Pyrex (with covers for going right in the fridge) and white Corningware casseroles right from the oven. Many trivets, but great ease of serving. Only one guest brought a dish that required a serving bowl, plus one of mine, and small platters for the turkey. Everybody helped, but just getting the food put away (we were down two guests and I'm still learner how to cook for smaller groups) and the dishes at least rinsed, knives and delicates washed, was killer. My usual two much bigger meals are one sit down in courses, not everything all at once on the table to pass family style which was this Thanksgiving, and the other buffet, with additions and replenishments through the evening. I managed the everything ready at once, but was staggering after!

No time th think about taking pictures, except this one of the turkey ready to go. I was worried about using the smaller half of the roaster, to fit the oven better, but the crowding actually worked great! All the pieces were equally cooked because there was no airflow between to differentiate between sizes of parts. (At least that's my story...) I was too tired to adress the giblets, carcass, breast bone, and spine. I'm thinking I should freeze them for future gravy. (I don't like turkey stock.)

Oh, plllog, it wasn’t good manners that kept them quiet about the creases, they just don’t notice things like that! They also don’t know how storied those clothes are, the dinners and stories they saw with our long-(and not so long-)gone relatives.

Our Corning French White is just fine for serving! and flat bottoms so they work on the hot trays. and people either provided their serving dish or asked me ahead of time to use one of ours. DH always forgets that hot trays keep the food hot, so he put everything back in the oven after everyone dished up. Oh well.

Uhoh! I did understand (my bachelor wouldn't even notice the leaves printed on the cloths)--I just screwed up that sentence, badly, putting pieces in the wrong order! I do have my great-grandmother's cloth, put away, but my mother never used it. She made a cloth for the dining room, and three jaquard banquet cloths for the folding tables, for parties, and had plain white commercial cloths for Friday nights. Nothing special or full of memories. I'm delighted to hear about the joy you have in your treasures!

OTOH, I have my auntie's old hot tray, and my mother's is there waiting for me. I have her old cold tray too. I do buffet much better than this family dinner type, and those things, mundane but so useful, bring out all the memories and the feels!

@Jilly - my mother had glasses similar to your grandmother's drinking glasses. Mom's originated from some kind of peanut butter promotion. I think peanut butter came in the glasses.

3katz, that’s so neat! I got some nice glasses from a store promotion years ago, but gave them away later. I have way too many sets!

What a fun thread, thank you !

We had a beautiful evening with a few friends, 6 in all, my husband, son and myself, a great foodie friend recently divorced, and a father and son who my kids grew up with as family.. so I was the only woman, haha.

I'm so sorry you fainted porkandham, I love your sense of humor about it though! That must have taken you totally by surprise, take care ! Enjoy the leftovers :))))

Noonish my time and the only picture I could offer is of the mess that is my dining table and kitchen, and nobody wants to see that (note to self : take a picture next time)

We did a 14 pound spatchcocked turkey on the weber grill very simply in a 14" cast iron skillet with butter to baste and adding stock as needed... it was a gorgeous golden crispy brown at the end, maybe 2 hours. The gravy from that was plentiful and delectable ! And the obligatory mashed potatoes were a treat (locally grown, thanks to Rempels farmers)

We have a firepit near the grill, and the 'boys' made a lovely fire that made it a treat to be outside under the half moon and crisp winter air - we are off to a good start with some beautiful snow, knock on wood !

We had leftover duck and pork mixture from my birthday duck terrine, that gave me a last minute inspiration to make a dressing from a stale baguette that turned out beautifully - lots of celery and onions and herbs that I'm overwintering helped with that. Also I did pumpkin tomato soup, green beans, cranberry sauce, cornbread, and 2 beautiful salads that our guests brought, finished with two desserts - pear tartine and an apple custard tart from Chez Panisse fruit book.

Anyway, it was a nice feast ! Next year I'd add a roast carrot ala Kswl's photo !

Thanks to everybody for sharing your wonderful photos ! My table setting is pretty minimal, picture a moose antler with a pumpkin placed on top, and a pretty tablecloth and I have Bill Campbell pottery that is very beautiful. I count my blessings :))

Porkand ham, that is scary! I hope it was a one time occurrence.

All the tables and stories are so nice.

Jilly, Im another fan of your glasses. I dont have any fancy glasses. I was going to take some from my late Mom’s house but my niece wanted yhem and I was glad for her to have them. Also, I am crious why you set the places with spoon on the left and the forkto the right of yhe knife? Different from how Ive always done it.

The turkey just out of the oven -

I didn't eat it hot yesterday. Everyone said it was delicious. I had my first of many cold turkey sandwiches for lunch today. It was excellent.

The sides were the usual - gravy, stuffing, cajun sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and roasted veggies. All made by DH (the cook of the family).

Here's a picture of the lemon shortbread cookies someone posted the recipe to on my pecan pie post. They were very good and very pretty.

I think someone posted the link to these caramel apple bars on that same post. Also delicious. DH declared them one of the best desserts he's had. I haven't had one yet.

And the full dessert table. All made by me except the applie pie on the left, the fruit plate at the far end, and of course the Whole Food peppermint patties (I was hungry while shopping and couldn't resist). Excuse the mismatched paper plates (forgot to buy new ones) and the kind of just thrown down forks, but at this point of the night I'm too exhausted to be fancy! I used to use real plates for dessert, but gave that up a few years ago as the dishwasher is now full from dinner and I have no desire to wash 20 plates at this point.

No real reason, ded, just how I did it this year.

jsk, I’m coming for dessert at your house next year! Wow, everything looks so good.

Sherry - Thanks for the link to "TheTypicalMom". I look forward to trying this turkey roasting method next time.

bpath - I love the evening photo you posted with the lamps on the buffet. The ambiance is appealing and the green lampshades are amazing. The daytime photo shows the beauty of the blue and white dishes. Very pretty!

Thank you, Laurie! The plates were my grandmother's pattern and I always liked it so it became my wedding pattern. The furniture was also hers but I had the chairs reupholstered. The lamps were my mom's, the bases are cloisonne but I had to replace the shades.

JskMask, what a spread! How did you ever resist eating some of each.

Nicole, I’m sorry, I missed your last post … thank you! :)

I encountered my 3 1/2 yo grandson carefully carrying two filled 3 oz Dixie cups to the dining room table. I said, ”Lewis, where are you taking the water?” He replied, ”I noticed there is no water on the table so I’m getting water for everyone.”

Indeed he was. With two cups already in place at the table, he had the remaining 10 cups lined up around the bathroom sink, all filled, and was taking them two at a time to the dining room. Absolutely precious.

That is so sweet @Sheeshie! He will grow up to be a very caring young man, I think :-)

Thank you all for your kind words. I think it was a combination of having a bad cold and being overheated (and probably a bit dehydrated). Feeling better now. Just wish I could shake the cold symptoms!

Glad to hear you are okay Porkandham and that you had a good rest ❤️

Love all the tables and food photos! Jsk, I will also be coming to your next dessert party, thank you in advance for inviting me and Jilly 😎

Sheeshie, what a precious young man! Three is such an adorable age, isn’t it? Last week when Tommy got up in the morning he came over to me, leaned in and asked very seriously, ”Is it wakie time now?”

Be careful, porkandham, I passed out while donating blood and ended up with a heart stent, it's not always as simple as it seems.

I'm late, but we didn't have our Thanksgiving until last week because of work schedules. I do have special Thanksgiving plates which I always use, but this year it was disposables to save me work while I was recuperating. I did use a few for serving, though:

We had a charcuterie tray so I could use the tray Bud made for me, here it is empty:

He made barns and tractors and farm stuff just for me. IT was originally meant to be a cutting board, but I didn't want to cut it up so he added handles and it became a tray.

The smallest Princesses pitched in and decorated the Death by Chocolate with a Thanksgiving turkey:

I made a pumpkin pie and a cushaw pie:

Pane Bianco along with my Grandma's dinner rolls because the Pane Bianco doesn't make great turkey sandwiches because of the sometimes empty center where the cheese melts out, but the kids love it with Makayla's macaroni and cheese, which I did not get a picture of.

We had the turkey and ham, two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry relish, green beans, all the usual suspects and I didn't get a picture of any of it.

Onward to Christmas!

Annie