I thought a blog post about Thanksgiving and the way it looks in each of our houses might be an interesting topic. I’m proposing a few Thanksgiving-centered questions I’d love for you guys to answer and will answer them myself below. Hooray for the holiday season!
What Does Thanksgiving Look Like For You?
- When it comes to Thanksgiving food, do you stick to the same tried-and-true beloved recipes or experiment and try new things every year?
We are all about tradition in our house and love to stick to a handful of family favorite recipes every year. I say this in one breath but my ideal Thanksgiving feast menu has expanded quite a bit ever since I met and married Ryan and was introduced to some of his family’s favorite recipes that quickly became favorites of mine as well.
Growing up, my family’s Thanksgiving always included turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, peas, fresh rolls and my mother’s stuffing. I’m 99 percent sure my mom didn’t follow a single recipe when she made our Thanksgiving feast, though she was kind enough to write down the steps and measure the ingredients for her stuffing at my request since I wanted the ability to recreate it for years to come. When Ryan and I began dating and I experienced Thanksgiving with his family, I was introduced to his mom’s pineapple soufflé and his grandmother’s glazed carrots, two dishes that have since become a must-have on Thanksgiving for the Fagan family.
Ever since we started hosting Friendsgiving every year and now that we are hosting Thanksgiving as well, I almost always try a new recipe as well. This lead me to discover Cooking Light’s Sweet Potato Casserole several years ago which is, hands down, the best sweet potato casserole I’ve made to date and now another staple in our Thanksgiving feast. It’s sweet but the sugar doesn’t overpower the deliciously creamy sweet potato flavor and there are just enough nuts and marshmallows to make it feel like a holiday treat.
Though we have a bunch of favorite recipes I won’t stray from on Thanksgiving, there are still a few dishes out there I have yet to perfect and find a Thanksgiving-worthy recipe for, including mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. I typically make the pumpkin pie recipe on the back of the Libby’s pumpkin can which is admittedly delicious but not knock-your-socks-off amazing. I’ve had bad luck with most mashed potato recipes out there (even ones with great reviews) and often find them much to bland. If you have any favorites, please let me know!
- Do you always serve turkey or do you also feature another kind of meat? Do you serve a vegetarian Thanksgiving?
Turkey is a staple for us but Ryan’s family also often has a Honey Baked Ham as part of the spread during their Thanksgiving feast which I love!
- Are there any typical Thanksgiving dishes you cannot stand?
I think green bean casserole is so, so gross. I never touch it if it’s served on Thanksgiving or another holiday. Bleh!
- What desserts do you make for Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving dessert in our house always features pumpkin pie but typically includes other sweet treats as well. Desserts in past years have varied from apple pie (I love Jessica’s Cider Bourbon Apple Pie) and pecan pie to a rather complicated pumpkin mousse and a frozen pumpkin custard pie. My family will also often make the Famous Wafers Chocolate Refrigerator Roll which I absolutely adore since I can never get enough homemade whipped cream in my life.
- Is your family into special Thanksgiving drinks? Do you have a specific cocktail, punch, sangria or mulled wine recipe you love?
Mulled wine all the way over here!! Ina Garten’s mulled wine recipe is the best and the one I make every year.
- Do you have any other traditions surrounding Thanksgiving?
For a while there we were running in a Turkey Trot race every Thanksgiving morning in Sarasota when we were staying with Ryan’s family and it was my favorite way to kick off the day! I’m already scouting out local turkey trots in our area to possibly make our return to the race this year. As for other traditions, we don’t have a ton other than talking about what we’re all thankful for at the dinner table. (Christmas, on the other hand, is FULL of traditions for my family!) I’d love to start some new Thanksgiving traditions with our family as Chase gets older, so if you have any traditions you look forward to every year in your family, I’d love to hear them!
Questions of the Day
Now it’s your turn… Pick a few (or all) of the below questions and tell me a little bit about what Thanksgiving looks like for you!
- When it comes to Thanksgiving food, do you stick to the same tried-and-true beloved recipes or experiment and try new things every year?
- Do you always serve turkey or do you also feature another kind of meat? Do you serve a vegetarian Thanksgiving?
- Are there any typical Thanksgiving dishes you cannot stand?
- What desserts do you make for Thanksgiving?
- Is your family into special Thanksgiving drinks? Do you have a specific cocktail, punch, sangria or mulled wine recipe you love?
- Do you have any other traditions surrounding Thanksgiving?
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It’s all about the potatoes…gotta use the yukon golds!
Regarding traditions, at Thanksgiving my family always does a gingerbread house making contest. So everyone brings candy to share, the actual house kits are provided by my mom, and we will break off into groups of 4 or so and start construction! Really it is just a way to get everyone out of the kitchen so that dinner can be prepared, but everyone has such a blast. Usually my grandpa is the judge and then every group is awarded a different ribbon- “Best use of candy” “most creative” etc. The kids in the family love getting to take home their creation.
When we were stateside we would have a mostly traditional meal with all the fixings either with family or family friends. A few years we woke up early to go black Friday shopping (back in the days when target would hand out goodie bags etc..way back). during/after college, I always enjoyed the ‘night before thanksgiving’ when you would go out in your ‘hometown’ and see friends from high school 😉
Currently in the Bahamas, so we don’t have the day off/celebrate Thanksgiving. The first year back here was harder not doing the traditional day off watching the parade while eating cinnamon rolls in your pajamas etc. BUT our school does a Thanksgiving pot luck lunch for teachers and we have a thanksgiving assembly. Most years I can find a live stream of the Macy’s parade and put it on in my classroom. I do a favorites feast in my classroom (they all bring their favorite food to share..little kids enjoy this more than traditional turkey etc.) and we do fun turkey/thankful activities. Then the best part is we go to a friends family thanksgiving at night 🙂
Oh and Christmas music all day starts the minute Thanksgiving is over! (Taylor swifts new album is keeping me occupied until then!) 😉
Hands down my favorite holiday! We stick to the tried and truce recipes every year but I always look to find one new recipe to try each year. This year I found a recipe for Brussels sprouts with onion, bacon and avocado, I’ve tested it and it’s unconventional but to die for! We do a turkey and a chicken, for whatever reason a roasted turkey always gives me a headache and makes me feel nauseous, so we’ve turned into a total poultry fest on Thanksgiving! I’m right there with ya on Green Bean Casserole, love green beans but that casserole is no bueno. We also make a refrigerator roll or “ice box cake” and we add Kahlua to the whipped cream! The last few years my mom and I have done a two hour spin class at the gym, then come home to get cozy and cooking with the parade on DVR.
Happy Thanksgiving Fagan Fam!
I don’t eat meat, so even though we make a small turkey or turkey breast for my husband and mom, we keep the sides vegetarian. So really just not using meat stock in the stuffing or stuffing the bird. Green bean casserole is probably my all time FAVORITE Thanksgiving dish haha! I also don’t really love pumpkin pie, but I am trying a recipe from Pinterest where you used sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk and sugar. And the secret to good mashed potatoes is butter, half and half or cream, and LOTS of salt! Also being careful to not overcook them, which was the hardest part for me to master. I believe Pioneer Woman has a recipe though if you were looking for another to try! I have seen some food network chefs also put seasonings in the water when boiling the potatoes or boiling in stock. Hope your family has a Happy Thanksgiving! =)
My family goes bowling every year on Thanksgiving! People in college always thought that was crazy, but it’s really popular in my hometown area. We usually play for an hour, then go home and have leftovers 🙂 That’s definitely my favorite family tradition.
You might like this Pumpkin Apple Pie recipe I found from Whole Foods a few years ago… I made it for Friendsgiving this past weekend & everyone loved it: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/pumpkin-apple-pie Plus, it’s super easy!
Regarding a Thanksgiving turkey… my husband has brought me fully on board the fried turkey train. His recipe involves a couple days brining in a salt rub mixture before frying. It is so good!!!
Hi Julie,
Hope all is well. I haven’t commented in a while but have been reading your posts every morning on the way to work.
We do a traditional thanksgiving. My mom is a great cook but being that my parents are empty nesters she doesn’t cook much anymore so thanksgiving is a special treat for me because I miss her cooking. My favorite dishes are her stuffing (which she makes with challah bread) and sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar. My mom always wants to make a healthier thanksgiving but my sisters and I love these two recipes.
I want to hear more about friendsgiving but also your weekend with your mom and sister! I love how the three of your are BFFs.
xo
When it comes to Thanksgiving food, do you stick to the same tried-and-true beloved recipes or experiment and try new things every year?
For the most part we stick to the tried and true recipes. My Brother in Law was in charge of the mashed potatoes last year and w/o telling us, he mixed in parsnips with potatoes and cayenne pepper. My husband is allergic to any root vegetables (GI issue) so needless today TG night was not a good one for him. Plus, I am of the mindset-do not do anything new or healthy for Thanksgiving unless you know it will be good. Try it out BEFORE the holiday, not on it.
Do you always serve turkey or do you also feature another kind of meat? Do you serve a vegetarian Thanksgiving?
Yup. Turkey all the way. Hubby does a brindled turkey (Alton Brown’s is the best). This year we are getting a smoked turkey!!
Are there any typical Thanksgiving dishes you cannot stand?
Sweet potato pie. Green bean casserole. Yuck.
What desserts do you make for Thanksgiving?
I make an apple crisp. It is an old Weight Watchers recipe that I have been making for 10+ years. It is a hit every Thanksgiving. My MIL makes pumpkin pie and pecan pie. I am not a fan of either one.
I used to make a pumpkin cheesecake pie but it got to be too much!
Is your family into special Thanksgiving drinks? Do you have a specific cocktail, punch, sangria or mulled wine recipe you love?
We host my ILs….any kind of wine is necessary when my MIL is around :-). Not really big on the mixed drinks. I prefer a good white wine. Oh and definitely Bailey’s and Coffee in the morning while hubby and I enjoy a quite breakfast before the chaos begins.
Do you have any other traditions surrounding Thanksgiving?
We do crackers (British thing). Hubby gets a newspaper so I can go through the Black Friday ads.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. xoxo
Happy Wednesday! I love seeing all your various family traditions on the blog (honestly my favorite thing is your big Christmas recap, it really helps me extend the holiday, and it’s one of my favorite things to ask my friends about their families around the holiday.)
Love the pineapple souffle! Just want to give a shout out to your recipe/your MIL’s recipe! Souffle all-the-way! *does a hand stand*
Recommendation for foolproof, perfectly seasoned mashed potatoes – the pioneer woman’s creamy mashed potatoes, posted in 2007. They’re perfectly seasoned, and I recommend them:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/delicious_creamy_mashed_potatoes/
I second the Pioneer Woman Mashed Potatoes. Make sure you add enough salt. That is key to the flavor!! Keep tasting and adding until it doesn’t taste bland.
Agreed!! The (seasoned salt) and regular salt are the key! And butter….mmmmm…butter…..plus the cream cheese!
Oh, I love this post so much! Since moving to DC last year, I have missed my family’s Thanksgiving celebration since I’m only able to make it down for Christmas now. But my boyfriend and I have new traditions of our own, including running the Turkey Trot 5-miler in the morning and having a blend of New Orleans and Puerto Rican holiday recipes for the both of us. We also host Friendsgiving, which is super fun! Some recipes I can’t live without on Thanksgiving would be my Granny’s sweet potato fluff recipe and a deeeicious cornbread stuffing with sage sausage that my mom makes! I also made your pineapple soufflé recipe one year, and it was a huge hit! Oh, and canned cranberry sauce. Specifically canned. I have no idea why I love it so much, but I do!
I will say Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday – my best part is drinking my first egg nog of the season as Santa enters Herald Square, because that means that the holiday season has begun. I don’t love the Thanksgiving menu, but my husband does so I do it 100% for him (okay, 80% for him, 20% as tradition for my kids) – Otherwise I may be inclined to go out. I’ve been cooking Thanksgiving almost every year since I was 26, so almost 20 years (and I took it on because my mom was sick of doing it). We have a tiny family, so that also has something to do with it – I wish I had 12-14 people at Thanksgiving. I once went to an ex’s family for Thanksgiving – there were 40 people. That wasn’t fun either.
I cook the same items every year. I could live with just stuffing for Thanksgiving. I do make everything from scratch except: The kids’ school does a pie fundraiser so it easier to buy from that, and I started buying cranberry relish by my 8 year old seems to love it and we never have enough so he and I are going to make it together this year.
My menu is: Turkey, gravy, cranberry relish, green beans with almonds, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with apples, apple pie and pumpkin pie. We also have canned black olives because my husband had them growing up. We eat at 1:00 so we don’t need any types of appetizers.
The sweet potato dish is fairly new. I may try a brussel sprout dish this year (though I don’t know if any of us like them – but they would be roasted with garlic).
I don’t like whipped sweet potatoes, and I don’t like butternut squash (but I may try a butternut squash soup). the only thing I like that has the consistency of whipped potatoes are actual whipped potatoes.
I didn’t grow up with green bean casserole. I don’t tend to like canned beans. I made with with my SIL one year using green beans but I didn’t cook them first -woops.
Because I host, doing a turkey trot on Thanksgiving is hard, so we tend to do one the day after Thanksgiving which is great. I tried to do one last year on Thanksgiving, but I ended up not going because I just had too much to do (plus it was spitting rain and the idea of watching the whole parade in my jammies was more appealing).
Such a fun post!
Our Thanksgiving is a combination of American and Lebanese dishes, since my mom’s side of the family is Lebanese. Staples always include turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rice dressing (a Lamb + Rice Lebanese dish), grape leaves, hummus, syrian bread, sfiha (lebanese meat pies), kibbeh (lebanese lamb dish), Cranberry Fluff dish (Fresh cranberries, mandarin oranges and mini marshmellows!), sweet potato souffle, and a middle eastern green salad. Dessert is a must too with homemade sugar cookies, peanut butter balls (similar to buckeyes), homemade mint truffles and pumpkin cheesecake!
No traditions, really, but we like to stick with traditional food. I think Thanksgiving should not be the place to try something new or fancy; just delicious, homemade food. The best smell ever is my mom’s stuffing. I’m not sure these are considered traditional dishes, but I don’t think corn or carrots belong on a Thanksgiving table. I know I’m in the minority here, but it’s just wrong. 🙂
When it comes to the holidays, we switch off every year, my family one year and my husband’s family the next. We also switch off at Christmas but we made the decision when Adeline was born that we would always be in our own home on Christmas morning. We’d be open to traveling the weekend before or after to see family, but the actual DAY of would be spent at home. Thanksgiving though isn’t as significant for us, so we really enjoy spending 4 or 5 days with family during that week and just relaxing and eating ALL the food! Both our families are pretty local to the basics.
A Christmas Day tradition that I LOVE is opening stockings after dinner. Since we didn’t grow up with family close enough to bop from house to house, it would just be my family and maybe grandparents at our house all day. We wake up, open presents, eat breakfast, finishing open the presents under the tree, and then watch some movies, hang out, etc.
Then after dinner and dessert (early dinner on the holiday so maybe around 6:00/6:30) we dig into our stockings. It stretches out the day, makes the magic last that much longer, and it gives you something to look forward to. We still do it and it is a tradition I definitely plan to carry on.
My boyfriend and his family open their presents Christmas Eve. I do not understand that and that tradition KILLS me. We will not be continuing that one lol.
I always think its funny when people talk about recipes for mashed potatoes. My mom would make them frequently when I was growing up so its like second nature to me. Typically, I just season to taste so if they seem bland I just add more stuff example salt, pepper, butter, and some sour cream. Typically more butter does the trick. That way you can make as many potatoes as needed and not worry about ratios being correct. Plus you get to taste test the potatoes and mashed potatoes are my favorite!
We stick to tried-and-true recipes! Although I am going to look into that sweet potato casserole recipe! We always have sweet potato casserole, but I’d love one with more sweet potato flavor and less brown sugar haha.
Always turkey – stuffed, of course!
I’m not the biggest fan of green bean casserole but I still have a little. I also don’t understand chocolate cream pie which is my dad’s favorite.
Dessert line up: usually pumpkin pie and chocolate cream pie! We’ve had apple pie in the past as well, maybe I’ll do that this year 🙂
One of my favorite traditions on Thanksgiving is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Also, on Thanksgiving night we always set up my parent’s house for Christmas and put in a Christmas movie before digging into our rounds of leftovers/more pie!
If you’re looking for BIG flavours, try this lady’s blog: http://www.recipetineats.com/easy-thanksgiving-christmas-menu/
TBH I haven’t made her thanksgiving/Christmas recipes but I use her recipes weekly and they are always Fantaste-ic, teehee. So I’m sure her recipe for mashed potatoes will be good… but generally, if mashed potatoes aren’t tasty, there’s not enough butter!
Green bean casserole is my FAVORITE. how dare you! 😉
Traditional Thanksgiving food, although my husband’s traditional Thanksgiving adds lasagna and stuffed artichokes. My family favorites is smashed carrots and turnips, and my grandma’s recipe for creamed onions (that don’t contain cream!).
I cannot stand stuffing. I’ve tried a bunch of different kinds and they all taste like soggy bread to me. (My husband and kids LOVE stuffing)
For dessert, my family always has apple and pumpkin pies, while my husband’s family has cheesecake and pecan pie.
Like you, we live far from our parents. We made the decision many years ago to alternate my family and my husband’s family for Thanksgiving, while we stay put with our kids for Christmas.
You need to try Sally’s pumpkin pie. It has become our family tradition.
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/10/26/the-great-pumpkin-pie-recipe/
Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite traditional Thanksgiving dishes! We typically add lots of butter along with cream cheese (or goat cheese) as the secret ingredient–it makes the potatoes extra creamy and works much better than just adding milk! If we happen to need a little extra liquid we’ll add a splash of water or chicken broth.
We have always had a sleepover on the living room floor in front of the fireplace the night before Thanksgiving. We blow up air mattresses and all of us (even my parents) camped out there for the night so we could wake up and watch the Macy’s parade on TV in our PJs in the morning. We also always watched Miracle of 34th Street after the parade!
We are having our first Friends-Giving this year. It is kind of what we’ve done in the past 5 years we haven’t lived home but this year is the first year we are calling it that. I miss all those years with big family dinner!
Google the Pioneer woman’s mashed potato recipe – it’s my absolute fave and has gotten nothing but rave reviews from everyone I’ve made it for!
For traditions – we have two. My aunt uses the same tablecloth each year and she leaves our sharpies. Everyone is to sign, date, list what they are thankful for that year. It’s so sweet to look back each year and see all the memories from years past. Our second, may be a little strange, but we watch the movie “Animal House” every year. No one really remembers when it started, but it’s my dad,s favorite movie and one year he just decided to watch it and then now every Thanksgiving we put it own. Even when I started spending some Thanksgiving with my husband’s family I still watched. Definitely not the most family friendly movie, but it gets us all to sit down together, relax, and LAUGH.
For the mashed potaotes – I will be following these rules this year! Might help. https://www.bonappetit.com/story/7-tips-for-the-best-mashed-potatoes
Kristin has an amazing fall sangria recipe https://iowagirleats.com/2015/10/21/sparkling-hard-apple-cider-sangria/
I did it for a bridal shower but think it would be perfect for Thanksgiving!
This is the BEST mashed potatoes recipe! You can’t put a finger on the white chocolate taste (which would be weird) but it adds this creamy, subtle sweetness and depth.
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/happy-easter-mashed-potatoes/
I would love to do a Turkey Trot in the morning, but since we host I usually do a workout DVD with my Mom that morning, after getting the turkey in (she stays over the night before) then we go on a walk after the meal to digest and get some fresh air 🙂
You need to make the recipe for Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust and Cinnamon Whipped Cream on the Food52 website. It is amazing. My husband fights me for the leftovers even though he normally doesn’t like pie.
I am with you on the mashed potatoes! They’ve never been my favorite because I also find them bland. However, I created a recipe that I do love—Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes. The buttermilk adds a nice tang and the roasted garlic adds lots of flavor! Recipe: https://www.kateshungu.com/roasted-garlic-buttermilk-mashed-potatoes/