Family Chow Hall

Thanksgiving

November 21st, 2005

Thanksgiving… Thanksgiving… Thanksgiving

The cook in me wants to make every single one of the traditional foods served for Thanksgiving. And try some new, non-traditional foods. And serve some foods reminiscent of the Pilgrims true, first Thanksgiving. (Check out a children’s book called Eating the Plates if you want to know more.)

However, somewhere inside of me is a skinny person screaming, “Wait! It’s too much! Who can eat all of this food? This is not even good for me!” And here in America, don’t we feast practically every day? Is there some way to focus more on the “Thanks” and less on the food?

So, how much Thanksgiving dinner should I cook? Let’s have a look:

Turkey
Stuffing
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry - something
Dinner Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Apple Pie

I’m going to try to pare this down to something resembling a normal-sized meal. At the same time, I want to maintain the most important components of a Thanksgiving dinner. We are serving 12 people this year.

How ’bout this?:

Turkey — we bought a turkey breast and a smoked turkey
Stuffing
Gravy
Salad
Corn Casserole (much prefered by the kids)
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Cheesecake (I gotta try something new)

Still, I feel like this is too much food, but I can’t bear to part with any more of it.
Since our guests are driving in the morning, we are having dinner for the evening meal. I’ll serve some crackers, veggies, and dip along with other appetizers for lunch, saving myself from cooking two meals in one day.

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving, spare yourself from overeating, and enjoy the day with whoever you’re with….

Entry Filed under: Holidays, Mixed bag, Philosophy