Thanksgiving (U.S.) 2025

[paul o' vendange]

Not much, but we're not doing our usual.  No whole roast bird, buying a whole duck and breaking down the legs for confit, breasts for pan-roast, jus/sauce of some sort from the carcass, Robuchon mashed, Tom Colicchio's brussel sprouts (love his recently released Why I Cook!) and a mix of Estonian and German sides.  German or French dessert.

[gulfporter]

We set our menu.  

 

It's a warm November here in Central Mexico and my non-insulated stove isn't a great idea for an hours long roasted big bird. 

 

We get excellent seafood daily from the Pacific and Jalisco chickens are a delight, so paella mixta will be our main course. 

 

Mi esposo is making a pumpkin panna cotta.  It took trips to 4 stores before we scored the needed heavy cream. 

 

I use my edited version of Pierre Franey's 60 Minute recipe for paella (I double up on shrimp, and skip the clams). 

 

The recipe which I first made in the late 1970s, doesn't mention developing a socarrat which to me is vital.  I'm not always successful; I manage to get it right 75% of the time.  

[C. sapidus]

Non-traditional Thanksgiving in an Indiana AirBnb. Looks like the menu will be salmon, mashed potatoes, world’s best braised cabbage, green bean salad, and dairy and non-dairy ice creams with bittersweet hot fudge sauce.

[Smithy]

12 minutes ago, C. sapidus said:

Non-traditional Thanksgiving in an Indiana AirBnb. Looks like the menu will be salmon, mashed potatoes, world’s best braised cabbage, green bean salad, and dairy and non-dairy ice creams with bittersweet hot fudge sauce.

 

Well, it all sounds splendid except possibly the world's best braised cabbage. In this neck of the woods, "World's Best" is a brand name for chocolate bars sold as fundraisers (school bands, football teams, and so on). I've never seen that brand applied to braised cabbage, so I suspect it isn't a brand name. It may deserve the hyperbole, even so.

 

More info, please. I'm always up for good ways to treat cabbage. 😀 

[C. sapidus]

13 minutes ago, Smithy said:

More info, please. I'm always up for good ways to treat cabbage. 😀 

 

Molly Steven’s recipe from ‘All About Braising’ - something like this:

 

Worlds best braised cabbage recipe (clicky)

[Smithy]

Just now, C. sapidus said:

 

Molly Steven’s recipe from ‘All About Braising’ - something like this:

 

Worlds best braised cabbage recipe (clicky)

 

Thanks! I still have her book, so I'll check out the original!

[Dr. Teeth]

Doing a Thanksgiving with another family this year for the first time.

 

Main will be a smoked turkey.   I’m doing Mac and Cheese instead of stuffing.  Other family doing stuffing.

 

Also doing creamed corn, sweet potatoes and a couple cranberry sauces

[gulfporter]

Show of hands 🖐️🖐️........

 

How many of you plan to order pizza 🍕 tonight (Wednesday before 🦃Day)?

 

Appears to be a tradition with many friends and extended family members.  

[TdeV]

Actually, @gulfporter, we had our Thanksgiving on Sunday night. Sous vided yellow beets (with sherry vinegar) and roast duck. We'll have leftovers tomorrow.

 

In writing this message I see an unposted response to you for this post.

Do you manage to make the paella in 60 minutes? And have you posted that recipe somewhere on eGullet? 

 

I'm intrigued.

[Maison Rustique]

No pizza for me tonight. I'm having leftover Momo at half-time of the Celtics game, which started at 4 pm and I thought that was odd. Back when I worked, I always had to work the day before T-Day.

[gulfporter]

11 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Actually, @gulfporter, we had our Thanksgiving on Sunday night. Sous vided yellow beets (with sherry vinegar) and roast duck. We'll have leftovers tomorrow.

 

In writing this message I see an unposted response to you for this post.

Do you manage to make the paella in 60 minutes? And have you posted that recipe somewhere on eGullet? 

 

I'm intrigued.

 

It's Pierre Franey's recipe from his 1970s cook book 60-Minute Goumet.  I have adjusted over years to suit ourselves.  It's pretty close to the 60 minute mark, though I'm not as zippy as I was in the 70's.

 

Try this link. https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/28/archives/60minute-gourmet-paella.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4E8.1ekH.OaHfNjs_jKS1&smid=url-share

 

[YvetteMT]

We didn't order pizza on Wednesday, we went out for ramen (and sushi) before watching the latest Wicked movie. (And were reminded why we don't go to evening movies,  the hoarde that was at the theater on turkey-eve was massive!)

[gfweb]

Turkey/cranberry-onion thing/smoky sweet potatoes/ sausage stuffing (but not stuffed)/au gratin potatoes/sprouts slaw/apple crumble

 

And various finger sandwiches at lunch today.

[Smithy]

My dear friends threw a full-blown Thanksgiving gathering with 3 couples and 3 singletons. Each of us brought something by prior arrangement. I forgot to take a picture of the appetizers, but they included a cheese ball, a country paté, clam dip, Reuben dip, probably some cheese, a wide selection of crackers and chips, and some wonderful lightly smoked salmon with baby pickles and fresh dill.

 

That was just the appetizer set-up while we caught up on news and the chief cook kept coordinating kitchen chores. 

 

Then came dinner: 2 perfectly roasted chickens; gravy; green beans with bacon; scalloped corn; mashed potatoes; a cranberry-ginger chutney/relish that, I'm happy to say, is a NYT recipe that appears in my ancient cookbook!; cheesy rolls; wild rice dressing with water chestnuts; some sort of bready stuffing. Wine, of course.

 

I didn't bring the scalloped corn, but it was my mother's recipe. Something the hosts did by accident made it taste much, much better than I remember my mother's version! A buttered breadcrumb topping, rather than the cracker crumb topping, was one difference. But I think having it spread out in a shallow baking dish made it taste better than the deep-dish serving she used to do. My friends did the recipe proud.

 

The spread, before we all sat down and dug in:

 

 

And here's my plate:

 

 

Then there were the pies: pecan, pumpkin, apple. Urrp. Followed by after-dinner drinks. I think I ate more last night than I normally eat in a week, but it was a fine spread and an excellent evening. Better still, we all got to come home with leftovers!

[FauxPas]

On 11/25/2025 at 7:49 PM, C. sapidus said:

world’s best braised cabbage

 

Mmmmm! I love that recipe.  🙂

I made a batch for Canadian Thanksgiving last month along with a couple of other veggie sides and some people raved about that cabbage. I have some cabbage and carrots on hand now to make it again. 

[Darienne]

7 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

 

Mmmmm! I love that recipe.  🙂

I made a batch for Canadian Thanksgiving last month along with a couple of other veggie sides and some people raved about that cabbage. I have some cabbage and carrots on hand now to make it again. 

World’s best braised cabbage from  C. sapidus .  I had Ed buy some cabbage this week to make that very recipe.