Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

[MrsK]

Hi! So, my in-laws are coming for Thanksgiving (and my MIL has acknowledged that she would have dropped dead herself if her in-laws had invited themselves over for her first Thanksgiving as a married lady). DrK and I were thinking of having a very casual open house of sorts for some of our friends and the other interns and residents who are "orphaned" this holiday and cannot be with their families for Thanksgiving. Does anybody have any suggestions for quick & easy recipes and Thanksgiving entertaining? I want this holiday to be as stress-free as possible.

[madeintaiwan]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

If you are having others over ask them to bring a side. You can just cook the turkey. I don't have any easy tips. I cooked my first "pretty much entire tday dinner" last year and it wasn't too bad and that was with 2 kids. In the past when we have been to tday pot lucks in med school, the host cooked the turkey and the guests each brought sides. Good food and good times, nothing to stress about. For entertainment, football, games [trivia, wii], and some music.

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

The open house idea is a good one so people can come at a time convenient to them. I like Annie's ham idea too. Stuffing, sweet potatoes, a salad, rolls and cranberries would be a good start. Most of that is make ahead.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

As far as the residents are concerned, I suspect you may be overthinking by even seriously investigating recipes. What you fix--or serve (that is, order out)--will be a smash hit. That's been my experience. I've done a jillion of these "orphaned docs" holiday dinners and they are always so happy to be out of the hospital and fed that they could be eating four-day-old popcorn. Just go with whatever is simplest and (1) can be fixed ahead of time and (2) can be left out on the counter for a while without needing reheating. If you can get your hands on some of those thermoinsulated bags for baking pans, etc., it really helps.

For ILs, I have no suggestions. My inlaws complain about everything. And I am, I think, a fairly decent cook.

[DCJenn]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

Check out the recipes section as I'm pretty sure that there's a "holiday recipes' thread. and seriously, you could do turkey shaped PB & Js and the residents would be thrilled.

Jenn

[houseelf]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

The old timers here know that I'm not the resident domestic diva, but here's my take on parties. The most important thing is to enjoy yourself. Make it easy. Use Chinette and throw it away. Make the basics of the meal and ask everyone to bring a fun dish. Serve lots of wine and beer and kick back.

I'm sure that my dawkters' wife license just got revoked, but damnit, if I'm going to throw a party, I want to have fun too!

Kelly

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

Totally agree with Kelly. As far as that goes, just have your local grocer do one of their packaged meals that feed a lot of people. Pick it up, heat it up and drink up!!

[Sheherezade]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

I read somewhere that Jack Nicholson said the secret to being a good host is to have everything possible to drink on hand. No mentions of food. Just soda, wine, beer, mixers, juice, what have you. Honestly, isn't the first question asked of every guest entering a party "Can I get you something to drink?" After you nail that one, everything else is easy.

I have a hideously easy dessert though. It's the ice box cake recipe from the side of the chocolate wafers box. You just layer cookies and whipped cream in a giant log and then cover the whole thing with the remaining whipped cream. Refrigerate for a few hours prior to the dinner, top with a chocolate shaving or two, cut diagonally so you get several cookies in each slice. It's not an everyday dessert so it seems special. My kids have been making it for our family celebrations for years now. It's their job. If you can turn it over to an eight year old, it's easy.

Antipasto is an easy appetizer option. You can buy up things at the supermarket deli/olive bar, add some crackers, sliced bread a jar of a tapanade and a hunk of cheese. Done. It's all display and no work.

[Deebs]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

We've done a Thanksgiving "open house" for those left behind to work a shift for a few years now. I always go to the grocery store and pick out what I don't want to cook and order it ahead of time (including a turkey that is totally prepped and partially cooked to just heat in the oven). Then, I pick the appetizers and desserts that I love to eat but can't justify making for just my family and make those. I always have rave reviews (I also have a well-stocked bar - that may lend to the rave reviews ).

[MrsK]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

So my MIL wants to help prepare Thanksgiving. She's offered to roast the turkey and then make the 6-hour drive to our place with it in the back of her car! Alternatively, she's offered to make a jello mold and make the 6-hour drive to our place with it in the back of her car! I find this hilarious.

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

That's very sweet of her! Mine would do something like that...and truly mean well.

I went wayyy overboard this year trying to show the fellows from England and Australia a "true thanksgiving" (which is a Canadian one and it's not as big a deal here as the US) and it was too much! Too formal, too much food and not enough real drinks (we had wine and beer) everyone had fun...except me! I agree with everyone who said keep it easy and simple and have heaps to drink

[Thirteen]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

My cheat sheet?
Trader Joe's "Frequent Flyer" newsletter for the holiday season. You can pick one up at any TJ's.
If you don't have TJ's where you live... go out and get the december issue of Real Simple magazine. They have great mix and match ideas!! And show you how to do it all, prep time, overall time line, etc.

I hope this helps!!

[diggitydot]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

During DH's med school, we were away from all of our family during the holidays so we came up with our own faves. We did kind of a "divide and conquer" method with the food. He did the turkey, I did the rest. But, here's what we really liked, and it wasn't too tough:

Turkey
DH did a brine with salt and spices the night before. This makes the turkey super moist and adds a little extra flavor. He looked online for turkey brining solutions and found one with cinnamon, cloves, thyme, oranges, and lemons. He then stuffed it with the some of the same spices and citrus fruit to cook. Seriously, some of the best turkey I've ever had.

Cranberry Sauce
It is ridiculously easy to make great, fresh cranberry sauce. Get the fresh berries, boil them with some water and sugar (the exact quantities are printed on the package of cranberries), let cool, and you're done. Incredibly easy and yummy and takes all of 10 minutes to make.

Green Veggie
I'm sure this sounds strange, but my kids love, love, love asparagus...but only if we prepare it the following way: You break off the hard, woody ends of the asparagus, lightly peel the stalks, cut into bite sized pieces, and then pan fry in some sesame oil over fairly high heat. Add a little lime or lemon juice (maybe a couple tablespoons), salt and pepper to taste. Just before they're slightly softened (we like them a little crisp) and bright green, I add in a couple of cut up kiwi. Sounds weird, but again, it's great. Garnish with some sesame seeds if you like them. This is one of those dishes you do at the absolute last minute. It doesn't hold up well to time or extended heat.

Stuffing
My family prefers the boxed stuffing over anything made-from-scratch. So I gladly obliged them, with a few add-ons. I dice some onions, celery, and onions and cook them in a little olive oil until softened. Then I add them to Stove-Top dressing and stir in some dried cranberries. Very good and very easy and makes some great left overs.

Dessert
Our favorite Thanksgiving dessert is kind of a twist on the pumpkin pie. It's more of a pumpkin cake and is heavenly. But, GAH! I can't find my recipe. But it isn't hard. Essentially, you make the pumpkin pie filling like you're instructed on the back of the giant 2-pie sized can and put it into a 9"X13" pan. Cook it for a while and then during the last 10-15 minutes you take it out of the oven and sprinkle a DRY yellow cake mix over the top and drizzle a little melted butter/margarine over that dry cake mix. Pop it back into the oven and when it's done, you add some sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds over the top. Let it cool. That's it. If you want the exact recipe for this, PM me and I'll scrounge around in the boxes we still haven't unpacked in the garage and track it down.

~Wendy

[MrsK]

Re: Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

Ok. So here's the menu:

Squash Soup

Spring Greens Salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, and gorgonzola

Turkey (of course) w/ gravy and cranberry sauce

Broccoli-Cheesy Casserole

Sweet Potato Casserole (courtesy of MIL who thankfully is not making the 6-hour drive with a jello mold or fully-roasted turkey in her car)

Noodle Kugel (instead of stuffing which neither DrK nor I like)

Roasted Vegetables

Pumpkin Pie (courtesy of MIL)

Pumpkin Spice Cake (courtesy of MIL)

So, my MIL called the other day. She was in the market and wanted to know if there was anything else she could bring. I told her thank you but that I'd already been to the market. I was worried that if she brought more, then food could be wasted. My MIL will bring the entire dinner in her car if I let her.

So she asks about the cranberry sauce. I tell her I got it. She says, "You know, we are not fancy people. . . " (she loves that "fancy people" expression) ". . . we are happy with the canned cranberry sauce." So, just to freak her out cuz it's fun, I very enthusiatically tell her "Oh yah! That stuff is great! My family likes the jellied stuff in a can! You know, the kind that's shaped like the can. . . " (And, to be honest, my mom always served that stuff and everyone always gobbled it up so that's what I bought.) My MIL lets out a long sigh and says, "Well, I guess we'll eat whatever."

You don't know my MIL but she is so cute. DrK told her our groomsmen were wearing scuba suits to our wedding and she believed it. Also believed him when he told her that I was wearing a grass skirt.