My Thanksgiving Feast Necessities!

In my book, Thanksgiving is the holiday that has the best food, hands down. Since the holiday is centered around a specific meal, it does make sense that the food should be spectacular, right?

With Thanksgiving just a couple of days away I figured I would highlight some of my favorite dishes that I will hopefully get to eat this year!

#1 The Fried Turkey

via-- Can you smell it?  I can!

This is the #1, most important player in my Thanksgiving meal. Not baked turkey, not a ham, not even a smoked turkey (sorry Eric), but a deep fried, flavor injected turkey.  I am convinced that this is the ONLY way to prepare a turkey for Thanksgiving (or for Christmas for that matter).  I get giddy when I see the turkeys thawing in the sink the day before (yes turkeys), and after the bird is lowered into the grease, the aroma it gives off makes my mouth water.  Seriously.  My family has been frying turkeys for @ least 15 years, may be 20 now, and my holiday season is not complete with out one.  Ironically I was the one who introduced my southern born and bred husband to the fried turkey, not the other way around.  But he caught on quickly.  I think we have 7 turkeys in the freezer right now that will all be fried before the week is over.  We will be taking one to Eric's grandmother's house on Turkey Day, one will be fried to keep at our house so we can have "leftover" turkey sandwiches, 3 will be taken to the stores Eric works out of for the guys who work at the stores to enjoy at work, and so far 2 of the guys who work at the stores have brought turkeys by for Eric to fry for their families to enjoy on Thanksgiving Day. I will not be surprised if we end up with a couple more.  It's probably a good thing that we only cook turkeys once per year, because our fryer will be working overtime this week

#2 The Stuffing/Dressing 

Stuffing                                                      Dressing

There are many opinions on the use of the terms stuffing and dressing.  Since we fry turkeys, it is impossible to have "stuffing" that is cooked inside the bird.  For this reason I have come up with my own definitions for these terms to differentiate between the 2, which is probably a direct result of where I usually hear the terms used.  Up north, when we have TG with my family, it is referred to stuffing.  Usually my grandma makes @ least 3 variations with different recipes that are variations of mixtures that include breadcrumbs, onions, spices, sausage, etc.  However when we do TG down south with Eric's family, it's dressing.  It is a similar concoction, but instead of it having a crumbly consistency like we get up north, it is more of a southern style cornbread mixture.  I am not sure exactly what all goes in it, but it sure is good.  For Thanksgiving I can do either dish.  As long as there is one or the other I am a happy girl!

#3 Mashed Potatoes

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It's not Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes.  Period.  I will not budge on this.  Sweet potatoes...ehhh?  I'm not a fan.  They look pretty but potatoes should taste like butter-lots and lots of butter.  I do not need any gravy either, just give me butter.  My grandma adds something to hers that gives them a really yummy sour cream-like taste that will entice me to eat the entire pan (my mouth is watering right now, seriously).  Did I mention I like butter on my mashed potatoes?

#4 Green Bean Casserole

How long has this dish been around?

Is is original? No.  Is is a classic dish that screams "Happy Thanksgiving!"?  Yes.  Make it and eat it.

#5 Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Pineapple Sauce

If someone had asked me 5 years ago if cranberry sauce was a TG dinner necessity, I would have said, not really.  It's pretty but I can go without.  Now it's one of my favorites.  I am not taking the cranberry gelatin that comes out of the Ocean Spray Can.  I am talking the homemade cranberry concoction of goodness that my mom and grandmother make.  It tastes like a candy fruit salad.....yum.

#6 The ROLLS

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This is another Thanksgiving Feast item that cannot be substituted.  As a child, my grandmother's homemade rolls were the only ones that would suffice.  I would eat an entire pan by myself....no joke.  Ask the fam--as I child my TG dinner consisted of her rolls with butter, mashed potatoes, and a bowl of whipped cream for dessert.  Anyway back to my the rolls.  I am so glad I discovered Sister Schubert's Parker House Roll a few years ago so that I can enjoy my rolls when we are in Indiana for TG.  The rolls are doubly important to my TG day feast because there is nothing better than turkey sandwiches made with leftover turkey and leftover rolls!  I hope the 4 pans of Sister Schubert's Rolls that I have in my freezer are enough!

#7 Dessert

There is always an abundance of dessert on Thanksgiving, no matter which family we spend Thanksgiving with.  We have decided that my grandmother's rule of thumb is to have at least one dessert per person who is there for the weekend.  I don't really have one dessert that I have to have.  I prefer chocolate desserts--why waste calories on something sweet that doesn't contain chocolate, especially a fruit based dessert? I have recently discovered that I like a good pecan pie and pumpkin rolls are also quite delicious!

So there you have it.  My Thanksgiving Feast must-eats.  I am now starving and the sandwich that I brought for lunch just isn't doing it for me now.  Oh well!  Just 2 more days!