Thanksgiving Traditional Foods

[happylabs]

I, too, grew up in RI, but on the other side of town.

Thanksgiving growing up depended upon whether we were home or not. If we went to Barbara Kerney's across the way, it was a SPREAD! Turkey, ham, lasagna, all kinds of food - HUGE. If we were home; Turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce and usually a family thing called "Christmas green salad". This was a jello/whipped cream/pineapple/pimiento creation that usually melted next to all the hot stuff, but that was OK, no one wanted it anyway.

Now (T-Day is at our house this year) it's Turkey cooked with bacon on top (so my whole family can fight over that when it comes out of the oven), stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, broccoli casserole, MUST HAVE crescent rolls, salad and for dessert there will be pumpkin, mincemeat and pecan pie.

I feel sad for the lonely and melting jello salad.

[pomtzu]

I feel sad for the lonely and melting jello salad.

Hey - that salad is GOOD! I make one like it - lime jello, whipping cream, miniature marshmallows, crushed pineapple, and maraschino cherries. It's served as a dessert tho, and not with the hot meal. It's a pretty dish at Christmas with the green of the jello and the red of the cherries! And it tastes great too - very rich with all that whipping cream!


ETA: If anyone wants the recipe, let me know. It REALLY is very yummy!

[Randi]

I've got a recipe for Pecan Pie - can anyone tell me if it sounds good, or do you have one "to die for"? I've never made one before.

Pecan Pie Recipes

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons almond-flavored liqueur, such as Amaretto
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecans
1 pie crust (9 inch size), unbaked or frozen

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, slightly beat eggs with a fork. Add sugar, corn syrup, butter, almond liqueur and vanilla; stir until blended. Stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean and center of pie appears barely set.

Cool on wire rack.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Or is it over?

[Karen]

It's not over yet - it is always on a Thursday, so will be this Thursday!

Yes, when we had the jello salad it was not near the hot food! It didn't have marshmallows in it, or pimentos, but that does sound pretty, Pomtzu!

(I won't be making it, as I am allergic to citrus, and the pimentos, too, but I can visualize it!)

[catland]

My mom always put the jello on its own plate so it wouldn't get warm with the rest of the food. She would put it on a leaf of lettuce and the jello would have grated carrots and celery (her idea of a vegetable?).

Also, to honor our Norwegian heritage we'd always have lefse! (looks like a flour tortilla but made out of potatos).

[Karen]

In our house, the tomato aspic went on a lettuce leaf, so pretty red against the green!

Cool, do you have a lefse recipe? Just curious! Swedish, not Norwegian in my family, but it sounds intriguing anyway. We'd sometimes make "Swedish hamburgers" - a regular burger with grated potato and chopped onions mixed in, but never had lefse.

[luvofallhorses]

What is tomato aspic? Like a spread?

[Karen]

What is tomato aspic? Like a spread?

No, it's a savory "jello," not sweet, spiced tomato juice and gelatin, and it was opaque, not too shiny, and really yummy!