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How Thanksgiving dinner differs from north to south...

Posted: Nov 10, 2009

I live in the south. How does Thanksgiving dinner differ from the northern states to the sourthern ones? From east to west?

Here in the south we have the usual turkey like everyone does. We have the cornbread dressing (stuffing), chicken and dumplings, veggies, no steamed ones though, we don't eat much steamed veggies around here. They are boiled with meat seasoning such as bacon or ham, etc. We have the broccoli casserole. We also have baked ham. Squash sometimes, etc.

Dessert is lemon pie, coconut pie, the layered chocolate dessert with layers of cream cheese, choc pudding and whipped cream, sweet potatoe pie or pumpkin pie, punch bowel cake.

What is the norm for your area?

;

Thanksgiving in NY - Tired&CrankyMT

[ In Reply To ..]

We normally spend the morning at the Macy's Thansgiving parade, a tradition that's been going on in my family since I was about 5 and is now passed on to my kids.

My mom will stay back from the parade with a nice bottle of red wine and do the cooking, although I try to get out of travelling to the parade to stay back and help her cook, but no game there. I hate holiday traffic.

Appetizers (pick foods) are provolone cheese, soppresata regular and spicy.

Main course we have a huge turkey, gravy mashed potatoes, Italian style stuffing prepared with chop meat, rice, crushed nuts, onions, chopped salami. For veggies, there's candied yams, stuffed portobello mushrooms, stuffed artichokes I make, this broccoli and cauliflower concoction my mom makes in the oven and a plain old can of corn.

Desserts are freshly baked pumpkin and apple pie that my sis in law makes superbly and Italian pastries fresh from the bakery.

This year we're going to attempt to make (copy) the Marie Callender's Silk Pie that I bought years ago as a joke - chocolate cookie crust, chocolate mousse, whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup. We recently read an article and that pie made the list of '5 things to eat before you die.' If anyone has had this before, then you know it's delicious.

There's just way too much food to eat on this one day, not to mention all the pots, pans, dishes, etc. that need to be washed, which is always my job.

Southern lady who loves artichokes, tell me how - L

[ In Reply To ..]
you stuff yours. I usually buy the marinated artichokes combined with olives and red bell peppers in the jars, gosh I love that stuff and absolutely crave the stuff. What do you use. I have never cooked the artichokes you see in the stores. Tell me about yours and perhaps will try. By the way, the dinner sounds like what hubby and I love, all that Italian food. My grandmother, rest her soul, always fixed spaghetti for us for Christmas (south, now) and it was so good.

Stuffed artichokes - Tired&CrankyMT

[ In Reply To ..]

My kids and I love them, no one else in the house will go near them. lol

I make sure to get biggest artichokes I can find, chop off the tops to get rid of the spikes on the leaf tops (they are real sharp). Cut off the stems as close as you can to the bottom because you need them to stand up. Fan them open as wide as possible so it looks like a big flower.

Stuffing mixture: Plain bread crumbs, parsley, crushed fresh garlic, touch of salt, pepper, grated pecorino Romano cheese. Mix all that together, season it to your taste.

Spoon the stuffing inside the fanned out artichokes generously making sure to fill the centers well and also the outside leaves. Top each one with a drizzling of olive oil.

Sorry I don't do measurements, I season to taste in this house (which means heavy on the garlic and cheese), but you will need at least a 12 oz. container of plain bread crumbs to stuff 6 large artichokes, at least 4 or 5 garlic cloves.

You will need a wide bottom pot with cover, fill it with water about 1 inch high. Clean a lemon real good, cut in half and squeeze the juice (pits and all, doesn't matter) in the water, toss the lemon halves in the pot too. The lemon brings out the taste even more.

Add the artichokes carefully, making sure they stand up. Cover and let them cook for about 1 to 2 hours on a low to medium flame. As they cook, the outside leaves will fall off or fan out even more and you will lose some stuffing too, but it's normal.

Check the water level occasionally and make sure the water doesn't totally evaporate, add more as needed. Don't overfill though. I also drizzle a bit of the lemon-water on the tops as they are cooking if they appear to be too dry.

Test for tenderness after about an hour by pulling off a thicker leaf and eating. If it's tough to eat and you don't get much of the 'meat' off easily, it needs more time cooking.

There's a difference between eating a marinated artichoke and a whole stuffed artichoke and there's nothing pretty about it. Take off one leaf at a time and since I can't think of a nicer way of putting this, start eating from the bottom of the leaf, scrape the stuffing/artichoke off with your teeth while holding the leaf in your hand. lol. Definitely NOT first date food!

You will not be able to eat the entire leaf as you do with marinated artichokes until you start reaching the center that has much thinner leaves. Don't stop eating yet though, there's still the heart hiding under those hair-looking things. Remove the hairs and take a bite; then let me know after tasting that if you still prefer marinated artichokes. lol

Just talking about artichokes got me to the store this morning - Southern Lady

[ In Reply To ..]
I got some fresh baked Chicago bread and some bruchetta (spelling?) with extra garlic and that will be my breakfast this morning, oh also picked up those marinated artichokes so all that combined, yum! Thanks for the recipe, copied and printed off to try myself.

SE Pennsylvania - Old part-timer

[ In Reply To ..]
Most of the normal things you mention, but instead of cornbread stuffing, we have potato filling, made with mashed potatoes, dry bread cubes, onion, egg, milk, salt and pepper, then baked in a casserole.

Another favorite (at least of my dad and husband) is scalloped oysters made with oysters and crushed OTC crackers.

Don't forget shoo-fly pie! We always have that! - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Blondie, south also but mine food differs from yours - L

[ In Reply To ..]
Hubby and I have been married for about 11 years now and never have had chicken and dumplings. We eat steamed vegetables a lot, in fact he says when you boil food for hours such as cooking greens, you lose the minerals/vitamins. We eats lots of vegetables all the time. He also wants to use smoked turkey for seasoning for greens because using the ham hocks, ham, streak of lean etc. not as good for your arteries. The last 2 years we have ordered cakes from a place out of Chicago for the dessert. We are not that big on dessert here. He is diabetic and even though he loves sweets tries to have less than more. Never ate sweet potato pie in my life although I know others in the south said good. I offered to work this Thanksgiving early hours so he will be in the kitchen. Turkey for us is a must, very good for you. I raised the question last night and he said had been thinking the same. We are both looking towards being vegetarian (spelling?) only, mine just because of the animal itself and his because of how healthy he tries to be in his eating. This came after having a big steak last night which is so unusual for us, hardly ever have red meat, mostly stick to chicken here at home but this was a new restaurant we tried. I have always been a big meat eater but more and more getting to where I am looking at other options.

That should be my food, correcting myself here - L

[ In Reply To ..]
We do talk ok here really.

Thanksgiving - Viking fan

[ In Reply To ..]
I lived in SC for a few years - loved it there minus the cockroaches the size of small birds.

It was just Hubby and me and sometimes another couple. I just cooked our basic Thanksgiving dinner - turkey, stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes, yams, corn, peas, salad. I may be forgetting something. We had pumpkin pie too.

One year while we were living in CT, our guinea pig decided to give birth in the middle of everything almost being ready on Christmas day (Hubby was out to sea on Thanksgiving so I made that dinner on Christmas for him). So here I am in the kitchen, glance into the dining room where Mrs. Boo Boo's cage was, and notice she popping out babies. Generally, they require no assistance. Well, the third one out was about 1/3 the size of the others and was in distress. I was running from the kitchen to check on dinner, washing my hands, tending to the runt, back to kitchen, wash hands, etc. All the while, we had to separate the male because the females go right back into heat and he's screaming his fool head off. When all was said and done, the runt, Choo Choo, was still very very small but lived a few years.

Silly me - during my medical assisting years, I was working late and the doc, the last patient and I were the last ones there. The patient had headed to the car and we were checking out her husband. He walks back in a little while later, saying his wife looks a little blue. The doctor and I went flying out into the parking lot. She wasn't a little blue. She was completely cyanotic and rigor was starting to set in. We tried CPR for about 20 minutes before giving up. So whenever I saw a guinea pig stillborn, I had little drink stirrers for intubation and tried everything to save their little lives. I should have learned the first time around.

Thanksgiving dinner - Central PA

[ In Reply To ..]
Our Thanksgiving dinner is a sit-down meal with stuffed turkey, filling balls, mashed potatoes, egg noodles, gravy, corn, tea rolls, lima beans, baked sweet potatoes, pickles, relishes, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie, and maple walnut cake.

When I first started dating my now husband, I went to his parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. His mom served a plain baked turkey (no stuffing), Stovetop Stuffing, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy and a bunch of other junk I don't remember because I didn't like it. She served it buffet-style and I remember the food sitting out from the time we got there around noon until 4 or 5 when we left. I didn't eat much and couldn't wait to get home to have my mom's leftovers. I still remember her laughing at me when I told her my shock at his mom not serving noodles. She just laughed and said it was more a Pennsylvania Dutch thing. She didn't laugh, however, that the food sat out that long. Good thing she saved me a few rolls with turkey and gravy. Still my fave leftover!

What I did for the food not sitting out long on holidays - Southern Lady

[ In Reply To ..]
I moved to a new home in 2004 and wanted to have my first ever sit down dinner because I had a new huge room including dining room and living room. All went well except like you said the room so big and the food sitting out, did not like that at all. I have had 2 Christmas dinners since and I invested in the 3 department food servers that you plug into the wall and we now serve buffet style. There are also large bowls that keep your food hot and those sit on the table. They work as thermos jars. You heat boiling water, put in the bowls first, pour out and put the food in and hot throughout the entire meal. Oh, another thing for the gravy. I bought gravy boat you also heat up with the boiling water first, same type sit up and your gravy is not cool anymore throughout the entire meal. You can have buffet and still have hot food.

Southern here too - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
We have turkey, cornbread dressing with giblet gravy, green beans, deviled eggs, macaroni and chees casserole, sweet potato casserole~~not the one with marshmallows but the one with pecans and coconut, squash casserole, and sometimes my sister makes a hashbrown casserole, and of course some sort of rolls/bread. For dessert we have pumpkin pie, cupcakes for the kids, and my sister sometimes also makes a Mississippi Mud cake, which is to die for! Oh and don't forget the swee'tea!

I made a Miss mud cake one time and could not eat it! - Southern Lady

[ In Reply To ..]
That thing was so rich when I finished with it, a spoonful would have sufficied. It is great but just so rich my family could not finish even a piece each 1 of them.

You mentioned a sweet potato casserole with pecans and coconut. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Can you share that recipe? I really, really HATE marshmallows, and so I never make a sweet potato casserole. However, pecans and coconuts are two of my faves. I'd love to try that recipe.

Sweet potato casserole recpie - enjoy! sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Preheat oven to 350

3 cups sweet potatos cooked and mashed
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
Whip and place in buttered baking dish 13 x 9

Topping:
1 cup pecans-chopped
1 cup coconut
1 stick butter-melted
1/3 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar

Mix flour and sugar. Add melted butter, pecans and coconut. Spread on top of sweet potato mixture and bake for 20-30 minutes or until top is brown and potatos are bubbly! Delish...

Southern here too and that could be Thanksgiving at my aunt's. - ht

[ In Reply To ..]
We have homemade yeast rolls that my aunt makes. Years ago, we had homemade dressing that my great-aunt made. My aunts tried to create the recipe when she made it by measuring everything as she mixed it up, but it never turned out, so they just found another dressing recipe. Absolutely love the sweet potato casserole, my mom makes a fantastic one.

Oh sweet tea is mandatory year round here - blondie

[ In Reply To ..]
I am addicted to sweet tea. Can't live without it.

Swee'tea...yum! - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Girl, I make a gallon of swee'tea a day! We cannot live without it. My DD is going to Seattle with her boyfriend for Christmas and she's so worried about not having any tea while she's there...

Oh, she will get her tea but - L

[ In Reply To ..]
probably will not be sweetened. When I travel, well used to ask for tea, got out of the habit of drinking, but asking for sweet tea people do not know what you are talking about. Served hot or cold and then you sweeten yourself. Better if you donâ��t have to do that but just the way it is. Hey, tell her donâ��t go to Greece in the summer. They donâ��t serve you ice with your drinks unless you ask (or was that way when I went there).

Northern Indiana/Southern Michigan Thanksgiving dinner - J927

[ In Reply To ..]
We have the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, corn casserole, stuffing. Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, my mom's pistachio pudding dessert. Usually buffet style. If at my moms house, only about 14 people. If at my grandmas, about 30 people. My grandma makes traditional stuffing and oyster stuffing too. We eat, go for a walk, and then look at the sale ads for Black Friday shopping while the guys watch football.

I live in the South too! (TX) but we too have different meals :) - Mia

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been married for 22 years and this is my Thanksgiving dinner which I cook (yes the whole thing).
1. Butterball Turkey. Tried the off brands and um no...
2. Ham.
3. Yams (no marshmallows -husband hates them)
4. Chicken and dressing.
5. Chicken and dumplings.
6. 2 chocolate pies.
7. 2 pumpkin pies
8. 1 pecan pie.
9. Homemade dinner rolls.

God, I hope I am done. I tired of cooking and Thanksgiving is not here yet!
4.

Speaking of Thanksgiving Dinner - gourdpainter

[ In Reply To ..]
Kids and grandkids are gathering from the 4 winds at our house. Everyone gets their request which will all be made from scratch: Turkey, Smithfield baked ham, green bean casserole, candied yams, broccoli with cheese sauce, cornbread dressing, "Yankee bread stuffing", mashed taters and gravy, green salad, hashbrown casserole, puff salad, homemade rolls pumpkin pie and cheesecake.

Can anyone tell me how to make "Yankee bread stuffing"? This is my daughter-in-law's request. After being married to my son for 20 years she told me she had never tasted cornbread dressing until she ate it at my house. She requested that and I am determined to make it for her but I have never had anything other than cornbread dressing so I don't even have a clue what it is suppose to taste like. HELP????

Sorry, no idea what that is, but I'd like to know what a - Tired&CrankyMT

[ In Reply To ..]

puff salad please. I never heard of that before. Thanks!

Don't know about the rest of you, but I get hungry just reading these menus.

Puff salad - gourdpainter

[ In Reply To ..]
It's a recipe I made up to have a green salad for Christmas one year. I just take an 8 ounce container of small curd cottage cheese, sprinkle a small box of lime jello (or you could use any flavor I guess), add an 8 ounce carton of cool whip and a small can of crushed pineapple, throw in a handful of chopped pecan, mix it up and refrigerate overnight. Kids and grandkids still love it, especially my son who is a cottage cheese freak, which is why I concocted the recipe. LOL

Yankee bread stuffing - J927

[ In Reply To ..]
1 (1 pound) loaf white bread
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1/4 cup water

Moisten all the bread with as much water as is needed to make moist. Add the onion, seasoning, and salt and pepper. Mix with hands.
Place in turkey or in foil and wrap up (which I do) and cook for at least 1 hour, longer if you are cooking it in the turkey. May open the foil for last 15 minutes to make top crusty.

Do a google search for it or go to allrecipes dot com for more recipes. Anything similar to this is what your DIL wants. Stuffing made with bread. This is the kind of stuffing that my family has always eaten. My FIL makes cornbread dressing and I don't care for it.

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