from Kris B.

I have to start by saying that I am not a fan of Thanksgiving.  Maybe that’s a little too harsh.  I am OK with Thanksgiving as a celebration, more or less, but I don’t much care for the hoopla around the food. It always seems like an unnecessary gluttonous feast, even when we try intentionally to make it not so.  It takes forever to prepare, a blink of an eye to consume, and forever to clean up.  And, I’ve never been a fan of roasted turkey!  So coming up with a list of favorite Thanksgiving foods is kind of hard for me, but here you go!

• “My Mom’s Fruit Salad” – Thanksgiving seems to be the holiday where families roll out all of those old family recipes like Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise (This is not a link to a recipe.  Click on it for a little entertainment. :-)) – the ones that have been on the family table for generations because everyone thinks it is someone’s favorite, but the reality is that no one really likes it but everyone was afraid to admit that.  This fruit salad is one of those always on the table, but one that I discovered is loved by my family.  The recipe is very simple: a can of sliced peaches drained, a can of pineapple tidbits with the juice, a small bag of frozen strawberries, sliced bananas, and a 3 oz. box of unprepared instant vanilla pudding.  The juice from the pineapple mixes with pudding powder for a nice “dressing.”  It’s simple, but it’s good.  I continued making this for my family.  When I got divorced, “My Mom’s Fruit Salad” was the dish that my ex-husband asked that I bring to our family gatherings.
• Whipped Sweet Potatoes – I love sweet potatoes, but not with marshmallows!  I don’t care for marshmallows with anything, actually.  The one exception to this is the homemade pumpkin spice marshmallows that my daughter makes for me to drop into my coffee as a treat.  Anyway…I like my sweet potatoes whipped with a little butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a tiny bit of brown sugar, enough to cut the cinnamon’s tendency toward bitterness, but not so much as to make the potatoes sweet.
• Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie – I do love pumpkin pie!  And in my family we have the battle of the pumpkin pies every year.  My daughter makes a vegan pumpkin pie and my ex-husband makes a traditional recipe.  In an effort to show no partiality, we all partake equally of the two.  I, on the other hand, make the alternative pie, chocolate chip pecan.  It is simple, but oh so good!  The filling consists of butter, eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, chocolate chips, and pecans.  It’s all mixed together and spread in a pie shell and baked.  Yum!

If I could add a fourth thing to this list, it would be roasted brussels sprouts – Cut them in half and drizzle with olive oil and the seasonings of your choice.  Perfection!  All this to say that sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, fruit salad, and chocolate chip pecan pie would make a perfect Thanksgiving meal for me.  No need for turkey or dressing, as far as I’m concerned! 🙂

from Tracey G.

I’ll have to say I’m with Kris on the turkey thing, I don’t really care for it much myself. Never really have, but the things that come with? I’m all for! I’m a girl who’s all about the sides! I don’t have any “recipes/methods” to offer like my partner does because my things are, for the most part, pretty basic, lol.

We usually have a laid-back meal around here, I did more when my mom was alive because it was her favorite holiday – it involved food, so it was tops in her book, lol.

Sooooo, here’s my list:

• Cranberry Sauce – I don’t really care how it’s made, it can be the jelled stuff in a can, the whole berry-sauce in a can, homemade – whatever, I love the stuff. If I have fresh around (currently 4 bags in my fridge, soon to be in freezer that are just waiting for me to create with them!) I’ll make homemade because I like to eat it with what’s next on my list…
• Dressing – I don’t usually stuff it into anything so it’s “dressing” for me, lol. I love any kind of sage dressing that doesn’t involve meat – no sausage etc. The “sagey-er” the better as far as I’m concerned. There’s something about seasoned bread cubes cooked that I just love! I even like some dried fruit thrown in as well – as long as it’s not raisins!
• Gravy – This 3rd item was tough because it tied with 3 others: sweet potatoes, regular mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. So, for a girl who used to build dams out of food (like carrot & celery sticks) on her plate so things wouldn’t touch (I’m still funny about that though), I do like gravy on my dressing and a bit of cranberry sauce with them both! Go figure.

Seriously – I don’t need turkey or any kind of meat, I’m good with just those things. And maybe that’s all I’ll make this year!!!