Thanksgiving menu
25. Nov, 2009 
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Thanksgiving at our house is usually a fairly simple affair since it’s just four of us (three adults and a five year old). Though I still make a full meal even just for us, so Brianna can feel the excitement of the day. I didn’t think I had any traditional recipes I turn to, but when I thought of it, I actually do have a couple including homemade cranberry sauce and sweet potato fluff. So in the spirit of sharing, here’s what we’re having for Thanksgiving dinner, with links to recipes where appropriate:
Brined and roasted turkey
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (recipe from allrecipes.com)
Sweet Potato Fluff
Roasted Garlic Stuffing (recipe can be found at Baking Bites)
Pumpkin Cheesecake (recipe can be found at A Little of a Lot)
Homemade Cranberry Sauce (recipe from allrecipes.com)
Dinner rolls (recipe from Cooking Dunkin Style)
Pecan Pie Bars (recipe from allrecipes.com)
Deviled eggs
creamed corn
Okay, I’m actually buying the creamed corn. Sue me 
Of these recipes, only the desserts (pumpkin cheesecake and pecan bars), and the dinner rolls are recipes that are new to me. All the others I’ve made before. Rather than linking you back to my personal blog, I’m reposting the recipe for Sweet Potato Fluff here. It probably doesn’t count so much as a veggie as it does a dessert. But it’s my favorite Thanksgiving dish!
Sweet Potato Fluff (or Souffle, as my MIL calls it)
6 to 8 medium sweet potatoes (I used 6 and that made enough for the brunch).
2 sticks of butter
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 can well drained crushed pineapple (I used a 28 oz can but you could use smaller, depends on what you want)
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
Bake the sweet potatoes at 375 for about 45 minutes (or until done) in the oven. If you’ve never baked sweet potatoes, they’re easy. Just cut the ends off (if you’re not going to do this, make sure you pierce them with a fork so steam can escape), throw them on a pan and bake! Make sure you cover your pan or whatever you bake them on with foil, because they release sugar when they bake and it will burn to whatever they’re on and be just about impossible to clean off! They’re done once a fork goes easily into them, and it looks like the skin is kind of loose. Once baked, let them cool a bit, so you can remove the skins, which should peel off easily (this is kind of a sticky job, though, thanks to the sugar content).
Once baked and peeled, begin to mash sweet potatoes in a bowl, add 1 cup white sugar, 1 tsp vanilla (the vanilla will take over quickly so don’t use too much!) and 2 sticks of butter (I melted mine but if your sweet potatoes are hot, you could just add the sticks in). Once mashed together, add 1 can well-drained crushed pineapple. Mix together. Pour into 9×13 greased baking dish (spray with Pam is fine), sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar on top and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until top browns and mixture is bubbly.
That’s it! For a variation, you could mix the brown sugar with some chopped pecans and then sprinkle that on top, but it’s not necessary. Wal-Mart sells glazed pecans in the baking aisle (you can also make glazed pecans) which make this seem more like a dessert than a vegetable.
You could also divide this into two smaller pans, if you needed to.
Even people who say they don’t like sweet potatoes, like my husband, will try and enjoy this because it’s more like dessert than a vegetable.
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So after all that, what’s on your menu? Any unique recipes you can share?
Author Info
Sweet Potatoes are always my favorite!
For the first time ever, I’m trying to make a vegan Thanksgiving. Lucky for me it’s just the hubby and I as the lab rats this year. Oh, I mean taste testers.
Looking at your list sure makes me logn for a more traditional meal!
Our menu this year –
* Turkey , Cornish Hen , Ham
* Cornbread Dressing, Black-eyed Peas, Rice, Macaroni & Cheese
* Homemade Rolls, Cranberry Sauce
* Peach Cobbler, 7-Up Cake, Sweet Potato Pie, Ambrosia Salad
Only unique recipes is the adaptations to the Peach Cobbler & Ambrosia Salad recipes. The cornbread dressing recipe & 7-up cake have been in the family for years.
This is the closest to our dressing recipe – the only change is some of the seasonings & addition of butter. http://divascancook.blogspot.com/2009/11/homemade-southern-cornbread-dressing.html
Oh, I love love love Ambrosia. Now I’m wishing I’d thought of making that! I haven’t had it in ages.
And 7-up cake sounds interesting!
You must be cooking for a ton of people.
Angela – It’s gonna be between 12 and 15 people. The 7-Up cake is basically a really lemony pound cake.
I love seven-up cake. I remember my mama making that at Thanksgiving when I was a girl.
We ate out this year. Mama went out of town, Daddy didn’t want to leave his lazy boy and my brother went camping. My in-laws celebrate Thanksgiving at their church and I’m always uncomfortable in big crowds of people I don’t know. I wish I had made a meal for the two of us because the restaurant’s dressing wasn’t very good. I love my cornbread dressing.
Cute picture Brianna made. It’s her hands, right? Fun idea!