Thanksgiving 2025

[Wilfrid]

It may continue to disturb some who have known me for a long time, but my daughter turned 25 this week. The upside is that Indiana corn soofle and dessert pies can be left confidently in her hands.

My only mission, completed, was to find partridges in Chinatown. Picked up shrimp too. 

[maison rustique]

My small family and I are going back to Lidia's this year. It was so wonderful last year that we seem to be making it a tradition.  
 https://www.lidias-kc.com/event/thanksgiving/

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

Edited November 26, 2025 by maison rustique
trying to fix link

[backyardchef]

Cooking for the clan. Got my hands full. And, my 'little' cousin is getting married in a few weeks. Best friend of 35 years is in town. A lot for which to be thankful although it doesn't feel that way all the time these days. 

[Steve R.]

You're still here, you're still cooking, you still have family and friends.  Take the win.

[mongo]

a smaller gathering of our friends this year as several are out of town. still, with kids at various stages of grown, we are a party of 11. the group prefers if in most years i don't deviate from the standard offering:

upper midwestern cheese, cured meats and freshly-baked bread will be laid out to accompany cocktails*

for the main event:

1. roasted squash soup with ginger, coconut milk and lime leaf
2. roast turkey (spatchcocked and dry-brined with salt, pepper and cracked coriander seed; mashed garlic will be massaged under the skin before it goes in the oven)
3. herbed oyster stuffing--an old favourite from the old epicurious
4. the almighty indiana soofle x 2 (to be safe)
5. mashed potatoes
6. giblet gravy
7. cranberry chutney

to this our friends will add some vegetable and grain-based sides, pies and home-made ice cream

*i am going to be serving a choice of two

1. "manhattans" made with an oaky/sweet/spicy american malt whiskey and tapped maple syrup infused with bittercube's cherry bark vanilla bitters
2. something i'm calling "the outcast of the islands": gin, grenadine, lime, coconut water, angostura bitters (cocktail mavens: please let me know if this is already a thing)

in my annual burst of lunatic optimism, i have suggested wines for our friends to bring to go with the main meal. in their annual disregard of my desires, they will bring whatever plonk they have lying around their homes.

[MitchW]

13 hours ago, mongo said:

cocktail mavens: please let me know if this is already a thing)

Nothing I've ever heard of  - a distant cousin of the Singapore Sling, perhaps?  Oh wait - AI tells me theres something called *Green Isaac's Special, another distant cousin.

Probably should go in a different thread, but we were supposed to be on our way to Montreal and looking forward to dinner at Mon Lapin.  But I've come down with a horrible cold 2 days ago (not covid, thankfully) and decided it was not  gonna happen, since we go to Montreal to basically eat great food.  The bright spot (if it can be called that) is that our AirBnB was fully refundable, right up until yesterday at 4 PM.  I feel bad for the host, but I sent her a nice email and she said not to worry,

Happy Thanksgiving - and I'm hoping Wu's is open today.

Green Isaac's Special

Ingredients

2 ounces London dry gin

4 ounces unsweetened coconut water

1 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

3 dashes Angostura bitters

Garnish: lime wedge or peel

[mongo]

running dangerously ahead. considering adding a warm salad of roasted cauliflower, marinated artichoke hearts and orange to the pile.

[mongo]

2 hours ago, MitchW said:

Nothing I've ever heard of  - a distant cousin of the Singapore Sling, perhaps?  Oh wait - AI tells me theres something called *Green Isaac's Special, another distant cousin.

 

 

the green isaac's special looks related for sure. apparently originates in one of hemingway's books.

[maison rustique]

Not to completely go off-topic, but the last time I was supposed to go to Montreal, I was running down the stairs with my passport, fell and broke my foot. No trip for me.

 

T-Day meal at Lidia's was fabulous as always. I may never eat again. Stuffed.

[small h]

I made pie.

[MitchW]

15 hours ago, maison rustique said:

Not to completely go off-topic, but the last time I was supposed to go to Montreal, I was running down the stairs with my passport, fell and broke my foot. No trip for me.

Montreal must be a jinx!

I ended up making the Traditional Thanksgiving meal of somewhere:

Paella (with non-traditional chorizo).

[Wilfrid]

Mostly a repeat of the usual (a game bird, pernil, corn soofle, a vegetable, cheese, pumpkin pie). The successful novelty was the appetizer. I recently tasted an excellent tuna tartare at PB Brasserie (it was someone else's order, so just a taste). I have never, that I recall, made a seafood tartare or ceviche. As I understand it, it's a ceviche if it has a reasonably long marinade in citrus juice so that it's partly cooked.

There were some big headless shrimp in the shell at Bayard Meat Market so I bought a pound. Removed shells, chopped them up. Added the juice of a lemon; toasted sesame oil; sesame seeds; finely chopped chives; a sachet of soy sauce and a few dashes of hoisin sauce. Stirred well and left in the fridge about 40 minutes. Served over warm toast.

Easy and really good. I had enough leftovers for a couple of tacos next day.

[StephanieL]

My sister had to take over hosting duties a few weeks ago; my cousin, who usually hosts, and her family had to go into isolation because her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and is in the midst of 18 weeks of chemotherapy.

The menu:

• Charcuterie & cheese, avocado deviled eggs, crudites, and mixed nuts as a general nibble
• "Turkey-in-a-bag" bought at Target.  The dark meat was fine; N said the white meat was a bit tough
• Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Mac & cheese
• Roasted vegetables
• Salad with shaved Brussels sprouts, pomegranate seeds and other ingredients
• Dessert: fruit platter, apple-cranberry pie + vanilla ice cream, pumpkin pie + Reddi-whip, cookies