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What are you hoping to eat this Thanksgiving?
Photo from the New York Times Essential Thanksgiving
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I’m hoping my Thanksgiving dinner will be interesting. I’m heading over to China to visit an old friend who now works over there, and we’re having Thanksgiving dinner with his extended family in Hong Kong. They spent many years living in the US, so I expect many traditional Thanksgiving dishes (I’ve already been told we’re bringing cranberry sauce (my personal specialty), stuffing, and pumpkin pie), but I’m hoping a little of the local culture leaks into dinner. Should be interesting, regardless.
Wow. That totally trumps turkey and stuffing. Please let us know what your Chinese Thanksgiving is like. Safe travels!!
If you’re not blocked by the “Great Firewall.” 🙂 Hong Kong is so cosmopolitan, I assume Thanksgiving is a “thing” there. I have met people from more countries there than anywhere else.
I’ve been to HK a few times and loved it. I still have vivid memories of the Star Ferry.
A nighttime photo of the skyline I took from the Star Ferry is framed on my bedroom wall, accompanying a shot of the skyline from Victoria Peak on my living room wall. An excellent city. 🙂
I wish that everyone who poo-poohed excellent transit was forced to spend a week in Hong Kong. Buses, trollies, subway, ferries, taxis, and express rail – on top of a walking culture and the escalator to facilitate foot transit on somewhat hostile terrain – they’ve got it all, it’s all cheap, and it all WORKS. It works so well, in fact, that when a company offered to get us a driver from our hotel to their office on one business trip, we declined, knowing that the ferry and a subway ride would take us ~15 minutes, where driving would take an hour. I even once took the MTA on Chinese New Year, and while it was PACKED, it ran as smoothly as glass.
I’m having public transit envy.
I had my share of the great transit, and an appropriately interesting Thanksgiving. Traditional turkey and ham along with duck and Chinese braised pork. Now I just have to convince my brain it’s not Noon…
Jet lag is fierce. I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.
My biggest struggle is usually making sure I have the items that constitute a traditional Thanksgiving meal without having so much food that I have so many leftovers that I can’t consume them before they spoil. The number of guests at my home for the big day is usually small, which compounds the problem.
The upside of hosting, though, is that if there’s something I want to have, I will have it. However, this year, one of my guests has insisted on bringing pie. I’ve told him already that I’m one of the few people in the world that is not a fan of pumpkin pie, and that I generally prefer chocolate cream pies. I said it in a way that was much stronger than a hint. I hope it registered, lol.
I’m not hosting this year, but one of hosting’s great advantages is leftovers. And Stacey, I’m in 100% agreement about pumpkin pie.
Nothing wrong with sending everyone home with a plate made up (and then some) so it’s not all left with you.
Since I’m cooking, I’m one step beyond “hope”. A turkey, which I’ve only ever spatchcocked before cooking. But this is a free-range, pastured, organic non-GMO feed, so I feel the need to cook it normally. Sausage and sage stuffing, green beans (or Brussels sprouts) cooked with jowl bacon from a whey-fed Berkshire hog, mashed potatoes, carrots, and two desserts: apple pie and roasted squash butter ice cream. All this for three people (my parents and me). And I’ll probably start the day with a Starbucks peppermint mocha with Mom.
Roasted squash butter ice cream? Divine!!
It’s at my house this year and that’s the way I like it. I control the guests, I control the menu. I’m up to 14 as of yesterday, including 3 very unruly children. We’re going to have to do it buffet style, which is a first, with a 20 lb bird as the centerpiece then all the traditional fixings. I took the week off from work to make sure I had enough time for everything. I LOVE THIS HOLIDAY!!!
Controlling the menu is very important. I’m not a big pot luck fan, and when I cook dinner, I like to make most courses myself. But 14 is a lot. Hope you’ll have help cleaning up. Good luck!!
Two things: sweet potatoes, because this year Mom assigned side dish duty to my sister and me, so I have to make sweet potatoes and I hope they turn out all right; and the stuffing my mom makes, because not only is it good but she also makes a small amount on the side for me that doesn’t use butter (food allergies).
What sort of sweet potatoes are you making?
Candied of sorts: peeled and cut, then sprinkled with brown sugar & Karo syrup, and roasted in the oven.
Yum.
I am going back to Boston this year and this will be my first Thanksgiving as a vegan going to someone’s house who are NOT vegan. I am looking forward to seeing family more so than the meal. Of course I will be bringing my own main course and dessert, both of which I hope I can get at Whole Foods the day after I arrive in Massachusetts. To be honest, I have always preferred side dishes on Thanksgiving, from the potatoes, to brussel sprouts (okay, I never did get into the sweet potato marshmallow stuff.) And the pie–I prefer pumpkin or blueberry to apple. But the main thing I look forward to is seeing family and finding my mom to be in better health than I suspect she is. (Eldercare issues are setting in. This is not going to be a totally pleasant visit, I’ll just leave it at that.)
Glad to hear that you’ll be nurturing yourself, Paulette. Safe travels.
I’m a party of one for the holiday. I’ve done Thanksgiving alone before but this is the first time where I do wish I were with my family or people I consider family. I’m not dwelling too much on it rather reminding myself that from now on, T-giving will be spent with my family. That said, I have an excellent meal planned: roast turkey breast, cornbread stuffing with sausage, broccoli cheese casserole, cranberry raisin chutney, collard greens, sweet corn, my mom’s shrimp macaroni pasta salad and a lemon ricotta pie. I think I’m more excited about the leftovers than the actual meal!
Latarsha, your meal sounds scrumptious. Do you have other plans for Thanksgiving day, other than dinner? My ballet studio is open, so I’ll be heading to ballet class.
You should totally treat yourself, alone or not. When I cooked for small groups (2 or 3 friends), I did “casual Thanksgiving.” Turkey burgers with sweet pickles and cranberry chutney on a fancy roll (these are amaaaaaazing) and sweet potato french fries. It was kind of a nice twist on the traditional dinner.
One of my favorite Thanksgivings was the one I spent with a good friend. Just the two of us, sitting in front of the TV. Cozy and delicious.
Wendy, I don’t have any plans for the holiday but I do have a few books I want to read/finish reading. I’m about a third of the way through Colum McCann’s book “Transatlantic” so I figure once I revive myself from the food coma, I can finish that. I just might check to see if my gym is open though; your ballet studio being open on the holiday is giving me hope.
Hope you had a fun holiday. Love Colum McCann.