Dillards 67: It Came From A Can

[LurkerOverThePond]

As a non-American, I find all the Thanksgiving food talk interesting. Some traditional foods sound yummy and if I ever visit the US during Thanksgiving, I most definitely want to go to some nice lil' mom & pop restaurant serving traditional Thanksgiving meal. 

A few years ago I tried pumpkin pie for the first time ever (believe it or not!). I _love_ savory pumpkin dishes and I thought I'd love the pie, too. I bought a tin of pureed pumpkin (the brand was Libby's, I think) from a local store selling American food brands and followed the instructions printed on the tin and eagerly tasted the pie... let's just say I won't be baking it again   On the other hand, I found candy corn at the same store and absolutely LOVED it!

[mollysmom]

4 hours ago, Alice in Fundieland said:

 Sounds delicious but I have to ask, does your holiday leftovers sandwich include a “moist maker” in the middle?* 

*A Friends reference for anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about. 

One of my favorite episodes!!!! Never gets old!!!!!

[HurricaneBells]

1 hour ago, mollysmom said:

One of my favorite episodes!!!! Never gets old!!!!!

You ate my sandwich? YOU ATE MY SANDWICH! Also... millions of peaches, peaches for me! You guys rock lol

[formergothardite]

9 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

it's been about that long since I followed current tv, movies, or music.

 

That song came out in 1995, which in my mind is still 10 years ago, but I'm not sure most people would consider it current music. 

In a rare act of rebellion on my part,  my sister and I listened to that song in secret which is why it has stuck with me. 

[Cheetah]

8 hours ago, LurkerOverThePond said:

As a non-American, I find all the Thanksgiving food talk interesting. Some traditional foods sound yummy and if I ever visit the US during Thanksgiving, I most definitely want to go to some nice lil' mom & pop restaurant serving traditional Thanksgiving meal. 

A few years ago I tried pumpkin pie for the first time ever (believe it or not!). I _love_ savory pumpkin dishes and I thought I'd love the pie, too. I bought a tin of pureed pumpkin (the brand was Libby's, I think) from a local store selling American food brands and followed the instructions printed on the tin and eagerly tasted the pie... let's just say I won't be baking it again   On the other hand, I found candy corn at the same store and absolutely LOVED it!

My husband didn't grow up in the US although by now he's been here more than half of his life (over 25 years).  He still hates pumpkin pie and swears that it must be something you have to grow up with to like.    But Americans mostly feel the same about Vegemite so there you go ;-).  

[Four is Enough]

If you think Stove Top stuffing is too dense or wet for you, here's the solution:

get your ice cream scoop or Pampered Chef scoop and scoop the stuffing into ball sizes.. we don't use the cookie size but the next larger one. Bake the balls on a regular cookie sheet at 350=375 for about a half hour. Voila!

Nice, moist inside/crunchy outside balls of deliciousness. Sometimes the stuffing balls go before the meal...

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

1 minute ago, Four is Enough said:

If you think Stove Top stuffing is too dense or wet for you, here's the solution:

get your ice cream scoop or Pampered Chef scoop and scoop the stuffing into ball sizes.. we don't use the cookie size but the next larger one. Bake the balls on a regular cookie sheet at 350=375 for about a half hour. Voila!

Nice, moist inside/crunchy outside balls of deliciousness. Sometimes the stuffing balls go before the meal...

That is kind of brilliant, this is why I don't like stove top stuffing, it usually tastes like bread mush. I can ever get it just right.  It is either a wet blob of goo or  damp croutons, with no happy medium.  

[Four is Enough]

@allthegoodnamesrgone: it's just a riff off what my grandma used to do. We kids didn't like her stuffing made "in the bird" which was dense and wet, so she made stuffing balls for us. Still my favorite way to eat stuffing. They're portable , too. A couple in a zippy bag and you have a great snack.

[DarkAnts]

For those of you that don't understand the peaches reference.

Spoiler

 

 

 

[freshlemonade]

1 hour ago, Four is Enough said:

If you think Stove Top stuffing is too dense or wet for you, here's the solution:

get your ice cream scoop or Pampered Chef scoop and scoop the stuffing into ball sizes.. we don't use the cookie size but the next larger one. Bake the balls on a regular cookie sheet at 350=375 for about a half hour. Voila!

Nice, moist inside/crunchy outside balls of deliciousness. Sometimes the stuffing balls go before the meal...

Stuffing balls used to be part of my family Thanksgiving tradition as well.  Plain and with oysters-they were always a huge hit. Now that I do all of the cooking, I should bring them back.  I really like my stuffing recipe though-it has cranberries, sausage, and lots of onions and celery.

[emscm]

I have a super unpopular and controversial opinion to share but.... I hate almost all of the Thanksgiving dish things. Except mashed potatoes. ?? Please don’t put me in the prayer closet! 

[PennySycamore]

@Pibblesmiles,  I LOVE those big family and friends Thanksgiving dinners!   We had a memorable on a little more than 40 years ago at my husband's aunt's house in Plymouth, Massachusetts and another some years later at her son and daughter-in-law's house. Some of us played Trivial Pursuit after we'd eaten and some watched the Boston College-Miami game on TV.  It was the legendary game where Doug Flutie threw the Hail Mary pass in the last few seconds leading to a Boston College win.  He won the Heisman Trophy for that.

I hope next year we might have all the local family here for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.  We'll have to rent some table and chairs and so on, but it might work.   We used to go to my sister's house but she's over hosting.

[SilverBeach]

I found big family and friends Thanksgiving dinners exhausting, physically and emotionally. I'm an introvert though. Don't have to deal with these anymore as the older generation of my family is gone or very elderly, and the younger generation is fractured.

[HereticHick]

47 minutes ago, emscm said:

I have a super unpopular and controversial opinion to share but.... I hate almost all of the Thanksgiving dish things. Except mashed potatoes. ?? Please don’t put me in the prayer closet! 

[quiet voice] I think giant roast turkeys are totally overrated.

[MoonFace]

20 hours ago, Swamptribe said:

I've typed it before, and I'll  type it again.  For being raised to be 'keepers of the home", the Duggar girls can't cook worth a (insert word of your choice here). Jill doesn't cook, she opens cans and heats the contents.   I know many many full time working college educated moms who are much better in the kitchen.   Honestly, I think it comes down to the fact that none of them know what good food is.  They also have absolutely no creativity in them. 

From the recipes I've seen (like tater tots) they wouldn't know a fresh veg from a jar of library paste.   I think they opened cans and jars and added some carbs, slapped it on a paper plate and picked up a plastic fork or spoon and called it good.  

[SassyPantswithASideofClass]

Dang, you all are making me hungry now. What do I have for lunch?  

[Maggie Mae]

10 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

[quiet voice] I think giant roast turkeys are totally overrated.

I think getting two normal sized turkeys is easier, faster, and they taste better than trying to do a single giant roast bird. 

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

5 minutes ago, MoonFace said:

From the recipes I've seen (like tater tots) they wouldn't know a fresh veg from a jar of library paste.   I think they opened cans and jars and added some carbs, slapped it on a paper plate and picked up a plastic fork or spoon and called it good.  

They were also raised by people who think BBQ sauce on canned tuna is food.  

[Maggie Mae]

2 hours ago, Four is Enough said:

@allthegoodnamesrgone: it's just a riff off what my grandma used to do. We kids didn't like her stuffing made "in the bird" which was dense and wet, so she made stuffing balls for us. Still my favorite way to eat stuffing. They're portable , too. A couple in a zippy bag and you have a great snack.

I actually prefer mine "in the bird" (i hated it as a kid) but the Mr won't do it that way because "food safety." Whatever. I think I'm basically immune to most foodborne illnesses these days - I don't even want to talk about some of the kitchens of my relatives. *shudder*

[MoonFace]

1 hour ago, emscm said:

I have a super unpopular and controversial opinion to share but.... I hate almost all of the Thanksgiving dish things. Except mashed potatoes. ?? Please don’t put me in the prayer closet! 

When my daughter comes for her pre Thanksgiving/Christmas visit (I celebrate whatever holiday my kids want to celebrate whenever they visit so that they do not feel obligated to come for holidays)  I make a full Thanksgiving dinner - but substitute a family recipe for chicken for turkey because that is what she prefers.   

But I do love making a full blown Thanksgiving dinner.   Love the scent of turkey cooking.  

[JordynDarby5]

I love Thanksgiving! The turkey, mash potatoes, gravy, croissant roles, corn and stuffed celery (back when I could eat those) and pies cherry, blueberry, or the three berry pie (back when I could eat them) pumpkin pie which I can still eat. I love that its one of the few times that you can pig out. And my family loves the leftovers. We love anything leftover since it means we don't have to cook. We don't mind cooking but there's nothing better then not having to cook. Turkeys mean almost an entire week of no cooking. The big Thanksgiving dinners when I was a kid either at our house or Grandma's house back the whole family together on my mom's side. Her mom, aunt and her family, their kids, my great-grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousins. Those were the best. Grandma making her mash potatoes from scratched. After we ate all the men would nap and the women would go to Walgreens because it was the only store open back then it felt nice to walk off the meal while wandering around a store, talking. Those were the best. After Grandma and Great-Grandma passed the family split off thanks to my great-aunt being a bitch. So it was always at our house until my brother got married and it went back and forth with our smaller family. Still fun though. After I got sick and Mom started with her strokes and seizures we always stayed home and ordered turkey dinners from Village Inn which was really good and really easy.  There was just no way Mom or I could have helped making dinner and we weren't going to make Dad do it. There was no way we could go anywhere. But it was really nice. None of the stress and they do have really good turkey dinners. Very lowkey.  One year our neighbors did the nicest thing ever by bringing over turkey, and all the fixings on Thanksgiving. There was so much food we were eating it for days.

[SilverBeach]

23 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

[quiet voice] I think giant roast turkeys are totally overrated.

Fried turkeys are the bomb though, as are Cajun turkeys from Popeyes. I like smoked turkey too.

[AtlanticTug]

I don't like turkey but love all the other T-giving food.

The best turkey I've had was smoked, then deep fried. You need to do that because when you smoke it the skin stays verrrry rubbery. But it crisps up amazingly in the fryer in just a few minutes.

[roadkill_deity]

1 hour ago, emscm said:

I have a super unpopular and controversial opinion to share but.... I hate almost all of the Thanksgiving dish things. Except mashed potatoes. ?? Please don’t put me in the prayer closet! 

Haha, I'm the same way! I hate cranberry sauce and yams, and don't care too much for turkey. Mashed potatoes with garlic are the bomb! I fill up on that and pecan pie. 

[SilverBeach]

6 minutes ago, roadkill_deity said:

Mashed potatoes with garlic are the bomb!

I like to add sour cream and sprinkle with chives too. I have gained ten pounds reading this thread.