Thanksgiving. Without a doubt, my favorite holiday. I absolutely adore Thanksgiving dishes and it didn’t occur to me until yesterday that I really should make traditional Thanksgiving food more often.
A lot more often. Like more than once a year.
Our Thanksgiving Feast was served at 4 PM sharp. Early enough to take photos in the sunlight yet late enough to not need another meal later in the night. Dessert doesn’t count as a meal 
. Not on Thanksgiving, at least.
While munching on some scrumptious appetizers, we each set out to prepare the dishes we were contributing…
Our Thanksgiving Feast consisted of traditional Thanksgiving food but with a few twists thrown in. Nevertheless, a nourishing, healthy, satisfying, and comforting meal.
Thanksgiving Menu
Appetizers (seen here)
Cranberry Orange Nut Bread
Bacon Wrapped Medjool Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese + Roasted Almonds
Chicken Liver Pate with Multi-seed Crackers
Main Dishes
Roast Turkey
King Crab Legs
Shrimp and Asparagus
Side Dishes
Sweet Potato Casserole with Merengue Topping
Cornbread Stuffing
Sticky Rice Stuffing
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts
Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Gravy
Dessert
Pumpkin Pie w/ Whipped Cream
Gobble gobble
A seafood twist. King Crab Legs aren’t exactly traditional Thanksgiving food but we as a family love crabs!
Peter’s Shrimp and Asparagus—a twist on green bean casserole, perhaps?
My Sweet Potato Casserole
The twist: Not only was there crushed pineapple mixed in with the sweet potato puree, but I made a merengue topping (instead of traditional marshmallows).
It was my first time ever whipping egg whites…and certainly not the last!
I piped the meringue with my brand new pastry tip! Never mind the Scotch tape binding the Ziploc bag with the pastry tip . Ya do whatcha gotta do!
Dare I say the meringue tasted better than marshmallows…? I’m making this every year from here on out!
My second dish was a Cornbread Stuffing made with freshly baked cornbread. I thought the gritty texture of cornbread would make for a more interesting stuffing.
My mom made a Sticky Rice Stuffing, which was excellent. I haven’t had this in years!
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
The twist: made with fresh squeezed orange juice. It was a big hit! Usually cranberry sauce gets ignored among all the other food at the table, but not this year. Oh no no no.
My brother’s Sauteed Brussels Sprouts
Mom’s Buttery Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Plate #1. I got a little bit of everything to start off the meal. Plus a huge King Crab Leg
I went back for mashed potatoes, more of both stuffings, a little more turkey and 8x more sweet potato casserole. Definitely still my favorite dish!
***
I had leftover whipped egg whites (even though I only used 2!) so I made some meringues. Like little balls of cotton candy.
I sort of want to whip egg whites all day long now and pipe them on anything and everything.
Dessert came after some quality time on the couch watching TV…
Pumpkin Pie, which my brother made from scratch!! Paired with whipped cream.
The twist? He used extra egg yolks and it was the creamiest pumpkin pie I’ve ever eaten. I had several small slivers, probably equivalent to 1 1/4 slices .
I also had a couple slices of the Cranberry Orange Nut Bread. I have leftover fresh cranberries in the fridge and it’s decided, this is what I’m making with them!
I convinced my mom to go on a walk with me around the neighborhood at around 10:30 PM to get some fresh air. We stumbled upon some gorgeous mansions! I can’t wait to go back on a future run and scope ‘em out in the daylight.
….and then my favorite holiday came to a close. So long, Thanksgiving. See you next year.
(Good thing my 2nd favorite holiday is right around the corner!)
Tell me: Did you try/make/eat any dishes with a twist this year?
P.S. Thanksgiving from 2009. We were reminiscing about past Thanksgivings at the dinner table and really wish we had blog posts to look back on. Now we officially have two documented. Gotta start somewhere, right?
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
SERIOUSLY I want all of this right now! we are celebrating tonight, but nothing can compare to your feast! i love how creative everything is!!
Mmmmm. You take beautiful pictures – put my Thanksgiving pictures to shame! LOL
Wow! What a spread! Seafood is very traditional in Australia now for Christmas- I love how refreshing a mostly cold lunch can be on a hot day! (Not exactly an issue for US Thanksgiving, but hey!)… Anyhoo, your stuffing and your sweet potato casserole look amazing!!!
Wow everything looks quite amazing. My favorite one has to be the cornbread stuffing. Thanksgiving is great isnt it?!
I made cranberry sauce with merlot! It was incredible.
I made vegan sweet potato casserole this year and everyone raved about it…I think it was way better than the “regular” version. Vegan food is always a tasty twist on the original!!
Your sweet potato casserole looks so good! My family doesn’t get too creative with our dishes (though they are all delicious) but maybe next year I will convince them to let me try something new! Even though we weren’t too creative with the actual dishes I am working on creative leftovers! Today was a curried chicken with apple sandwich and leftover cranberry sauce as a spread!
My Nanny always made sweet potato/pineapple casserole and it’s the one dish that I can’t go without on Thanksgiving! I’ve not met many people who have this combo on their holiday table and it’s nice to see you love it so much too
I topped mine with marshmallows this year but I like the idea of a meringue, very unique!
I think the same thing..WHY is all this delicous food saved for once a year?? This all looks so amazing!
Your Thanksgiving feast looks amazing!!! And the sweet potato casserole is by far my favorite as well
I sadly didn’t make anything, just ate everything! King Crab legs … YUM. Everything looks delish.
Wow, it looks like you had some amazing foods! Especially that Cranberry Orange Nut Bread looks SUPER delicious, omg. Any chance of a recipe coming up?
Perfectly toasted marshmallows atop the sweet potatoes! And I like how you incorporate something not so traditional into your menu such as crab legs.
Your feast looks wonderful!
My recipe with a twist: pumpkin pie with a graham crust and crunchy pepita topping – mmm!
can i come next year?
You might be on to something, if people eat Thanksgiving foods more often I’m convinced that the world would be a happier place.
Yum! Everything looks great. I’m glad you had a good Thanksgiving!
The last time I made meringue, it was for a s’mores pie. I think I did exactly the same thing as you
I made cookies with the leftover meringue, too… I forgot to put down parchment paper though. They stuck. Badly. D: I didn’t celebrate thanksgiving this year, but I think I would have forgotten everything else and just gone for the sweet potato casserole for the entire meal. And pumpkin pie. Mmmmmm.
We had the traditional green beans made different this year: steamed with caramelized onions. so much better that way!
Glad you had a great holiday! def should be more than just once a year!
What an awesome Thanksgiving menu, especially with all the little twists! I think I would prefer a meringue topping on the SPs too.
I don’t think we made any dishes differently… we tend to have the exact same menu every Thanksgiving.
This makes me want to try out some new things next year though!
Yum!
Your traditional dishes and twists look oh so yummy!
I actually hosted Thanksgiving for my family (mom, dad, and sis) yesterday evening. It was a bit hectic a couple of times, but I went ALL out: Roasted turkey, KERF’s figgy wild rice sourdough stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, homemade whole wheat dinner rolls, and cranberry pomegranate sauce. My mom brought the deviled eggs (can’t have T Day without deviled eggs!). Desserts: Waldorf salad (requested specifically by my dad), whole wheat banana bread, cheesecake custard pie, and pumpkin rum pie!
Whew, after typing all that out, I’m surprised I made it through! Haha! It was my first time cooking a turkey and first time hosting a holiday meal. It’s a whole new sense of accomplishment for me….already thinking about next year!
I’m not very familiar with Thanksgiving dishes but your menu looks REALLY good
Allie, I’m so glad you guys had such a wonderful day together! And the food! Looks so good-I like all the twists.
You know what your meringue reminds me of? (Love the idea, by the way.) PAVLOV’S DOGS.
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