For those of you who served smoked turkeys from Sam's - how did you heat and serve it? Did you add any spices or herbs?

🍁 Edited via Lemon8 app.

Thanksgiving 2024 🦃 🍁🍂

Grandma and grandaddy drop by with some Thanksgiving foods before they went somewhere else for Thanksgiving.

My bipolar brother (not joking) and his girlfriend also brought Thanksgiving food too.

So we ended up with two types of stuffings, one from grandma and one from my brother's girlfriend, so we kinda had a mini stuffing taste test on the plates. 😂

And also, I think it's funny that one thought about bringing a pie, like a sugarfree potato pie. but I was okay with the cranberry sauce and yams.

I didn't watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade that day due to 13 months of not having a working TV and we can't afford a new one. So I might watch it later in videos on YouTube, if there is any ones that have full coverage.

An 18lb turkey from a local family farm. Brined in an orange based salt bath for 12 hours. Rubbed with some dry orange spice mix. Stuffed with sage, thyme, rosemary, apples, oranges, lemon, and cinnamon sticks.

I feel so dramatic saying that, but hear me out. I LOVE Thanksgiving. I always have. Every year, right around the end of September, I start thinking about the meal and what fun things my husband, father and I can do after recovering from the food coma. Movies, games, you get the idea. But this year was different.

Wednesday night, after I finished pre-meal prep, I sat down to do some crafts. About an hour in, I started getting a headache. Thinking I was just tired, I packed it in and headed to bed. In the middle of the night, I woke up with the worst headache I have ever had and body aches to boot. Clearly, I had come down with some sort of illness.

Thursday, I stayed in bed until about noon. Got up and put the turkey in. The whole time my head was pounding, and I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. Somehow, I was able to eat some of the meal I prepared, but after dinner, I barely remember anything, until my husband brought me to urgent care on Friday evening.

Turns out, I caught some sort of viral infection that turned into a sinus and double ear infection. All of this was bad enough, but yesterday, when I was finally starting to feel better, I opened the fridge and was assaulted with the smells of the leftovers. That was my breaking point. You don’t need the details of what happened next, but it ended with me making my husband throw out all the leftovers. I can’t even stomach the thought of turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. Scrolling my socials, I have to scroll fast past pictures of everyone’s Thanksgiving dinner, because even the pictures are making me gag!

I’m so, so sad! My favorite food holiday has been ruined by a stupid virus.

Thanksgiving, we had a good run, buddy. I’m sure going to miss you. Please, give my love to stuffing.

Thanks for reading my rant. I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday!

UPDATE: I wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes and advice! I’m not giving up hope of one day enjoying Thanksgiving dinner again. But as many of you suggested, maybe I’ll start a new tradition. I think next year, I’ll start Taco Thanksgiving!

This year was extra special.

Today is the last day of leftover turkey for us. But I’m thinking of turning the remaining mashed potatoes into potato soup. What about things like sweet potato casserole, gravy, green bean casserole, and pie? When should I throw the remainder of the food away?

Tried the Spatchcock Turkey method this year. Everyone raved about the flavor and juiciness of the bird and it economized vertical space in the single oven available so stuffing and brussel sprouts could be cooked on an upper shelf. There's never space to present a whole bird on the table anyhow and flipping it to brown the underside is always a challenge. Will definitely take this approach again in the future!!!

I decided to make this on Wednesday evening-the day before Thanksgiving because our family gathering needed more desserts. Everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. Quick and easy - thought I would share with you.

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2- (21 ounce) cans apple pie filling - chopped into small pieces.

Cinnamon (to taste)-I finely sprinkled directly from the cinnamon container over the apples.

1- (11 ounce) bag of Kraft caramel bits

I could not find the caramel bits so I boiled a can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk for 2 hours which makes Dulche de Leche. When cooled in ice water after cooking, I spread over the apples.

1 cup pecan pieces

1 (15.25 ounce) box of yellow cake mix

2 sticks butter, cut into thin slices

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spray a 9 x 13” baking dish with cooking spray.

Make an even layer of the apple pie filling in the bottom of the prepared pan.

Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the apple pie filling using as much or as little as you prefer.

Distribute the caramel bits over the apple pie filling.

Place the chopped pecan pieces over the caramel bits.

Sprinkle the dry cake mix over the pecans, spreading it into an even layer with a fork.

(Important) Put the pats of butter evenly on top of the dry cake mix, covering the cake mix as much as possible.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or just until the top is a golden brown color.

Allow the cake to cool 20 to 30 minutes and then serve with ice cream or Cool Whip.

https://preview.redd.it/itbz94gte84e1.png?width=1485&format=png&auto=webp&s=fded55d61b53553eac10bdc1fcfb9929a6272075

I found this recipe that I hope to try next year. Thought I would share. I have had this type of dressing before at family gatherings and really liked it. It's a southern favorite.

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Cooking spray

½ cup butter

1 large onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

½ teaspoon dried sage

2 ¾ cups chicken broth

1 pound saltine crackers, crushed

½ cup milk

1 egg

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly coat a baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, celery, and 1 teaspoon salt in melted butter until onion begins to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with black pepper, sage, thyme, rosemary, and cayenne pepper; cook and stir about 1 minute.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in chicken broth.

Combine crushed crackers and onion mixture in a large bowl. Add egg and cream; mix until combined. Season with salt and black pepper.

Spread cracker mixture evenly in a large baking dish and smooth the top.

Bake in the preheated oven until top is golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.

I was supposed to hostess about 18 people. But I had strep & pneumonia last weekend, so I had to cancel - getting the furniture moved and everything set up wasn’t going to happen with my household of 5 all working.

So T-Day was just my immediate fam. We asked the kids to each pick a 45-minute activity to do as a family. They chose a farmlet walk to distribute goodies to our birds, Cards Against Humanity and Art of Insanity (our kids are teen/YA & think mom drawing BJs is hilarious).

One daughter called it the best Thanksgiving ever.

Yesterday, we were supposed to make a day trip to see extended family that we love to visit. But we got hit by snow that was supposed to miss us- the roads weren’t cleared and cars were in ditches everywhere. We turned around and came home.

So, by staying in, by ourselves, it was the best Holiday weekend ever.

I’ve bee dreaming of do this for years, I’m probably gonna fall asleep immediately