For those of you hosting Thanksgiving this year, do you already have your menu's set? If so, what are you cooking? Do you always do the same stuff every year?
I've decided that I'm hosting this year. It's just going to be me, DH, MIL and FIL, but I'm pretty excited and I've been trying to get my menu set for the past few days. I love the holidays and I just want to make sure I don't mess up my first Thanksgiving, lol.
For what it's worth, this is my menu at this point:
Cornish Game Hens with Corn Bread stuffing (because I cannot seem to find a 10 pound Turkey and I think the hens would look much nicer than just using a turkey breast)
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Grapes (seems like a totally crazy recipe, but it is by far the most amazing Brussel Sprouts recipe I have every had)
Mashed Potatoes
Fresh green beans
Rolls
Pies
Do you think this is enough for 4 people?
Re: Thanksgiving Menu
I think that is enough. I tend to over cook and make too much food haha. This is my menu:
Turkey
Mashed potatoes
Green Beans
Corn
Rolls
Stuffing
Pie
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
I think it's probably enough for 4 people, but I will give you some of our random Thanksgiving dishes anyway.
We like broccoli salad like this, but instead of rasins, we use craisins.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/alysons-broccoli-salad/detail.aspx
We have also tried some kind of jalepeno sweet potato receipe that everyone went nuts over (I don't like sweet potatoes, so I couldn't say). We also sometimes have a hot cheese/bacon dip in a mini crockpot with tortilla chips as an appetizer. I don't have that receipe with me though. Otherwise, we do typically do the usual.
Definitely enough for four people - if you're looking to do more variety you could add a sweet potato dish and make a little less mashed potatoes. Oh and cranberry sauce - but I love cranberry sauce (the homemade stuff not the canned).
FWIW I got an 11lb turkey at Meijer this past weekend they had a few that looked smaller too. But cornish game hens sound delicious too!
We are doing a small Thanksgiving meal on Friday with some of my family since we will be at the ILs on Thursday. This is the first year doing it and my sister is helping cook - there will be 5 adults and 2 kids (and a baby but he won't be eating turkey). Our menu is turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, cranberry sauce, rolls and pies for dessert.
Green been casserole and fruit salad are must-haves in our family. We also always have both gravy and cranberry sauce. But other than that, our menu looks very similar to yours. And I definitely think that's plenty for four people!
I've never had game hens, so I'm not sure how they compare to turkey. But I often cook a whole turkey anyway, even if it's just for four people, because I looooove left overs. You can even freeze it and it holds up pretty well. And the stores usually have such great deals on turkeys this time of year, it's hard to pass it up!
We are hosting again this year for the second time. Last year, we cooked everything. This year, we are only doing the following:
Turkey
Stuffing
Potatoes
One Dessert - TBD
My family will be bringing a vegetable dish, gravy (because I did a terrible job last year) and a Filipino dessert - leche-flan.
DH's family will probably bring something traditionally polish and also a dessert as well.
Have fun hosting! Sounds like enough food for 4 ppl.
We always have plenty of food, but I like leftovers, we eat them that night & then another few days, which I love. It's good for us to since IL's & SIL are in from out of town for 4 days.
We're having: (now stay w/me on this) Turkey (we got a 22-24lb one for leftovers, freeze some turkey so we can have some throughout the year & then we make turkey soup), mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, yams, Stove Top stuffing (my favorite), MIL's homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, pink salad, rolls, pumpkin pie, cherry pie & 3 different kinds of ice cream! Plus DH's b-day is the day after, so we may also have b-day cake!
We have to have corn because my FIL doesn't eat green veggies, we have 2 pies because my FIL doesn't like pumpkin pie (you start to see a pattern here), it's like catering to a child w/him! My DS isn't as picky as he is.
I finally get to host Thanksgiving this year!! Simply because we refuse to go home and my parents said they'd like a 'vacation' so they're coming out. I'm planning for an army
but will only be me, dh, mom, dad, and my two kids.
Turkey

Dressing
Mashed potatoes and a small amount of oven roasted potatoes because my 3 yr old won't eat mashed.
spinach salad with apples and cranberries and blue cheese
either corn or green bean casserole- maybe both but smaller dishes
rolls
pecan pie, cheesecake, icecream with toppings (for my kids)
we're doing a bunch of appetizers for lunch because I HAVE to have appetizers.
I'm also making some sticky buns for breakfast.
We'll eat leftovers until my parents go home
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