Thanksgiving 2025

Thawing while cooking is indeed one of the safest ways to thaw frozen, raw meat product. The other “best” way is thaw in the fridge just like the charts describe. Too many folks just thaw it out on the countertop for a day or two… not advisable.
Completely agree, but we all know what happens if you drop a frozen turkey in a turkey fryer, we've seen videos on youtube of magas burning down their houses. 😁
 
As someone required to eat a few bites every Thanksgiving for years as a kid, no, no it does not make sense.
I'm so glad that I wasn't made to eat that thing, I remember how scary it looked. I have enough scars from childhood, that might have been the straw that broke the camels back.
 
“A savory jello dish”

That makes NO sense.
I went to a lady’s house for Christmas Eve dinner once and she was an elderly Polish immigrant and she went the full traditional dinner route and that included trout in aspic, which if we’re being honest, is nothing but a steamed trout served cold encased in a transparent mold of cold fish flavored jello. Wasn’t half bad. I liked it better than the hunter’s stew which is sauerkraut based, which is not my favorite, even if the sauerkraut was homemade, which made it better.
 
I went to a lady’s house for Christmas Eve dinner once and she was an elderly Polish immigrant and she went the full traditional dinner route and that included trout in aspic, which if we’re being honest, is nothing but a steamed trout served cold encased in a transparent mold of cold fish flavored jello. Wasn’t half bad. I liked it better than the hunter’s stew which is sauerkraut based, which is not my favorite, even if the sauerkraut was homemade, which made it better.
Yeah. We have friends from Moldova and Romania, and the whole ‘meat floating in gelatin’ thing is evidently a big deal.
 
What's the most "old-timey" traditional thanksgiving dish in your family (or really any other dish you would never eat any other time of the year except on Thanksgiving)?

Mine is pearl onions in butter and cream. Passed down from my maternal grandmother. I don't even like it that much, but it's tradition.
Corn pudding
 
OMG my mom made one of those all through the 1970s and 1980s and still claims everyone loved it. So gross. Lime jello with sour cream mixed in plus canned peas and shredded lettuce and celery and nuts. Mortifying. Off-putting color.
Ours was lime jello with crushed pineapple, chopped pecans, and miniature marshmallows. My mother just called it “congealed salad.”

I think that was the poor white southern version of Waldorf salad…..pistachios were way too fancy for our neighborhood back in the 60s.
 
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Ours was lime jello with crushed pineapple, chopped pecans, and miniature marshmallows. My mother just called it “congealed salad.”

I think that was the poor white southern version of Waldorf salad…..pistachios were way too fancy for our neighborhood back in the 60s.
Yeah that was different from whatever the hell my mom made. I asked in a round about way today and it hat cottage cheese, not sour cream, but also “fancy” canned peas, celery, lettuce and pistachios. 😬
 
It does seem weird for a “jello-type” dish to be thought of as something other than sweet, but Aspics as well as some gelatin salads can indeed be considered savory. But not usually a favorite amongst the kiddos.
Yeah…..aspic dishes and jello dishes are similar.
 
Yeah. We have friends from Moldova and Romania, and the whole ‘meat floating in gelatin’ thing is evidently a big deal.
Not necessarily a big deal so much as "meh". It's commonplace in Europe. It's to preserve. They add a little flavor to the gelatin - or "aspic" in culinary terms - to hopefully make it palatable. Es ist normal.
 
Yeah that was different from whatever the hell my mom made. I asked in a round about way today and it hat cottage cheese, not sour cream, but also “fancy” canned peas, celery, lettuce and pistachios. 😬
Check your Reader's Digest, Better Homes and Gardens or Lades Home Journal from the 1960's for the recipe. It was a thing. And your mom paid attention.
 
People talk about the obesity epidemic but neglect to talk about how fucking horrific food was in the day.
 
Also, thanks for the reminder that it's thanksgiving. A ton of homes in our neighborhood already have XMAS lights and decor setup and powered.
Last weekend, I saw a number of homes with Christmas trees up already. And I’ve obviously seen many more since then. WTF people? I’m strongly opposed to the death penalty but I might make an exception here.
 
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