My Contributions to Thanksgiving Dinner and a Couple Confessions

I have a confession to make……I don’t like turkey.  There,… I said it.  Let me be clear though, I don’t HATE turkey, I just don’t favor it.  I can eat it, especially in a casserole or on a sandwich.  But when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, I want a big fat plate full of stuffing, a couple servings of salad, and then some more stuffing.  Of course this is all after I have grazed on the veggie trays, fruit trays, deviled eggs, olives, and array of other “appetizers” that will be laying out on the counter before the turkey gets done.  Needless to say by the time dinner is over I will be miserable and useless…..but I don’t think I’m alone here.

So, here are my non turkey contributions to Thanksgiving dinner this year. 🙂

Last week I shared a recipe for homemade thousand island dressing and promised to share my grandma’s special green salad to serve with it.

SaladJust add some baby shrimp, a little crab meat, and some sliced olives to your greens.

Thousand IslandServe it with the homemade thousand island and…who needs turkey!?

At most family functions I bring the deviled eggs.  Not because mine are exceptional or better than others, it’s simply because I HAVE TOO MANY EGGS! (Well,… and mine are fresh!)   So that’s my second addition to Thanksgiving dinner.

Deviled EggsNote: If you also have nice fresh eggs and have a difficult time peeling them, click here to read my little “trick” on how to cook and easily peel farm fresh eggs. 🙂

My next contribution is an easy appetizer…maybe my favorite appetizer.  I call them asparagus wraps.

AsparagusThey are simply softened cream cheese spread on a thin slice of ham wrapped around pickled asparagus….and they are DELICIOUS!

Asparagus WrapsLast Thanksgiving I ran out of time and instead of making these ahead of time I took the supplies and made them after I got to my parents.  They disappeared just as fast as I could make them.

Now for my next confession…..I’ve never made pumpkin pie.  Actually I’ve only ever made one pie in my entire life and that was an apple pie.  It was about ten years ago and it turned out kinda weird??  So this Thanksgiving I have decided to try my first ever pumpkin pie!  I’ll be sure to take pictures and let you know how it turns out.

I am sooooo thankful that my parents now have a large, conveniently located house that is perfect for large family gatherings.  This has not always been the case, and Thanksgiving dinners took place at our house.  I think squished and crazy would be the best words to describe those gatherings.  As I shared, turkey is not my favorite meal and therefore cooking one is not my idea of fun.  The last Thanksgiving we hosted, I spent my morning rushing around cleaning, opening doors and windows to fan the smoke out from the ran over turkey drippings.  Oh, and meanwhile Digger was in the bathroom with a small blow torch trying to melt the spilled wax out of the sink (but that’s a story for another post).  I am much happier to make my additions to dinner at home, pack them in a cooler, and leave my messy house.  Then I can enjoy a wonderful meal with our awesome (and large) family at my parents house….and I’m sure my moms home grown turkey will be wonderful…under tons of stuffing and gravy!

What are your contributions to Thanksgiving dinner?  Do you have the privilege of hosting and cooking the turkey?  If so, my prayers are with you. 😉

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”  Psalms 107:1

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13 thoughts on “My Contributions to Thanksgiving Dinner and a Couple Confessions

  1. Those asparagus wraps look really good! Shoot, I could make a whole meal out of the ‘appetizers’ and salad…and I HAVE!! LOL!! It sounds like you guys have a wonderful time getting together and it is nice to have a place big enough to hold everyone comfortably! 🙂

  2. Oh Grace you are so like me in that I LOVE stuffing, I don’t eat turkey but that’s cause I don’t eat meat, but I will take serving after serving of stuffing. Your salad looks delish too!
    Pumpkin pie is the easiest pie to make, you only need a bottom crust and all you have to do is mix the stuff together and poor it in, it makes it so simple, you will do great. That is the other part of the meal I love besides stuffing, all the pies! 🙂

    1. Haha! You read my mind, I was thinking pumpkin pie might me the easiest to make without that top crust!! I can’t wait for stuffing and pies! Talk to you soon Jen!

  3. Those asparagus wraps look so good! I’ve seen similar recipes but never ones using pickled asparagus ~ and I love pickled asparagus. I have hosted Thansgiving dinner in the past, I’ve done it a few times actually. I don’t mind the prep so much as the clean up and trying to take care of all the leftovers. I’m still not sure yet what we’ll be doing next week. We’ll either be with my mom or just the two of us. Hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

  4. Grace, your post was so much fun to read. I love your contributions to Thanksgiving Dinner- your Grandma’s Salad (and homemade dressing!) and the deviled eggs look sooo good. My favorite has to be those lovely asparagus wraps. I can see why they disappeared as quickly as you could make them!

    Good luck with your pie- I will look forward to seeing how it turned out! Pie is probably my favorite part of Thanksgiving Dinner. 🙂

    Visiting from Creative Home and Garden Blog Hop,

    Love, Joy

  5. I have had those wraps before with regular pickles… but I’ve never had pickled asparagus- that sounds super! I’m a big fan of the side dishes too- I could totally eat Thanksgiving dinner with no turkey

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