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Stuffing(!), cranberry sauce-- don't hate me, I love the canned stuff--, pumpkin pie, pearl onions, and of course, a little turkey is mandatory.
Everything else is meh.

What I REALLY love is the leftover turkey/cranberry sauce sandwiches.
Godly.

This is not good. Nearly every turkey I've had in the past 10 years (unless I cooked it myself) is waaaaay too salty. This cannot make that trend better. I "brine" my turkey in the same thing I baste it in: a knarley mix of bacon grease (rubbed lovingly inside/outside/forced into every crevace) and orange juice. No extra salt added. Baste every 30 minutes or so while cooking. Turkey comes out juicy, the skin is crunchy and tangy and perfect (according to my friends who like the skin best - not me) and the stuffing even soaks up some of the flavor. And those of us who have not been inured to the excess salt of a junk food diet can eat it without soaking it in fresh water first. Of course, my vegan wife is not so thrilled, so I ask my friends to store up bacon fat for me - no bacon frying is one of the compromises (but not without benefit - she makes the best curries you could ask for).

these sound amazing! i've never cooked with sweet potatoes before, so this dish will definitely be on my table this thanksgiving

You know, I have done the same as Mr Brown. However when I make my gravy I degrease some of the juice from the roasting pan and pour it into the "Dressing" Pan this gives me the flavor that I crave minus the fat. Try it you will like it!

i ate head cheese. i regretted it.

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My own favorite thing about Thanksgiving is seeing most of the people that I love. As the oldest sister of a family of eight children, it is the one day of the year that almost all of us are together, along with assorted friends and satellite family. We always eat at my youngest sister's house and last year there were forty-eight people there. There was a roast turkey, a deep-fried turkey, a whole ham, and a whole huge brisket, along with side dishes too numerous to mention. My personal favorite(s): GRAVY - made by me, and a strange creamed corn casserole that is very sweet and was actually my grandmother's original recipe. Oh yeah, I almost forget the praline pecan cheesecake. That's not too bad to end a huge meal with. Then we all play "Guitar Hero" after consuming immoderate amounts of wine and beer. Great! My favorite day of the year. PlanetChaos, the dog fart reminder is hilarious. Thanks for making me laugh on a Monday morning.

I think gator is as adventurous as I've gone.

the meatballs were really amazing. I used one lb very lean grass fed beef, about 3/4 cup raw bone marrow (that I scooped out of the bones), 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley, two cloves of garlic chopped, two eggs, 3/4 cup bread crumbs and salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. I baked them in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. (they were about the size of a golf ball.)

I have a pretty good lamb chops recipe. I also have a leg of lamb recipe we use for dinner sometimes on special occasions. Lamb is BY FAR my favorite meat!

Lamb chops

Lamb Tagine is my favorite lamb recipe. garrettsambo@aol.com