Poll of the Day > Does you celebrate Thanksgiving?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Americans, do you celebrate?

I go to my Mom's house to be nice because she's super into holidays. I don't really care about the holiday one way or another.

Yep, we do a family get-together the weekend following Thanksgiving.

Im not American and dont live in the US, but sort of celebrate thanksgiving.

I mean, its not a holiday with any meaning to most of us, but theres a big group of us that use it as an excuse to have a big thanksgiving meal and get really pissed.

The family gets together for dinner.

Glob posted...

Im not American and dont live in the US, but sort of celebrate thanksgiving.

I mean, its not a holiday with any meaning to most of us, but theres a big group of us that use it as an excuse to have a big thanksgiving meal and get really pissed.

haha, nice.

My mom will usually cook a turkey, but we haven't gone to anyone else's or had guests over in years.

We actually did the turkey meal a couple of days go.

I really don't like turkey, it's too dry for me.

Yes. Play football in the morning then eat.

Wow, I titled this "Does you"

I don't directly celebrate the winter holidays but I do take them off of work.

dj1200 posted...

I really don't like turkey, it's too dry for me.

If it's too dry then it's not cooked right. Turkey is delicious when properly cooked.

No. Not in my country.

I does not cus not American.

@Falgos @wwinterj25
Cool, where do you guys live and what is your nationality?

No, because I'm not thankful for a genocide. Maybe if they changed the name to something not tone-deaf and made it about remembering history in order to not repeat it, then I might celebrate it.

dj1200 posted...

@Falgos @wwinterj25
Cool, where do you guys live and what is your nationality?

Aussie

"Celebrate" is a stretch. My close family (parents, grandparents, aunt/uncle/cousin) used to get together when I was a kid (both for Thanksgiving and Christmas), but after my grandparents died and my cousin moved to Florida, we kind of drifted apart a bit. And then even more so when my uncle developed Alzheimer's (and later died).

As an adult, I was never interested in doing anything for the holiday, and neither were my parents before they died. And my GF's family never really celebrated either because her parents were first-generation immigrants.

Last year my sister-in-law managed to talk us into going to her house for the day, and we're going again this year, but she's moving next year so we probably won't be doing it again, and I'll default back to not caring enough to do anything.



dj1200 posted...

I really don't like turkey, it's too dry for me.

I generally feel the same, though my sister-in-law cooked turkey last year and it was fairly juicy. Apparently the secret was that she spatchcocked it.

MagicalPrincess posted...

If it's too dry then it's not cooked right. Turkey is delicious when properly cooked.

That's the issue with turkey. Most people rarely cook it, and it's not like a chuck roast that comes out delicious no matter how you cook it or a pork shoulder.
I love a good turkey, but the effort is sometimes too much.
Buying just a turkey breast can be quite nice and much easier than a whole turkey.

Accrovideogames posted...

No, because I'm not thankful for a genocide.

Ummm what? That's Columbus Day.

SunWuKung420 posted...

Ummm what? That's Columbus Day.

It can be both.

There's that king of the Hill joke between Dale and John.
Dale - do your people celebrate Thanksgiving?
John - we did, once.

Here's Alton Brown's recipe for making a turkey. I've made it several times and pissed off my grandmother because everyone went nuts for my turkey and they never said anything about hers (which was terrible!)

Ingredients

14-16 lb turkey

For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp allspice berries
1 tsp chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:
1 red apple
onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Directions

2-3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or a cooler kept at 38F.

Combine vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Remove brine from heat, cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

Early on the day before you'd like to eat:

Combine brine, water and ice in a 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8-16 hours, turning bird once halfway through brining.

On the day you'll be eating:

Preheat oven to 500F. Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup water in microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and reduce oven temperature to 350F. Set the temperature alarm to 161F. A 14-16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 hours of roasting.

Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

dj1200 posted...

Cool, where do you guys live and what is your nationality?

England and British.

pedro45 posted...

That's the issue with turkey. Most people rarely cook it, and it's not like a chuck roast that comes out delicious no matter how you cook it or a pork shoulder.
I love a good turkey, but the effort is sometimes too much.
Buying just a turkey breast can be quite nice and much easier than a whole turkey.

The dark meat, leg quarters, are best and juiciest.

My dad uses it has his "once a year cheat day" to eat meat, and it is the one time a year I'll eat stuffing/dressing. Other then that, we don't really "celebrate" anything.

captpackrat posted...

Here's Alton Brown's recipe for making a turkey. I've made it several times and pissed off my grandmother because everyone went nuts for my turkey and they never said anything about hers (which was terrible!)

Ingredients

14-16 lb turkey

For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp allspice berries
1 tsp chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:
1 red apple
onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Directions

2-3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or a cooler kept at 38F.

Combine vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Remove brine from heat, cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

Early on the day before you'd like to eat:

Combine brine, water and ice in a 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8-16 hours, turning bird once halfway through brining.

On the day you'll be eating:

Preheat oven to 500F. Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup water in microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and reduce oven temperature to 350F. Set the temperature alarm to 161F. A 14-16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 hours of roasting.

Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

This is how I cooked the turkey the one year I was hosting, and I have to say it came out amazing.

Dikitain posted...

This is how I cooked the turkey the one year I was hosting, and I have to say it came out amazing.

A friend of mine cooked turkey back in college, and he basted it like every 5 minutes. Mostly because he was incredibly drunk at the time.

It came out surprisingly well.

yeah, it was the biggest holiday in my family. My dad was the main chef, his turkey was the best. It would always be me and him in the kitchen for hours making 10+ dishes and a spreadsheet to coordinate times.

I moved abroad a few years ago, so I've been alternating Thanksgiving one year, Christmas the next, for going back to visit them. When I stay in Scotland during Thanksgiving, I've either hosted or attended friendsgivings here with other Americans or just Brits who enjoy a good meal.

This year will be the first year without my dad, he passed away in May. He had emailed me his turkey recipe. I'm going to stay with my mom for a bit over a month to stay for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and fingers crossed I don't fuck up the turkey. My cousin will be coming over to help be my sous chef.

grimhilde00 posted...

This year will be the first year without my dad, he passed away in May.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Stop collecting information about users.

SunWuKung420 posted...

Stop collecting information about users.

No. I'm writing it down in my book.

NO turkey