It’s that time of year again! I love to think about Thanksgiving abstractly, but usually, I run out of time and don’t get nearly as much done as I’d like. Still, it’s nice to dream, right?
Here’s what the Thanksgiving of my dreams would look like:
The Entertainment: Christmas music on the record player, the Macy’s parade on silent in the background, a couple brisk walks
Appetizers: cheese plate, fried ravioli, Italian bread (with olive oil)
Main dish: I’m a fan of dark meat, so I’d be fine with a couple turkey legs. It’s all about the sides for me!
Sides: stuffing, wild rice, really fresh green beans, fluffy mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (canned AND fresh), Parker house rolls, potato salad
Drinks: so much wine, vodka and cranberry juice cocktails (not to be confused with cosmopolitans)
Dessert: pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, Jell-o mould (it’s a family tradition), apple pie
Midnight Snack: a cold turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce sandwich!
Dootsie 
Hi Dootsie!
I’m on business travel … again… and its hard to leave comments from my iPad.
Oh man all these foods… making me HUNGEEE.
I am with you on the sides! I have no passion for turkey. One year I made roasted chickens instead. Everybody who wanted turkey that year had to suck it.
That’s funny about the canned AND fresh cranberry. When I was growing up I was all about the canned cranberry sauce. Now I prefer the fresh.. except sometimes I buy the canned ( off season ) and eat it like… candy or something. A guilty pleasure? They’re 2 different things in my mind.
These are the dishes I can’t live without ( in order of importance ) :
STUFFING STUFFING STUFFING OMG STUFFING ( really turkey is just a vehicle for stuffing )
Candied yams
Pumpkin pie
Spanikopita ( a Greek dish — like a quiche wrapped in phyllo dough )
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Balsamic green beans and pine nuts ( fresh, as you pointed out )
Cranberry sauce
Everything else is optional. (But welcome nonetheless.)
Okay, does WordPress load AT ALL for you on your iPad? When it does load, the typing is SUPER laggy. Haaaaate it.
Ooh, you’ve just reminded me that I failed to list the most important dish of all of Thanksgiving, and the only reason I care whether we cook a whole turkey: GRAVY. We make stock out of the giblets and whisk it in a frying pan with flour and some pan drippings. Salt and pepper and its on the table. If there’s one part of Thanksgiving that’s just total indulgence for me, it’s the gravy.