Thanksgiving Side Dishes & Recipes

I love Thanksgiving side dishes. Beyond the turkey, it is the Thanksgiving side dishes that dot the table-full of yummy food. It is the side dishes that everyone especially women over 50 crave and eat too much of, have fond memories for and dare not re-invent. Nostalgia is tucked into that same dish you have eaten for 20+ years. Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without: ‘this dish’. I bet you can fill in that blank too!

When I was a little girl I remember a layer of toasted mini marshmallows (on top of sweet potatoes) being passed around the Thanksgiving table in a basket-lined 9×13 pan. During college the marshmallows went away and my new sister in law started gracing us with her brown sugar and pecan crusted mashed sweet potatoes. It is nice to have someone bake up a favorite year after year: for 20 some years I have been eating these pecan crusted, mashed sweet potatoes.

I love that side dishes keep getting tacked on. What I mean to say is: you cannot remove family-honored dishes but you can conceivably add new ones. We don’t replace, we add dishes. Want to try something new? Add a soup course or a fifth appetizer. Have a hankering for pumpkin creme brulee? Better make it in addition to pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie.

Hush don’t tell: I have gone so far as to reinvent a few dishes. I wanted to make green bean casserole from scratch (instead of with condensed mushroom soup). And do you think stuffing seems to have license to change year over year? Not a lot of wiggle room, but I still always love to play around with the menu. Here is my family’s current list of I-expect-to-eat-these-nostalgic-dishes-this-Thanksgiving:

• green bean casserole
• great grandma’s orange rolls
• sweet potatoes with pecan crust
• mashed potatoes (I add roasted garlic)
• roasted brussel sprouts
• cranberry sauce
• yummy turkey gravy/pan sauce
• green salad
• creamed pearl onions
• pumpkin pie
• apple pie
• pecan pie

Here are a few I ‘added’ here and there, along the way:

• pear fennel onion soup
• added side dish: how to make creamed corn
• sweet potato gnocchi
• pumpkin cheesecake bites with gingerbread crust
• brie with dried fruit and chipolte pecans (easy easy appetizer)

Whether you have nostalgia for marshmallows or pecans, apple pie or pumpkin cheesecake, celery gratin or sherry brie mushroom soup: may you enjoy each and every nostalgic OR new bite.