Thanksgiving is almost here! I love this time of year, the weather, the cozy sweaters and scarves, hot chocolate, the crisp fall air.…
Last year’s preparation had me puzzling over pumpkin pie vs. apple pie, which you can read about here. I enjoyed reading the responses, and got some really great ideas as well as recipes from our beloved readers. This year, dessert will be Costco cheesecake so that takes care of that, but the main event is still undecided. Will it be turkey or ham? I’m partial to ham, but love all the sides that come with the turkey like the stuffing, yam, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. And sadly no, I can’t do both. What are you making this year? Which side dish is your favourite? Mine is mashed potatoes with gravy, smooth, not lumpy.
I LOVE ham!!! not a fan of turkey. I’m going to Aunt’s for dinner so I’ll bring a homemede chocolate pie for dessert yum!!
I will be making a ham, and having all the sides a turkey has, including the stuffing.
we flip flop back and forth here…but we celebrate both canadian and american thanksgivings so usually we can have both! this year we’re taking a different route as a ‘beer butt chicken’ was requested…LOL. probably have that for thanksgiving in october and a ham in november
This is my first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian. I’ll eat the non-meat sides, and probably make a yummy proteiny casserole to share. Pigs and Turkeys are too cute to eat for my over-emotional self.
Karen you HAVE to try Tofurkey (tofu turkey!!) you can get it at lots of health food spots! Great for the vegan who wants to fit in with the meat eaters, lol.
That picture is hysterical! Turkey at Thanksgiving and ham at Christmas…best of both worlds
Has anyone ever tried Turducken? It’s the yummiest turkey I’ve ever had and everyone I’ve ever served it to agrees.
TURKEY hands down .. .ham like that is gross lol
neither for me…I will probably have a tiny tiny amount of turkey just to say I had some and then eat a ton of the sides. I love potato dressing
It’s not Thanksgiving unless I get potato dressing.
stuffing! and mashed potatoes and gravy, and turkey and cranberry sauce!
I love turkey and hate ham, so it’s an easy decision for me. Turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, and some delicious pumpkin pie for dessert.
For me, turkey is for Thanksgiving and ham is for Easter!
doing turkey husband isnt going to be home so I win..bring on the leftovers!(no idea why I like it more the second day..going to try pumpkin pie style carrots and parsnips (hopefully my pumpkin pie freak will finally eat his veggies!)
Turkey definately!! Twice a year is for turkey at my place-Thanksgiving and Christmas. Along with the mashed potatoes, mashed turnip, veggies, gravy, nice rolls or bread and stuffing. Desserts usually include pumpkin pie, apple pie or crumble and ice cream. I‘m happy with Ham at Easter along with scalloped potatoes.
Neither!!! I’ve never been a fan of turkey & the past couple yrs hubby said he hasn’t enjoyed the turkey (we’ve even tried it deep fried as well as roasted). He’s not a big fan of ham either so we’re either going to do a beer can chicken or possibly a lamb roast. For Xmas we’re likely BBQ-ing steaks! Very untraditional but we’re going with what we like
Not a huge fan of either… but I guess I prefer the white meat of turkey (I haven’t had it since I was 5 but I know I loved it!). We don’t do special meals for Thanksgiving though, everyone works and there’s just no time to be together. Same with Christmas and every other holiday.
…I now want cold turkey with ketchup and salt on white bread.
Turkey all the way! I’m cooking a Newfie thanksgiving dinner, turkey, stuffing, gravy, salt beef, carrot, turnip, potatoes, doughboys and cabbage(even though I don’t like it). I can’t wait! I never cook a ham for special occasions, I would feel like I missed something if I didn’t have my turkey.
I’m having the same dilemma. We don’t have turkey at Christmas, and have ham for Easter — and have had ham the last few years at Thanksgiving. I find myself really missing turkey — mostly the leftovers!
Yes, as nice as turkey is for the dinner itself, it’s the left overs that I really, really enjoy. Cold turkey sandwiches with mayo, salt and pepper..yum. Not to mention that I like having a hot turkey dinner easily ready for lunch at work.
I’m not a huge fan of Ham, so I personally prefer turkey. However, my daughter won’t it eat, so we usually have a full turkey and a small toupie ham.
We always have both –ham and turkey but as everyone who can come, does there are not very many leftovers. What there is gets split up for everyone to take home. The spiral hams– pre sliced on the bone are the best. Sweet and easy to serve. This year I am cooking and the company brings dessert so it’s a surprise for me. A lot of people this year so should I cook a small lasagna as well???? Yummy!!
Easter= Ham & scalloped potatoes
Thanksgiving= Turkey and all the fixings
Christmas= BOTH! and all the sides and fixings you can imagine you only live once! lol
Turkey all the way…stuffing, turnip, carrots, fresh cranberries, mashed potatoes and chow (I’m from the east coast lol)…for dessert a vegan chocolate cake made with beets and Chudleighs apple blossoms and whipped cream! I’m with everyone else who says ham for Easter lol.
Then a monetary donation to a charity kitchen my mum works with.
What ever you have enjoy
You can absolutely do a ham, but do the sides you’d do with turkey! Just call it dressing, not stuffing, as it won’t be stuffed in anything, and baste it with ham drippings. You can make gravy if you save drippings from chickens/turkeys you’ve cooked before and freeze them OR make giblet gravy, it’s easy to just pick up a tray of gizzard and hearts or ask your butcher for some necks!
Whatever you have, enjoy!
And as for dessert, i love pumpkin pie once a year…so Thanksgiving is it. But you can do a pumpkin pie and an apple crisp or crumble to have variety with making double the pastry. Or google a recipe for pumpkin-apple pie!
Turkey