Q’s Top 10 Thanksgiving Feast Items

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is Family, and my second is Football…but the third F is pretty awesome as well!  It is that F I want to focus on today, as I list out my top 10 favorite Thanksgiving feast items!  There’s so many choices here!  I mean, turkey gets all the attention, but the side items are endless!  Peas, corn, yams, potatoes, crescent rolls, various cranberry products, stuffing…the list goes on and on.  Great, now I’m hungry…and we still have a week until the feast itself.  Great planning, Pat!  No desserts here…probably because I don’t usually partake in such things…but also because I want to focus this discussion on the feast itself, and the food being passed around the dinner table.

Anyways, I’ll go in reverse order, so I can dramatically reveal my Number 1 favorite food item at the very end.  Agree? Disagree?  Let’s hear your favorite Thanksgiving food items in the comments!

10.  Stuffing – Here’s a staple of Thanksgiving fare that is far lower on my list than it usually is on many others.  I know my mom loves it (might even be her #1 favorite Thanksgiving food item).  For me, its just ok.  Not sure why I’ve never taken to it so much.

9.  Mashed Potatoes – White potatoes are ok, albeit a little starchy.  Taste wise, I can take em or leave em.  I get into trouble, though, as I prefer my white potatoes with sour cream and butter…not exactly healthy.  Honestly, I can take em or leave em.  I’d much rather have a different kind of potato (as you may see later in the list).  All in all, mashed potatoes are a big time stalwart of the Thanksgiving Dinner Table…but one I tend to partake in only a little.

8.  Gravy – It helps keep the turkey from being too dry, and definitely helps with the mashed potatoes (it’s the only way I’ll eat the mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving)…but otherwise, eh.  As a topping, I much prefer the next item on the list.

7.  Cranberry Sauce – Its sweet, delicious goodness adds a touch of color to an otherwise earth tones food spread.  The dark red color definitely stands out on the dinner table among the tans and whites and greens and dark oranges.  And it’s the sweetest thing out there.  Not a fan of the gelatinous blob that comes out of the can…but real cranberry sauce is delicious on top of turkey, and really works well with all the salty flavors we tend to get on this day.

6.  Turkey – Here’s the big boy!  The star of the show!  The turkey goes in early…6 or 7 in the morning…and comes on out for dinner!  He is the main course of our meal…however, among the lean meats, turkey is only a middling choice for me.  Turkey burgers are legit, but I tend to lean more chicken in other things.  For thanksgiving, I’ll stick with the white meat, please.  And only a little of it.  Its usually pretty tasty, especially with cranberry sauce on top, but with so many options floating around the table, I tend to spare the room on my plate (and in my stomach) for some of the items listed below.

5.  Dill pickles and Green Olives – The tray filled with the olives and pickles and celery and carrots and whatnot is always a big hit!  I personally am a big fan of the dill pickle spears and the green olives with pimento.  It provides a good contrast to everything else I might be eating that day.  Cool, crisp, and refreshing, the pickles and olives have always been a highlight of Thanksgiving for me…especially back in my picky eating days when I didn’t eat most of what was sent around the table.

4.  Pumpkin Bread – Not one found at my usual Thanksgiving feast, however, being as it’s a pretty traditional fall item, and also delicious, I wanted to include it.  Pumpkin Bread is incredible.  Its tasty, and warm, and encompasses everything about fall that is awesome.  I should suggest this get added to the list.  Maybe I’ll make it myself!  Hmmmm…

3.  Corn – I love corn.  Especially corn on the cob.  Actually, if my Thanksgiving had corn on the cob rather than just corn out of a can, this would probably challenge for number 1.  As it is, three is pretty good.  Corn just has that deliciously sweet yet crisp taste that I cannot get enough of.  It has just enough crunch to keep my brain intrigued, and it fills you up!  In the summer, I’ll probably eat 4-5 ears of corn a week.  No, really, corn is delicious, and a staple of any Thanksgiving plate in front of me.

2.  Crescent Rolls – No Thanksgiving meal is complete without some sort of bread or roll.  My favorite just happens to be the crescent roll!  So flaky and delicious…I could eat a whole roll of these if allowed to.  Hell, I used to bake myself up an entire dough roll of crescent rolls for myself back when I was super fat.  So, maybe I’ll just stick to one or two.  But seriously, they are the best!  Seriously cannot get enough of them!

1.  Sweet Potatoes/Yams – Definitely my favorite of the Thanksgiving Day fare.  During the fall and winter, I tend to eat 2-3 sweet potatoes a week.  They are a perfect side dish.  They’re fairly healthy, have loads of vitamins and nutrients, oh, right, AND THEY’RE DELICIOUS!  I just had a sweet potato last night.  It was awesome.  Maybe I’ll have one tonight as well!  I’ll definitely be loading them onto my plate next week on Thursday…It might even end up being my main course!  Thanksgiving is just not right without sweet potatoes!

So, there it is, my top 10.  All of which I get to eat on Thanksgiving, except the Pumpkin Bread.  It really is quite the feast.  And since we usually have 20 or so people all around one table for the big feast, it’s a truly special experience!  This year, since I’ll be coming off a 3 month training session for my half marathon (which I run this Sunday…just 4 days before the big feast), I think I’ll be able to partake in the feast without guilt!

Cheers…and let’s eat!