Our Family Thanksgiving Menu & Tablescape Ideas

Today I am sharing our family’s 2020 Thanksgiving menu and a few of our favorite recipes. Although our gathering will be smaller in scale due to COVID…it will not be lacking in flavor, ambiance or the love of family. Lord knows that one thing we can do well in this family is cook!

Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday in my heart and memory. I have vivid memories of my grandmothers’ cooking. They did so all day long and it was mesmerizing watching them throw out legendary meals. Nowadays as I cook for my own family, it is not lost on me that my own grand babies are watching and learning to love food and family as much as I do.

Thanksgiving Menu

Green Beans – Y’all…Green Beans are mighty important in this house. This year is extra special because I grew and canned what I plan to serve. No worries if you plan to buy yours in a can from the store, the way I cook them everyone will rave! The trick is in how long you cook them.

• Grab your crock pot. Yep, grab it.
• #10 can of green beans (they cook down)
• 2-3 slices of your favorite bacon
• 2/3 stick of butter (butter makes everything better, especially Thanksgiving beans)
• 1 TBSP (heaping) of onion flakes or some freshly cut onion slivers. I usually add about 1/2 of a small onion.
• 1 TBSP of sugar. (don’t skip this step…it matters and you can worry about sugar intake on Friday)

Now here is the important part. COOK THEM ALLLLL DAY LONG IN THE CROCKPOT. Minimum of 5 hours. Cook them until they almost boil dry. My Granny would turn her nose up if they weren’t “cooked down” all the way. It takes your green beans from good to freaking amazing.

Rolls – Bake and Serve Yeast Dinner Rolls. Buy these from your local grocer. Super easy and fantastic! I let these raise all day, washing them in a light coat of butter as they raise.

Salted Honey Butter – For those amazing rolls!

• 1 stick of butter softened to room temperature
• 2 TBSP of honey
• Small pinch of sea salt

Use a mixer or food processor to blend this together until its nice and fluffy. If you want to get fancy, use an icing bag to make pretty single use shapes on wax paper and chill them. Once chilled, style them on small plates strategically placed around the table. I generally leave it out in a bowl at room temperature for everyone to scoop from.

Cornbread Stuffing – Just this title evokes all of the memories of my Granny Doodle making her famous stuffing. She made every bit of it from scratch and I can remember her hands working through the mixture. She had beautiful hands. Makes me cry a little. I don’t have an exact recipe for this one…..I just know by watching her that there are a few basic rules when it comes to making stuffing.

• There is no such thing as too much sage.
• Celery is a must.
• She added the dark meat of the turkey to her stuffing.
• I also saw her add oysters once.
• Water chestnuts are amazing in the mix.
• Don’t even think of leaving out the onion.
• Use your hands to thoroughly mix up that sage.

Turkey – We are doing turkey breasts this year with the smaller crowd and my hunky hubby likes to deep fry them. I can never watch them being deep fried because it makes me nervous…so I let the fellas have at it!

Mashed Potatoes with sour cream and butter – Need I say more?

Sweet Potato Casserole – I am going to link this one for you. Ruth’s Chris has this recipe down to an art form and there is no need for me to try to do any better. It’s FANTASTIC.

Ruth’s Chris Sweet Potato Casserole

Cranberries – I always use the fresh berries in a bag from the produce section of your local grocer and then follow the instructions on the back. My Momma swears there is no need to add all of the sugar as directed in the recipe on the back.

Deviled Eggs – My favorite mother in law is making these and bringing them. No family meal is complete without deviled eggs in our house.

Desserts

Lawd have mercy I love me some desserts. My daughters’ and my sweet mother in law are bringing me the desserts this year so I don’t have to bake a single one. Here is the delicious list:

• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Peanut Butter Pie
• Apple Pie
• Gluten Free Pound Cake
• Boiled Custard

Is your mouth watering, because mine is!

Wine

Don’t forget the wine! It aids in digestion and frankly its just nice with a great meal. We are red wine lovers, particularly red blends such as Prisoner but I admit that when looking for the perfect pairing to your turkey dinner….add a fabulous rosé. Chilled in beautiful glasses.

Thanksgiving Table Decor Inspiration

From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving! May we all be able to give thanks for the special blessings that 2020 made us appreciate like never before. May we make lasting memories that we can look upon with heartfelt happiness in years to come…after all, that’s what this is all about.

xoxo, Becky