:0) THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS in NEW HAMPSHIRE-New England!:0) PLEASE SHARE WHAT YOU DO FOR THIS GREAT HOLIDAY!!:0) (Orange: home, school)

[Katlakat]

It's different each year because we're in a different place with different family it seems.
This year I called my cousins in Lynn, Mass. And invited myself to their place the week of. She lost her husband last year and I could feel somehow she needed family. I haven't seen or heard from them since before I moved here last year. Man Y do I always have to take the first family step? Gheesh ppl come on! Life is short!

I'm bringing folding chairs and a pie. I have to have stuffing. One year we did a Mexican food Thanksgiving Day feast. I'll never forget the endless margaritas, and hopping on a chatroom that night because I met my first husband. We're divorced now I'm on hubby no. 2, so I haven't done the margarita thing on a holiday again. This year we're having Xmas open house at our place in the mountains. Trashcan punch anyone? Let's all bow our heads and pray for light snow, I still don't have 4-W drive yet!!

[dzmjp]

Katlakat, If you need more folding chairs, DM me, I know of a great company in NY that makes folding chairs!

[BF66389]

Last year we drove to my parent's place in northern VA; this year we'll be doing the same- but picking up my Grandma/Grandpa in NJ along the way!

We usually have traditional turkey, stuffing, and gravy...but my parent's will experiment with the side dishes & types of cranberry sauce.

[countrylv22]

Originally Posted by notdancingqueen

We're not actually spending our first Thanksgiving in NH, in NH! We're heading to PA to my in-laws. My MIL is a fabulous cook (as DD says, "Grammy's making a FEAST!")

One of my favorite dishes from Grammy Pam is a fresh cranberry relish - it's fresh cranberries, oranges and apples (skin on!), pecans, sugar...) - it's SO good. She also dumps a can of cranberry sauce from the can onto a place for those who like to see the tin-can rings in their food

We've experimented with deep-friend turkey one year in Florida at my dad's and step-mom's...it was really good!

My current favorite turkey-baking method is in a roasting pan *completely* wrapped in heavy-duty foil and in a 500F oven for a few hours. Sounds bizarre (and you do take the foil off to let it brown at the end) but it's sooooo juicy.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST!!

Grammy Pam's cranberry relish, sounds really YUMMY!

I also like your turkey-baking method!!It should be juicy & tasty!!YUM!

I might try that! It sounds like your FIRST NH THANKSGIVING

in PA should be a lot of FUN!!HAVE A SAFE TRIP!

AND ENJOY THIS GREAT HOLIDAY!!!

THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE FRIENDS THAT HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO

THIS THREAD!!I HAVE ENJOYED READING ALL OF YOUR POSTS!

Take care!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Countrylv22

[GregW]

A couple of years ago my niece and nephew tried a "traditional" turkey thanksgiving in their parents house up in the North Country. They started with a couple skinny (by comparison to a standard bread for fat grocery store birds) heirloom turkeys and cooked them in front of the fireplace. They hung the turkeys from the mantel by strings and built a pretty big fire. My brother in law stoked the fire nearly continuously for 3 hours. The room got to about 95 deg and the rest of the house 80 deg or so. The heat and the sight of the birds slowly twisting on the strings in front of the blazing fire have created an indelible memory. My BIL has stated that from now on the turkeys get cooked in the oven. BTW - It was a really good dinner and the turkeys had a stronger taste than the modern birds. It was hot enough that we could have had an indoor beach party.

[GregW]

Suggestion for cooking turkey in fireplace: have a sheet metal shop make a steel box out of fairly heavy material designed so the hot gasses from the fire can flow all around the box. This is your wood heated oven. Feed the fire so the temperature stays fairly constant and roast the turkey. Should take a lot less wood and will dry the turkey less. The radiant heated birds in the last post were a "bit" crispy on the outside.

Another suggestion is to heat a rock that will fit inside the bird in the fireplace and put it into the bird at the start of the process. It (the bird, not the rock) will cook much faster.

[jthibodeau]

Our family gathering usually comprises of a dozen or so relatives and friends. One of the ways we tend to reduce the work load during Thanksgiving morning is to prepare and start roasting the 20 lb. +/- bird the previous evening.

The turkey is cleaned and prepared without the stuffing. It's covered with aluminum foil, placed into a deep roasting pan and then into a pre-heated 180 degree oven about 9 or 10 pm.

The following morning, the aroma of the cooking bird fills our oven warmed home. We'll check and baste it every 1/2 an hour or so.

With approximately 2 hours to go to completion (11 to 12 pm), the bird is removed and stuffed. It's placed back into the oven without foil to brown and the oven temp can be increased for a bit if necessary.

The bird is always thoroughly cooked, richly browned and very moist. And, if I can brag a bit, my sausage stuffing is always requested.

Our only mishaps was during our second year using this method. We didn't account for the amount of juices expelled from the bird over night. It was a slight mess but quickly cleaned and the process continued. It's why I mentioned the extra deep roasting dish prior.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you....

[lisa g]

The biggest difference for us aside from being able to spend Thanksgiving w/family would be the turkey - a fresh local one as opposed to the supermarket variety. Plenty of wild turkeys here!

[lisa g]

I like the idea of starting the cooking overnight and wonder if that's doable w/a 17-18 lb bird....I suppose it is, just don't want to dry it out!

[JFRRACING]

Originally Posted by lisa g

The biggest difference for us aside from being able to spend Thanksgiving w/family would be the turkey - a fresh local one as opposed to the supermarket variety. Plenty of wild turkeys here!

hey lisa, i have been told that wild turkey tastes alot different then store bought. so you might want to try it at a different time verses trying it for the first time on thanks giving and not liking it . if you know what i mean. if your getting it from a turkey farm that's alot different then wild.