Throughout all of my, almost, 22 years of life, the turkey has never been my favorite part of the Thanksgiving dinner. This feeling is by no means saying that my family’s cooking isn’t amazing, but the side dishes give such a variety to the dinner that they’re hard to beat. Coming from an extremely large family, we’re used to preparing enough food to feed well over 30 people with everyone going home with leftovers. It truly is a smörgåsbord (Scandinavian buffet-style meal). Almost everything is made from scratch with lots of love (and butter).
Starting off with appetizers, my family sometimes goes all out. Usually, we will have some charcuterie and crudité for basics, then add on our favorites such as caprese, shrimp cocktail, stuffed vegetables, and lots of dips. We also take most of this time making drinks, finishing up some dishes, and catching up with everyone. I know it’s most common for everyone to have the big conversations over the actual dinner, but my family is dead silent once it starts for about the first 15 minutes.
Before eating any of the heavy sides, I always like to start off with salads. There’s two salads that we always make for family gatherings. The first one is just a basic salad with tomatoes, cucumber, and shredded carrots, but the best part is the dressing. My family first found the recipe in an old 1940s cookbook and we call it “favorite dressing.” It consists of first mashing garlic, salt, and paprika together in a serving bowl. Then we simply add lemon juice and olive oil. So simple, yet so tasty there’s no wonder it’s been in the family for generations. The next salad is not so much of a family favorite, but one of mine that they make specially for my cousin and I. It’s a Scandinavian cucumber salad with sour cream, dill, vinegar, sugar, and salt. I specifically request this side for every gathering we have because it is so delicious and works for every season.
One of my favorite dishes is one that my cousin makes. Green bean casserole is a staple in many family’s Thanksgiving dinners, and my cousin makes it the best. The first time they tried the recipe was two years ago and my family has yet to stop bringing it up at any family gathering. They start by making their own mushroom stock from scratch and add the rest of the basics to make a delicious creamy soup. If you thought that was impressive, they also use fresh green beans and make their own crispy onion topping from scratch as well. Personally, I think they are turning into my family’s own Nara Smith, and I’m not mad about it.
Another big side dish hit is my mom’s cranberry relish. This isn’t just a basic cranberry sauce from a can, it’s a recipe passed down through generations in my family. My mom mixes up cranberries, a whole orange (yes, peel and all), one cored apple, lots of sugar, and grand marnier in the food processor. It’s a simple recipe, but taking the extra few steps to make this instead of eating it from the can is well worth it. It’s incredibly refreshing and stores really well for leftover use.
Next on the list is the number one side dish, mashed potatoes. Again, another one of my mom’s specialties. She likes to make them in the morning and put them in the crockpot. What makes this dish so special is the amount of extra ingredients she adds. She starts with peeling and cooking her potatoes in salt water. Then, the most important things are added. She mashes the potatoes and whips in, with a hand mixer, cream cheese, sour cream, butter, and evaporated milk. All of these add-ins create the most creamy and delicious mashed potatoes I’ve ever had.
Another thing that’s important for the entire dinner is the gravy. I consider gravy almost a side dish because it can fix everything you don’t like or that is too dry. Another mom tip that I’ve received through the years is making one of the best gravies. She uses the pan drippings left from the turkey and mixes it with flour to create a roux. Next, she adds in chicken broth to complete the simple yet flavorful gravy. A side note for my Michigan people, is that I like to add Zehnder’s chicken seasoning from Frankenmuth to give it just a little extra flavor.
One last thing I want to talk about is leftovers. As I said in the beginning, my family makes so much food that everyone goes home with tons of leftovers. One of our favorite things to do with them is make other things. The night of Thanksgiving we take any leftover stuffing and roll it into balls and leave them to chill overnight. The next day, we take strips of bacon and wrap each one, then throw them in the oven to finish cooking. If any of my family members knew I was sharing this, they would be upset, but it’s a must try. Another thing we do is save the turkey carcass and use it to make soup broth. No matter what protein you have for dinner, you can use any of the remaining bones and meats to create a broth for another tasty dish for weeks to come.
Even if main dishes are your favorite during the holidays or family gatherings, I hope you take time to appreciate all of the different flavors and variations of side dishes that you can make. This year I’m trying out around three new dishes that my family and I can enjoy when we’re all together.