Top Chefs on How to Do Thanksgiving Right

I think my family is the only family in the world that considers lemon meringue pie just as important as pumpkin pie.

Well, I guess I'm in the minority. I LIKE dry, white meat turkey..that's all I will eat! LOL. Also, my favorite pie (for Thanksgiving, anyway) is Apple, I hate sweet potatoes but I kind of like cranberry sauce in a can..(the solid kind). Sausage stuffing only.

Due to some family illness, we are going out his year. NORMALLY, my husband brines the bird overnight - you'll forget all about memories of dry turkeys! He's from the south, so he's a cornbread stuffing guy. I prefer to use italian bread, mushrooms and onions cooked in butter and broth or stock. I also like mine firm rather than wet. I'm awful with gravy and I found a great mix at a local gourmet shop. It's the best. We prefer homemade mashed potatoes, lumps and all. I hate them whipped - I need some texture. Love me some canned cranberry sauce and rather than casserole, I like my sweet potatoes baked, split and with a pat of butter. I refuse to eat that green bean casserole - that's my husband's thing. I love canned peas (yeah I know) with butter. Finally, how about some french rolls warm and soft inside, crispy on the outside. Pie? I'd have pumpkin or pecan, but I'm stuffed now!

Smoke the turkey outside on a grill, stuffing inside and around it in the pan...Mashed Sweet Potatoes...not plain potatoes, they get used for potato salad....Sweet Potatoes never see the inside of an oven...and I won't even let family members bring marshmallows into the house...if they want hot chocolate, they get coffee, even kids...that way no one falls asleep after dinner, we all stay up and watch the game....no cranberry sauce, either...unless someone else brings it, and it better go home with them, too...lol

Sweet potatoes or yams are both disgusting ... with or without marshmallows! I make pumpkin, apple and cherry pies, plus a cheesecake. Anything less just wouldn't be Thanksgiving. The white meat on my turkeys is never dry! The trick is to just not mess with the bird. Stick it in the oven and leave it alone!!! I prefer ham so I always make both. I served both homemade AND canned cranberry sauce, and not a single person touched the homemade stuff ... everyone wants the canned jelly stuff. When making mashed potatoes, please drain out ALL the water ... the potatoes should be "dry" before adding milk, butter, salt and pepper. Beat with an electric mixer, not a hand-held smasher. Potatoes smashed with the cooking water are NOT mashed potatoes, they are boiled and mushy potatoes. Best advice: your Thanksgiving meal is not a time for experiments ... save it for another time, especially if you have guests who may be longing for a home-cooked traditional meal.

I can't believe sweet potato pie got 0%. Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without sweet potato pie. One year my Mom had an nontraditional Thanksgiving. We didn't have turkey (although I can't remember the name of the meat). It was SOOOO good though, better than turkey. This year I'm going to take a pork loin (pre-marinated, yum) to my Grandma's to go alongside the turkey. Trying to do something different.

making seafood stuffed bellpeppers, jambalaya and merliton cassarole. beats turkey any time. nothing goes to waste the next day.

My mouth is watering after reading this. I don't even care how people eat their foods or the way they prepare them. Only four more days.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time for family and tradition (whatever yours may be) and most of all thanking God for the blessings he has bestowed on us. There are so many negative comments here about what other people enjoy for the holiday whether it be the foods, overeating or the way foods are cooked. If you don't like tradition then start your own but this shouldn't be a forum for knocking what others enjoy. Thank the good Lord you have choices and even the fact you have food on the table. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all. Do whatever makes you happy and enjoy your day.

Mmm sweet potatos with the big marshmallows on top!!! And real stuffing and the canned smooth cranberry sauce is the best! Pecan pie is also absurdly divine!

I like most traditional Thanksgiving dishes...except the turkey and cranberry sauce. I always make the sweet potatoes two ways...1 with marshmallows for the kiddos and 1 with a crunchy pecan topping that the adults seem to prefer at my house. Homemade gravy and stuffing is a must for me...none of that boxed crap will ever be on my table! Thanksgiving would not be thansgiving for me without a real pumpkin pie. I'm also serving carrot cake for those who don't like the pie.
Enjoy your dinner folks!

I don't think cooking a turkey sous vide is a good idea for turkey considering the possibility of salmonella and botulism. I cook mine at a high temperature to start and turn it several times and they always come out juicy.

Dear Yahoo: Please stop putting "related" links in the body of the article. It is distracting and annoying. I found myself enjoying this article until running into "related" after "related" topic. Please stop!

My turkey: injected and basted with sherry butter.(This is just unsalted melted butter with real sherry wine added. NOT "cooking sherry!") The trick to making sure the breast doesn't get dry is to place clean cheesecloth on the breast, and saturate it with the basting butter. Baste frequently. The basting injection also helps keep the meat moist. (You can get a basting syringe at a good culinary supply store, or improvise by making tiny cuts in the turkey flesh and inserting the tip of your baster.)
Remove the cheesecloth for the last 15 minutes of cooking so the breast can brown.
My turkey always looks like the ones on the magazine covers--golden brown and shiny, with no burned or dry spots--and tastes AWESOME!
Instead of sweet potatoes as a side dish, I make a curried sweet potato soup. Yum!

For over 20 years... NEVER had a bad turkey that came out of one of the plastic roasting bags...always awesome!

cook the turkey breast side down with tons of butter, it'll never be dry. have lots of different wines....cheap is best. dry,fruity,white, and red.

I have never ate sweet potatoes with marshmallows. It seems more like a candy rather than a part of a meal. I do however use butter mixed with brown sugar to sweaten my patatoes.

I like pumkin pie, but was introduced to sweet potatoe pie in my early 20's (and was reluctant to admitt that my childhood favorite could be topped), but haven't thought about eating pumpkin pie since.

I agree that turkey is one thing I could do without... A lot of time and effort with little rewards

What I could live without at Tgiving is Chitterlings LOL

No marshmellows on sweet potatoes, yuck. I have the best dip/appetizer, got this recipe 25 years ago: Drain 4-5 cans white corn, Then melt 1 stick of butter and room temperature cream cheese (2 large packages) whip butter and cream cheese together, add drained corn and then chop pickled jalepeno peppers and add to all above, then add garlic powder or garlic salt to taste. Eat hot or cold with corn chips of any kind. To die for!

The best part of Thanksgiving is cooking with my family. All five of us get in the kitchen and create dinner together. My secret for the turkey is to put it in the electric roaster...comes out super juicy and the oven is available for every thing else we like to cook.

Marshmallows are for pigs..