Thanksgiving eating...

We usually do a large charcuterie board and some other things like like shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushrooms or another hot appetizer. We’re eating earlier than usual this year so I’m skipping the hot appetizer.

How many of your guests do not live in your house and will be arriving before the meal? If most of those 13 are local just arriving a couple hours ahead of the meal, I'd say you have enough. They're not going to care. It's about being together and your meal sounds amazing!!



I'm doing a small relish tray, honestly for the kids I could just put out black olives and that might be what happens, but it's not Thanksgiving without them.
Shrimp Cocktail.
A fruit plate or salad (I'll decide when I'm preparing and what serviceware it's going on/in)
A crudité platter: I'm planning ranch, hummus, spinach-artichoke dip with LOTS and LOTS of veggies. I'll have some crackers as well that I can throw out if my DH needs them, but I wanted the vegetables and fruit as our Thanksgiving meal is a complete Carb Fest.

I have house guests coming in and staying a few days so I'm thinking of this as a light lunch and that I'll have leftovers for the next couple of days. If the fruit is a fruit plate it will become a fruit salad for the rest of the weekend. The crudité platter becomes snacks or the vegetables sides to meals. If no one was staying and they were just coming for the day/meal, I'd do smaller portions with only one dip for the veggie platter.

Whether or not we have aps depends on what time the meal is served and how far people are traveling. If it is just the local family we skip the aps. Anyone who thinks the designated meal time it too late can eat a bite at home. If we have family coming in we either serve a Thanksgiving lunch or the aps are heavy enough to be a light lunch.

Cheese and crackers with sliced cured meats; crudite and dip; chips and dip. That's it.

I am doing veggies and dip, mixed nuts, Trader Joe’s cheese straws and potato chips.

I’m going to have 12 people all together- 6 adults and 6 teens. They are doing around 4pm and well eat around 5 or 6pm.

This year we won’t do appetizers. But in the past when the group was huge we had a couple spreads (salmon spread and an artichoke one for instance), olives, and some crackers.

TY!

Artichoke Dip:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

10 ounces baby spinach, chopped coarse

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1.5 cups Gouda cheese, shredded

4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

12 oz marinated qrtichoke hearts,chopped

1 cup mayonnaise (Sir Kensington is sf cf nf lf gf)

¼ teaspoon pepper

⅛ teaspoon paprika

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400° with rack in middle of oven.

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spinach, 1 handful at a time, allowing each to wilt slightly before adding next. Cook until wilted and liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes.


Remove skillet from heat and add cream cheese and stir until melted. Stir in gouda, Parmesan, artichokes, mayonnaise, pepper, and paprika until combined. Transfer to 2-quart baking dish and smooth top with rubber spatula.

Bake until lightly golden brown and bubbling around edges, about 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve.

For the artichokes, just simply drain them and add. You do not need to rinse off.

Ranch Dressing:

1 cup Mayo of your choice

1/4 cup Dairy-Free "Buttermilk"

1/2 tsp. dried Parsley (or 1 tsp. fresh)

1/2 tsp dried Chives (or 1 tsp. fresh)

1/2 tsp. dried Dill (or 1 tsp. fresh)

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder

1/8 tsp. Sea Salt

1/8 tsp. Black Pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except for the dairy-free buttermilk in a medium bowl.

Slowly whisk in the "buttermilk." Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Dairy-Free Buttermilk:

Add 1 and 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Add enough Milk to bring the total amount of liquid to 1/4 cup. Stir and allow to sit for 5 - 10 minutes, until milk curdles then it's ready to use!

You can use milk, lactaid milk, soy milk, and coconut milk. I of course use Lactaid.

Sounds divine!! TY for the recipes!

We have appetizers because they are fun and we are at my mom’s house all day. It takes me and each set of  my kids 2 - 2 1/2 hours to get to my mom’s house on Thanksgiving. So we enjoy sitting down relaxing, snacking and visiting in between helping my mom cook.

My bil usually brings his salmon dip and sometimes his bbq pork. I enjoy bringing different things. We also have a veggie platter, cheese and crackers, chips and dips.

We don't usually put out appetizers for Thanksgiving. If I did, it would be nibbles like pickles, olives and nuts and maybe a vegetable tray.

We usually have chips and dip, cheese and crackers, and so many deviled eggs I think we will be eating deviled eggs until the end of time. And yet there are never enough deviled eggs.

A giant cheese ball with assorted crackers