Thanksgiving Oklahoma Style!

Preparing to host a Thanksgiving Dinner begins weeks in advance of guests actually sitting down to enjoy the hours and hours of preparation.

The usual fare of turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, cranberries, yams with marshmallows, mashed potatoes and lots of gravy are the norm here.

But the rest of the sides are surprises as each guest is asked to contribute their favorite dish and believe me, we’ve seen lots of interesting sides over the years from the mundane to the exotic.

There are several outstanding dishes that easily come to mind:  

Collard greens cooked with smoked turkey wings that were so flavorful that they could never be forgotten.

Moroccan lamb tangine lovingly married with apricots and rich flavors slowly cooked until  the lamb was fork tender and amazingly delicious.

Five cheese and truffle Mac n Cheese with a crunchy cheesy/buttery topping.

The very yummy Ruth Chris sweet potatoes – no marshmallows – the crunchy/sweet pecan topping makes the dish.

Every year the faces change as guests come and go. We seriously never know who will grace our tables with their presence. One year we had 31 sit-down guests – what a grand time that was to experience – we were crammed into this little home and it was joyous!

One of our invited guests with a Czechoslovakian heritage longs for her grandmother’s special dishes served only at celebratory times of the year. Maybe she’ll treat us to a yummy bread pudding or potato pancakes – always a mouth-watering treat from this gal.

Desserts are paramount for Thanksgiving (and Christmas) as Oklahoma women seem to have a knack for creating sugary confections that are appealing to the eye as well as decadently delicious and devastating to the waistline.

Oh sure, there will be the token pumpkin pie and anyone who brings a “store bought” confection will not be shamed because the mile-high apple pie with homemade whipped cream along with homemade cheesecake, a Pavlova teeming with strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream and a pumpkin tiramisu are all possibilities for this crowd.

As we bow in deep gratitude, honoring our Heavenly Father with our praise, we are thankful for all the blessings given us.