Putting Together the Perfect Thanksgiving Day Meal

We sit here on the eve of one of the best holidays in our culture, Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving gets overlooked. Many have celebrated the autumn season with Halloween, and now their attention has already been turned to Christmas.

However I truly appreciate Thanksgiving. My wife has begged for me to let her put up Christmas decorations for the last couple of weeks. And I have stayed the course of no Christmas decor until after the turkey has been carved.

My family roots go back to William Brewster who came over on the Mayflower. Billy Brewster did not create this holiday for us to simply skip it for a longer Christmas season. No sir.

I mean when you really think about it, it’s the perfect holiday. First off there is football. All weekend long, and right in the thick of things.

Sure there is the Lions game of which the first quarter is never watched because everyone forgets that it’s already on. And it’s usually a terrible boring game, just like the Detroit Lions.

Then the Cowboys game. Way more hype, pomp and circumstance because it’s “America’s Team.” But it’s usually also without flair. And then the final game of the day, the newly added night cap with two random teams, sometimes and usually rivals which can be fun.

And it continues through the weekend. Usually in college football it’s the final week of the regular season which means rivalry games.

Some families play football themselves which is a welcomed touch. Those are games that sometimes get talked about for years, it’s where cousins from out of town can become larger than life legends to your friends at school.

And of course then there’s the food, which we will break down here in a moment.

But think about it what other holiday combines food and football so perfectly?

So let’s focus on the food and the main point of this entire blog as I continue to ramble upon the expanded genius and work of William Brewster and his puritan brethren.

This blog was inspired by this graphic.

Quote tweet this with your ideal lineup. pic.twitter.com/K36EKQDjCa

— Fantasy Football Today (@FFToday) November 24, 2020

I don’t know why but I love these types of graphics. Working under a salary cap makes you sometimes have to cut corners and appreciate some overlooked items.

So let’s play the game, let’s build our $20, fantasy Thanksgiving Day meal according to these parameters set.

No lie, my stomach is growling right now.

Main Course: Just Dark Meat $2 ($2/$20 Spent)

Dark meat is not for everyone. My wife hates it.

Seriously, my stomach is legit growling right now, and I had a bagel for breakfast, I might not make it till Thursday

But I for one, love dark meat from the Turkey.

I am fine with white meat but here’s the difference. White meat is usually dry, you have to put some gravy on it to make it better.

Dark meat is great on it’s own. And like I said, not everyone likes it which allows you to eat as much as you want. Luckily my wife’s family is also adverse to dark meat which means more for me and no one complains.

And it’s the drumstick part of a turkey. The best optics in terms of eating a turkey. I mean…

Enjoy eating your white meat with a fork and knife, I’m going to be Tom Brady devouring a turkey leg, thanks.

By the way, real quick, ham doesn’t belong on this list. I’m sorry if your family does it, but that’s not Thanksgiving. It’s turkey on Thanksgiving.

In my family the holidays plus meat selection goes, Thanksgiving=Turkey, Christmas=Prime Rib, Easter=Ham.

Save your maple glazed ham for Easter.

Potato Dish: Baked Potato $1 ($3/$20 Spent)

I am sure to catch some flak for this choice. And I am usually with you here. Mashed Potatoes 100% of the time.

But we are working with $20 here people and you have to cut some corners sometimes and I am sacrificing right now.

I understand the significance of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. It’s perfect for gravy, and there is sometimes nothing better than really good mashed potatoes. Especially if they are made with plenty of butter, a splash of milk, some sour cream or cream cheese, bits of bacon. Ohhhhhhhhh yeah.

But, I am here to say a baked potato at only $1 is a STEAL.

Steal of this draft I might say.

Baked Potatoes are so good especially if done right. And it doesn’t say, but if these are twice baked potatoes? Oh man, you’ve hit the jackpot.

With some ingenuity and some extra work, a baked potato can become mashed potatoes. But let’s stick with the baked for now.

There isn’t much better than a baked potato loaded with butter, salt, pepper, sour cream, cheese and bacon. Especially if that person makes them correctly and flavors the skin as well with some oil, salt and pepper.

Seriously that is all you need to do, flavor the skin and it’s perfect.

It hurt me to have to skip mashed potatoes here but I’m like Bill Belichick. While some teams pay top dollar in mashed potatoes, I am finding hidden value in baked ones.

Side Dish 1: Corn $4 ($7/$20 Spent)

This selection to me was slightly underwhelming. And honestly, I am probably over paying $4 for corn here but that’s what the market dictates.

I’m not a huge green bean casserole guy. Never really have been, I don’t know something about it just never appealed to me.

While some of you would say go with the stuffing here, here is my argument against that.

The quality of the stuffing is very dependent on who makes it. I think we can all agree on that.

So I went with the safe choice here in corn. It’s hard to mess up corn. Plus it can be a welcomed addition to a potato dish and the yellow color helps jazz up a plate.

I’m grasping at straws, but moral of the story is I laid up with the 3 wood rather than trying to carry the bunker with my driver.

Side Dish 2: Mac n Cheese $5 ($12/$20 Spent)

Surprisingly Mac n Cheese is a hotly contested issue for some at Thanksgiving.

Is Mac and Cheese served as a dish at your usual #Thanksgiving meal?

— Small State Big Takes Podcast (@SmallStateTakes) November 23, 2020

I wonder if for half of these people that say no whether they are traditionally against Mac n Cheese or if it’s never been offered but they wish it was.

Personally I have to go with this choice because this is my responsibility for Thanksgiving. I am the mac n cheese guy and I have never disappointed.

When I first offered to bring it, my wife questioned me like really? I don’t know if that’s Thanksgiving. And I ask why? Mac n cheese is universally loved so why is it randomly shunned on a day celebrated for food?

The key is though, it can’t be just 4 boxes of Kraft Mac n Cheese combined together. It has to be home made and special.

But also for this list what are you going to replace Mac n Cheese with? Brussel Sprouts? No way, Squash? No shot. Cranberries? No thanks. Creamed Corn? We already did a corn but also nah.

Don’t overthink yourself here, enjoy the Mac n Cheese.

Dessert: Apple Pie $4 ($16/$20 Spent)

I am flushed with extra cash as we reach the dessert portion of the meal.

But again for me this is an easy choice for me. I can understand some people feeling that pumpkin pie is the way to go and I respect that but I love apple pie with a giant dollop of whipped cream on top.

Especially warm apple pie with that whipped cream ohhhhhh man, perfect way to top off your second meal that day.

But again I respect your choice for your preferred dessert.

Extra’s: $2 Biscuits, $1 Hawaiian Rolls, $1 Corn Bread ($20/$20)

Not sure if you can see it from above, but on the bottom of the graphic is some small extras for this exercise.

So how do I spend it? Bread, bread and bread.

Good bread is also a big time key to a good Thanksgiving day meal. You have to have it.

Now Gravy for $3 was an option here but I strategically picked my meal to not need gravy. I know that’s sacrilege for some of you, and I will have gravy on my plate tomorrow.

But for this exercise we are going with bread.

All three choices are great and I can’t bring myself to leaving one of these off the board when I have money to spend.

Again I am one of the people who brings bread to the family meal. My in-laws don’t like seafood, so they do not frequent Red Lobster. So I am a hero when once a year I bring Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits to the party. Ranked third in my free restaurant bread power rankings by the way.

But my wife just called her parents yesterday and they wanted to confirm I was in fact bringing those biscuits again. It’s called job/marriage security folks.

Final Meal

So that gives us a final meal of

Only Dark Meat

Baked Potato

Corn

Mac n Cheese

Biscuits, Hawaiian Rolls, Cornbread

Apple Pie

What a meal if you ask me, I could eat that all day.

But have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Thank William Brewster that we get this Thursday off, and then as soon as you do that enjoy your football, Black Friday shopping, and Christmas season.

Connor Ryan (@connoryan68/@PodVerbalCommit/@YourFantasy_CGS)