Five Southern Thanksgiving Favorites (Five For Friday)

I know right now you may be thinking of Halloween but I’m dreaming of Thanksgiving!  What’s not to love about this holiday, rich in history, in which we spend time with those we love the most, remember all that we have to be grateful for, and feast on the most delicious meal of the year?

I love the traditional Thanksgiving meal, complete with turkey and dressing (known outside of the South as stuffing).  There is nothing more mouthwatering than seeing a big spread on the table of all your favorite dishes. And there is nothing more comforting than Southern cooking for Thanksgiving. Hey, comfort food is what we do best!  We've been passing down and perfecting our recipes over generations. Our food is one of the many reasons we're famous for our gracious hospitality.   

Here are five great (and easy) recipes for some of the best side dishes and casseroles you can serve, with a Southern flavor.

1.  Christy Jordan’s recipe for cornbread dressing.  This is dressing, not to be confused with that stuff made by Stouffer’s or Pepperidge Farm.  What makes her version extra special is she makes it in the crockpot! 


2.  Traditional Southern Sweet Potato Casserole with roasted miniature marshmallows on top. You can make it with pralines on top if you live anywhere else but if you live in the South, it better have marshmallows.

3.  Paula Deen’s Creamy Macaroni & Cheese, another great crockpot recipe.  The secret behind this is using a can of Campbell’s condensed cheddar cheese soup.

4.  Squash Casserole.  For many years this is what I always brought on Thanksgiving.  This recipe is very similar to what I made except instead of topping with crackers, I covered it in lots of cheese like in the photo below.

5.  Old-fashioned creamed corn.  I can’t tell you how long and hard I had to look to find a good recipe for authentic creamed corn. Just so you know, whole kernel corn sitting in a cream sauce is NOT creamed corn. 



If this is all you served for Thanksgiving (with the turkey, of course), your dinner would be memorable.  But a typical Southern Thanksgiving doesn’t stop there!  First of all, there is often not just a turkey but also a ham.  We also must have giblet gravy and cranberry sauce.  And there is always, always biscuits.  There also needs to be a few more casseroles, including green bean casserole, corn casserole, and anything else we may have that can be turned into a casserole.  Then, probably some greens or butter beans and maybe some mashed potatoes.  And if that is not enough, we will probably have a seven layer salad or fruit salad or macaroni salad.  Then, there are the desserts…
But that’s another post! 

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