Thanksgiving Recipes from the AHA Staff

Maggie Ardiente, HNN Editor
Corn Pudding (From Food & Wine Magazine)

My family’s Thanksgiving includes a mix of traditional food (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes) and popular Filipino dishes (pancit, lumpia, Filipino barbeque). A couple of years ago my dad was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, so that year Roy and I were on our own for the holiday. But it was great, because I had never celebrated Thanksgiving at my own home before, and I enjoyed cooking a lot of new things. I tested out a recipe for corn pudding I found in Food & Wine. It should really be called a corn soufflé—it’s light, airy, and surprisingly easy to make. Now that my dad is back home in Virginia Beach, I’ll be making it this year for the family!

Peter Bjork, Web Manager
Green Bean Casserole & Twice-Baked Sweet Potato

During Thanksgivings in 2010 and 2011, I was living abroad in London – which meant that joining my family in the US for a feast was prohibitively expensive. Still, Thanksgiving celebrations in the UK aren’t as uncommon as one might think, as there is a huge expat community of Americans (and even some curious Europeans) eager to carry on our homeland’s glutinous ways.

Our London celebrations always occurred on the weekends after Thanksgiving, meaning that on the actual Thursday I was forced to read and drool over turkey-related Facebook status messages from my office desk. Still, on Saturday (and sometimes again on Sunday), our group of friends would deplete all London-area grocery stores of every Thanksgiving-related ingredient available and gather together to feast and give thanks. I’ve made grown-up homemade green bean casserole a few times now, and it’s a brilliant take on an old classic. I’ve also made twice-baked sweet potatoes several times, and the mix of savory and sweet is divine.

Matthew Bulger, Legislative Associate
Mom’s Thanksgiving Stuffing

This is “My Mom’s Thanksgiving Stuffing.” Mix together 1 cup each of chopped celery, carrots, and onions; and 2 cups sliced mushrooms. Saute in a pan with two sticks of butter, then add 2 cans of chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Add two bags of Pepperidge Farm bread stuffing, then add dashes of rosemary, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, and mix well. Bake in a pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Fred Edwords, UnitedCoR Director
Dulcia Domestia

I make an authentic ancient Roman recipe called Dulcia Domestica (Homemade Dessert). The source is a cookbook in Latin called De Re Coquinaria (On the Subject of Cooking) attributed to Marcus Gavius Apicius, chef to the first Roman emperors, but actually compiled around the year 400 CE.

Luis Granados, Humanist Press Director
Purple Salad

By far the best part of Thanksgiving dinner at the Granados house was the ability to eat dessert … during the meal! By a rare mental lapse, my mother fell for the notion that a dish called (at least by me) Purple Salad was, in fact, a salad, and therefore fair game to share the plate with turkey and string beans. What a con! Perhaps she was moved by the fact that these were the only occasions of my entire life on which I would utter the sentence, “May I have some more, um, salad, please?”

Cindy Le, Member Services Assistant
Coquilles Saint Jacques (adapted from Betty Crocker)

My family is mixed—Vietnamese and French—and on Thanksgiving we like to celebrate our heritage mixed with the American side. So on top of the usual turkey and other foods, we also have this French dish of Coquilles Saint-Jacques, my absolute favorite!

Monica Miller, AHLC Legal Consultant
Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms & Parmesean (from Epicurious)

I always make Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms and Parmesan Cheese every Thanksgiving. It serves as a stuffing for meat eaters but is also a great meal for a vegetarian like myself. (I am not a fan of Tofurky!)

Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director
Sweet Potato Pie & Fried Breaded Cauliflower

I make two things every Thanksgiving: Sweet Potato Pie and Fried Breaded Cauliflower. The cauliflower is a big hit with my vegetarian kids, and my mom makes it every time I come to visit her in rural Virginia. It’s worth it to buy a deep fryer just to make this recipe.

Lisa Zangerl, Graphic Designer
Zucchini Casserole

This is one of my favorite dishes in general, and it’s been the vegetarian dish at my family’s big Thanksgiving dinners for several years. I asked my mom where it came from, and she got it from my Aunt Peggy who probably got it from a magazine. The original recipe had crab meat in it, but my mom simply excluded it to make it vegetarian for me.

Brian Magee, Communications Associate

My favorite Thanksgiving recipe is a can opener!