Over here in these United States, Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. We’ve talked about the beer we open during this momentous feast in a previous weekly topic, so this year, we’d like to discuss the food. We asked the Fervent Few what dishes they most look forward to on Turkey Day. Is anyone else suddenly very hungry?

Dave Riddile: “Green bean casserole, and I don’t mean the fancy kind. I mean the Reader’s Digest-mostly-from-a-can-middle-America kind.”

Kate Nolan: “Forget the dry, tasteless turkey. And, no, I don’t want to hear about your brine or your basting or your butter or whatever weird technique you have to make ‘delicious’ turkey. It’s turkey. Give me ALL THE SIDES. Stuffing, dressing, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, corn casserole, green bean casserole (just like Dave says), canned cranberry sauce, fresh cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, cornbread, rye bread…”

Caldwell Bishop: “IDK what the name of the sandwich is, but I was introduced to a grilled Brie, turkey, and cranberry sauce sandwich as a way to eat leftovers. Have to say it’s my favorite food item from Thanksgiving.”

Neal Buck: “Turkey dipped in ranch dressing. I'm not one of those ‘I eat ranch on everything’ guys. In fact, I don't really care for ranch dressing most of the time. But the highlight of the Thanksgiving meal for me is turkey dipped in ranch.”

C. Sean West: “Sweet potato casserole—the more marshmallows the better.”

Jim Plachy: “I love cheap stuffing. I want fancy everything else. Brine the turkey, soak the green beans in fish sauce vinaigrette, put roasted garlic in the mashed potatoes, but when it comes to stuffing, I just want the cheap stuff in the red box. It doesn’t need sausage, it doesn’t need fresh sage, I just want dried bread made moist and covered in dried herbs. There’s nothing better.”

Austin L. Ray: “Give me mashed potatoes. The more, the merrier. I’ll take a whole plateful, please. Dark brown gravy if you have it, maybe a little meat and cheese as well. Chunks are great. Do you have more? Yes, I’ll take more.”

Rob Steuart: “Glazed baked ham and all the things I like to cook but only have the time to around the holidays like pate, rillettes, and rillons.”

Manny Gumina: “The forkful of food with every dish on it washed down with a sip of Cabernet is the best.”

Doreen Barber: “I live in the UK, so Thanksgiving has the significance of a dry fart here. Outside of a fella I dated actually surprising me with Thanksgiving dinner after work (still the best thing someone’s ever done for me as a partner), I’ve never actually celebrated it here. That said, I really, really miss the food surrounding Turkey Day, even though I don’t partake in the bird (or any bird) myself. I miss buttery mashed potatoes (I like making mine with roasted garlic and truffle), buttermilk biscuits, and the fantastic wobbly, can-shaped cranberry sauce, sliced up into circles like fat, dark ruby jewels. I always ate this separate and last from my meal, like a dessert. I love its tartness and its ability to just degrade in your mouth. I’ve made homemade, for sure, but it just doesn’t tick the nostalgia box for me. Living in the UK, you can pretty much count on a dip in my mood from about mid-October through the end of November. After that, I’m doing great, because all my relatives are way too far for me to get gifts for, so I just spend Christmas binging on cheese, beer, and books. Which is an okay trade-off, considering that a good deal of the cheese I’m eating would be considered verboten in the U.S. Seriously, Americans, you don’t know what real Brie tastes like.”

Have a favorite holiday dish? Why not join the Fervent Few and spend the holidays with us. We’d love to chat holiday food and beverages with you!