So you've gotten in the spirit to throw a Thanksgiving get-together, but you feel your menu is missing something that reminds you of home? When it comes to Thanksgiving sides, we believe simpler is better to save time on a busy German day where life goes on as normal for everyone else. So, if you're still thinking of a menu idea to add to your turkey for an impromptu Thanksgiving with friends, check out or curation of mix & match dishes below, complete with time-saving tips to cut your prep time in at least half ,and feed that homestyle craving for sides that your friends in Germany will fall in love with just as much as you have!
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| Like all the recipes we have in this curation, this Southern Cornbread Dressing recipe from Dinner at the Zoo can be easily halved so you're not stuck with a large number of leftovers. Although, we can tell you that whatever leftovers you will taste absolutely amazing the next day around. Allow an extra 25 minutes to make a quick-cooking cornbread to use for this dressing. |
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| Rather than the traditional mushroom soup laden green beans popular from Thanksgivings past, we like lighten up our dinner load with a fresh fresher take on this popular veggie in this recipe for Green Beans with Orange & Almond Gremolata from Women's Day. You can substitute pre-chopped almonds (Mandeln gehackt ) to save a few extra moments on prep. |
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| Go back to the tasty days of bread made by Grandma's hands with this recipe for Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits from Merchant Baker. For those who don't eat refined white flour, we find that spelt flour (Dinkelmiehl) works as a perfect substitute. You can use regular Pflanzenfett in place of the Crisco shortening we would normally use in the States -it will make for a flakier biscuit. |
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| You can't have biscuits without butter, and we LOVE this Cranberry Butter from Sugar Dish Me. *TIMESAVER TIP* Since we typically use standard German wild cranberry sauce (Preiselbeeren Soße) instead of that which is made of aditional American cranberries, you can essentially skip the steps for making cranberry mixture here and simply mix 1/3 jar of Preiselbeeren with the butter, salt, and orange zest called for in blogger's original recipe. |
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| When you're a pinch for time, don't waste it: if you're not up to preparing fresh, wild blend grains for this Wild Rice & Cider Cranberry Pilaf, from Southern Living, leave yourself more time to enjoy with your guests by substituting ready-made Uncle Ben's Express Langkorn & Wildreis, (available at EDEKA or REWE) with one package per 2 people. In place of the cider, called for in this recipe, Apfelschorle is a perfect substitute. Halve the rest of the ingredients as needed for a smaller amount of guests. |
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| PENNY and REWE now have affordable raspberries year round, and if you don't like Bibb Lettuce (Buttersalat), you can substitute your favorite lettuce leaf of choice in the prize-winning recipe for Pear Salad with Raspberry Cream from via My Recipes for a light contrast to the heaviness of your entree. |
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| If you can't manage the extra 30 minutes it takes to boil the 1.5 kg potatoes for Mashed Potatoes with Bacon & Crispy Scallions from Southern Living, it will work just as well with instant potatoes- just prepare for the number of guests you have as per package directions, and add the flourishes to bake with accordingly. |
