The Five Worst Thanksgiving Dishes…

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The Five Worst Thanksgiving Dishes...
The Five Worst Thanksgiving Dishes...

It’s a tradition, it’s history, but sometimes history is best not to be repeated! If you have been planning, prepping, shopping, cooking and cleaning like mad, it’s now time to pop open some sparkly liquid courage and take a black marker to those menu side dishes which have worn out their welcome. This is your Thanksgiving, and you can do anything you darn well please.

Goodbye Canned Yams, mushy, gross and topped with marshmallows. Instead, opt for roasted sweet potatoes. There’s no shortage of recipes on the internet to impress your worst food critic. Or, just set them in the oven, right on the rack and bake them. Just say no to the canned yam.

Fruit cake has to be one of the worst menu items of all time. There is just too much going on for its own good. As if throwing more raisins, nuts and, candied crap would somehow make it pretty. Anything that doesn’t change in appearance or texture over the course of years on the counter is not real food, anyway. Sorry Aunt Betty, you can stay but keep your Fruit Cake!

Ambrosia salad must have been created one evening when Aunt Edna decided to clean out the refrigerator. She tossed out the pineapple, maraschino cherries, orange slices and fruit cocktail. Let’s just add the cool whip, and we’ve got ourselves a nightmare of a “salad”. People only eat this stuff to be nice, anyway. No one really likes maraschino cherries. Don’t torture your family or yourself. Put out some applesauce or a green salad with a balsamic or raspberry vinaigrette. Guests will sigh in relief.

Green Bean Casserole AKA “the misery mush,” should be removed from every holiday table. This dish can be awesome when it’s made from fresh ingredients, but the canned version should be banned altogether. Ban the cans!

Canned cranberry sauce: please tell me how you keep that tin can figure? Oh, right: sugar, water, corn syrup, and more sugar. Making cranberry sauce is much easier than you think and your guests will be so impressed! You can even make it sugar-free with stevia for guests with healthy-eating on their mind in only minutes. Admit it; you know that the canned stuff looks really questionable. Eliminate it!

It’s time to take back your table and treat your guests to a dinner they will never forget. You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to have rave reviews. You just have to create some new traditions with your signature. You can do it! Remember, just because it has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it is the only way or the best way! A little bit of creative thinking on your part and a willingness to ditch those borderline gross and worn-out dishes can liven up the meal to one you’ll never forget.