I’m very worried that we will serve food that they will not want to eat, but will feel obligo. Any advice on how to navigate this?
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I can’t think of anything that they would object to, but it’s hard to say what they will like and dislike. I think just having a variety of dishes and letting everyone try a little bit of everything before chowing down on whatever strikes their fancy is a good approach. Just explain that we take food from communal plates in the center of the table on Thanksgiving, so they are free to eat as much of (or as little of) whatever they want. You might want to also explain that dark meat is very different from white meat, so they might like one but not the other.
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And definitely go around the table to talk about thankfulness, which they will certainly understand even if the food is different.
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This is helpful, thanks. Their English is good, and my oldest speaks Japanese, so I’m hoping we won’t have anything lost in translation.
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My family recipe is very close, just a bit higher on veggie content. I’m already drooling in anticipation of making this in a few days. The family used to make it in a turkey, and bake any extra in a casserole dish, but I prefer the caramelization that happens in the casserole dish so always opt for the “dressing” version, whether making a bird or not.
The Linkey Family Stuffing/Dressing Recipe:
4-5 large yellow onions, chopped
4 - 5 celery stalks, chopped
3/4 C butter
1 lb sausage (we use Mailhot’s, seems similar to the roll of Jimmy Dean stuff)
10 - 12 slices white bread
Cook veggies in butter on low heat until tender
Add sausage. Break it into small pieces as it cooks and browns.
Tear the bread into pieces in a large bowl. Add the cooked veggie/sausage mixture and mix well, making sure the bread gets (TW!) moistened.
Bake, covered, at 325 F for 1 - 1.5 hours.
It’s always surprising to me the depth of flavors that develop, given the relative paucity of spices. Love this stuff, though. Especially when some of the cranberry sauce spills over onto it. Yum.
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Even when I ate meat, Thanksgiving was a mound of dressing, a mound of red cabbage, and a mound of mashed potatoes, all covered in turkey gravy. Perfection!
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Two days before the Big Food Fest, and this was my kitchen this morning:
… which resulted in this:
Key lime curd!
I’ll figure out a dessert to be part of the gluttony on Thursday.
(The potted tree was very productive this year.)
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If you’re interested in some historic cooking, here’s a 18th-century Thanksgiving recipe from the Townsends YouTube channel:
Sweet potatoes, apples, whortleberries and some other stuff. 
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How do you zest all those limes without killing your knuckles?
And with something that glorious, keep it simple: a sponge cake with the curd as the filling, and maybe raspberries?
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Got this for Xmas several years ago, and I have yet to hurt myself with it, which is not something I can say about any other bladed tool in my kitchen.
Yup, pretty much what I was thinking too. 
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Oh, it has a rail, so you don’t have to hold the rasp up with the other hand! My knuckles thank you, and my loved ones who will appreciate my greater willingness to make citrus-based concoctions!
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Here’s a good recipe for Thanksgiving peace of mind (despite extra slices of pie), shared by a local news reporter:
Don’t forget to set your scales back 15 lbs. tonight for Thanksgiving Feast Time. They change back on Sunday night. So until then, enjoy the holiday!
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ok. you have my full attention. key lime pie? oh, do tell! my mouth is watering already!
meanwhile, it will just be the mum and me and we both detest turkey in all its forms (excepting Wild Turkey whiskey), so we will do our Keys tradition of joining dear friend DJ at the marina for an all local thanksgiving seafood fest. lobster, shrimp, mahi-mahi and salty oysters on the half. copious beer, wine and rum, footies on the big screen and the warmth of a subtropical day in the company of our friends.
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I have 7 half pint jars in the fridge, so there will be a key lime pie soon, though not tomorrow. Most of the in-laws attending wouldn’t touch it (philistines, right?). I’m baking a lime flavored (zest and juice) sheet cake that I plan to halve and stack, layering with lime curd between and topping with more curd and a lime/calamondin juice glaze (because I ran out of limes). I’ll post a picture if it turns out.
Other than the watching sportsball, your plan sounds like my ideal Thxgiving. I miss subtropical saltwater holidays. Been landlocked too long 
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your layered spongecake sounds devine!
when i say footies, i of course mean futbol* and not that silly hand-egg game played by americans. nasty game, that one.
[*] The Beautiful Game
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I guess it’s already getting to be too late to introduce any new Thanksgiving recipes (which I’m doing purely out of academic cooking interest!), but how about Thanksgiving leftovers recipes?
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We’re actually celebrating our “family” one over the weekend, so I have at least one more recipe to post, just haven’t dug it out yet.
@FloridaManJefe - no subtropical climes here, but for our family friends’ get together tomorrow, we’re also going with a seafood theme. Maine lobster are the main course. I’m also bringing some seafood puff things for appetizers. Were planning on oysters as well, but those fell through.
I don’t hate turkey, but it’s no big thing for us.
For our smaller home fest, I’m making Cornish game hens with lemon and rosemary. It’s my first time, but if the recipe comes out well I’ll share it here.
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Not sure if it’s really his recipe, since nothing is described using “non-euclidean geometry” or “eldritch.”
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