By Terri Sparks

Thanksgiving is America’s most traditional holiday meal, one with a national menu that every family follows in their own special way… year after year. For many of us, “traditional” means those famous, handed down recipes from Grandma. You may eat the same dishes every year—green bean casseroles, candied sweet potatoes or sausage stuffing (do you call it dressing?) Or, how about something wildly different, tasty beyond belief… and only allowed to be ingested just once annually…  to bring to this year’s table?

Over the years, my friends and family have been coming up with a “twist on traditional” dishes that might have the boring old Pilgrims sailing the Mayflower back to England. Check these out…

Here are my top ten Thanksgiving food recommendations. (Warning, you may have to start taking Lipitor immediately afterwards…! But remember, these are decadent recipes for just ONE feast.And,they are worth it!

1. White Castle Stuffing – a TAS favorite! My best friend, Lorraine used to make this all the time. I thought she was bonkers, until I actually tried it. Just make sure you remember to state when ordering, “no pickles and no cheese.” Smash ‘em up and stuff ‘em or bake ‘em! Yes, this is stuffing consisting of full-sized White Castle hamburgers! (4+ million calories per serving)
2. The TAS famous Hankie Pankies for appetizers. Speaking of “stuffing”. This one drives my mother-in-law crazy, because everyone stuffs themselves with these before the big meal. Ground beef, spicy breakfast sausage, Mexican Cheese all melted together and topped on those little Pepperidge Party Rye Slices; toasted just a bit. My father-in-law would disown me if I didn’t bring them! (6+ million calories)
3. Turkey Dinner Pierogi – A hand-rolled apple sage turkey kielbasa placed on a generous bed of billowy apple and sausage stuffing pierogis, and then doused in traditional Thanksgiving gravy. (Caloric content beyond the threshold of measurement)
4. Thanksgiving Leftovers Pizza – With store-bought pizza dough, use the gravy as the sauce, mashed potatoes and turkey as the toppings, and mozzarella cheese to pull it all together. Feel free to throw in whatever leftovers you have, too. The guys may want to wear their Sansa-belt pants before attempting to eat this. Sooo good! (A billion+ calories)
5. Apple and Sausage Macaroni & Cheese – Fresh apples and some hard cider give this basic mac and cheese a double dose of fall flavor. (My kids love it!)
6. Three-Cheese Corn Pudding – What’s better than one cheese? Three, especially when those cheeses are white cheddar, yellow cheddar… and, Parmesan. (Say “Cheese! Jabba the Hutt endorsed!)
7. Leftover turkey casserole – Shredded turkey, celery, water chestnuts mixed with cream of chicken soup and some mayonnaise, and then topped with a crunchy, salty abundance of crushed potato chips- DONE! Years ago, the favorite of Sidney Greenstreet. (Famous wild food food forwager, Euell Gibbons,would be spinning in his grave nonstop upon reading this recipe.His loss, as it is amazingly tasty. Seriously!)
8. Pumpkin Chocolate Tiramisu – I found this one last year on Marthastewart.com. The “old” Tiramisu dressed up with pumpkin puree, replacing the espresso syrup with almond liqueur. (If you can still move by the time this is being offered, you won’t want to miss it!)
9. Cranberry Jell-O Shots – Need I say more?
10. Pecan Pie Martini – Again, no words needed.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us all to give thanks and count our blessings. After this top ten list, we probably should also start the Atkins diet!

Gobble Gobble!