T.J.’s All Time Thanksgiving Dinner “A-Main” Lineup

#10 – Deviled Eggs: This item is harder than it looks, and easier to mess up than you think. The racing equivalent of driving a below average car to a top-10 finish, and can mess up Chip and Dip and Veggie trays solid runs at the table. Deviled Eggs is another item that almost everyone wants to see before dinner shows up.

#9 – Cheese Ball: In our house the cheese ball is the ultimate holiday snack. One year when Kraft did away with Roka Blue cheese in the jars it was the equivalent of someone who runs a racing series telling their teams, “If you don’t like it start your own series”. I also had a similar result as Roka Blue was back on shelves for the holidays one year later. This snack stars during multiple day programs and is tops in the munchy category for Thanksgiving and multiple holidays.

20161123_015254631_ios#8 – Hawaiian Sweet Rolls: These store purchased, soft, wonderful bits of bread are vital to Thanksgiving success. Much like a Jack Hewitt type driver they can fill multiple roles (pun intended) with Thanksgiving. They are a great side item on the first day, and then are a vital ingredient to my favorite Thanksgiving leftover concoction, the Turkey Hot Bun. They also lap brown and serve rolls about 24 times in a 25-lap feature. One year when these rolls were scarce I went to three different stores before finding them on the other side of town.

#7 – Real Mashed Potatoes: Another legend of Thanksgiving dinner. They have to be real though, the dehydrated mashed potatoes in a package won’t even make it through the tech line. You can even make these in the microwave for one person with a single potato. This must have not only for Thanksgiving but for the aforementioned Turkey Hot Bun on “multiple day shows”.

#6 – Turkey Gravy: In my household there is only one kind of gravy, turkey. In my mind Beef, sausage (most over rated breakfast item ever), and other gravy concoctions can’t hold turkey gravy’s helmet bag. Turkey gravey also is a strong performer in multiple day Thanksgiving programs as the topping for turkey hot bun. National Thanksgiving Hall of Fame and Museum caliber ingredient.

#5 – Mom’s Stuffing: Notice I didn’t just use the term “stuffing”. My Mother’s Thanksgiving stuffing is so good it doesn’t even allow any other stuffing to place. The recipe was built from setup notes from years of practice and is now perfected into a Thanksgiving winning contender every year. Good for multiple days, not too dry, not too moist, and seems to get better as Thanksgiving weekend goes on.

#4 – Deep Fried Turkey: This particular Turkey preparation is much like putting a fearless driver that will bang the car off the wall for 30-laps non-stop. You might end up with a big win, but you also may end up pile of junk if a mistake is made. High risk with great reward for this gutsy Thanksgiving front runner.

Now its time for the podium finishers…