Ten on Tuesday

This week's Ten on Tuesday topic is: 10 Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes.  Well.  I'm vegetarian, so Thanksgiving, for me, is all about the side dishes!

1.  Mashed potatoes.  I love mashed potatoes any time of year, however, we always have them on Thanksgiving.  I'm talking real potatoes - not instant.  I like them with butter and some seasoned salt.

2.  Candied sweet potatoes.  We always have these on Thanksgiving, too.  I like them cut in half and cooked with brown sugar and butter.  I'm not a fan of the marshmallow sweet potato dishes.  A sauce made from brown sugar and butter is perfect to me.

3.  Cranberry relish.  I make this with whole cranberries, some orange zest, Grand Manier, sugar and walnuts.  Sometimes I add apple, too.  It depends on my mood.

4.  Green veggies.  I love most green veggies.  For Thanksgiving, we usually have green beans, broccoli, or brussel sprouts.  Since most of the other dishes are carbs, this dish is a must.

5.  Filling.  You may know it as stuffing or dressing.  I believe there are subtle differences between each of these terms.  But here in Lancaster, we call it filling.  Again, I'm vegetarian, so I only eat filling that has not been cooked in the bird (I never eat filling at a restaurant).  I love filling how my Mom makes it - bread cubes, egg, onion, celery, salt & pepper.  It then gets baked.  It is SO yummy!

6.  Baked pineapple.  This is kind of like bread pudding with pineapple added to it.  I'm not a fan of bread pudding, but I love baked pineapple.  It's crispy on the outside (and kind of buttery), the inside is soft, but not slimey. 

7.  Fruit salad.  We make fruit salad with yummy fruit - grapes (usually green and red), oranges, apples, bananas, cherries, kiwi, fresh pineapple, and whatever else we're hungry for.

8.  Pecan pie.  This may be my all-time favorite pie.  Lancaster County has many bakeries that make baked goods that taste as good as homemade, so even if there's no time to bake a pie, we are still able to have (good) pie.

9.  Sweet potato pie.  My friend's mom makes these every year and they're so good!

10.  Pumpkin roll.  This is a dessert that's really standard in Lancaster County.  It's basically a pumpkin cake (baked on a large, flat pan, so that it's thin), spread with a sugar/cream cheese mixture, and then rolled up and sliced - like  a jelly roll.  This is another item that is easy to bake, but if you don't have time, there are many local bakeries that make it.

So, yeah...Thanksgiving is all about the carb side dishes here in Lancaster County.  We also often have pineapple upside down cake (which I love), and baked corn (which I don't love) for our Thanksgiving meal.  There are also snack type foods:  celery, carrots, olives, pickles, dates stuffed with peanut butter.  Oh!  And rolls.  Warm rolls.  With butter (not margarine).  Lancaster County has many dairy farms, so most of the people who grew up here eat real butter.

That's my list.  I know that I included desserts with the side dishes, but to me, they're the same thing.  :-)

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes??