What's one food you were served on Thanksgiving (or other national holiday) that you hope you will never be served again and describe it.

The infamous green bean, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup and canned French fried onions with some additional broccoli, which did not improve the dish (which I consider inedible even in the original version.)

Bring it on, folks.

(Ingredients in the soup: note the MSG which I thought was banned from all food, Plus 1740 mgs. of sodium per cup.

Water, Mushrooms, Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, Contains Less Than 2% of: Salt, Cream, Dried Whey, Monosodium Glutamate, Soy Protein Concentrate, Yeast Extract, Spice Extract, Dehydrated Garlic, Vegetable Oil: Corn, Cottonseed, Canola and, or Soybean oil.)

Oyster dressing. Ick.

@chyna We had scalloped oysters. They were awesome.

@gailcalled , I’m not a fan ogf that green bean caserole either. The beans alone are delicious. Why add calories that make it tase like crap?
Of course there’s the fruitcake, and I’m not a fan of mince meat either.

Not a national holiday, well not in America anyway, but once I went to a Passover Seder that had gefilte fish. Totally gross. I think some people always serve it for Passover, my family never did. Nor did some other friends I have gone to seder, just this one ex-boyfriend of mine, his parents served it.

@Judi: When you said “the fruitcake,” you got it in one. There is only one that keeps being regifted until, sadly, having gone around, it comes around back to you.

How come people don’t like fruitcake?

De gustibus

Still, people like to complain about fruitcake more than any other food they might hate. Must be some reason in common.

On a regular basis – Rum cake, I consider it alcohol abuse to waste even bad rum on that crap.

As a one off thing – The first turkey that my mother cooked. She forgot to take the giblets in the heavy plastic bag out of the cavity before she roasted it.

I don’t like giblet gravy. It is made from cooked liver which is then chopped and stirred into the gravy.

Pineapple casserole. I did not even put it on my plate. My sister was not really surprised so it didn’t bother her..

Um, I know a lot of people like it, but the cranberry sauce from the can. And yeah, @Judi – what exactly is up with mince meat? It’s not meat… at least I really hope it’s not meat. Why do we call it that? Never developed a taste for it, though it was everywhere in our house at Christmas when I was growing up.

@glacial originally mincemeat did contain meat or suet. Over time the meat was replaced with chopped dried fruit, spirits and spices.

@WestRiverrat That is freaking me right out.

Real mincemeat is made with chuck from around the neck. My family still makes it. So it is not a thing of the past. It is probably the most delicious pie I’ve ever had. You bottle the mincemeat, and the older it is, the better it tastes. I just had the last slice earlier this evening.

And yes, it also contains suet. Great stuff!

In the spirit of the question, though, while I’ve never had it, green bean casserole sounds about as vile a vegetable dish as one could imagine. Veggies were not meant to be cooked to mush.

@wundayatta: Pondering the fruit cake issue, I wonder about the 50 year shelf life in addition to the gummy glacéed fruity bits it is stuffed wth.

@wundayatta the fact your family still makes it out of meat is probably why it is so good.
Homemade out of dried fruit isn’t bad either. The canned stuff from the store is gross.

My former brother-in-laws family was from Egypt, they served stuffed grape leaves (but not the Greek kind) one year. They were gawd awful, and really did not go with turkey and all the fixin’s. But my BIL’s family scarfed them down like they were the point of the meal.

I’m not picky, but one thing I don’t like man, is fuckin onion soup, covered in melted cheese. I had that before for a Christmas holiday, and I ate it and said nothing, but it was an ordeal. God is that stuff ass nasty.

Creamed onions. It’s the texture and taste of the onions and the no particular flavor of the calorie laden cream sauce. A waste of space in my stomach, as far as I’m concerned.

Man, I love green bean casserole! Canned jellied cranberry sauce and French onion soup, too. Funny how different tastes can be. I’m a pretty picky eater, though. One Easter when I was 17, my then-boyfriend and I were going to eat dinner with his family, but when we got there I discovered that they were serving lamb. I immediately lied and said I’d eaten at my grandparent’s house (which is where we’d been just before), so I wouldn’t have to eat it. To this day, I have never eaten lamb, veal, rabbit, or deer meat. I just can’t do it!

Sweet Potatoes. At least I think that’s what it was. They’re the ones that have orange flesh, right? Most disgusting ‘food’ item I’ve ever tasted.

Stuffing, dude.
It looks like vomit and smells gross, man.
Just looking at it makes me physically ill.
My dad forced me to try it once and I ended up throwing up on the table..
He even found a way to make it look even more repulsive, now it’s like dark brown with green chunks in it.

People serve cranberry sauce from the can? I didn’t know people eat that stuff straight? I like my cranberry “sauce.” I make it with black cherry jello, the whole cranberry jelly from the can and crushed pineapple. It’s basically jello with fruit in it, slightly different consistency than jello straight. I eat it as dessert.

@TinyChi Whaaaat? I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t like your dad’s stuffing… but maybe you should try someone else’s? Stuffing is totally the best part.

@glacial I don’t know, man, I think my dad’s stuffing scarred me for life. I ain’t going anywhere near anything that resembles stuffing anymore.

@TinyChi I used to hate stuffing, and still do most of the time at other people’s houses, you are not alone. I don’t like soggy bread. I order french onion soup without bread in it, I don’t understand an open face sandwich with gravy on it, and I don’t understand a french dip, dunking the sandwich in the aus jus. When I make my stuffing it is dryer than most, I add cashews to it so it has some crunch, I cook it stove top with less butter than it calls for, I never stuff it in the bird, and I like it. I don’t love it, but I like it. I think if you made it from scratch yourself it would not gross you out, because you would work with the dry ingredients first, which is basically bread, some spices, and whatever else you would decide to add. Not that it is important you eat stoufing, it’s not like it is healthy or anything. Starch, fat, not something to acquire a taste for necessarily.

Wow! Five of the six things after my post are necessary and delicious ingredients for a superb Thanksgiving meal in my family!

Chacun a son gout!

I’d like to use @TinyChi‘s description of stuffing (I love my husband’s stuffing. the man can cook) but use it for ambrosia salad. The stuff makes my tummy hurt by just looking at it.

I. Hate. Candied. Yams.

Vegetables are vegetables and artificial sweet things are artificial sweet things, and the two should never combine.

Also, my sister in law is never, ever allowed to cook turkey again. Ever. Tasted like compacted talcum powder. Not good.

@Seek_Kolinahr No one in my family has ever made candied yams – I learned about it from watching American TV. I don’t understand why anyone would add more sugar to a food that is so rich in sugars already. But I gather sweet potato pie (which is another American food I’ve never tried) must be sort of the same idea?

Sweet potato pie can actually be good. If it’s not made with too much extra sugar. I like nutmeg. ^_^

It’s interesting the way this question is phrased. I find myself wanting to defend my favorite foods. For example, creamed onions are my favorite. I mean, my absolute favorite part of the meal. I eat them all first, before they get cold, and then hope that by the time I finish everything else, there are still some left that aren’t too cold. That’s the only thing I allowed myself to have seconds of. Good thing, too, since there weren’t any leftovers for me to take home.

My mother always complains about how many onions she bought, and how we’ll never eat them, and then they are gone the first day. No leftovers. I have to make myself some onions and they don’t usually sell them except at this time of year.

@wundayatta I suppose we could take some kind of poll, but to what purpose? Different people love or hate the same foods. ‘Twas always thus and I don’t think anyone was attacking anyone else’s taste. Want to fight about what your favorite ice cream is? Or favorite flower?

Fight? No. I don’t want to fight. But I do want to understand.

@wundayatta I too was thinking that I like most of the items on the list that other people didn’t like. I even like the green bean casserole, except for the unfortunate ingredients list in the Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, so we started improvising with that to make it a little more healthy.

But for those of you who dislike the standards, I’ve found some alternative recipes that you guys might like instead, but will still fit nicely into your holiday meal and since Christmas is right around the corner, have a look:

Instead of Fruitcake

Alton Brown’s Free Range Fruitcake Not a citron in sight!

Dark Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

Instead of Candied Yams

Sweet Potato Slaw with Pineapple and Pecans

Sweet Potato and Red Potato Salad This is a savory dish.

Caramelized Onion and Sweet Potato Quiche with swiss chard, Parmesan and Gruyere cheese.

Sweet Potato Soufflé with Feta and Sage

Instead of Creamed Onions

Creamy Onion Soup with Homemade Croutons This recipe can also sub for the folks that don’t like French Onion Soup

Cheese, Onion and Sourdough Bread Soufflé

Instead of Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole

Potato, Mushroom and Leek Casserole

Apple Smoked Gruyère Cheese and Mushroom Casserole

Broccoli, Cheese and Bacon Casserole

Artichoke Hearts Au Gratin

Cauliflower Leek Kugel with Almond Herb Crust

Baked Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan Cheese

Glazed Chinese Long Beans

Instead of French Onion Soup

Spring Leek and Green Garlic Soup

Japanese Onion Soup

Mushroom Onion Soup

Smoked Sausage and Swiss Chard Soup

Instead of Traditional Dressing or Stuffing

Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing

Cranberry, Chestnut and Pear Stuffing

Cajun Stuffing with Andouille Sausage

Artichoke and Sundried Tomato Stuffing

Pulao a Middle Eastern/Indian/African rice dish.

Instead of Gefilte Fish

Smoked Whitefish Salad

Salmon Mousse in Cucumber Cups

Cod Fish Cakes

Instead of Rum Cake

Gingerbread Bundt Cake

Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake with Walnut Bourbon Caramel

Instead of Giblet Gravy

Mushroom Red Wine Gravy

Wild Mushroom Shallot Gravy

Sage and Onion Gravy

Cream Gravy

Turkey Gravy Sans Giblets

Instead of Canned Cranberry Sauce

Fresh Cranberry Salsa

Cranberry Mousse

Cranberry Orange Relish with Orange Liqueur

Instead of Mincemeat Pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Steak and Guinness Pie

Dried Cranberry and Sour Cherry Pie

@Kardamom Wow. That’s quite a list. Do you also make (as I do) menus for parties you never give? It’s fun.
@wundayatta For one thing there are likes and dislikes of food, the flavors, texture and appearances that may be hard wired. Broccoli is one that can be tested. My son came home from biology class one day and described an experiment that was done in class. Everyone was handed a strip of white paper and was asked to taste it. Half the class looked puzzled because it had no taste. The other half gagged and sputtered because it tasted so awful. “See!” my son said. The substance on the paper is the stuff that makes me hate broccoli! I have a scientific reason for not eating it!” I never insisted he eat it again. But he learned to like it as an adult. We all have different reactions to foods.

@Sunny2 Ha Ha! Yes, I do! I have files in my favorites on my computer, some of them for Jellies who have asked me for ideas for specific parties.