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We normally have coffee between dinner and dessert, so luckily there's always time to digest. But during dinner I normally only have a couple of slices of turkey, but I always have seconds on sides. It's embarrassing to admit this, but once I start eating that weird canned cranberry gel I can't stop.

PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sides sides sides. Granted, I'm allergic to poultry so we have ham instead, but even back before I developed that allergy I felt the same. Candied yams, cranberry, dressing, I love it all. I'd be happy if there were no main dish, but we've got to keep up appearances.

The turkey sandwich with gravy on a baguette the day after Thanksgiving.....can't wait!

I claim neutrality - I love everything about the day & the good eats/drinks!

I have my whole family over every year and do all the cooking (which I love to do). But being a vegetarian, I am totally about the sides. I cook a turkey for them though.
It is my very favorite holiday...no pressure, no gifts, just relaxing around with the loved ones and talking after dinner.

Ed, this is why you are a true food genius--yes, yes, yes, a whole day devoted to pie!

I've never liked turkey, even when I ate meat, and always liked the sides best. But the only part of the Thanksgiving meal I LOVE is the pie. And sadly, my Thanksgivings are now spent with non-pie eaters.

I think the ideal T-day 'pie-o-paloza' would begin with a light fruit pie like apple, followed by a main course of pecan, and then ending up with a slice of pumpkin for 'dessert.' Almost a balanced meal, eh?

Sides, all the way. Maybe I've just never had perfectly cooked turkey, but I always throw a slice of it on my plate more out of obligation to tradition than anything. I think the *perfect* plate would be all the sides, topped with gravy, and a nice, crispy piece of turkey skin.

pumpkin pie, that's the only thing i want!

The day of, the sides...the day after it's all about the leftover turkey (and carcass for making soup!)

Man, I have to weigh in. The most memorable Thanksgiving of my life included a dinner of an excellent flank steak, guacamole, and beer. Instead of pie, there was a certain herbal you-know-what. What it boils down to, and what's not included in this three-way battle between turkey vs. sides vs. pie are the additional factors of personal company and personal circumstances. For once = food shmood. T'giving spirit y'all.

Sides!

I'm all about the sides, smothered in turkey gravy. Therefore, the turkey is necessary.

I could gladly skip the turkey as far as eating is concerned. But oh, the pleasure it gives my mom: the whole day of prepping and stuffing and basting and checking!

For me, the day of is more about sides, and then turkey to have as leftovers. And well, pie, anytime.:)

I used to be all about the sides... but since my gastric bypass, I always focus on protein first. I only eat sides if I have room left after I've had an adequate portion of protein. Fortunately, I usually make the turkey, and I brine it, so I no longer have to worry about dry turkey. (And no pie for me - the sugar makes me sick.)

In my house, pie is an essential food group:
Granny Smith apple with walnut struesel
Coconut custard with Oreo crust
Key lime with Tahitian vanilla whipped cream
Maker's Mark-soaked pecan
strawberry rhubarb cranberry
deep-dish black raspberry
sweet potato with honey
Caribbean pumpkin with ginger, cardomom, and dark rum

Homemade cranberry sauce and pie are my only requirements, although once a year I do look forward to making my grandmother's stuffing which is of Portuguese origin and, green. As in green.

This year I am making mince pies (from David Lebovitz's recipe for mincemeat), my own pecan pie (I use treacle rather than corn syrup) and bread pudding baked within a pumpkin. I should probably make a sweet potato pie too; breakfast for the next day.

sides on the day of. turkey sandwich day after.

1. Sides, especially stuffing and potatoes.
2. Spaghetti Carbonara, a la Calvin Trillin
3. Turkey

sides! Mostly cuz in my family, they ALWAYS order the turkey from Safeway and it's ALWAYS dry so the sides are the only edible thing (even though the mashed potatoes are gummy, but I like them that way)

although last year my aunt made the mashed potatoes with flakes and spoilt milk so nothing was eaten :/

Sides. The turkey is just there to provide pan juices for the gravy for the dressing, potatoes and other sides. (I also cook the giblets for broth for the stuffing).

I do eat a little turkey, but wouldn't let it interfere with the sides. And I am actually very fond of turkey and eat a lot of it. But that's part of the reason that all those sides on Thanksgiving are so much more important than the turkey - I don't make them a lot.

Sides. My favorite is the day after when a blob of mashed potatoes, a scoop of stuffing, perhaps some roasted onions and carrots, and a few shredded pieces of turkey are dumped, KFC-bowl of sadness style, into a bowl, doused with and obscene amount of gravy, nuked to within an inch of their life, covered in black pepper and eaten...with a spoon.

Pecan Pie.

It's all about the crown roast of pork. That's right. Who needs a turkey that takes hours of brining, rubbing, basting and baking when you can have 12-18 bones of luscious pork that cook up in under 90 minutes? We made the switch about four years ago and have not looked back.

And turkey sandwiches? Bah! Have cubanos made with the leftover pork loin instead!

I like the whole meal: turkey, sides, and pies. But if I had to choose among them, I'd say the sides are my favorite.

Without the turkey there is no gravy. Gravy is the essential T-Day component. ALL non-dessert food is there merely as a vehicle for the gravy. Hmm, even some of the dessert food is improved by it. I say the heck with it. Gravy should be the main course, with everything else as a side.

Oyster dressing smothered in turkey gravy.....yum! I can't wait!!!!

This year we are having 18 for dinner.My daughter and I do nearly all of it. She always brings mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing (yuck!), a pumpkin cheesecake, her Sexy Salad ( greens with sexy stuff in it), my dad's green beans (with shallots and bacon - coming from our garden this year), and chile con queso. I do the rest, usually, although this year Jose Luis and Carmen are bringing smoked brisket and tamales. (They recently inherited my cast-iron smoker which Jose-Luis can make sing arias.) I will be making a sweet potato pie, a few apple pies (the youngest child and his beloved are bringing New England apples they picked last week with his roomates), at least 3 pecan pies, and a carrot cake for dessert. If I can squeeze it in, I want to also make a 3 layer chocoalte cake for me. The sides I make are cranberry-ginger sauce (the cranberries are also being brought directly from the bog in MA), 8 dozen homemade rolls, a relish tray with homemade pickled green beans and pickled okra, and tiny gherkins and our friend Richard Moon will augment it with different olives and throw some sweet pickles, baby carrots and left-over celery from the dressing on the plate. I might make some hummus for that.

I have a 25.7 lb turkey in the freezer and a 10lb ham in the fridge. We should be in good shape. I've been saving plastic send-home containers for a few months so everyone can bring stuff for sandwiches the next day.

My mouth is watering for Friday's breakfast which will be turkey (breast meat only, please), mayo, cranberry sauce and dressing on sourdough sandwiches.

I'm with Ed. Let's eat pie.