Now that Christmas 2: Christmas in July is approaching I have had a question come to mind. Should I have more of the crowd favorite recipes appear in the Thanksgiving 2.6 menu instead of trying to include so many "on theme" dishes? The internal debate of the party goer/thrower, favorites or experiments. What should I do?
This possible predicament first came up as I was figuring out what to make for Christmas 2. Christmas 2 is wholly different from TH2 in almost every way as far as I am concerned. There are fewer people involved because it is a gift exchanging event. It is a potluck gathering where I only make 1-3 dishes for the day as opposed to making 15-30 dishes for TH2. I will usually make a dessert and 1 or 2 main courses or single main and a side dish. This year I'll be making a figgy pudding and boeuf bourguignon, the third dish is to be determined as of today. I have made the boeuf more than once, and every time almost all of it is gone at the end of the event, plus I enjoy it greatly. These 2 facts brought up the issue I'm thinking through. Should I decrease the amount of "on theme" dishes and add in a few of these "fan favorites"? Unlike some of the other decisions I have to make I'm not leaning in either direction. I am stumped.
The other time I run into this worst of party problems is when I am headed to a party thrown by not me. Usually, I will ask the party thrower if they have a preference (what everyone should do, I think) and it is if they have no preference I run into the issue. I run through the 5 or 6 dishes I feel comfortable bringing to someone house for a party. Boeuf, Cajun grilled chicken, barbecue flavored pork loin chops, guacamole are my go to dishes. I have been known to make one of several desserts also. I will take the style and time of day and time of year of the party in consideration. For my own gathering it is significantly different.
The question seems to be a philosophical question. New and experimental or tried and true? Who knew that Thanksgiving 2 could bring about such a large concept. . . . end interlude
My finished menu will have about 12 "on theme" dishes. The rest of the meal will be traditional Thanksgiving foods. As of June I know it is really early to have any concern about my menu pieces because I haven't tested all of them yet. This fact is what should be the ultimate deciding factor. For example I have 2 sauerbraten recipes left to test. If for some reason I find that neither of those are acceptable to me I will be losing one of my main course recipes. I suppose that with the loss of such a pivotal dish I will have to replace it with either one of my tried and true favorites (boeuf bourguignon) or search for an equally important German dish. At least I have some idea of what to do now. I have some testing to do, but after that I will have either a very easy decision made for me or we will be enjoying some great sauerbraten.
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