P-F15: Week 13 NCAA Bonus - Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes

One thing I find interesting about Thanksgiving is the disproportionate amount of time spent on all foods that aren't bird. I enjoy a good bird, but aside from a turkey leg at the fair, I've never eaten one by itself.

FiveThirtyEight, ESPN's data driven nerd blog, crunched poll data recently to show the regionality of Thanksgiving side dish preferences.

As we do every year, we are having a virtual feast with all your favorite side dishes. And also in line with tradition, I'll be scoring your choices.

Dressing Your Holiday:

Our most common answer was dressing, and it is absolutely one of my favs. +4 to Swamp Dawgs (DR) and SayMyName (RB) for having good taste. Home Team Confusers (KW) added "because it has everything in it," so I want to see your dressing +4. 15 National Championships' (CG) preferred variety is crawfish. I'm down with that +4. Pee Wee Sperman (AL) said "oyster dressing," which I've never had and really want +5.

The Macaroni To My Cheese:

We had two cheese lovers, I got nothing (KS) +3 and A Northmen (ANo) +4. Its a solid dish, but extra points for A Northmen's pick of Caramelized Sweet Potato, Garlic & Rosemary Macaroni and Cheese, which keeps all the kids out.

Do The Mashed Potato:

AccidentChild (MN), chicainery (CCa), DirtBurglars (DT), Bevo XIV RIP (DW), Bill F*cking O'Brien's Juice is Loose (KH) all picked some sort of mashed or sweet potato dish +3. While usually secondary to the dressing in my opinion, extra props to chicainery for the baked sweet potatoes with pecans & brown sugar +4 and all of the props if a ever see the item that KH and KZ submit every single year of Pick'em's existence: Gramma Boots' SWEET POTATO PONE +5.

Going Stag:

Somebody had to bring the cranberry sauce --right out of the can -- to the meal (Gig'em (AP) +3), Green Been Casserole (Tannesaurus Rex (CT) +4), Pumpkin Pie (Naked Bootleggers (JN) +3), Alcohol (The Velvet Neutral Ground (JC) +4), and what I consider the greatest side dish; Gravy (Left Hand Scissors (GN) +4).

Peyton's Ponies (MM) almost flirted with the potato gang above, but decided to put a little wow in our collective meal with a brussel sprout salad and a cranberry stuffing +4.

Alexandria Cyclones (SS) submitted pimento cheese. I freaking love pimento cheese, but I've never seen it at Thanksgiving. However, I think I'd like to. +5 for pimento cheese.

I should warn some of you that Beelzebubbles (CCo) may bring "this little cutie [she] met in Dallas at the game last year" +3. I don't think it is the first time we've heard that though.

Long Form:

BlitzKrieg's (RK) +6 answer is presented unedited below. Happy Holidays to everyone.

I hark back to when I had season tickets for the Lions. We would show up at our tailgate spot at 7:30 a.m. and begin to drink. By about 10:30, I was ready for my morning pre-Thanksgiving feast meal (for the purpose of this question, I'll consider it a side) -- Winter's bratwurst. I'm still searching the Austin area for a quality purveyor of sausages so that I can continue the tradition with my kids.