J u l e e
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,531
Location: Cincinnati
Jun 28, 2014 2:50:47 GMT
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Post by J u l e e on Nov 14, 2017 1:13:20 GMT
I host my family - there will be 11 of us. My mom, my two sisters, their husbands, and three kids all drive four hours to get here and stay from Wednesday through Saturday. We get pizza on Wednesday night and I do every bit of the rest of the food - breakfasts, Thanksgiving dinner, lunches, etc.
We volunteer together on Thanksgiving morning, packing food for our local food banks and shelters, and then come back to appetizers and have our dinner in the middle of the afternoon. So I have a breakfast casserole in the crockpot overnight and then have the rest of it all made ahead and ready to go when we get home. I have organized the crap out of the weekend - I have binder with recipes, shopping lists, and timed spreadsheets and everything. I hate chaos, so I have it down. It's actually quite relaxing! I do get turkey from Honeybaked Ham, but I make all the sides and desserts.
You would be surprised how food (and everything to do with it) has been a serious enemy of mine my entire life - along with my extended family and holidays. Thanksgiving is my concession to my mom since we stopped spending Christmases together. If I have to do it, I'm going to make it enjoyable. You wouldn't believe the years of stressful holidays I've endured (overshare).
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Post by scrapmaven on Nov 14, 2017 1:25:34 GMT
Every year we celebrate w/my dh's family at a cousin's house. My job is to bring wine and coffee. Easy enough. I'm not always a reliable guest, due to extenuating circumstances. Everyone has a special dish that they make. The hostess has a houseful of cousins each year from all over the country. Luckily, we're in the same area, so we don't have to travel. Each night is a different night. One night they go to a restaurant. Wednesday night is always taco night or bbcue. Thursday is the traditional dinner w/tons of interesting items, as well, like Lumpia and inari(a type of sushi). Dessert is never ending with tons of treats. Friday my dh's aunt makes turkey soup and everyone eats that for dinner. This year I will bring the wine and coffee, as usual. I'll also, bring oh yvonne's apple breads as those are now mandatory. I'll also bring lemon raspberry pound cake for noshing while cooking or just sitting around during the day. I'll also make eclairs for Friday night dessert. That was my mil's tradition, but she stopped baking a couple years ago. So, I'll bring them instead and she can just enjoy eating them. One of my kids works at a bakery part time. He ordered a cranberry apple cake as his contribution. Between wine and dessert I think people will be nicely sugared up. The above desserts won't even cover the dessert table. Cookies, cakes and pies will also surface via the other cousins. The bummer is that I cannot indulge in any of the food. I have to sit on the sidelines and dream of what could be. |
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Post by craftedbys on Nov 14, 2017 1:29:19 GMT
I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving. I have decided that all I want is a turkey sandwich and some ruffles potato chips. DH will bake the turkey using Alton Brown's recipe and I am going to bake a Cocoa Cola cake on Wednesday. Done.
Both kids and DH are on board with my plan.
We (DH & I) have done Thanksgiving for the last several (almost 10) years, hosting my parents, sister (when she was still living) and whoever else was in town. The last two years as my Mom's health was declining, my oldest nephew and his family would come so they could spend time with my parents so DH and I cooked at Mom and Dad's.
My mom passed away this past May and this is our first major holiday without her. I told my Dad that we would do whatever he wanted, if he wanted to have a formal meal, we would carry on like other years, or if he wanted to go have Thanksgiving with one of my brothers, that was doable as well. Or, we could do a casual Thanksgiving.
We were invited to MIL's, Thanksgiving is her holiday and she goes all out making a huge spread for her side of the family. I told DH that I just couldn't face going over there and watch as (usual) a bunch of people come in at the last minute (or even later than what time MIL said we would eat), push to the front of the line, pile their plates with no regard for those coming behind, scarf their food, don't engage in any type of conversation with anyone and get up (leaving their dirty plate etc) and leave without so much as a thank you, kids my foot, or have an apple. Ugh! No thank you.
So next Thursday you will find me in some yoga pants and t-shirt sitting on the couch with my children enjoying a turkey sandwich and watching a movie or three. I. Can't. Wait.
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Post by mcscrapper on Nov 14, 2017 2:27:10 GMT
I admire that you all try to get along, ex's and all. We do the same with our son and former DIL. It's easy for us, we adore her. It's probably not as easy for our DS and for ex DIL. We all do it for the kids. First of all, I married an amazing man. He "gets" it. Secondly, what kind of a-hole would I be if I didn't have some empathy for what was once a close family member if I didn't include him in our family Thanksgiving when his own dd is involved AND it is her 18th b'day? I just don't see the point in excluding others out of spite. It isn't my dd's fault that we can't be together. SaveSave |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 21, 2024 0:47:24 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2017 4:34:09 GMT
I'm working on Thanksgiving and the day before, but my guys are going to be home so we will still have a traditional dinner together when I get home. I'm assembling most of the sides on Tuesday and they'll put them into the oven before I get home.
We will have turkey breast in the crockpot, cornbread dressing, hashbrown casserole, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, fresh cranberry sauce, rolls, Watergate salad and pumpkin pie with freshly whipped cream. I'll enjoy mine with a glass (or three) of wine.
P.S. Each of the casseroles are made by request of one of the men in the family. I'm happy to accommodate them by making their favorites. We only enjoy this once a year.
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Post by mikklynn on Nov 14, 2017 13:02:22 GMT
I admire that you all try to get along, ex's and all. We do the same with our son and former DIL. It's easy for us, we adore her. It's probably not as easy for our DS and for ex DIL. We all do it for the kids. First of all, I married an amazing man. He "gets" it. Secondly, what kind of a-hole would I be if I didn't have some empathy for what was once a close family member if I didn't include him in our family Thanksgiving when his own dd is involved AND it is her 18th b'day? I just don't see the point in excluding others out of spite. It isn't my dd's fault that we can't be together. SaveSaveI agree! I wish more people would see it the same way. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. |
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,804 
Location: Houston, TX
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Post by smartypants71 on Nov 14, 2017 13:22:24 GMT
We are feeling lazy this year, plus we are unable to travel to be with family this year. We have reservations at a really great french restaurant.
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Post by LisaDV on Nov 14, 2017 13:37:12 GMT
The last couple of years it's just been the 4 of us, like chirpingcricket, it's kind of a downer to cook so much food for just the 4 of us. But I went always way overboard with the food. I've been paring back. One because, DD has had multiple food issues due to her health which has limited certain things. Over the last year, she's added in so many foods, our hardest things this year is gluten and onions for her. For DS, he loves the sweet potato dish with pecan topping and the pecan pie I usually make, unfortunately he just got braces and cannot eat nuts, so I can't make those this year. There will definitely be a roasted turkey, regular stuffing, gluten free stuffing, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts with pancetta, regular rolls/gluten free rolls, and gluten free pumpkin pie. I'm thinking also of double layered pumpkin bars, mashed potatoes, and a squash creme brulee which I'm making this week to see if the kids will like it and let me serve it. Their rule at our house is "no experimenting with recipes on the holidays". I may have a reputation.... The activity of the day is playing the board game, Talisman. It's ds's favorite game. It's the only time of the year he gets to play it. It's the longest game EVER. They helped with the food last year so that I could play with them, so my first time. It was started about 10:30am, I died around 7:30pm and everyone else kept playing. DH's has promised to kill me early this year. Breaks were only for the meal and cooking functions (most stuff I prepare the day before so it's not all day in the kitchen on T-day, but we did appetizers as well last year). I'll probably do a breakfast casserole for first thing in the morning. I'm still figuring out a snack for in-between breakfast and meal time which will be at 2ish. The evening snack is always leftovers of the meal. |
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