Thanksgiving

[KatieJ]

 

I hadn't seen the Rachel Ray 1 hour Thanksgiving before.  Thanks!

 

Thanksgiving is usually small at our house as extended family has gone in different directions.  I love the idea about letting kids contribute to new traditions.  Our boys are older, but dd10 loves to celebrate anything.

I had seen the RR show where she cooked this meal. It looked good. I have to say tho I am a pretty accomplished cook and I don't thnk I could pull this off in an hour without having everything prepped, cut, chopped and sitting on the counter. However the menu looks great.

[fraidycat]

It's just the 4 of us, so we don't go all out. I think last year I made dips and snacks foods and we just hung out for the day, if I recall correctly. No big kitchen messes - for that, I was Thankful!

[Freckles]

Some of my favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas memories are mess-hall meals. :)

 

Mine too!

[TravelingChris]

I have never been at a big Thanksgiving.  We generally do a regular Thanksgiving meal at our house for our family.  Occasionally, we have eaten out-  like when we were moving across the US at Thanksgiving- we spent it at the Grand Canyon and ate a nice meal there.  We have a turkey= always on the smaller side, and more sides than a regular dinner, with special rolls, and at least two desserts.

[Joyofsixreboot]

The years dh has to work and we can't travel we've done fun stuff-pies and finger foods, ice cream sundaes, hot dogs and s'mores in the fireplace, Mexican buffet. Be thankful and don't be tied to anything you don't enjoy.

[J-rap]

For all of my childhood growing up years and through age 20, it was just our immediate family for Thanksgiving.  We were the only ones in California, and every other relative was across the country.    We were just five in our family.  My parents made it very special every year.  My mother would wear her special holiday apron and have a small turkey in the oven by the time we were even awake.  We would always start out by watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade.  My father would buy a new game in honor of the day (I remember one year it was Kerplunk), and we would play it for hours.  We'd have special appetizers to munch on, sparkling cider, and homemade pumpkin pie.  We'd get to eat in the dining room instead of the kitchen, and would decorate the table with homemade decorations.  Often in the evening one of the major TV networks would show one of the good old classic movies, like Sound of Music. 

 

Those days were super special for us growing up, and honestly, days like those -- and our family vacations -- were the milestones and highlights of my childhood.  It didn't matter if it was only five of us.  Now, we are close to almost all of our relatives and sometimes our Thanksgiving gatherings number 30 or more people.  Often I miss those smaller, immediate family gatherings.

 

I think it's important to make some days special, and to have some traditions.  I think traditions can vary widely and I think it's okay to break them occasionally or even change them around altogether!  I think Thanksgiving in the mess-hall sounds really fun, or Thanksgiving out at the Waffle House would be great as well!  But some special days are important no matter how you celebrate them.

[City Mouse]

WheN we lived in Texas, we used to go camping over Thanksgiving. We would meet all kinds of people in the state parks as we cooked our turkey over charcoal and the yummy smell would spread. I mass that. We were going to go camping this year, but my DD who is away at college as asked that we stay home so she can some home. (We were going to pick her up and take her camping with us.)

 

Last year I had pneumonia and I don't actually remember what we had other than the indIvidual apple pies that my DD made. We probably had instant mashed potatoes and stove top stuffing. My kids don't like tradItional thanksgiving foods anyway except for the pies. We are thinking of going out to eat this year.

 

I have a great Christmas memory from many years ago of having all the teenage nieces and nephews over one Christmas evening and eating frozen pizzas that my DH bought at the gas station.

[bobbeym]

I don't know what our plans are this year.  Everyone has always gathered at my parents' house but DH said something about staying home for a change.  DS19 and DIL may end up going to her sister's house for dinner.  They don't have a car yet, so until I know their plans I can't really make mine.

 

I do have a Honeybaked Ham GC that we'll use to order a couple turkey breasts no matter what we do.  I'll make the rest of the sides myself.

[sassenach]

We're staying home. Our families are really messed up and I don't like going down for the holidays. We are gathering with several friends and will likely have a big group. I love it!

[KungFuPanda]

I had seen the RR show where she cooked this meal. It looked good. I have to say tho I am a pretty accomplished cook and I don't thnk I could pull this off in an hour without having everything prepped, cut, chopped and sitting on the counter. However the menu looks great.

It takes me 90 minutes to two hours to make that menu. (I do the first one with the pumpkin soup. She likely has several now.) That still seems fast for a holiday meal and I just don't chop/prep at chef-speed.

 

My family is lame. I'm the only one who cares about food or decorations (and I'm not that into decorations). DH just wants it to be relaxed and not stressy. DS just wants company . . . any company; he doesn't care who. Dd is happy as long as there is food and a nice dessert. I've gotten pretty efficient with holiday prep because its easy to meet everyone's needs :-)

[school17777]

Maybe you could sort of do a combination of staying home and eating vs going out by buying your cooked dinner from the grocery store and maybe making one or two dishes yourself (such as dessert).  You might enjoy the more by not wiping yourself out with all the cooking.  Do some fun family things together with the time saved by not cooking such as watching the parade together and playing a game after eating.