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How far along are you on your Thanksgiving Day preparations?

OrganicAnn

By OrganicAnn,
in The Chat Board

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How far along are you on your T-Day preparations?  

183 members have voted

  1. 1. Where are you in your preparations? (Multiple choice)

    • The menu is decided upon.
      104
    • The main items are purchased or ordered.
      80
    • The dishes, silverware, tablecloth are in good order and ready.
      48
    • The house is clean.
      16
    • I've already started drinking.
      26
    • We go to relatives and only have to bring a simple dish.
      27
    • Its Pizza for Thanksgiving this year kids.
      3
    • We don't celebrate Thanksgiving.
      7
    • I have done nothing, nothing, nothing.
      34

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Flowing Brook

Flowing Brook

Posted
Posted

We celebrate Thanksgiving just not doing it this year.  I know God has been good to us and I am not  complaining.  Just to me thanksgiving should be celebrated when you have family. My sisters can't come and I can't stand the idea of celebrating alone.  So instead I will be stripping wallpaper and working on my remodeling project. Maybe one day God willing I will have someone to celebrate with and can have the kind of celebration I have always dreamed of. 

 

I hope this does not sound depressing. I really am not. I will be happy thanksgiving day doing what I want to do. 

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regentrude

regentrude

Posted
Posted

Menu decided and dishes, silverware ready to go - always. I could have said yes to those in May.

House clean - ditto. As clean as it is on a normal basis and as clean as it will be on Thanksgiving.

Friends invited - that was the most important preparation, since we have no family in this country and it is always up in the air who will celebrate with us. We try to invite friends who won't have a family to celebrate with, and that always works out well.

 

Ingredients will be bought Monday.

The actual food preparation is no big deal. Cranberry jelly gets made Wednesday, everything else Thursday morning in a relaxed enjoyable few hours of cooking. Dinner will be at 2pm.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Haven't done a thing.  To be fair though....we are 1,500 miles from all of our family, dh is also 1,500 miles from us...working to get us all moved back there, and myself and dd will be spending half the day helping serve at the community dinner here for homeless/less fortunate.  So we MIGHT cook a chicken and a couple of sides, but other than that, we won't be making it a huge deal.  Just isn't the same without dh here with us. :(

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hillfarm

hillfarm

Posted
Posted

Food is planned and purchased, just need to do a lot of last minute cooking on Wednesday and Thursday. Décor is mostly up, house is mostly clean, but I will do a "company clean" early Thursday morning.

 

We will probably go skeet shooting with friends early, early Thanksgiving morning, then come home and I'll put a last minute clean on the house, then cook brunch for my dm and immediate family. After a brief rest break, I will cook some side dishes to take to a relative's home for dh's extended family gathering.

 

After which my dd will peruse the Black Friday sale papers and I will try to dissuade her from going, but will cave in and so will have to get up at or stay up until some ungodly hour. I hope her friend can go, so I can sit on a comfy bench at the mall while they brave the stores and check in with me to unload their bags and packages.

 

For some inspiration and fun, check out these ecards:

 

Mashed Potato, featuring a turkey playing a cornucopia saxophone

 

A Motown inspired set, featuring singing and dancing turkeys

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Pawz4me

Pawz4me

Posted
Posted

It will just be the four of us, and we prefer to keep things simple and no fuss.  So Thanksgiving isn't really any more complicated or labor intensive than most normal week day meals.  I pre-ordered a Honeybaked ham, which actually makes it an easier-than-normal meal.  So I'd say I have preparations well in hand. ;)

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Alicia64

Alicia64

Posted
Posted

I have loved Thanksgiving with my kids. Everyone -- besides DH -- is vegetarian so since we have very little family we decided to let everyone pick their meal. I'd clean the house, doll up the table and we each got a favorite dish (none of it hard or fancy).

 

Awesome!

 

This year my son who is ten informs me that he'd love a traditional Thanksgiving -- "the kind in books." So my happy, happy Thanksgiving gone in a poof. We have a friend's daughter visiting from college so I though this would be a good year to go traditional.  Here's my plan:

 

Vegan orange chicken from Whole Foods (major yum)

Mashed potatoes (from a box)

Sweet potato casserole (from scratch)

Stuffing -- sausage (fake) and apples from scratch

Pillsbury rolls (from a can)

Spiced Cider (Trader Joes -- really good!)

Vegan egg nog - really, really good and lower calories than regular!

Salad from Trader Joes

Cranberries

 

Apple pie

Pumpkin pie

Pumpkin cake (yellow mix + can of pumpkin; drizzle with glaze)

 

Then I had to go out to our quite nice Good Will to buy glass candlestick holders because my son informed me that traditional Thanksgiving had candles -- "the long kind." He means tapers.

 

I'm not a Martha Stewart and this will take me days to put together. What do you think?

 

Alley

 

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Farrar

Farrar

Posted
Posted

We're going to my mom's and we're each supposed to do a dish, including the kids.  Which is fine.  And she lives many hours away, so we're staying there and will need to cook there, which is also fine.  Except she told us we weren't to go shopping on Wednesday and that she wouldn't shop for us.  That's the bit that's getting me.  Either I have to shop Monday and bring EVERYTHING or I have to tell her to suck it up that I'm not going to stay in the house the whole time and shop Wednesday.  Sigh.

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Liz CA

Liz CA

Posted
Posted

We have guests coming and the pies are coming with her...we know what the menu will be. I am trying to decide on snack items - chips & artichoke dip, or something else??? Wrapped Brie squares?

 

Shopping will be done Tuesday and Wednesday - I like the bird fresh. Cleaning the house will also be hopefully accomplished on Monday and Tuesday mornings and Wednesday I work from home -so I should be able to get last minute scrubbing done.

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Joshin

Joshin

Posted
Posted

Ours is easy because my mom does most of the food prep, and I supply most of the food items except the meat. There's just six of us -- we four and my parents. Shopping is done (well, most comes from my garden).

 

Ham (because none of us are turkey fans)

Mashed potatoes

Sweet potatoes (yuck, this is all on my mom!)

Garlicky green beans

Roasted brussels sprouts

Homemade rolls (I do make these)

 

We'll have an apple pie and a peach pie. We pick fruit during the summer from an orchard, and mom always processes a ton into premade pies which she simply has to take from the freezer and bake, so those have been ready for months. Quick, easy, but different enough to feel like a holiday meal.

 

Oh, and I picked up wine and sparkling cider today for the added festivity.

 

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texasmama

texasmama

Posted
Posted

SIL called me today to plan who will cook what.  It is just the two of us cooking for 14 people.  The only items I have are the ones I already have on hand.  I need to buy everything else.  I also have to make a pecan pie, and I am bad at this.  But my 10 yo requested one.  We have a huge winter storm blowing in tomorrow so I will not get out to shop until Tuesday, except I at work on Tuesday.  I don't think this whole thing is very well planned out...

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zoobie

zoobie

Posted
Posted

SIL called me today to plan who will cook what. It is just the two of us cooking for 14 people. The only items I have are the ones I already have on hand. I need to buy everything else. I also have to make a pecan pie, and I am bad at this. But my 10 yo requested one. We have a huge winter storm blowing in tomorrow so I will not get out to shop until Tuesday, except I at work on Tuesday. I don't think this whole thing is very well planned out...

Bakerella's pecan pie recipe works perfectly! http://www.bakerella.com/baking-sweet-memories/

 

Edwards Georgia Pecan Pies are decent too. I won't tell. ;)

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Murphy101

Murphy101

Posted
Posted

The house is under puking lock down. :(

 

So I'm not getting too far in my prep work and I need to high tail it on my baked goods so my oven is available for veggies and meats come day before turkey day.

 

The menu is done.

Family is on their way from our of town and due to arrive Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

I'm praying hard I don't still have puking kids by Tuesday.

 

*sigh*

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kitten18

kitten18

Posted
Posted

I love your poll choices!!!! :D

 

Our menu is basically the same every year, so that's covered, and I bought the turkey today, but I still need to shop for most of the other food.

I couldn't decide how to vote but this is where I'm at.

I know what we're going to eat and I've bought the turkey.

It's just the four of us so no extra cleaning or planning to do.

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bobbeym

bobbeym

Posted
Posted

I'm in between done nothing and decided upon. LOL   My DIL works all day Thursday and I still don't know if I'm cooking for 5 or 8-9.  The menu is mostly decided on though, but we're down to only 2 working burners so stovetop cooking options are limited this year.

 

 

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Mandylubug

Mandylubug

Posted
Posted

We take simple dishes to both sides. 

 

for my families side I am preparing Sweet Potato Casserole and Deviled Eggs (cheap yay) My mom cooks the ham and turkey typically and everyone brings a side and a dessert. 

 

for DHs side I'm preparing Deviled eggs (cheap again woo hoo), my son is cooking a Cream Cheese Tart and I am taking a pitcher of lemon water. ILs always purchase Honey Baked Ham

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

I turned Thanksgiving over to XDH about seven-eightish years ago because I had to work. I've worked or volunteered every year since then, so it's not part of the five year old's family culture.

 

I don't have to work this year and I'm not volunteering anywhere so I could still run to the store and put everything on my credit card and start cooking or I could make beans and rice to eat before we put up the tree and break out the Christmas music.

 

I checked "I have done nothing, nothing, nothing" instead of "We don't celebrate Thanksgiving" because I am revelling in the utter freedom and flakiness of knowing that no matter what I decide, nobody will be hurt or angry or disappointed or offended in any way, shape, or form.

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ocelotmom

ocelotmom

Posted
Posted

I think we've decided what main dishes we're having.

 

That would sound really silly if we were just having turkey, but we're talking about ham and duck this year - I'm not particularly crazy about turkey, and the youngest has had allergic reactions to something in turkey (presumably something in the "solution" they inject and not the turkey itself, as she's done ok with turkey in other contexts). If so, then we have them already. However, DH is talking about getting a goose if he can get a good deal on one.

 

Beyond that, we haven't really discussed it all that much. I suppose I should once again make it known that I consider cranberry relish and sweet potatoes non-negotiable, since every year these get neglected until I throw a fit about it.

 

But we're just having a family dinner, so having everything well-planned and perfect is not a huge deal.

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OneStepAtATime

OneStepAtATime

Posted
Posted

All of my family and all of dh's family eat together at his mom's so every year I get to coordinate who brings what and when we show up (MIL doesn't want to deal with the nitty gritty stuff since she has an invalid husband and mother to care for, bless her).  I have a master list that I keep on the computer, tweak it to add any new members (or delete those that are no longer part of the crowd), confirm enough quantities and popular choices will be there and email it to everyone each year.  I did that already, since several are coming from out of town,  but I haven't done anything else (like grocery shopping).  Not sure why they delegated me with the task of organizing everything since I have terrible organizational skills, but we somehow manage to pull off Thanksgiving every year with my list...just wish the list magically did all the shopping, too...

 

Good luck to everyone in their Thanksgiving (or not Thanksgiving) endeavors!  :)

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lovinmomma

lovinmomma

Posted
Posted

I said menu was decided, but i still havent really figured out what the second pie is, chocolate chess, chocolate pecan, or lemon meringue.  

 

Typically I would say chocolate chess (what's in that?). However, you just gave me a serious craving for lemon meringue pie...YUM. I vote for the lemon.

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bobbeym

bobbeym

Posted
Posted

I changed my vote because I went grocery shopping last night and bought most of everything. We have 3 kinds of pies (pumpkin, pecan, apple crumb) plus ambrosia (minus coconut).  All I need is a green veggie or salad or something.

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