How did Tgiving go? Did you host? How many?

[lauraw4321]

I hosted and had 14 total, 5 of which were kids. I cooked everything except a honey baked ham, an apple pie (hubby made), a cheesecake my mom bought and a flan a neighbor brought. 
 

We had turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie. 
 

My mom came and was great despite having a double mastectomy two days ago. She did have a fall as she was leaving. It was more of sitting down suddenly. She scared herself but didn’t get hurt. I think I did convince her to start doing physical therapy. Overall a very good day. 
 

How many did you host? Or did you travel? What did you serve?

[WildflowerMom]

We went to Cracker Barrel and I decided I'll cook next year.    🤷🏻‍♀️
Today was not a good day for other reasons.   That's life.  

[City Mouse]

Only me, DH, DS19 and DD26. My DH used his new smoker to smoke our turkey. It turned out pretty good, but not as well seasoned as when I bake it. It was good enough to try again with more seasoning. 

[RootAnn]

I hosted zero. Just another day in the Roothouse. Pretty quiet. Kids are watching MegaMind & DH is at work.

[lauraw4321]

1 minute ago, WildflowerMom said:

We went to Cracker Barrel and I decided I'll cook next year.    🤷🏻‍♀️
Today was not a good day for other reasons.   That's life.  

Cracker Barrel is delicious.  I hope your day gets better. 

[teachermom2834]

I am copying the post I made on my post Thanksgiving reflections. 🙂 

I hosted dinner for 18 today. 14 adults, 3 teens, and a six year old. 
 

I provided two turkeys that I had bought from a restaurant but had to reheat, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and homemade bread. I purchased a cheesecake sampler from a store.

Sibling # 1 brought rolls, an appetizer, and a dessert.

Sibling # 2 brought eggplant parmigiana, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie. 
 

My dad provided canned/bottled drinks. 
 

I am exhausted. I feel like even though everything goes okay- it is pretty hard to pull off. Nothing specific- just constantly juggling oven position, finding counter space, the right serving utensils, digging up 18 sets of silverware, etc. And now so many dishes. I try to think of everything I can do ahead but it remains really hectic and it is a lot of work. 
 

As I sit here I try to think of what I can do to make it easier. Or maybe dinner for 18 in my house that isn’t set up for it is just always a challenge and that is ok? I definitely have the impression none of my guests understand that it is a lot of work. They figure they help provide the meal and they help clear the table and they help get dessert on so I think they figure we are all pitching in. 
 

I will always host because I am in the middle. Siblings drive 1.5 hours from different directions to meet in the middle at my place. 
 

Should dinner for 18 in a regular size house be a challenge? Am I wrong to feel like it’s a big project? Am I doing something wrong or do I just need a commercial kitchen to pull this off easily? I just feel like it shouldn’tbe this exhausting. But then again, I was on the insomnia thread this morning so that could have something to do with it!

[lauraw4321]

8 minutes ago, City Mouse said:

Only me, DH, DS19 and DD26. My DH used his new smoker to smoke our turkey. It turned out pretty good, but not as well seasoned as when I bake it. It was good enough to try again with more seasoning. 

Yum!

[lauraw4321]

5 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

 

I am copying the post I made on my post Thanksgiving reflections. 🙂 

I hosted dinner for 18 today. 14 adults, 3 teens, and a six year old. 
 

I provided two turkeys that I had bought from a restaurant but had to reheat, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and homemade bread. I purchased a cheesecake sampler from a store.

Sibling # 1 brought rolls, an appetizer, and a dessert.

Sibling # 2 brought eggplant parmigiana, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie. 
 

My dad provided canned/bottled drinks. 
 

I am exhausted. I feel like even though everything goes okay- it is pretty hard to pull off. Nothing specific- just constantly juggling oven position, finding counter space, the right serving utensils, digging up 18 sets of silverware, etc. And now so many dishes. I try to think of everything I can do ahead but it remains really hectic and it is a lot of work. 
 

As I sit here I try to think of what I can do to make it easier. Or maybe dinner for 18 in my house that isn’t set up for it is just always a challenge and that is ok? I definitely have the impression none of my guests understand that it is a lot of work. They figure they help provide the meal and they help clear the table and they help get dessert on so I think they figure we are all pitching in. 
 

I will always host because I am in the middle. Siblings drive 1.5 hours from different directions to meet in the middle at my place. 
 

Should dinner for 18 in a regular size house be a challenge? Am I wrong to feel like it’s a big project? Am I doing something wrong or do I just need a commercial kitchen to pull this off easily? I just feel like it shouldn’tbe this exhausting. But then again, I was on the insomnia thread this morning so that could have something to do with it!

It is a big project. I made a stupid mistake of getting my CV booster yesterday. I can only pull it off with lots of help from my husband and my in-laws. They did a lot of cleaning up after. 

[HomeAgain]

We had one guest, a single guy dh works with who had gotten his booster last week.  It went very well.  The green beans were underdone, but the rest of the dinner was spot on.  The menu ended up being smoked turkey breast, homemade cranberry sauce, twice baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, sauteed veggies, stuffing, and rolls, with cheesecake and pie for dessert.  Had a minor hiccup this morning when we misjudged the amount of herbs we had and I forgot to buy gravy (thought I had, but missed it).  No stores open.  I ended up taking a few sprigs of thyme from my garden, which struggled this year and is going dormant.  Also found a packet of brown gravy in the closet, so that's what was served.

Dinner ended up extending for about 5 hours while we played Trivia Pursuit, drank coffee, and traded stories.  I'm really glad we stayed home and had someone over.  We don't have people in our home usually and this was a fun afternoon, even if I'm still doing dishes. 😄

[lauraw4321]

1 minute ago, HomeAgain said:

We had one guest, a single guy dh works with who had gotten his booster last week.  It went very well.  The green beans were underdone, but the rest of the dinner was spot on.  The menu ended up being smoked turkey breast, homemade cranberry sauce, twice baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, sauteed veggies, stuffing, and rolls, with cheesecake and pie for dessert.  Had a minor hiccup this morning when we misjudged the amount of herbs we had and I forgot to buy gravy (thought I had, but missed it).  No stores open.  I ended up taking a few sprigs of thyme from my garden, which struggled this year and is going dormant.  Also found a packet of brown gravy in the closet, so that's what was served.

Dinner ended up extending for about 5 hours while we played Trivia Pursuit, drank coffee, and traded stories.  I'm really glad we stayed home and had someone over.  We don't have people in our home usually and this was a fun afternoon, even if I'm still doing dishes. 😄

I love trivial pursuit!!! I haven’t played in so long. Sounds like fun!

[hjffkj]

We had to stay home from mil's, her first indoor family event since the pandemic, because kids have a stomach bug😓 Thankfully, I had a thawed turkey so was able to whip up Thanksgiving dinner for the 8 of us. It was nice enough. Most of the kids are feeling better now so that is nice.

[HomeAgain]

1 minute ago, lauraw4321 said:

I love trivial pursuit!!! I haven’t played in so long. Sounds like fun!

Oh, it was great!  Although there was a minor argument started with the question "Which is the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series?" and "Which baritone is director of the Los Angeles Opera?" (Placido Domingo is the *Wrong* answer!) 😄 I did end up supplementing for the 11yo with a stack of Disney trivia cards I've had stashed for years, so the game was pretty even all the way around.

[hjffkj]

2 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Oh, it was great!  Although there was a minor argument started with the question "Which is the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series?" and "Which baritone is director of the Los Angeles Opera?" (Placido Domingo is the *Wrong* answer!) 😄 I did end up supplementing for the 11yo with a stack of Disney trivia cards I've had stashed for years, so the game was pretty even all the way around.

What did the card think the answer was? Because anything or one that doesn't think The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book is wrong😊

[HomeAgain]

Just now, hjffkj said:

What did the card think the answer was? Because anything or one that doesn't think The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book is wrong😊

It was that one on the card. A healthy debate in our house went over the merits of both timelines: first book written and first book chronological.  The card has since been rewritten to include The Magician's Nephew. 😉

[Shoeless]

Dinner was fine. It was me, DH, and DS13. We did a zoom call with my relatives earlier.

Dinner was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, sweet potato casserole, green beans with almonds, carrots, and cheesy creamed corn. Oh, and I made a cranberry marshmallow salad thing that was just ok. 

It's a lot of variety, but I kept portions small so that we won't be eating leftovers for the next week. There's just enough for 2 days of leftovers and then it's gone! 

Chocolate pudding pie for dessert!.

[athena1277]

Dd5 got sick, so we ended up staying home at the last minute.  I already had some dishes that we had planned to take, so dd18 and I figured out how to fill the holes in the menu so we had a nice, but not so huge thanksgiving meal.  Since we were home, dd18 and I worked on some needed decluttering so we can put up the Christmas tree tomorrow.  Might not have been the traditional Thanksgiving Day, but it really wasn’t that bad.

[freesia]

I hosted but it was just dh, 3 of my kids and MIL. We FaceTimed dd and then my mom. 
 

Dinner was good. We had roasted turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes with onions, green beans with almonds, cranberry-orange sauce, sauerkraut, pies: pumpkin, cherry, apple,  and pumpkin cheesecake. 

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

It was that one on the card. A healthy debate in our house went over the merits of both timelines: first book written and first book chronological.  The card has since been rewritten to include The Magician's Nephew. 😉

I agree. And BTW, I think the magicians nephew is the best book, although it is ironically the best book when you started with Lion, Witch. 

[theelfqueen]

So we hosted...

3 from our house plus middle child who had to run off to work after not too long...

My folks

Brother and wife and the wee ones (2 kids)

SIL's mother

So 11...

And way too much food - I made a appetizers x2, a ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, stuffing and way too much pie. 

My parents brought a turkey, gravy, so freaking many rolls, (Like who on earth thinks we need 48 rolls for 11 people???? ), mac and cheese, noodles, a fruit plate that was late and ended up untouched, cool whip and deviled eggs. 

SIL's mom brought a giant costco pumpkin pie... which was sweet but is now sitting whole in my fridge -- I guess I'll feed it to the docents at the museum tomorrow. (I dont make pumpkin cause nobody here ever eats it) .

My husband was the king of doing dishes! 

They were all gone by five and now we are watching Hawkeye. 

[lauraw4321]

22 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

Dinner was fine. It was me, DH, and DS13. We did a zoom call with my relatives earlier.

Dinner was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, sweet potato casserole, green beans with almonds, carrots, and cheesy creamed corn. Oh, and I made a cranberry marshmallow salad thing that was just ok. 

It's a lot of variety, but I kept portions small so that we won't be eating leftovers for the next week. There's just enough for 2 days of leftovers and then it's gone! 

Chocolate pudding pie for dessert!.

Yum!

[Faith-manor]

Just seven. I did not host. M.i.l. did and wanted to do some of the cooking. So she did the turkey and stuffing with supervision. Mark's sister invited herself up, and I mean she was not invited, flew to Michigan, rented a car, and just showed up. So that was a thing. She is not a pleasant person, and then though 62 years old and by definition, an adult, had an epic tantrum toddler style. The tantrum was because she was insisting her mother go with her to Morocco and pay for the trip...you know, the 85 year old with P.A.D. that is rapidly getting worse, 65% hearing loss in one ear, 100% in the other uncontrolled high BP, bad kidneys, and early stage dementia! We put it to her in no uncertain terms that it wasn't happening and that she was not getting money out of her elderly mother. Mark and his brother are now co-captaining her financial ship because she is starting to fall for scams. She did agree to that. There was no coercion of any kind. When we narrowly saved her from an online scammer, she asked both of them to take over. It really scared her.

And the diva had that epic melt down in front of my mother who is grieving the loss of her dear friend. Mom handled the drama well, but I felt terrible. I have been spending a lot of time with her, the reason I have not been around the forum lately, and tomorrow I am going to go help her decorate her house, and then do some online shopping for clothes. She has lost a lot of weight, and wasn't a big person to begin with, so her clothes are falling off hers and she keeps trying to alter them. She is an excellent seamstress, but Yikes, one can only take in a garment so much before it looks even more awful. She loves my potato soup, so I am going to make that for lunch. She is very much looking forward to clothes shopping but nervous about online. Though I am not a fan of amazon , returns are easy with them, and I think that this is the way to go for now. It isn't safe to take her into stores. Hospital overwhelm is so bad here that the national guard is coming to set up tent triage, and handle injuries/accidents. No in store shopping for us.

It was not a fun Thanksgiving. We will have a nice ham meal on Dec. 4 which is m.i.l.'s birthday and try to make it up to her and mom.

[lauraw4321]

1 minute ago, Faith-manor said:

Just seven. I did not host. M.i.l. did and wanted to do some of the cooking. So she did the turkey and stuffing with supervision. Mark's sister invited herself up, and I mean she was not invited, flew to Michigan, rented a car, and just showed up. So that was a thing. She is not a pleasant person, and then though 62 years old and by definition, an adult, had an epic tantrum toddler style. The tantrum was because she was insisting her mother go with her to Morocco and pay for the trip...you know, the 85 year old with P.A.D. that is rapidly getting worse, 65% hearing loss in one ear, 100% in the other uncontrolled high BP, bad kidneys, and early stage dementia! We put it to her in no uncertain terms that it wasn't happening and that she was not getting money out of her elderly mother. Mark and his brother are now co-captaining her financial ship because she is starting to fall for scams. She did agree to that. There was no coercion of any kind. When we narrowly saved her from an online scammer, she asked both of them to take over. It really scared her.

And the diva had that epic melt down in front of my mother who is grieving the loss of her dear friend. Mom handled the drama well, but I felt terrible. I have been spending a lot of time with her, the reason I have not been around the forum lately, and tomorrow I am going to go help her decorate her house, and then do some online shopping for clothes. She has lost a lot of weight, and wasn't a big person to begin with, so her clothes are falling off hers and she keeps trying to alter them. She is an excellent seamstress, but Yikes, one can only take in a garment so much before it looks even more awful. She loves my potato soup, so I am going to make that for lunch. She is very much looking forward to clothes shopping but nervous about online. Though I am not a fan of amazon , returns are easy with them, and I think that this is the way to go for now. It isn't safe to take her into stores. Hospital overwhelm is so bad here that the national guard is coming to set up tent triage, and handle injuries/accidents. No in store shopping for us.

It was not a fun Thanksgiving. We will have a nice ham meal on Dec. 4 which is m.i.l.'s birthday and try to make it up to her and mom.

I’m sorry for a rough Tgiving. 

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, teachermom2834 said:

 

I am copying the post I made on my post Thanksgiving reflections. 🙂 

I hosted dinner for 18 today. 14 adults, 3 teens, and a six year old. 
 

I provided two turkeys that I had bought from a restaurant but had to reheat, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and homemade bread. I purchased a cheesecake sampler from a store.

Sibling # 1 brought rolls, an appetizer, and a dessert.

Sibling # 2 brought eggplant parmigiana, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie. 
 

My dad provided canned/bottled drinks. 
 

I am exhausted. I feel like even though everything goes okay- it is pretty hard to pull off. Nothing specific- just constantly juggling oven position, finding counter space, the right serving utensils, digging up 18 sets of silverware, etc. And now so many dishes. I try to think of everything I can do ahead but it remains really hectic and it is a lot of work. 
 

As I sit here I try to think of what I can do to make it easier. Or maybe dinner for 18 in my house that isn’t set up for it is just always a challenge and that is ok? I definitely have the impression none of my guests understand that it is a lot of work. They figure they help provide the meal and they help clear the table and they help get dessert on so I think they figure we are all pitching in. 
 

I will always host because I am in the middle. Siblings drive 1.5 hours from different directions to meet in the middle at my place. 
 

Should dinner for 18 in a regular size house be a challenge? Am I wrong to feel like it’s a big project? Am I doing something wrong or do I just need a commercial kitchen to pull this off easily? I just feel like it shouldn’tbe this exhausting. But then again, I was on the insomnia thread this morning so that could have something to do with it!

I am sorry. Yes, dinner for 18 is a big huge deal and a lot of work. You are not alone. I struggle with things like this. I am best off at the piano providing gorgeous banquet music than doing the meal thing! 

You don't always have to host. It is okay to take a year off and just be home with your owns immediate family.

[1234]

It was Dh and I, both dc, and ds’ fiancé. My mom also stopped by but not for food. I cooked a ham, Turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. Later, we enjoyed some wine and games. It was a really great day!

[Loowit]

We went to my parent's house.  There were 14 of us.  It went ok.  There was plenty of food, but my sister made a dessert with almonds in it and my youngest is severely allergic to almonds.  So that was a bit tense.  Also, my mom put gravy on all of the turkey, and my DH and kids do not eat gravy.

We did have fun visiting and playing some card games.

[Drama Llama]

We went to DH's younger sister's.  She hosted, and the rest of us brought the food.  My BIL smoked the turkey and it was delicious.  We had 15 people aged fro 4 months to 91 at one point, although 4 of us peeled off for dinner.  DH's Dad and I took him dinner, and my oldest SIL/BIL pair went to BIL's parents for their meal.  

Kickball is an important family tradition here.  The two 11 year olds were the captains this time, my kid picked me for his team and despite that bad decision, we still won. We ended with football, we had a couple people who really wanted the Raiders to win, and a lot of people who really wanted the Cowboys to lose, so everyone was happy.  

[math teacher]

Dh. Ds, and I went to Mil's where we had a total of 6 people. We had tuna sandwiches, fruit salad, carrot cake, brownies, pecan pie, raspberry cream cheese coffee cake, and tea. 

We came home and I cooked chicken and dressing, gravy, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, broccoli and rice casserole, rolls, a brussels sprout/butternut dish. a sweet potato dish, and english pea salad. I just got the kitchen cleaned up and I'm resting before I take a shower. I love doing it even if I get tired.

Lots of leftover-Ds will go home Saturday and take a lot of them.

Edited November 26, 2021 by math teacher
addition

[Garga]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

I agree. And BTW, I think the magicians nephew is the best book, although it is ironically the best book when you started with Lion, Witch. 

Yes! That’s exactly it! It’s best mostly because it fills in that backstory and then provides an emotional whomp at the end when you realize that the apple seed grew into the tree that made the wardrobe…brilliant.

Though, I suppose, it would be fun to read about the apple seed, and the tree, and the wardrobe, and then when you see it again in the old mansion and you realize the professor is the boy you grew to love in the first book, you might also get a sentimental thrill in the heart.

 

Maybe it’s ok to read the series either way…

[alisoncooks]

There were 17 of us in my SIL’s tiny apartment. It was as good as it was gonna get. Someone turned on a football game that no one was interested in (so, so loud!) and it stayed on the whole time — my kids and I felt overwhelmed and exhausted by the time we left. 

Tomorrow is round 2 at my grandma’s house. It will be much more calm and enjoyable. There will be 14 of us there. 

[theelfqueen]

2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

Oh, it was great!  Although there was a minor argument started with the question "Which is the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series?" and "Which baritone is director of the Los Angeles Opera?" (Placido Domingo is the *Wrong* answer!) 😄 I did end up supplementing for the 11yo with a stack of Disney trivia cards I've had stashed for years, so the game was pretty even all the way around.

For a long time, we had a Timeline game card on our fridge that said "Gerald Ford Elected President" ... when this card came up we all cracked up. Ummm that never happened. He wasnt even elected as Vice President! 

[Starr]

Dh and I had our first quiet Thanksgiving. Pies were made yesterday so we could share with a friend. Today we just relaxed, cooked the traditional meal, ate, and watched a movie. We agreed not to talk about work, our moving and all that fun stuff.  It was a great day.

[rebcoola]

We hosted it was pretty quiet just my parents and 1 friend.  So 8 total. My parents smoked the turkey and brought pumpkin Cheesecake.  We made Green bean amandine, roasted acorn squash, mashed potatoes, Stuffing, and Cranberry relish. Pretty simple and chill.

[MercyA]

3 hours ago, WildflowerMom said:

We went to Cracker Barrel and I decided I'll cook next year.    🤷🏻‍♀️
Today was not a good day for other reasons.   That's life.  

(((WildflowerMom)))

[lovinmyboys]

We hosted most of my Dh’s family so 25 people total-13 kids and 12 adults. I had a (hopefully benign!) lump removed on Tuesday, so I didn’t do too much of the cooking. It has been a good day with a family 5k, bingo, improv games, and minute to win it games. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by lovinmyboys

[MercyA]

I offered to make DH and DD traditional Thanksgiving fare, but they wanted Pizza Hut. We bought it last night and ate the leftovers today. Lucky me! We watched Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone this afternoon. Interesting to see how much special effects have improved in the last twenty years! The kids were great actors and Alan Rickman--bonus! DD and I went to care for a friend's pets this evening and will continue to do that over the next couple days. 

Speaking of pizza--my grandma switched from making a big meal at Christmas to ordering Pizza Hut and it is awesome! Everyone loves it, no one is stressed. People bring easy sides, desserts, and games. We meet at a church and no one worries about having enough room or about house prep. We clean up and vacuum quickly before we go. Easy peasy and HIGHLY recommended.

My mom is hosting on Sunday. I bought a pumpkin roll from a woman at our church who is famous for hers. Yes, I am lazy. 🙂

Edited November 26, 2021 by MercyA

[J-rap]

We went to dh's sister's home an hour away, about 25 people -- all vaccinated.  They host it every year (well not last year) and we go every other year -- it's always so nice.  They do the turkey and everyone else brings everything else.  All I brought were rolls and wine so I had it pretty easy this year!  They have a big home so we spread out to three tables, and then switch places for dessert.  Lots of great conversations and so good to see everyone.  It's the first time we've all gathered like that since pre-pandemic, and it was a smaller crowd than usual.  Usual foods and lots and lots of pies.  Everyone stays to help clean.

[Shoeless]

2 hours ago, athena1277 said:

Dd5 got sick, so we ended up staying home at the last minute.  I already had some dishes that we had planned to take, so dd18 and I figured out how to fill the holes in the menu so we had a nice, but not so huge thanksgiving meal.  Since we were home, dd18 and I worked on some needed decluttering so we can put up the Christmas tree tomorrow.  Might not have been the traditional Thanksgiving Day, but it really wasn’t that bad.

I did some tidying up, too.  I like everything neat and clean for holiday meals!

[Forget-Me-Not]

. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Forget-Me-Not
too much whining lol

[Drama Llama]

2 hours ago, Forget-Me-Not said:

. 

I am sorry.

[lauraw4321]

6 hours ago, Baseballandhockey said:

We went to DH's younger sister's.  She hosted, and the rest of us brought the food.  My BIL smoked the turkey and it was delicious.  We had 15 people aged fro 4 months to 91 at one point, although 4 of us peeled off for dinner.  DH's Dad and I took him dinner, and my oldest SIL/BIL pair went to BIL's parents for their meal.  

Kickball is an important family tradition here.  The two 11 year olds were the captains this time, my kid picked me for his team and despite that bad decision, we still won. We ended with football, we had a couple people who really wanted the Raiders to win, and a lot of people who really wanted the Cowboys to lose, so everyone was happy.  

I’m glad things ended up ok for you and the kids. 

[Eos]

Oldest ds couldn't drive due to his herniated disc, dd in Europe ate a box o' Thanksgiving that a butcher makes up and sells to ex-pats, so we were only going to be four which felt sad.  Ds3 invited two friends from a local college, one from India, one from Zambia, so that was much more fun.  Our oven died its final death about 2 months ago, and because supply chain the one we ordered then will arrive tomorrow.  Dh cooked the turkey in town, I roasted everything else here in the bake oven which is part of the masonry heater.  Turkey, stuffing with pecans and currants, roasted beets, delicata, and sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts and leeks, mashed spuds, cranberry sauce, and a gingery wild rice mushroom casserole for the veggie friend. Salad of dandelions and kale. All the pies.  Sauerkraut.

Zoomed with both kids out there in the world, then zoomed with other family.  Dd16 had a weepy meltdown, then me, but overall it was a nice day.  Not the best, not the worst, par for the course pandemic-style.

Edited November 26, 2021 by Eos

[Carrie12345]

Just 5 of us this year. Still, we do the WHOLE big meal, including 3 kinds of potatoes and 2 stuffings. And managed to talk the kids down to 2 kinds of pie this year.

There was FaceTime during the parade with dd19, who has recovered from breakthrough covid (and cleared by health department standards today.) Then we delivered her food to her porch and chatted from the sidewalk for a few minutes.

Got home and struggled to get my turkey to finish, but he eventually came out BEAUTIFUL… 3 minutes after dh and ds ran out to put out a fire. So I did what I could to delay sides a while still trying to make sure they’d be ready when they got home. Let’s just say I’m glad we have strong stomachs that aren’t TOO particular about food temperature holding times. 

FaceTimed my parents, siblings, and niblings while they and we were getting everything on our respective tables. Why do we ever (and always) think Facetiime with 12 or more people is a good idea??? 

Then we FaceTimed ds after dinner.

Then I ate a slice of pie while falling asleep on the couch watching Christmas Vacation.

I always ask myself why I do this. It’s been just our household for around a decade now, and some years have brought me to my breaking point. But I actually had a good amount of help from everyone this year, and my 10yo was SO excited that he slept on the couch the night before with the kind of anticipation usually reserved for Christmas. Even with some extra craziness thrown in this year, it was worth the effort.

Yes, my love language is acts of service, lol.

[mom31257]

We are having our gathering today because dd worked Wednesday night and needed to sleep yesterday. There will be 8 of us including ds’s girlfriend, my dad, and one sister and her husband, but also their chihuahua. I’m counting on her being the life of the party. Lol! 

We are having turkey, stuffing, broccoli casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, rolls, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and spiced cider. 

I found a murder mystery game free online that we’re going to play while the older guys watch football. 

After the extended family leaves, we’re going to put up and decorate the Christmas tree and have hot chocolate and cookies. 

[mlktwins]

It was just the 4 of us this year.  Nice and quiet, all were in great moods (quite a feat these days for one DS16 😆), and great food.  We did our favorite special meal of prime rib.  It was the first year without my in-laws as they both passed away this spring.  Was a little sad at times, but we shared lots of great memories and stories of them while we were eating.

[Guest]

We had immediate family plus DS’ gf here. My boys went up to BIL’s farm to shoot skeet around noon; Idid not go to that because I was cooking. Ds’ gf is vegan so they brought a jackfruit pot roast and a butternut squash risotto. Dd brought a charcuterie board and pumpkin pie and she made the noodles. (Traditional handmade noodles with gravy.) 

It was great to have them here but i was seriously so exhausted at the end of the night. I went to bed without cleaning up, although my kids put food away and washed about 80% of the dishes. 
 

Weirdest thing that happened was the Turkey, which dh had in the smoker, “plateaued” in cooking and took hours longer to finish cooking. We ate without it. I literally went to bed before it was finished. It wasn’t missed because we had so much ridiculous amount of food! 

[Soror]

We were supposed to go to a big get together on my mom's side. They had the biggest Thanksgiving get together, ever, relatives I haven't seen in decades were coming from out of state. Relatives I will now never see again before they pass. BUT we couldn't go. I've been sick all week (I think a sinus infection but who knows). I couldn't in good conscious go and possibly infect anyone. I generally hate get togethers but I'm sad to have missed it.

I made the call Wednesday am that we wouldn't go and at that point put out the smallest of the 3 turkeys we had and had my 2 oldest kids go to the store to pick up the rest of the supplies for a modest meal at home. I still don't feel great (I'd feel much better if I could sleep at night but as soon as I lay down the snot drips down my throat continuously)- everyone pitched in to help.

And my dishwasher wasn't working so we had to do all the dishes by hand but not until the afternoon when I had regained some energy. It was a solid 2 dishwashers + of dishes. We're trying to clean it out again and see if we can limp it along further. I ordered a new one over a month ago, that I thought was shipping this week, now I'm not so sure. 

Anyway we did--

- Spatchcocked Cajun Turkey (I used an injectable seasoning and butter)

-Homemade Scalloped Potatoes

-Homemade baked beans w/ ham (from my freezer the last time I made it)

- Deviled Eggs

-Millionaire Cranberry Salad

-Butterfinger pies (regular and gf)

Rolls (regular and gf)- regular were store bought and gf were yeast rolls

I was going to do some steamed green beans but it was enough. My family doesn't like green bean casserole. 

[Indigo Blue]

Just two sons and Dh here at home. It was very nice!!  I made chicken, gravy, rice, sweet potato fries, corn, Lima beans. (I don’t do turkey). Dh bought homemade slaw and potato salad from a BBQ place beforehand. (He also bought BBQ for the boys to have this weekend). I bought a pie for them. I found a gf pie at Whole Foods for me, but it wasn’t good. Sticking with Daiya cheezecake next time. We didn’t have any bread. My plate was vegan and gf and was probably lacking in protein. It was all good except for my pie. 
 

We played Poetry for Neanderthals. That’s a fun game.

[fairfarmhand]

I hosted 17!

My dh myself, his two brothers and their wives, my adult dd and her husband,  7 teens and one child.

I smoked the turkey, made the rolls, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, Corn, stuffing and some cheesecakes in mason jars. Also a cherry pie for my dh. 

We all had a good time despite the miserable weather. It was cold and rainy and gross. 

[fairfarmhand]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

 

Weirdest thing that happened was the Turkey, which dh had in the smoker, “plateaued” in cooking and took hours longer to finish cooking. We ate without it. I literally went to bed before it was finished. It wasn’t missed because we had so much ridiculous amount of food! 

I upped the temp on my turkey yesterday and cooked it between 270 and 300 to make sure it got done on time. We were eating at 1 pm and I had it in the smoker by 7:!5. 

[lauraw4321]

10 hours ago, MercyA said:

I offered to make DH and DD traditional Thanksgiving fare, but they wanted Pizza Hut. We bought it last night and ate the leftovers today. Lucky me! We watched Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone this afternoon. Interesting to see how much special effects have improved in the last twenty years! The kids were great actors and Alan Rickman--bonus! DD and I went to care for a friend's pets this evening and will continue to do that over the next couple days. 

Speaking of pizza--my grandma switched from making a big meal at Christmas to ordering Pizza Hut and it is awesome! Everyone loves it, no one is stressed. People bring easy sides, desserts, and games. We meet at a church and no one worries about having enough room or about house prep. We clean up and vacuum quickly before we go. Easy peasy and HIGHLY recommended.

My mom is hosting on Sunday. I bought a pumpkin roll from a woman at our church who is famous for hers. Yes, I am lazy. 🙂

Not lazy - smart!