View Full Version : What are your plans for Thanksgiving?
LarsMal
11-23-2009, 03:06 PM
I'm getting organized for a day of baking tomorrow. I have to make a pie and, oh, a couple hundred mini black-bottom cupcakes for Thursday (my aunt is coming over to make them with me). We'll be spending Thanksgiving with 100-125 of my closest relatives on my mom's side. Pure insanity!!! Guess no one is too worried about H1N1 germs!
I'm just wondering what "normal" plans everyone else has!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
g-mama
11-23-2009, 03:12 PM
Wow, 100-125?! Where do you all eat?
I am hosting (again) at my house for 27 people, and I feel completely overwhelmed right now. I just hosted a birthday party on Saturday with eighteen 8 and 9-year-olds at my house for my son. I'm still cleaning up from that and can hardly keep my house neat for longer than an hour. Today I am bringing up all the extra tables, chairs, table linens, dishes and silverware from the basement.
Fortunately, everyone helps with food, but then everyone leaves and it takes me til Sunday to get the house back to "normal" again. Oh, and dh informed me that he will have to work all weekend, other than Thanksgiving Day. Did I mention that 22 of the guests are from his side of the family?
Maybe I belong over in the Bitching Post. I just want to take a nap.
LarsMal
11-23-2009, 03:21 PM
Wow, 100-125?! Where do you all eat?
We rent out a church hall. We get use of the cafeteria, gym, and field- big Turkey Bowl! My grandmother is Italian so we have all the Italian stuff to go along with the traditional menu. Talk about wearing elastic pants!!!
Corie
11-23-2009, 03:40 PM
It's just the 4 of us! The rest of my family is in Texas.
This year, we decided to go out to eat. It's no fun cooking a big meal
for just us.
jgenie
11-23-2009, 03:45 PM
It's just going to be the three of us. We live away from family and usually invite others that are away from their families to join us. We're getting ready for a basement remodel to start in the next couple of weeks and decided to do simple holidays for just us this year. Kind of the calm before the storm. ;)
DietCokeLover
11-23-2009, 03:47 PM
My plan for Thanksgiving is to AVOID my inlaws at whatever cost!!!! That will make me incredibly thankful.
wow 125 people? Sounds overwhelming. I grew up with large family gatherings but now that we've been living so far for so long I'm not used to the all large gatherings.
It's just the five of us and the dogs for Thanksgiving and heck ya I'm cooking. Don't get me wrong most years because of pregnancy, newborns, etc. we don't cook and just buy the big meal from Cracker Barrel but this year I got an itch to get back to cooking.
It's just DH, DD, DS, me and my sibs and my dad (plus BIL, DN and my sisters MIL). That's it at my house--NEVER ANYWHERE ELSE :32:
karenj2
11-23-2009, 03:57 PM
We split our Thanksgiving...
From around 12 - 4pm we go to his uncle's house (mom's brother) - about 30 minutes north of our house. This side of the family is huge as well - I'd say that they have about 70 people over, but I don't count anymore... (It's all potluck - the two uncles that live across the street from each other cook the turkeys, everyone else brings something.) DH will play touch football with the guys (and some younger girl cousins), and I'll chat with the ILs and eat appetizers. Around 4 things move inside, and we say our goodbyes and leave.
We pick up our suitcases and our dog, and head down to my parent's house in MD (about 1.5 hours south of our house), where we have a later dinner at 7:30pm. This is generally just immediate family (My parents, my older sister and her 2 kids and hubby, my younger sister, and DH and ). Sometimes my mom's sister will come, or her uncle, but I'm not sure if they're coming or not.
We stay in MD through that Sunday. :D
MontrealMum
11-23-2009, 03:58 PM
We are celebrating on Sat. because it's not a holiday here, and it's just too hard to get everything ready and eat before DS' bedtime when DH will be coming home so late. We usually have other people over, sometimes American, sometimes not. This year we're celebrating with another family that have a DD 1 day older than DS. The kids have fun together and we have a lot in common with them so I think it will be fun. They're bringing dessert and it's always exciting to see what other people come up with. I guess I'll start working on the menu later this week - I like to mix it up a bit since we have the two Thanksgivings to celebrate :)
Julie - your celebration sounds like so much fun! Wow!
Melaine
11-23-2009, 04:05 PM
We will be having Thanksgiving brunch in my home town (about an hour away) at the home of some of my dearest friends. Then we will go to another very dear friend's home for the traditional meal in late afternoon. It will be a big gathering (not as big as OP's!) and lots of fun. I'm really looking forward to it, although I'm sad that my brother might not make it.
Saturday we will travel a couple more hours to see my Grandmother (who has been in the hospital off and on) and Aunt, Uncle and Cousins. I'm not sure how that will go since my Grandmother usually cooks and now she is sick and also on a super strict diet, but I'll be happy to see them all. If we can just get good and over this dang cold/cough thing then I will be SUPER thankful.
tylersmama
11-23-2009, 04:07 PM
Well, XH just picked DS up to take him to Ohio for the WEEK. I'm super excited about having some off time but I still bawled like a baby when he left.
I thought I was going to be bored out of my mind, but the week has actually filled in pretty quickly. I'm going to chemo with my friend Amy tomorrow and then bringing dinner over for her family. Thanksgiving itself will start off with a 4 mile Turkey Trot, and then I'm going to a good friend's house for dinner in the afternoon. The next morning, I have to get my long run in (16 miles, I'm training for a marathon) and then will head up to the mountains in the afternoon to stay with a friend and ski on Saturday and Sunday. Somewhere in there, I also need to get a little bit of homework done!
ha98ed14
11-23-2009, 04:20 PM
We are flying from LAX to MSP to see my sister and my aunt (father's sister) who live there. My mother is flying in from OH to see us. I will visit my mom and my aunt serparatly because they don't get on very well. (Aunt is my mother's ex-husband's sister.) But for the actual dinner, we are all going to my aunt's for Thanksgiving dinner. They kind of avoid each other, but hopefully both can be gracious enough to get through the meal. My aunt is generous by allowing my mom to come, but kind of ignores her while she is there. Both of them want time with DD. She is the only grandchild. My cousins are boys and far from having kids. The actual meal is my biggest worry. But they did it two years ago. Altho my mom complained about my aunt after the fact. Wait, someone tell me why I am doing this again...
SnuggleBuggles
11-23-2009, 04:25 PM
I'm hosting and there will be about 9 of us. :) My ILs will bring several sides.
Beth
I am hosting this year (10th year now?) and my brother and mom will join the 4 of us. I think friends will come by later for dessert. My brother will brine/spice the turkey and make a cobbler. Yum!
Corie
11-23-2009, 04:36 PM
Well, XH just picked DS up to take him to Ohio for the WEEK. I'm super excited about having some off time but I still bawled like a baby when he left.
Is your ex-husband from NW Ohio too?
AnnieW625
11-23-2009, 04:49 PM
This year we are going to Mimi's Cafe for dinner. It's actually really good. I think this is the third year we've gone. DH's Grandma is 88 and likes going out for the holiday. She has a big extended family but they all have their own families. There will be 10 of us I think including DH's uncle and uncle, and two kids (the aunt and uncle are DD's god parents), and the aunt's sister and husband.
My parents and siblings were in town over the weekend so we had a Thanksgiving dinner at my place on Saturday night. We had turkey, home made stuffing, brocoli, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.
tylersmama
11-23-2009, 04:55 PM
Is your ex-husband from NW Ohio too?
Cincinnati.
mommyp
11-23-2009, 04:55 PM
We're going to friends. It is potluck, so they make turkey/stuffing/cranberries and the rest of us bring everything else. Should be about 14 adults and 3 kids if I count correctly. It will be fun!
Seitvonzu
11-23-2009, 06:55 PM
this is funny-- DH just said "we have plans for thanksgiving!" out of the blue when i was reading this thread. we live away from family, so the last 2 years have been more laid back-- last year was just our "little" family. i made the complete feast and let our 11 month old have a china plate loaded up with EVERYTHING. she was in hog heaven-- nothing like starting the babies early!
i really felt like t-day was catching me by surprise (this morning was my first real thoughts about it!) when a friend called and asked if we wanted to "pool our resources." i was all over that! i told her what we usually eat and said i'd bring all our sidedishes (except stuffing which is actually the only thing i'll actually miss, but i make mine in our turkey). they are making duck and turkey and whatever side dishes they can't live without. so i'll bring - cranberry sauce (wholeberry a williams-sonoma recipe), cranberry in the can (dh likes this best), sweet potato casserole with pecan/brown sugar topping, mashed potatos, green beans with bacon (told my friend "these are CANNED green beans though"), and a pumpkin apple pie (we like both and this is the best of both worlds!).
i'll do the cranberries and mix up the sweet potatos on wednesday, oh, and i'll make the pie that night or thursday morning. the beans and mashed potatos are easy to get done by the afternoon since we have no other plans except "get to friends." :)
i'm kinda excited! these last minute plans worked out great :)
LexyLou
11-23-2009, 07:05 PM
I'm hosting, like I usually do, but the nice part this year is that we are back home in the Bay Area so all our family can be there. :)
I think it's just 10 adults (including my 91 year old grandma, yeah!) and 4 kids.
I love Thanksgiving and love hosting it. I can't imagine not hosting it. Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without raiding the fridge at 10pm to eat leftovers.
g-mama
11-23-2009, 07:10 PM
I love Thanksgiving and love hosting it. I can't imagine not hosting it. Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without raiding the fridge at 10pm to eat leftovers.
That is the best part of hosting, for sure! I would enjoy hosting a smaller group like yours...what I don't like is that our group is up to 27 now and all the arranging of the 3 tables it will take to seat all of us, and the aftermath of my house looking like a tornado went through it while I know everyone else goes back to their own home and relaxes. It pretty much eats up my entire weekend.
LexyLou
11-23-2009, 07:25 PM
That is the best part of hosting, for sure! I would enjoy hosting a smaller group like yours...what I don't like is that our group is up to 27 now and all the arranging of the 3 tables it will take to seat all of us, and the aftermath of my house looking like a tornado went through it while I know everyone else goes back to their own home and relaxes. It pretty much eats up my entire weekend.
Yea, growing up we had between 20-30 people and it was a mad house.
Luckily for me my MIL and my mother are really good at helping with the dishes and puting things away so we're usually cleaned up by the next morning.
Tondi G
11-23-2009, 08:10 PM
Luckily for me my sister is hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at her house. She has a dishwasher and a home vs our apartment with limited parking and handwashing dishes!
We had a smaller one last year (11 or 12 people) but this year we are looking at 20+ people!
I am toying with the idea of spending the night at my sisters (with my boys)Wednesday night so she will be forced to be up and cooking early so we can eat closer to 6pm. The last few years it's been later (she has no kids and tends to do things on a more leisurely schedule so the bird got in late etc). If not I'll be getting up and over there as early as I can to make things happen earlier! My DH may work on Thanksgiving and come over after he gets off... we'll see!
bigpassport
11-23-2009, 08:24 PM
We wanted to take DS to met his grandpa, uncle and aunt (my bro and SIL) for the first time, but decided against flying for fear of H1N1. Then we thought about driving to SF, meeting bro and SIL there, and visiting our sick aunt...but DA is too sick to have visitors:( So our Thankgiving will just be me, DH, DS and the Dallas Cowboys. I'll cook turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and peas. Probably store bought pumpkin pie. Maybe homemade pumpkin chocolate chip bread.
Christmas will be the big event here with DS's adoption being finalized in mid-December, MIL coming for Christmas, and DH's family (30+ people) coming for DS's temple ceremony on 12/29:)
elephantmeg
11-23-2009, 09:23 PM
Bro and SIL are flying in from Chicago on T-giving day. So supper we're doing pot roast, mashed pot and brownie pudding-just us, bro and SIL and my parents. Friday we're having real t-giving at grandma's-I'm bringing 4 doz rolls and 2 pumpkin pies. So sitting pretty this year! The rolls are already made and I'm hoping to get the pie crusts done tomorrow and then bake the pies thursday afternoon.
WitMom
11-23-2009, 10:23 PM
Thanksgiving is our holiday to stay home, so it will be just the four of us. We got married two weeks after Thanksgiving in 2001, and because we had so much to do to get ready for the wedding, we didn't travel (we lived about 4 hours away) or see family that year. We enjoyed the peace and quiet so much that we made it our tradition to keep Thanksgiving low key and quiet. So just the four of us celebrating Thanksgiving our style.
BabyMine
11-23-2009, 10:39 PM
Just the 4 of us. I haven't decided what to do for food yet.
gatorsmom
11-24-2009, 12:30 AM
Normally we spend Thanksgiving with my ILs in Texas, but with my dad's recently diagnosed bladder cancer, all those plans were put on indefinite hold.
After the last 2 months of driving weekly 3 hours away to my dad's house and helping him with appointments and recover from 2 surgeries, I"m happy to say we are ordering our entire Thanksgiving meal AND my dad does NOT want me to bring it to his house. So, DH and I will be eating alone with just our kids and we are both SO FRIGGIN RELIEVED. And I am just so dang excited to have a yummy meal all prepared that I don't have to do anything for. With the cancer all gone now and Dad on the mend from his last (very serious) surgery, AND me not having to travel every week to be with him anymore, we all have so much to be thankful for.
Normally, I go, with or without DH, to my mom's house three hours away. My brother is always there, and occasionally my sister. The past three years or so, I've arrived after a three hour drive on Thanksgiving day to find no turkey in the oven etc, so I ended up doing all the cooking and eating much later than we're used to. And since Mom has to work the day after, I don't even get to spend much time with her.
This year will be the first year since the year we got married that I'm not doing that.
My boss gave us a pre-cooked turkey, and I'm going to make DH's favorite stuffing that I love too. Maybe some baked sweet potatos (another thing DH loves) and some mashed potatos for me ('cause I can only eat a few bites of sweet potato). Canned cranberry sauce and store-bought dinner rolls. Maybe a store-bought pie, if I go get one today. That will be more than enough for our little family of three, and we will love the leftovers!
Now at Christmas, my sister is coming, and DD and I will spend most of the week at my Mom's house. DH will probably just come for Christmas day, in part because he has to work and in part because he prefers to just come for the one day.
DH's family doesn't really celebrate holidays. Last year we went the week after Christmas, but this year he said he doesn't want to go at all. They do the gift-card exchange I've mentioned on other threads, but there is no special meal, few decorations, no unwrapping of presents, no other traditions.
mom_hanna
11-24-2009, 12:41 PM
We are going to my sister's house (an hour away). It will be me, dh, ds, dd, and then my sister, bil, and their two girls. There may be another family coming - we know them too - and they have one daughter. So I think it will be 6 adults and 5 kids (3-7 years old). We will do the regular turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, lots of veggies, and I am making a rosemary pear tart and also bringing a pumpkin pie for the kids. Should be fun. The cousins love to get together, poor ds is still in a body cast, but it comes off on Monday!!!
mamicka
11-24-2009, 01:01 PM
Hosting 19 people here.
jgenie
11-24-2009, 01:49 PM
This year will be the first year since the year we got married that I'm not doing that.
My boss gave us a pre-cooked turkey, and I'm going to make DH's favorite stuffing that I love too. Maybe some baked sweet potatos (another thing DH loves) and some mashed potatos for me ('cause I can only eat a few bites of sweet potato). Canned cranberry sauce and store-bought dinner rolls. Maybe a store-bought pie, if I go get one today. That will be more than enough for our little family of three, and we will love the leftovers!
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your little family of three. We made the same decision the year we got married and although we miss seeing everyone it is nice to spend it just us.
lizzywednesday
11-24-2009, 02:06 PM
We're spending Thanksgiving with DH's family again.
This is not for a lack of invitations or being made welcome by my family, but the simple fact of the matter is that my dad's house is disgusting (and crowded) and my mom's parents have been very ill, so nobody's mentioned going up to see them.
My dad's mom will be out in PA for the holiday with my aunt & uncle and their kids & grandkids, while my sibs are probably going to have to fend for themselves. As usual.
I feel bad that nobody mentioned where my sister and the baby will be spending Thanksgiving because I was hoping to see them again (OK, the kid's 2 weeks old and I've "only" seen him 3 times; this is the most I've seen my family since high school) ... but there's always Christmas Cookie Baking coming up! (My sister wants to help me out with my baking this year, which is fine by me because then I get to spend time with her and the baby.)
going to Grandma's, which is literally over the river and through the woods.
Mom's doing the turkey + stuffing; we're bringing the (homemade) cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and dinner rolls, and maybe a dessert in addition to what others are bringing. Mom's hosting us, her cousin & cousin's husband, and my sister, BIL & 2 nieces are joining us for dessert.
It's possible mom might make a lasagna too-- we're Italian and often lasagna has a spot on the holiday table, whatever holiday it is.
We did Turkey day the year before DD was born for DH's and my family together. I would love to do it again, but now that the extended family is much bigger it's too much for our tiny house. Someday again.
We rent out a church hall. We get use of the cafeteria, gym, and field- big Turkey Bowl! My grandmother is Italian so we have all the Italian stuff to go along with the traditional menu. Talk about wearing elastic pants!!!
as crazy as it sounds it sounds awesome. Wow, I think it's wonderful that eveyrone is getting together. Love the idea of renting a hall :D
We'll be going to my IL's. not too crazy and we have to bring dessert. Fine by me, less cooking and less stress w/3 little ones
mommylamb
11-24-2009, 02:50 PM
My parents just moved to a town that is about an hour away. Before this, they were an 8 hour drive, and they used to come to us for Thanksgiving because it was easier for them to do that travel and because my sister and her husband live near us. So, this year we are going to their house for dinner. DH is so happy that we are not hosting!!! He is the cook in our family and as soon as we found out they had sold their old house, his first response was to whoop happily that he wouldn't have to host thanksgiving.
Thanks, jgenie!
I think we will. I just saw my brother and mother a couple of weeks ago; I wouldn't get to see my sister anyway; and I'll be seeing them all for an extended visit at Christmas.
I went to the store and bought a pie, and when I was in the very-crowded spice aisle, a very nice woman offered to help me find my spice if I'd help her look for hers.
Now I just need to tear up a bunch of bread so it can dry out before the big day!
arivecchi
11-24-2009, 04:15 PM
We will be traveling to WI to stay with the inlaws. I love staying there with them because I have more help with the kiddos. :) DH always loves being back home and DS1 loves it there too because he can play with gampa and be outside all day long (they live out in the country). MIL is also a fabulous cook. We have two celebrations, a small one on Thu with the ILs and a larger one on Sat with the entire family. We will be celebrating DS1's 3rd bday on Sat as well. I am so looking forward to taking a break from all the drama in my life! :boogie: I cannot believe my baby is almost 3!!!! :cheerleader1:
hellokitty
11-24-2009, 04:29 PM
Here I sit in front of the computer when my house is a mess and I haven't even started prepping any food yet. DS3 has been sick and really cranky, so I've been stuck holding him all day and now my entire body is sore. I'm hosting DH's side of the family and know that I will not get any help from them. Bil/sil and their kids are staying at our house too. I just hope that everything goes smoothly. At this point, I'm just going to cram clutter in the closets and do a very superficial cleaning of the house. Thankfully DH is taking care of the turkey and will help me clean.
LarsMal
11-24-2009, 05:23 PM
as crazy as it sounds it sounds awesome. Wow, I think it's wonderful that eveyrone is getting together. Love the idea of renting a hall :D
We'll be going to my IL's. not too crazy and we have to bring dessert. Fine by me, less cooking and less stress w/3 little ones
My aunt and cousin came over to bake with me today. We had 20 mini cupcake pans and made a ridiculous amount of mini black-bottom cupcakes. It was great! I found out the count is up to 130 for this year. It's crazy, but it's a lot of fun. I just wish there were couches! It's not the most relaxing Thanksgiving!!
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