guster
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Post by guster on Nov 17, 2017 7:12:08 GMT -6
Tell me about your Thanksgiving menus and your Thanksgiving traditions.
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guster
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Post by guster on Nov 17, 2017 7:14:52 GMT -6
It's my favorite holiday. That might change now that I have kids, because I'm finding Christmas so extra magical, but I really like that it's a holiday just based on food and family. This year will just be the four of us, so I want to play around with my menu, and try and reinvent some of the classics in a different way. I'm a stickler for the parade being on in the background on Thanksgiving morning, and I'd like to watch it while eating cinnamon rolls and drinking hot coffee.
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Sunny41
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Post by Sunny41 on Nov 17, 2017 7:24:51 GMT -6
We are non-traditional for the holidays based on when SD is scheduled to be with us. We get her on the 3rd & 5th weekends and Thanksgiving is usually the 4th. We used to try and go to MIL later in the weekend for the meal but don't since she moved away from the other part of family. This year I may order the pre-prepped meal from the grocery store. It was pretty decent when we did that one vacation. MH and I actually met the day after Thanksgiving 10yrs ago! I wish we could have a special night to celebrate it. But that weekend we are going to make tamales with friends. It would be fun if this was a new tradition.
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guster
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Post by guster on Nov 17, 2017 7:26:54 GMT -6
MH and I actually met the day after Thanksgiving 10yrs ago! I wish we could have a special night to celebrate it. We got in gauge is the day after Thanksgiving! My husband knew how much the holiday meant to me and wanted to extend the fun of it for me! *engaged, not in gauge
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Sunny41
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Post by Sunny41 on Nov 17, 2017 7:31:13 GMT -6
MH and I actually met the day after Thanksgiving 10yrs ago! I wish we could have a special night to celebrate it. We got in gauge is the day after Thanksgiving! My husband knew how much the holiday meant to me and wanted to extend the fun of it for me! that is really sweet!
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lfig
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Post by lfig on Nov 17, 2017 7:53:52 GMT -6
MH did not have a great family life growing up. So holidays are not a big deal to him, he’d just as well go on like it’s another day. But I grew up getting together with family for all the holidays and it was such a special time I like to continue that. MH is kinda a grump leading up to it, but always ends up having a good time.
So this year we will be going to my parents house for Thanksgiving. It will just be a small group of about 10 because as everyone has gotten older families have extended and there are more obligations to juggle. But I’m soooo looking forward to it!
ETA: menu will be pretty traditional with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, and my favorite part....pies! Pumpkin and chocolate will be my indulgences but there will probably also be pecan pie as well.
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joelies
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Post by joelies on Nov 17, 2017 8:55:02 GMT -6
In my 20s, my Mom's kitchen is where you'd find me and all my friends on the day before Thanksgiving, drinking wine and sneaking bites while she and I made fudge and other treats. We'd usually be too drunk to go out that night. Then I'd spend Thanksgiving morning with DH and his sister, working at a local restaurant that did a big meal for the needy. I'd worked at a country club through college and always had to work on Thanksgiving day, so I didn't care too much about the meal itself for years. We'd usually end up with DH's parents or extended family.
Since we bought our house, we do Thanksgiving. My Mom comes the day before to help with the prep and then both sides of the family come for dinner. Everyone brings a side. This year there'll only be 9 of us but last year was 17, I think? We also have the parade on in the morning - the boys love it - and football on later.
My most memorable Thanksgiving though was when Colin was a week old. I was so exhausted and out of my depth. We hosted but really, our families handled all the food and didn't leave until every last dish was cleaned and put away. It was probably one of the happiest days of Colin's first few months.
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Post by wineallthetime on Nov 17, 2017 9:38:16 GMT -6
We go to SILs and then my grandma's for Thanksgiving. It's getting to be a lot though, so next year we may just opt for one celebration!
We have pretty traditional food, but my favorite dish is a carrot casserole. It sounds gross, but it's carrots, Velveeta, tons of butter and some crushed saltine crackers. I tell you, it's the favorite at every party.
We also always have a peppermint stick ice cream dessert at my grandma's. It's a layer of chocolate, big layer of peppermint stick ice cream and then topped with crushed pecan sandies and chopped heath bars. Yum
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Post by melaniesue on Nov 17, 2017 9:43:49 GMT -6
I love Thanksgiving but will be spending it with the in laws. Which means she’s ordering ham and other stuff from a cafeteria. It reminds me of school lunch food. The gravy is like jello. Last time I told her I wanted to still make my grandmothers cranberries and dressing but she said no, no cooking. I said it’s my way of incorporating my family tradition. She still said no. So my thanksgiving is going to be lame and gross.
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Post by wineallthetime on Nov 17, 2017 9:45:02 GMT -6
I love Thanksgiving but will be spending it with the in laws. Which means she’s ordering ham and other stuff from a cafeteria. It reminds me of school lunch food. The gravy is like jello. Last time I told her I wanted to still make my grandmothers cranberries and dressing but she said no, no cooking. I said it’s my way of incorporating my family tradition. She still said no. So my thanksgiving is going to be lame and gross. Ewwww! You should just make it and bring it anyway as a surprise!
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vino
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Post by vino on Nov 17, 2017 10:02:08 GMT -6
I love Thanksgiving but will be spending it with the in laws. Which means she’s ordering ham and other stuff from a cafeteria. It reminds me of school lunch food. The gravy is like jello. Last time I told her I wanted to still make my grandmothers cranberries and dressing but she said no, no cooking. I said it’s my way of incorporating my family tradition. She still said no. So my thanksgiving is going to be lame and gross. Terrible! Who says no to any home cooked anything. What a Thanksgiving Grinch that woman is.
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guster
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Post by guster on Nov 17, 2017 10:05:34 GMT -6
We go to SILs and then my grandma's for Thanksgiving. It's getting to be a lot though, so next year we may just opt for one celebration! We have pretty traditional food, but my favorite dish is a carrot casserole. It sounds gross, but it's carrots, Velveeta, tons of butter and some crushed saltine crackers. I tell you, it's the favorite at every party. We also always have a peppermint stick ice cream dessert at my grandma's. It's a layer of chocolate, big layer of peppermint stick ice cream and then topped with crushed pecan sandies and chopped heath bars. Yum Can you mail me a little bite of each one? I don't think I like it-- it sounds even too weird for me, but I would love to try.
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guster
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Post by guster on Nov 17, 2017 10:06:55 GMT -6
I think I get the salty fatty crunchy carrot dish, but the peppermint chocolate pecan heath bar dessert doesn't even remotely go together.
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guster
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Post by guster on Nov 17, 2017 10:07:47 GMT -6
I love Thanksgiving but will be spending it with the in laws. Which means she’s ordering ham and other stuff from a cafeteria. It reminds me of school lunch food. The gravy is like jello. Last time I told her I wanted to still make my grandmothers cranberries and dressing but she said no, no cooking. I said it’s my way of incorporating my family tradition. She still said no. So my thanksgiving is going to be lame and gross. Ewwww! You should just make it and bring it anyway as a surprise! I think you should make it and keep it home that way you have a yummy leftovers for the rest of the weekend.
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cagoldi
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Post by cagoldi on Nov 17, 2017 10:27:08 GMT -6
I'm not much into faux meat so we're just doing some Fall food. Just say no to Tofurkey roasts.
I'll probably make Lentil Shepherd's Pie, roasted Brussels sprouts, biscuits, and a butternut squash soup.
Not sure about desert yet but pies are easy enough to veganize so I'll probably try apple and pumpkin.
We're just doing a little dinner here on Friday since my aunt is having Thanksgiving at her house.
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Post by melaniesue on Nov 17, 2017 10:44:01 GMT -6
I love Thanksgiving but will be spending it with the in laws. Which means she’s ordering ham and other stuff from a cafeteria. It reminds me of school lunch food. The gravy is like jello. Last time I told her I wanted to still make my grandmothers cranberries and dressing but she said no, no cooking. I said it’s my way of incorporating my family tradition. She still said no. So my thanksgiving is going to be lame and gross. Terrible! Who says no to any home cooked anything. What a Thanksgiving Grinch that woman is. She is super grinchy. I’m so exited to drive for 9 hours for horrible food and a woman who makes slide remarks (like when I told her Millie was a lot like me and she agreed that she is super manipulative) luckily we will only there for two full days and Friday will be spent with friends. I’ll be living vicariously through all of yall’s yummy dinners. Oh. And I’m totally taking Hillary Clinton’s book to read. It will really piss them off 😂😂
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cagoldi
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Post by cagoldi on Nov 17, 2017 10:51:55 GMT -6
Re: traditions, my SM is Mexican and the women in the family usually get together the day after Thanksgiving to mass assemble tamales. Hundreds of them. It's seriously labor intensive but many hands make light work and then we take them home and freeze them, and everyone has plenty to last through Christmas.
We always have tamales on Christmas Eve.
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cagoldi
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Post by cagoldi on Nov 17, 2017 10:59:52 GMT -6
Oh.
I do have that one story about the Thanksgiving I ruined by accusing my parents of incest:
I was 10.
My paternal grandmother was super into genealogy and would always tell stories about my great x 5 grandparents. We knew exactly who came from Ireland, and when. We also knew that we could trace our tree to Charlemagne, and we knew exactly which of our relatives came here on The Mayflower. We knew that our great-grandmas were suffragettes, etc.
So all this background info is in my mind, and my maternal grandma whom I had very little contact with comes over Thanksgiving morning, and she brought her family tree. These things interested me so I eagerly began to look it over and discovered, to my horror, my mom and dad had the same relatives on The Mayflower and at Plymouth!
I ran downstairs to tell my mom and she said, "oh yeah. I remember discovering that shortly after we married."
In tears, I accused her of hiding the fact that she and my dad were cousins.
Apparently I was a very dramatic child/pre-teen.
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Post by flamingo on Nov 17, 2017 11:04:54 GMT -6
guster , I'm with you, I love Thanksgiving b/c you don't have the commercialism and pressure that comes with Christmas--it's just family and good food. Plus my birthday usually falls on Thanksgiving weekend so that's kind of fun. We are hosting this year...my parents, sister/BIL, and BIL's parents (who live about 3 hours from us and are great). We have pretty much the same meal every year. Christmas, we mix up...ham, turkey, prime rib...but Thanksgiving is pretty static, maybe plus or minus a dish here and there. Luckily it's all good. Our menu: Traditional roast turkey, dressing, and gravy, Sweet potato casserole (pecan topping, no marshmallows allowed), Green beans, Broccoli salad. Corn pudding, Sister Schubert dinner rolls, and Cranberry sauce (yes, the stuff in the can. I don't get it, but there are some in my family who cannot survive without it.) My sister's MIL loves to bake and is bringing pumpkin and pecan pies.
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guster
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Post by guster on Nov 17, 2017 11:20:18 GMT -6
guster , I'm with you, I love Thanksgiving b/c you don't have the commercialism and pressure that comes with Christmas--it's just family and good food. Plus my birthday usually falls on Thanksgiving weekend so that's kind of fun. We are hosting this year...my parents, sister/BIL, and BIL's parents (who live about 3 hours from us and are great). We have pretty much the same meal every year. Christmas, we mix up...ham, turkey, prime rib...but Thanksgiving is pretty static, maybe plus or minus a dish here and there. Luckily it's all good. Our menu: Traditional roast turkey, dressing, and gravy, Sweet potato casserole (pecan topping, no marshmallows allowed), Green beans, Broccoli salad. Corn pudding, Sister Schubert dinner rolls, and Cranberry sauce (yes, the stuff in the can. I don't get it, but there are some in my family who cannot survive without it.) My sister's MIL loves to bake and is bringing pumpkin and pecan pies. Will you share your sweet potato recipe? Because mh is avoiding processed sugars, I won't be making the sweet potatoes with the marshmallows that is delish, but figured i could do a pecan (& oat) topping instead. I've been researching paleo recipes for it on as off all morning, but I'm so overwhelmed with the sheer amount. I'm sure yours calls for butter and brown sugar and maybe even maple syrup, but I know I could substitute coconut oil and agave.
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cagoldi
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Post by cagoldi on Nov 17, 2017 12:37:07 GMT -6
Pete just reminded me of two traditions:
We always watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Not exclusive to Thanksgiving because it happens at every family party at their house, but my uncle has a huge music room so all the guys end up going in there and jamming well into the night.
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nam2013
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Post by nam2013 on Nov 17, 2017 12:47:37 GMT -6
We don’t have thanksgiving 😭😭😭. I’m jealous.
ETA of the food that is 😉.
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inthekitty
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Post by inthekitty on Nov 17, 2017 13:21:48 GMT -6
Lol at the Thansgiving incest accusation cagoldi. Our tradition is to rush past it to get to the better holiday of Christmas? J/k...kind of. I've never cared for Thanksgiving. I always found it really boring as a child. Traditions changed in my grown-up years. We used to spend TG with my in-laws, then when my MIL decided to reduce functioning I started hosting, then when she decided to stop functioning we went back to celebrating it with my parents because my FIL doesn't care enough about holidays to come to my house just for TG. We eat. I don't like turkey meat unless it's slathered with cranberry sauce...really I'd be happy with just the cranberry sauce as I become increasingly vegetarian as most meat grosses me out. The thing I look most forward to is scouting out the Black Friday ads and I hit the stores with my mom. Friday morning we're usually done shopping by around 9 so I come back home and watch some of the Macy's parade. Open season begins on all the Christmas movies. I love Thanksgiving weekend because it usually is time to curl up on the couch after everything is done, I just never cared for TG day that much.
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guster
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Post by guster on Nov 17, 2017 13:25:23 GMT -6
Lol at the Thansgiving incest accusation cagoldi. Our tradition is to rush past it to get to the better holiday of Christmas? J/k...kind of. I've never cared for Thanksgiving. I always found it really boring as a child. Traditions changed in my grown-up years. We used to spend TG with my in-laws, then when my MIL decided to reduce functioning I started hosting, then when she decided to stop functioning we went back to celebrating it with my parents because my FIL doesn't care enough about holidays to come to my house just for TG. We eat. I don't like turkey meat unless it's slathered with cranberry sauce...really I'd be happy with just the cranberry sauce as I become increasingly vegetarian as most meat grosses me out. The thing I look most forward to is scouting out the Black Friday ads and I hit the stores with my mom. Friday morning we're usually done shopping by around 9 so I come back home and watch some of the Macy's parade. Open season begins on all the Christmas movies. I love Thanksgiving weekend because it usually is time to curl up on the couch after everything is done, I just never cared for TG day that much. I forgot that you're my cheesy holiday movie buddy. I made a separate Netflix profile called holiday and I've been storing movies in there for the last week or so. My latest favorite is called A Dogwalker's Christmas Tale"
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inthekitty
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Post by inthekitty on Nov 17, 2017 13:59:54 GMT -6
Lol at the Thansgiving incest accusation cagoldi. Our tradition is to rush past it to get to the better holiday of Christmas? J/k...kind of. I've never cared for Thanksgiving. I always found it really boring as a child. Traditions changed in my grown-up years. We used to spend TG with my in-laws, then when my MIL decided to reduce functioning I started hosting, then when she decided to stop functioning we went back to celebrating it with my parents because my FIL doesn't care enough about holidays to come to my house just for TG. We eat. I don't like turkey meat unless it's slathered with cranberry sauce...really I'd be happy with just the cranberry sauce as I become increasingly vegetarian as most meat grosses me out. The thing I look most forward to is scouting out the Black Friday ads and I hit the stores with my mom. Friday morning we're usually done shopping by around 9 so I come back home and watch some of the Macy's parade. Open season begins on all the Christmas movies. I love Thanksgiving weekend because it usually is time to curl up on the couch after everything is done, I just never cared for TG day that much. I forgot that you're my cheesy holiday movie buddy. I made a separate Netflix profile called holiday and I've been storing movies in there for the last week or so. My latest favorite is called A Dogwalker's Christmas Tale" Yay! I'll definitely watch it. My friend recommended Christmas in the Clouds and Borrowed Hearts on Prime. I haven't seen them yet.
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wedding
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Post by wedding on Nov 17, 2017 14:14:23 GMT -6
We alternate years between my family and DH's. This year is my family, which is much better food but more chaos. My mom is having 25 people this year and there are 3 newborns and 4 older kids. It's going to be insanity!
We do a traditional meal but my mom is like a gourmet cook so it's all amazing. I'm excited.
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Post by xolastunicornxo on Nov 17, 2017 14:21:50 GMT -6
I love thanksgiving! The last few years we just stay home and celebrate with us. When I’m not pregnant we will pretty much just drink and eat and watch movies all day, so pretty much the most perfect day ever. This year I’ll just be doing the eating and movies obviously! We will have a lazy morning and dh will make a yummy breakfast, then around 11 I’ll set out appetizers (meats and cheeses and such) and we will snack all day until dinner. We won’t do a turkey when it’s just us, so we switch up out meat portion. Sometimes it’s ham, sometimes tri tip or tereaki. We will still do stuffing (because it’s my favorite) sweet potatoes and usually cream cheese corn and a salad. For dessert I’ll either make a pie or a cobbler.
Most years dh works the day after because he typically takes a whole week off at Christmas. I’ll spend the day putting up all the Christmas decorations, doing Black Friday shopping online, streaming the hallmark channel for Christmas movies and eating leftovers!
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joelies
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Post by joelies on Nov 17, 2017 14:47:57 GMT -6
cagoldi - That story is hysterical, though it brings to mind our first Thanksgiving with both my parents and my ILs joining us. It came up that both DH's and my paternal grandmothers have the same maiden name. It's nothing particularly rare but between that and the fact that DH look similar (my Mom upon meeting him for the first time said "he looks more like your brother than your brother does"), and oooh boy did my Dad have a field day. He and my Mom tend to be a bit crass while my ILs rarely unclench, so THAT was fun...
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Post by peachsmama on Nov 17, 2017 14:53:21 GMT -6
cagoldi - That story is hysterical, though it brings to mind our first Thanksgiving with both my parents and my ILs joining us. It came up that both DH's and my paternal grandmothers have the same maiden name. It's nothing particularly rare but between that and the fact that DH look similar (my Mom upon meeting him for the first time said "he looks more like your brother than your brother does"), and oooh boy did my Dad have a field day. He and my Mom tend to be a bit crass while my ILs rarely unclench, so THAT was fun... People always think my mom and dad are brother and sister. It's made for some odd encounters lol.
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inthekitty
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Post by inthekitty on Nov 17, 2017 17:11:25 GMT -6
I'm laughing at the bonding over shared experiences of suspected family incest.
Ah, the ties that bind...are possibly too close in some families.
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