# Okay, so what are your plans for Turkey Day? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275 "2013-11-19T18:20:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/21 "2013-11-19T20:35:36Z")
My mom is hosting and all my sibs, the assorted spouses, and some friends will be present. There will also be at least 5 dogs - 2 cockers, a greyhound, a pug, and a shih tzu. That alone will be most interesting… I’m bringing pies, others are bringing other dishes. We’ll have the usual bird and smashed potatoes with gravy and assorted sides. I could list right now who will drink too much and get really loud. And chances are we’ll leave fairly early because we have the longest drive. Not as long as our Christmas drive - we’ll be heading about 800 miles south to visit my husband’s folks. rah. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/22 "2013-11-19T20:38:58Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > The two of you who still insist on feeling sorry :: turns around, trying to figure out whom Mika is talking about :: What means this phrase “feeling sorry”? ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/23 "2013-11-19T20:40:08Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Same old same old. For the 30th year in a row, we will be heading out to camp in the desert with a core group of friends. The three males have been doing this since 1984, the wives lesser time spans. We divide the various meals between us, and have set roles in the holiday presentation. The wife and I handle Wednesday night’s meal - this year it will be Italian. For Thanksgiving proper, there will be a small turkey, sweet potatoes, dressing, pea salad, gravy, rolls, several wines, afters, and a few pies. I’ve vowed to bring my own pie this year, since everybody else likes Harvest pie (pumpkin chiffon or some such shit) and I can’t stand it. Give me mince any day. All of this being done at least 50 miles from anything even remotely civilized (if you call Amboy “civilization”). Coleman stoves, propane ovens and a big pit for the turkey. Much alcohol will be consumed, what with bloody marys for breakfast, beer all day long, margaritas at 5-ish, wines with dinner and bourbon around the fire. > > A fine time will be had by all. Anything to avoid spending time with “family.” This sounds totally kick ass. Maybe I can convince the Hubby to do this next year. We have a nice little river property (camping style) in WVa, that would be perfect for this. We are hosting my parents, and my sister’s family (sister, husband, three boys). Crab dip Sausage dip Smoked Ribs Roasted Turkey Breast Mac-n-chee Cucumber salad Mashed Potatoes, gravy Stuffing Some other veggie, don’t know yet, likely coleslaw Sour cherry pie Pumpkin cheesecake ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/24 "2013-11-19T20:42:20Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > :: turns around, trying to figure out whom Mika is talking about :: > > What means this phrase “feeling sorry”? I’m talking to the birdie on your shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/25 "2013-11-19T20:42:25Z")
One word… **TURDUCKEN!** ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/26 "2013-11-19T20:49:38Z")
OH YEAH! I forgot - when we got the annual invitation to T’giving this year, it was mentioned there would be a turducken. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/27 "2013-11-19T20:50:53Z")
Hubby is back at the job where he works a lot of weekends and holidays, and since he works every Thursday, he’s working on Thanksgiving, his usual PM shift basically 2-10 pm. There’s no extended family thing to go to, so I’ll be sitting alone at home, probably working because what else is there to do. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/28 "2013-11-19T21:09:58Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I’m talking to the birdie on your shoulder. That’s a wyvern. Didn’t you notice that it was breathing fire? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/29 "2013-11-19T21:22:57Z")
I’ve going over to my sister’s house, where a coterie of friends and family (numbering about 15 if I’m counting correctly) will sit down at a dinner with ham (yeah!) and turkey, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, rolls, baked beans, three kinds of stuffing (because, y’know, some people HAVE to have the right kind of stuffing), sweet potatoes and a half-a-dozen pies. None of which I will have to cook or clean up after, and for that, right there, I am thankful. After which a number of us will sleep, a number will chat, and I’ll grab a few souls and go play some board games. We’ll probably be home by dark, though. Madame P. doesn’t drive so well in the after-hours anymore, and I don’t drive. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/30 "2013-11-19T21:36:23Z")
Work. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/31 "2013-11-19T21:49:00Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > The two of you who still insist on feeling sorry for m T’giving (See how that works?), please don’t! T’giving will be wonderful this year as it has for the last couple! I will spend it with my other half. We’ve now been together 17.5 years and are still happy together. We will make a nice meal or buy a nice meal, eat it together, and give thanks that we have each other. The food will be delicious. We can eat it in our pajamas. We don’t have to be dragged shopping or be social, we can spend it with the person we love the most in the world. We’ll call our families and wish them a heartfelt wonderful day. That Saturday also happens to be my birthday this year, and Sunday, I will put up the tree. > > What could be better? I’m just sayin’ that if you’re not eating the food when it’s piping hot, then someone isn’t quite doing it right. Part of the pleasure I take in the cooking process is making sure that everything is done on exactly the right schedule to be enjoyed at optimal temperature. It’s a little like those Food Network cooking shows. 🙂 But when it comes to alternate traditions, to each their own. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/32 "2013-11-19T22:18:52Z")
We will, hopefully, have the usual Thanksgiving dinner with parents, kids and spouses, and grandkids. But my dad and mom may have to beg off and go to Texas. My elderly uncle, my dad’s last remaining sibling, is very ill, and may not live until the 28th. This preys on my dad’s mind, as it would make him the last surviving member of his generation, with no brothers or sisters-in-law either. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/33 "2013-11-19T22:21:31Z")
Traveling to the Bay Area to have Thanskgivikah (Chanugiving?) with the in-laws. We’re staying near my wife’s parents up on the Peninsula from Sunday to Friday, but will be spending the actual Day Of down in San Jose at my sister-in-law’s place. Their kitchen is sized more appropriately for all the cooking; plus my MIL is getting a little old and tired to deal. Given that this will be the last time the first day of Chanukah falls on Thanksgiving in (practically) forever, barring an unlikely consensus to rejigger the Hebrew calendar, we may try to work latkes in as one of the potato courses. For the first time since she was born, our daughter will not be with us, as she has decided to stay at college to work on final papers for the semester. Can’t say as I blame her, given the hell of air travel around Thanksgiving, but we’ll miss her. A lot. Might set her up on video chat at the dining room table. We get baby brother (who’s taler than me, now, grrr) for a couple more Turkey Days, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/34 "2013-11-19T22:31:53Z")
I can’t wait for Thanksgiving! I’ll head down to my family’s house on Wednesday and spend the night. We’ll probably play a bunch of games and chat and then on Thursday drive to my grandpa’s farm with our contributions to the spread and we’ll play more games and do more chatting, maybe go for a walk in the fields and have a hot, fully cooked thanksgiving dinner with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, more pies than you can shake a stick at and lots of wine, beer and soda for the kids. After the dinner we’ll move to the yard and chat around a bonfire until the fire’s died down and the kids will make smores. And then we’ll get back in our cars and drive home smelling of smoke with happy tummies and good feelings. I love the holidays because I’ve been blessed with a wonderful family and I am thankful for that gift every day of the year, not just on the fourth thursday of november. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/35 "2013-11-20T00:46:11Z")
Can someone explain to me why people start threads/OPs with “OK, so”? Why don’t they just skip straight to the third word? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/36 "2013-11-20T01:29:19Z")
Discourse marker, mate. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/37 "2013-11-20T01:54:40Z")
It’s ten times less stressful that spending that day walking around on egg shells around my brother and sister in law. I’m not alone, so I and some of my friends will be heading to the casino for an all you can eat buffet, some gambling, watch the games, do some drinking, etc. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/38 "2013-11-20T02:47:07Z")
I celebrated with a meal back in October, and I haven’t yet made plans for next year’s Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/39 "2013-11-20T02:52:09Z")
Grumble. I’m being dragged to my SIL’s house this Thanksgiving. 6 hour drive to Tacoma Wednesday night, cook the pies that night, cook turkey and ham on Thursday. My in-laws make a holiday meal of Dickens-esque orphanage food and Super Bowl appetizers. Some sort of gruel made with egg noodles, huge trays of carrot and celery sticks, toast wedges with peanut butter, etc. Every goddamn year it’s the same junk. The ham and turkey are, really, the only decent food available. Guess who cooks the meat? They’ve invited 15 people, all from out of town… which means they all will be staying there overnight. Likely until Saturday at the earliest. 15 people in a 3 bedroom doublewide mobile home. Kill me now. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275/40 "2013-11-20T03:00:28Z")
My brother, who is usually good for hosting Thanksgiving, is skipping town this year. Because he has been so very good about hosting it, I’m refraining from trying to inflict any family guilt, and I’ll be having dinner for the rest of the group, which consists of my father-in-law, brother-in-law, Mr. Legend, our two daughters, and me. Back when I was first married, our combined families used to have a giant meal together. My mom, my brother, and I took turns hosting the actual dinner; the host household would make the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. My mom and I made pies, my brother made rolls, and my mother-in-law would bring a whole bunch of side dishes. My cousins would stay at my mom’s house, and once we all had kids, I had a giant sleepover with all of the little ones at my house. At the peak of things, we typically had 20-25 people, including cousins in the region and their kids, but now the kids are all grown and many of them have spouses and kids of their own, so they have their own gatherings. My mom and mother-in-law both died three years ago, leaving me and my brother as the only people with both a house to host the dinner in and the skills to produce it. With him out of town, that means I’ll be pretty much it, although my daughters will be here for the day and will help. If I were smarter, I’d cut back on the fixings, but whenever I try that, someone gets wistful and I give in. So we’ll be having turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, cucumber salad, Harvard beets, succotash, green beans, mandarin orange salad with candied almond dressing, baked sweet potatoes with apples, and homemade rolls. For dessert, we’ll be having apple, cherry, and pumpkin pies with real whipped cream. My older daughter also claims she’ll be making pumpkin bread, but her flight gets in at 9:30 Wednesday night, so we’ll see about that. This is way more work and food than is warranted for a group of six, but we’d all be depressed if we didn’t have it. Each of the above items is something that means Thanksgiving to at least one of the people in the family, so it’s worth doing. And with all these preparations, we can easily accommodate strays, so there’s a chance we’ll pick up a couple of extras we can impress with the spread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-what-are-your-plans-for-turkey-day/674275.md?page=3)