What Will Your Thanksgiving Be Like?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Mine will be bland, Midwestern, and dull to the point of madness.

Mrs. Homie and I will head to Grandma Jean’s house, where the family has been eating holiday meals for decades. Aunt Joanie, who is in charge, will tell us to be there at 11:30. What that actually means is that Mrs. Homie and I will leave the house at 11:45, make the five-mile drive, and be the first ones there. Others will start turning up around 12:00 or 12:30, some stragglers won’t be there until around 1:00.

When the last of the stragglers shows up, the oven will finally be turned on for the breads & casseroles & such. There will be much talking about the best order to cook things in, but it will be a solid 45 minutes before anything is actually put in there.

When the food is finally out of the oven (around 3:30), Cousin Mandy will ask if she can pray. She will say three Hail Marys, four Our Fathers, recite the Nicene Creed, thank God for every soldier who died in war this past year (naming them each by name), and invoke God’s blessing on Our Great President Donald Trump.

After a meal of uninspired, bland, Midwestern food (the meat cooked to the point that you can snap it in half), the family will retire to the next room for “visiting.” That means that they will spend hours poring over minutiae like the pilot light going out in the furnace at Hooten Holler First Baptist, or Maudy Frickett needing gall bladder surgery.

I will bring a fun board game to play, and everybody will look at me like I have horns growing out of my head. After two hours of crushing boredom, I’ll drive home and Mrs. Homie will get a ride from her mom. Then Mrs. Homie will give me an earful about being rude and leaving early.

I hate Thanksgiving, if you haven’t already guessed.

2

My Thanksgiving was all right. I spent it with my dad and sister. My dad cooked turkey breast because we didn’t feel like making a whole turkey.

3

For the first time in years, we’ll be hosting it at our house, instead of going to my mom’s.

That basically just means my mom and stepdad will come here for dinner. Like HeyHomie, it will be quiet and boring. The biggest difference is that the food will be amazing this year, since my wife is making it and she actually likes to cook.

At my mom’s in past years, it would be hushed and somber, with annoying classical music tinkling out of her stereo in the background, forced bits of reciting what we’re thankful for, and never enough food (my mom and stepdad have appetites like small squirrels and assume everyone else does too. one year the mashed potatoes my mom made for the entire family fit in a cereal bowl. It was placed in front of me, so I thought it was mine and ate it all. Whoopsie.)

It’s this time of year when I miss living in SE Michigan by my wife’s family. Everyone’d gather at her aunt’s house, football blaring out of the TV, the booze would be flowing, the food was varied because it was potluck and it was a rip-roaring nice time. No hushed tones, no classical music, no going around and telling what we’re thankful for, and everyone left with their top button open.

I’m gonna try to move things closer to that type of Thanksgiving this year, even though it’ll just be two old adults, two children and my wife and me. It should be…something. Short, if nothing else.

4

Everyone will gather at my house - about 14 people including me and my husband. We cook the turkey and everyone else brings the sides. We tell people to come at 4:00 (and they do) and will sit down by 4:30 to eat. We’ll say a prayer and then dig in. Most everyone helps with the cleanup. We use Chinet plates so not a ton of dishes to do. Once the supper dishes, etc. are cleared, the desserts come out. We eat once again and clean up once again. Then we kind of break up into groups - some watch TV, some talk, some play a game, some just sit and watch us play a game. Everyone is out the door by 8-8:30.

It’s pretty calm and always a nice day.

To the OP - Why are you all gathering so early?!! UGH

5

In the culture of my wife’s side of the family, time is meaningless. It’s not just holidays - for any event, “be here at 11:30” means “leave the house at 11:45.” Nothing ever starts on time, and truthfully, a four-hour delay between the announced start time and the actual start time is just par for the course. That’s just how it is around here. Drives me up the fucking wall.

6

If I were you, I wouldn’t arrive until 3:00!

7

The rudeness would cause a rift in the space-time continuum.

8

My dad is in his nineties, and my mom is in her eighties. We try to make the most of every holiday, because one of these days it will be their last one.

9

I imagine ours will start out hectic; we’re having my wife’s aunt, uncle and cousin over, and we’ve also got our two small boys to contend with.

So we’ll be making some of the dishes that morning- I suspect the rolls and a few others, and some will have been made prior to Thursday (green bean casserole, dressing, cookies/desserts, turkey, cranberry sauce)

I suspect we’ll end up eating around 12:30-1. Afterward, we’ll probably hang around- the boys will probably go out into the backyard if the weather’s good, and if not, they’ll just play indoors. Meanwhile, the adults will hang out/watch football/do dishes until probably around 4-ish when I imagine the visitors will leave.

There won’t be any conflict or anything like that, unless the boys decide to be recalcitrant and not clean up or behave.

10

Work thanks to all you internet shoppers who just have to have your purchases the day after. :wink:

Actually it won’t be bad at all. Another couple we’re friends with and us will get together at the one buffet around noon for an early feast and fellowship. What family I have left around here I am not close to and with actually having to work that day a trip out of town isn’t in the works. So its that and then into Da Jungle from 5-11pm.

11

Early Thanksgiving last night. Mom, me, daughter, daughter’s boyfriend. They will be spending Thanksgiving with his family and were up here for other festivities, so I suggested an early holiday, thinking we’d all go hit a restaurant. Nope, daughter wanted a “real” dinner. Mom was kind enough to make the turkey and stuffing, I made the mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. Other than mom trying to overcook the turkey and my green bean casserole not being hot, it was pretty darned good. We chatted a lot - Mom got caught up on daughter’s life away from family. She also learned more about the boyfriend’s family, which was kind of neat. He’s pretty quiet, but talked quite a bit.

On actual Thanksgiving, Mom and I are going out for dim sum, then I’m coming home to curl up. Family Thanksgiving will be on Saturday at my sisters’ house. No idea who all will be there. One of her sons has a ‘difficult’ wife and it’s a crapshoot as to whether they will show up. I don’t really blame them - Sis and her husband have been very unpleasant towards her. With our family dynamics, I’d rather stay at home, but I know Mom wants to go and I tend to be her protector against the vultures.

12

We’re hosting this year, so we’ll end up with about 10-12 various family members, and this year there’s a couple new babies, so that’ll be fun!

Mr. Athena and I will probably spend a lazy morning drinking coffee & Baileys, maybe a Bloody Mary. I’ll be throwing the turkey in around maybe noon. There’s a better than average chance the first bottle of Champagne will be popped before 2.

I’m making turkey (not overcooked), gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, a pie. I’ll probably also have a plate of finger food out for nibbling during the afternoon - some charcuterie, cheese, deviled eggs.

Family will show up around 3, bringing even more food. We’re a family of good cooks, so the salads & desserts & sides they bring will be really good. My nephew has been known to bring a ham. We’ll all have some drinks and yak and play with the babies until it’s time to eat.

After dinner everyone helps clean up. Depending on who’s working on Friday, we could hang out for several more hours, listening to music, finishing off the wine, talking.

It should be fun. I can’t abide dull holidays, so I do my best to make sure they’re not.

13

Another turkey day at the In-laws. There will just be 5 of us, FIL, MIL, BIL, wife and me. MIL’s cooking skills have taken a drastic nose dive as of late. Last year the turkey was a survivor of Desert Storm, she added sour cream to the mashed potatoes because they tasted bland and she added BBQ sauce to the gravy. She said she had a pumpkin pie for dessert, it was half a Costco pie that had been in her freezer from the previous Thanksgiving. My wife and I are making many of the items for this year and taking them there. For many years I put out an impressive spread for thanksgiving, the past 5 years or so has been rather disappointing.

14

For the fourth year in a row, we have not been invited to my cousin’s for any holiday. We think that, with her new grandchildren, there’s no more room at the table. So we’ll be having a traditional Chinese dinner. The only question is eat-in or take-out.

15

There’s just the two of us, so we go away for a couple of days. https://snowbirdlodge.com/

My birthday is always Thanksgiving-ish (11/24) so it’s a nice present, and a nice break for both of us. The food is divine, and meals are included in the cost of the room. They pack you a bag lunch (or a knapsack lunch if you want) so you can eat when and where you want to. There’s a giant fireplace going all the time, squishy chairs and couches, lovely scenery and walks to be had, good beds, tea and coffee for the taking, and a quiet adult atmosphere. Looking forward to it.

16

Mine will be held this Sunday, as several family members work on Thursday next. At least they aren’t in retail, they are in hospitals, and at those you can’t turn off the lights and go home.

We will be smaller, due to deaths in the family, and an illness, but it will be fun for family to gather. The menu will be pretty standard, but my aunt “Reta” always brings a great cake. She gets them from a bakery in her city and brings them up here to Kansas. I always bring the breads, its what I do, as a baker. This time it will be wheat rolls. My cousin’s husband makes fantastic pies, I look forward to them. I’ll also do dressing.

17

We’re driving to Ocala to spend the holiday with my husband’s family. My daughter and I are pretty much taking over the kitchen, as my MIL is 87 and going blind.

We’ll probably be eating around 2, then snacking thru the evening. My BIL will sit on his ass the whole time, because he always does. Chances are my husband and FIL, or maybe my BIL’s wife, will do the dishes. There will be too much food, and BIL will try to take a lot of it home with him.

After it’s all done, my husband and I are heading to Ft. Lauderdale to board a ship for a 10-day cruise - that’s what I’m really looking forward to.

18

A slightly lighter than normal workday. It sounds selfish on my part, but I’m actually glad when a major holiday falls on a workday. There’s no drama-filled tug-of-war as to which part of the family I travel to visit, to the slight of the others.

19

Son is getting married out of town that Sat. We are flying in on Thurs, and have been invited to dinner at the future in-laws.

Details have been sparse, so I’m just planning on smiling and being as flexible as possible - that eve and throughout the weekend!

20

Thanksgiving Day itself, wake up early, go to church and start cooking. When the first turkeys come out of the ovens, I usually end up on the box line for people who can’t get out of their homes or are unable to cook their own dinners. I typically get delivery duty as well, so about 11 I start making delivery runs to peoples homes while the wife and kids serve the people coming in. I usually spend at least ten minutes with everyone who is alone so that they have someone to talk to, then on to the next house and back for more food before the delivery period is done. Usually finish up at about 3 and clean up time. I’ll wash dishes and put away tables and chairs for a couple of hours. Around 5 or so, I’ll pack up the boys and go to my mom’s house where we’ll spend the night.

Next day, wake up at 7 and prepare the turkey and throw it in the oven. Then I’ll probably play with the kids or maybe chat. The real cooking will start around 10 or so, so I’ll diffel around the kitchen. If my brother is there, we’ll usually start talking sports. I’ll head in at about 1130 to start making mashed potatoes, so will peel for awhile and put them on the stove. Talk and chat until 1230 or so when the turkey will come out. I’ll carve it up and start moving stuff to the buffet where we put the food along with everyone else. Then we’ll all sit down. Someone will pray, maybe my 11 year old or maybe my Mom. Then we go around the table and say something we’re thankful for and then sometimes go around a second time and say something else. Usually Mom gets a couple of grandchild hugs in there somewhere. Someone always says something funny and someone always goes tear-jerking sweet. We might mention that we miss Dad. Then we’ll go make our plates and chow down. After eating ourselves sick, we’ll talk about how good the meal was and how we liked or didn’t like the new way that someone made something. We’ll talk about our weeks, catch up on gossip. Usually we’ll end up sitting at the table for an hour or so while the kids drift away to play or read. Mom will ask what time we’re planning on leaving and I won’t know. There might be some pre-cleanup going on during this period. People drifting to and from the table washing their plates or packing up a dish. Around 130 or 2, we’ll drift into the kitchen and start covering dishes and putting away the stuff that needs refrigerated. Wash a few more dishes. Then we’ll all drift to our different relaxation spots around the house. A game will inevitably get turned on and my brother and I will talk about sports for awhile. Within a little while, I’ll end up on a couch asleep. I’ll wake up during the four o’clock hour and help with the clean-up. I’ll pick on the turkey for awhile, might grab some more noodles. I’ll end up with a leftover bag of all of the stuff that Mom and my sisters don’t want to eat later in the week. I’ll eventually round up the boys and say our goodbyes and head home. I’ll call Mom that evening and we’ll talk some more about how it was nice to see each other. Then I’ll look at all of the wife’s Black Friday purchases and she’ll get all excited about all of the stuff she got and the great deals she managed. She’ll insist I try some stuff on and she’ll model a few outfits herself. Then we’ll put the boys to bed and spend the rest of the evening talking or watching some show. Then to bed and that’s all there is to say about that.