I just wanted to throw in too for those spending the day alone or perhaps with a spouse or very small gathering, maybe even look beyond the food and plan a day that you might not usually have. Find a series to binge watch that day. Start the day with a big puzzle. Drive and visit an outdoor area for a hike. Bring your dessert in the car and go watch the sun set.
Keep busy and before you know it, it will be Black Friday. (ugh!) 
I’m still trying to decide if I will do just a turkey breast or if I’ll do chicken. I am definitely having stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, and brussel sprouts. I will probably just buy a pumpkin pie. Really all I want is stuffing!
It is warming my heart to see so many here and your scaled back plans. We can make this festive, darn it!
I’m feeling much more in the spirit! And looking at other options but I think I will cook. Probably a turkey breast. Filling out my Wal-Mart pick up order, much easier than shopping.
I was feeling down because I’m not feeling comfortable going to Trader Joe’s or Costco to shop for holiday goodies. They are a bit of a drive away.
@abasket good point! I will not be going for a hike though. Thanksgiving is hard for us non hunters here in Michigan. Too many guns and hunters in our woods! But we may go on a drive. Or try to do something. But between zoom calls, cooking dinner, and watching the Lions, it could be a full day. The drive just may have to wait until Friday
It will be just H and I this year. 3 of our sons live cross-town, in our main house (we moved to our investment home 6 months ago, when youngest son, who has since returned upstate, came home from college) and they don’t want to be with us because the eldest is a letter carrier and is always out and about. D is in the western US with her fiance.
I don’t really like turkey but if I had to eat it, I prefer dark meat. H is a white meat guy. We are going to order a $30 dinner for 2 from one of our local food stores. It comes with both light and dark meat, a choice of apple/sausage or mushroom stuffing (I’m ordering mushroom because I HATE it and I want to avoid the calories), choice of mashed regular or sweet potatoes (I love sweet potatoes, so H will make himself some mashed regular since he prefers his to anyone else’s). There’s cranberry compote, which I will eat as H only likes the disgusting jellied stuff from the can. It comes with a couple of other things as well. We plan to buy an apple pie at Costco and split it with the boys, who are planning to get Chinese food.
I don’t plan to cook anything.
I will chat on the phone with each child as I despise video chat.
Where are my ham people at???
We like ham, but I don’t want to go into the Honeybaked ham store (or any other.) The stores we use for curbside pickup seem to mostly carry Smithfield ham, which I refuse to buy.
In prior years when it was just the two of us, we sometimes had rock cornish game hens or various seafood dishes. Several years we bought a bunch of frozen fancy appetizers and baked a few of each type. We’ve done that for Christmases when it was just the two of us as well.
I didn’t know until last week that H went to Trader Joe’s the minute it opened one morning and bought two of their turkey en croute then hid them in the freezer. I ordered cranberries for our last curbside pickup and will cook them with some orange marmalade. Usually H has to watch his carb intake but he splurges on holidays.
@“Youdon’tsay” I like ham now and again but our family doesn’t associate ham with Thanksgiving (as we’ve seen here, different families have different traditions). Ham to me is for Easter, occasionally Christmas( but we have gravitated toward beef tenderloin for Christmas now for many years). I do like Honeybaked ham and Smithfield ham though on occasion, just not interested in it for Thanksgiving. I’m not a turkey fan at all but eat it once a year and Thanksgiving wouldn’t feel like Thanksgiving without it!
Though I commented above that we are choosing to make a traditional dinner, I am a big fan of just doing what you want and what sounds good to you. We’ve moved around a lot and for various reasons have often had to spend holidays away from family. On those days we just make what we think we’ll like. When my daughter was little we made fondue for Christmas Eve. It’s now our tradition. My extended family has a tradition Easter meal that’s fine, but not my favorite. Last time we weren’t with them we made a beef roast because that’s what we felt like.
It will most likely be just 4 of us, and my son is a vegetarian and his girlfriend tries hard. We were considering ordering Indian, but our favorite place is closed. So we will get that Weds or Friday.
So far we are most looking forward to the “fancy” carrot cake (hard recipe) and apple pie with ice cream, plus spinach artichoke dip. Hopefully my aunt will drop off Parker House roll dough (it’s my son’s favorite T-day food). We haven’t decided if we will do a turkey or turkey breast, or maybe just get fixings for crab dip and live on dips and dessert. There will likely be mashed potatoes and some kind of green - probably just fresh green beans.
Ham wasn’t the main course for ANY dinner at our house because my father didn’t like it. Then Honeybaked ham was invented. We use to get it for parties or for the extra meat (we have a big family with big boys - we needed extra food). We also have several people who don’t like turkey at all.
Really, side and pie are the main attraction at our house.
As you know, I just got online!!! I would do a Turkey breast in the crockpot. Do your favorite side dishes only. It will be easy Peasy! I did Turkey breast like that a few years ago as extra and it tasted just the same.
@silpat check out your Honey Baked Ham store online. You can choose between:
-Reserve for In Store pick up or
-Home Delivery or
-Curbside pickup
Solo here, and sort of happy for it. I like cooking Thanksgiving food and endless left overs but it is usually a lot of work. My usual Thanksgiving buddies are all at home and we will not gather, two couples. My kids are elsewhere. I have proposed that we make some of the usuals, but drop off ahead of time at each others houses. Making pumpkin and apple pies once a year is a joy for me, so will bring them each a pie. I want a bit of dark meat if someone is willing to share, and will make my usual cranberry sauce to share and bake some yams. Perhaps stuffing, perhaps not.
It is my off work holiday, but you may have heard that hospitals are a bit busy now. I can cook the day before, drop off food, work for someone who has a family and then have my own solo meal later, on the couch watching something.
I have very fond memories of having Thanksgivings in Germany. It was always quite an adventure trying to get some semblance of the right ingredients.
About not enough pies when the number of you is small: I have 6" springforms. Cut the recipe back and you can have several types (!) Or freeze an extra 6" for another time.
@conmama - would you please share how you do your crockpot turkey breast? Do you do boneless or bone-in? Do you brown it under the broiler afterwards?
There are just three of us. I plan on a bone-in turkey breast (already have it in the freezer) and sides made by me of cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and green bean bundles. I bought Sister Schubert rolls today. I told ds he had to choose between pumpkin or pecan pie because I wasn’t making two pies for three people!
We like to eat around 1:30 - 2:00. What does everyone do for breakfast on TG day?
We eat the Thanksgiving meal at our regular dinner time-around 630 or 7. Won’t do anything special for breakfast.
This year won’t be any different for us really. Just 3 of us. Sometimes we have extended family over, but that’s rare. Extended family did want to join us this year but I told them no due to Covid.
Many years we just order Thanksgiving dinner. But my college senior DD wants to cook this year. We are still planning the menu. She is vegetarian, so it will be mostly traditional sides. I’m going to buy a chicken for myself. The third member of our little family is on a special diet entirely. So we’ll spend most of Wednesday cooking after DD gets home from college and Thursday we will hang out together, eat, match movies, and play games. If we aren’t too stuffed, we’ll go to the drive-in movie or to see the drive thru Christmas light show after dinner (we’ll probably be too stuffed though).
@Hoggirl , it’s been several year but I did boneless breast… I think I just put in a little stock and cut up onion, carrot for flavor. It literally tasted just the same as my roasted Turkey. I always go to recipes.com, so I will refer you there for a bone-in.
We typically eat at 1 or 2, but since it’s just us, it will be noon. DS girlfriend family eats at dinner and he goes there too, so this will make it a little easier for them. She comes to mine also.
If you have an instant pot you could brown the turkey breast and then set for slow cooking so you have a browned outer skin.
Breakfast is usually a purchased sweet like cinnamon rolls or scones and then some protein like scrambled eggs.