Ok, I’ll go first. Things went well in areas I didn’t expect, so I could overlook the things that didn’t work. What worked: parents and my sister and BIL were here. We all went to East Texas and visited with three of my Dad’s living sibs. It was great getting 80 something together without it being a funeral. The next day, Mom walked far enough to shop together and now she has our Christmas presents bought. This is a huge relief for her.
What didn’t: I once again couldn’t give up control of enough of the cooking. I worked harder than I needed to, they would have done more.
Good . . . some relatives who were hedging on coming did actually come, and everyone had a nice time. My MIL with late stage Parkinson’s came as well. It’s sad to see her like this, especially when she used to get so much joy from doing big holiday productions. But I was really glad she could be here.
What didn’t work - I flew by the seat of my pants with the food, and barely came out OK. For some reason I procrastinated on some house work yesterday, which I did this morning, which threw me off.
All in all, thankful for another beautiful Thanksgiving. <3
Things that went well: I made all sides way ahead of time and put them in the warming drawers.
Things that almost did not go well: as I stepped outside to do the final turkey flip on the grill (see the Reluctant Gourmet method), I noticed that the grill was only at 150 degrees… We ran out of gas! Mr. quickly grabbed the spare and the day was saved! I could have finished cooking it in the oven, but my inner grill goddess ego would have been hurt. BTW, this turkey was the yummiest we ever had.
What went well: Over the last few years, I’ve progressively given up the “I must personally make everything on the table from scratch” syndrome. Today the turkey was pre-cooked, DH made the mashed, SIL made the sweet, the pumpkin pie was from the Savemart bakery, and the apple pie was frozen. The only things that my personal hands made all the way were my mother’s stuffing recipe, and the obligatory green bean casserole, which I’ve been trying to eliminate for years but can’t. (Today I was laughing with D’s BF’s mom about that casserole which she also can’t get rid of. She called it “classic tacky.”)
Also, I was able to surrender the after dinner-cleanup to SIL, not easy.
What didn’t go well: Nothing, really, except that I’m pooped. It was a simpler menu than past years, the stress level was low, and I had a good group.
After having to eat a (very) rare fillet mignon, Mr. makes sure to always keep a backup tank in the garage.
I survived a marathon of Jay Leno garage and Sex in the City… The fans of those programs kindly let me watch one episode of Anthony Bourdaine… the episode was about Turkey. Folks at CNN do have a sense of humor.
D took a fabulous video of our boy cat trying to steal a turkey bone off Mr.'s plate. I hope that someone with more spare time on their hands than me will put it on Youtube… it is really funny.
What worked? Immediate family and kids’ SOs were all together. Food was organized and prep staggered; I was ahead of the game and had two to do lots of vegetable peeling, so it all went smoothly when preferred dinner time moved forward two hours.
Probably made too much food, but I’m guessing that happens for many today.
I like this holiday: long weekend, meal to make and enjoy, great conversation and some tradition. I am becoming much more relaxed about all aspects of big holidays. Being flexible and letting go of perfectionism adds to the fun.
I accidentally set fire to the marshmallows I had put on top of the sweet potatoes, when I was trying to broil them. Otherwise, the meal was a success. The smoke detector did not even go off!
What worked-I did a lot of the prep and assembly yesterday, so today was very relaxed. We had a late addition to the guest list and they fit right in with the group. Thankfully, H and the boys perfected their turkey frying technique and the new fire extinguisher was not needed!
What didn’t work-After dinner we tried to FaceTime with my family in NJ and found that my mom was tired from helping my sister cook and had fallen asleep. She will not be happy to know everyone else was able to “chat and play” with my 2 year old granddaughter. We will set up another session for her this weekend, and next year we will call before dinner!
I picked D2 up from college yesterday. We spent our day hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, then went out for a nice dinner. It was stress free and a lot of fun! We talked with all the other relatives via phone today, too.
Son visiting, had new neighbor over. Pleasant company, meal items ready at the same time, others helped after dinner cleanup… better weather now in Tampa.
Had talked to relatives earlier in the week so no trying to reach people. Done cooking for the week and rest of son’s visit (was here 2 years ago, we were in there last year). No needing to figure out meals- kitchen stocked and refrigerator filled with many dishes. Stress of prep gone.
The bad- the Packers played poorly and lost. Good for da Bears’ fans, though.
Today was all about H and his 3 siblings. This was the first Thanksgiving they were all together in 30 years as one brother lives in Canada now and he’s always been away or working this time of year. It was a small group but they really enjoyed having the time together and telling stories-there is a big age gap between the older two and younger two (dad was in the military). H smoked a turkey and it was amazing. I made sides and pies. I was even able to maintain my careful eating so as not to mess up my weight loss journey. The only bad was the pumpkin cheesecake. It wasn’t pumpkin-y enough and the cheese was too lumpy. But a win was D and my recreation of a cheese and spinach dip we discovered back east after finding the recipe and the right cheese finally!
Our dinner with friends was delicious. My husband has been brining and roasting the turkey on a Weber kettle grill for about 25 years, and it always comes out perfect, juicy and just a hint of smoky. Our sides were pared down in quantity for four people, it was great. Daughter made it to my mother’s in Maine thanks to my Rhode Island cousin and we Skyped with everyone after they had their dinner.
One negative, my daughter seems to have lost her cell phone, she thinks maybe in the dorm elevator, she was upset, but it is insured, so though a pain, it can be replaced if it doesn’t get turned in. On the continuum of problems, not the worse by far.
This was a different kind of Thanksgiving for us - we’ve almost always celebrated with my mother and with brother and family, often hosting, otherwise usually restaurant. But we moved cross country earlier this year then Mom passed away. DS lives in our old area and went to brother’s. DH and I went on our own to a nice buffet at a nearby hotel but it didn’t really feel different from any Sunday buffet. I’ll have to rethink next year but really no one in our family wants to travel over Thanksgiving if they don’t have to.
I had no family in area, and went to a friends house. She had 3 huge tables,q and more friends than relatives. Actually, only 4 relatives and probably 40 people. I had far better time than expected.
I think we need to start a new tradition, as this Thanksgiving was really boring…does that makes us Normal…LOL referring to that other thread.
Good: I have the dinner down pat and it all came out delicious if I say so myself. My boys are still in college so they were with us.
Bad: I’m estranged from my two siblings and mom right now…long, long, long story. So the holidays without the elder relatives that we adored are over, as many deceased. The gathering is small and quiet with just us, BIL and whoever he brings. We didn’t always all get together, but we are a talkative bunch, and DHs family is not…so the conversation was quiet and sometimes seemed non existent. Honestly, it just wasn’t fun.
The thought of getting together with non family members for a big pot luck sounds great…it just seems evetyone has plans, and I’m not sure DH would want to do that. He misses all the talking, too, though.
Good–all the disfunctionals functioned, in the non-boring sense of the word, lol.
Also, A lot of good food was brought by others, which complemented what I made.My last-minute old friend had a great time and got along with everyone. My kids were staggeringly fun and funny, as usual. The visiting dog behaved. It was nice to see my recently widowed brother out and having a good time. My sister and mom were extremely helpful, as always. Oh, and my H had all the vegetables chopped before i even got up in the morning.
Bad–my kitchen is still tiny, and the bigger than usual crowd made logistics horrendous. More times than I can count, I’d be standing with something in my hands and no where to put it down. The changeover from dinner to dessert was especially challenging.
BTW, this turkey was the yummiest we ever had.