I just bought an 18lb turkey and there will only going to be three of us.
We have about 30 people and two 18-lb turkeys usually, at my sister’s, but I just remembered that my mom brings a fully cooked “spare” turkey and then usually has more breasts cooked for sandwiches. Plus some of the thirty have multiple obligations and parties so are eating multiple meals, cutting down on the required portion size. We also have lots of snacks amd hors d’oeuvres (needed to sop up all the alcohol consumed). So, I guess we have well over a lb per person!
I typically buy an 18 pound turkey for 10 people. We’re happy to have some leftovers.
Now I don’t feel so bad having a 16lb turkey for 4 of us.
In my house, the bigger the better! Whatever the humans do not consume, the cats will gobble up eventually. 
Leftover turkey is a great canned cat food replacement. I freeze it and give the kitties small portions as their “dessert.”
We eat ours until we can no longer stand the sight of it (usually by the Sunday after.) Then I make a huge lobster pot size of turkey soup, most of which I freeze in the containers we get from Chinese take away soup,
My late stepmom used to make a glorious pan of enchiladas with the leftover turkey. It was always such a nice change from the typical leftovers we had at our house.
I often do the same @Nrdsb4 making enchiladas suizas. Yum!
One year, I slaved for two days over a chocolate ganache torte. Guess what a guest brought, from a great bakery in her area? And I think there were only 6 of us, that time.
Both college kids were supposed to have classes on Wednesday, but in both cases at two different schools, the profs cancelled their classes. They will be home Tuesday night. Wednesday DW works so we will clean, cook and spend some quality type (puzzles, games, sing) while she is at the office. We make a somewhat traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but our sides can sometimes be non-traditional (like Chipotle Sweet Potatoes).
We typically set an extra place, just in case. In 26 years, we have probably had 6 of them with additions to the table.
Even if all of my kids were gone and it was just the two of us, I would likely make a scaled down version. Leftovers are great and we have a deep freeze.
@notelling, maybe I misread the chart, but she said 1 lb of turkey per person. For the four of us, that would mean a 4 pound turkey. I don’t think they come that small! I would never buy a turkey under 12 lbs. 14-16 is my preferred size. If I were having a huge number of guests, I would seriously consider buying two in that range instead of a 20 pounder. (It’s a moot point here, since a bird that big would not fit into my much-detested wall ovens. )
Regarding the pie, I always make two or three kinds of pie, even if there are 4 of us. Sure, a pie will serve one slice to 8 people. I like a pie extravaganza, and more left over to eat the next day for breakfast, at the least.
I usually cook about five kinds of vegetables from among my favorites: creamed spinach, garlic mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts quartered and browned in butter, mashed turnip, Himmel und Erde, mashed sweet potatoes with citrus, carrots (Pennies from Heaven), brown braised white onions. Plus stuffing, my favorite being classic bread plus sausage and apple or dried tart cherries.
I count on left overs.
Sounds fabulous, @Consolation. Especially the Pie Extravaganza!
Since you’re cooking at your son’s place this year, are you lugging a lot of your own cookware and cooking stuff with you or does he have a well equipped kitchen?
Turns out we will have a smaller group this year. The 5 of us (me, H, D, SIL and S) and very close friends who we celebrate with every year. There is a small possibility that the couple may have to cancel at the last minute (family situation) but their D’s will still be coming. We consider them family.
One more thing…One of the friends’ D’s might be bringing a long time friend of hers who has nowhere to go. She is more than welcome! If any of you know someone in a similar situation please consider inviting them.
Thanksgiving is a day-long eating and drinking feast in our house. We rotate among the three sisters’ homes and this year we’re at my house. All the cousins are coming (including two from the west coast - we live outside NYC), and my S just added 2 friends without plans, so we’re now at 17. About 7 will be running a local Turkey Trot and then all will convene for an afternoon hors d’oeuvres spread. Since 15 of the 17 will be spending the night, we’ll sit down for dinner when it’s ready (likely later than usual) and dessert will be served buffet style after all the cleaning is done and sweats and pjs have been donned. We, too, usually have more pies than people, but this year I think we’re going to hold the line at 6! And my S’s friend is a vegan, so I will tweak the menu just a bit. Menu for dinner will include many veggie dishes anyway, so all is good.
Sounds like that recent commercial…‘this Jaime, he’s a vegan’…for many Thanksgiving dinner is constantly in flux.
Not sure a vegan could find much to eat on my dinner table. Fruit salad, but even that often has a yogurt dressing.
Just took a quick inventory with DW…Cranberry sauce is the only vegan-friendly item on my menu. Lots of things for vegetarians, but I use a lot of butter and other dairy in my cooking. I could probably adjust some of my recipes to accommodate, but I would be unlikely to do so unless it was for an allergy or serious health condition. Just like I would not expect a vegan family to add butter and meat if I was visiting.
I serve brussel sprouts (roasted with olive oil), carmelized butternut squash with cider glaze (also olive oil), mashed potatoes (we’ll pull some for him and mash with almond milk rather than cream and butter), and roasted glazed root vegetables…honey, no butter. It’s not hard to tweak the sides, and he’ll have fruit for dessert! Oh, and since cornbread takes about 5 minutes to throw together, I’ll make a vegan version with coconut oil and almond milk/vinegar subbing in for buttermilk.
I have had vegans at my holiday tables and they are happy with a sampling of my side dishes. That usually includes a double portion of a green salad, carrot ginger or squash soup, sweet potatoes and a larger portion of stuffing. My stuffing usually gets some butter right before I bake it to give it that crisp golden top. Other than that those dishes are vegan as I use coconut or almond milk for the soup base.
I’ve never had a vegan ask me if any of the dishes contain butter and all of them have eaten the stuffing.
“… and roasted glazed root vegetables…honey, no butter.”
Not a vegan dish. (Honey is a bee-derived product, and true vegans do not eat honey).
Boy, vegans are really missing out.