<p>Iglooo, </p>
<p>Aren’t the turkeys frozen? If so, you NEED to get them ahead and keep them in the fridge to “thaw”. The turkey is my husband’s job, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it works!</p>
<p>We buy fresh. I order it at Whole Fields and then pick it up. I chose a Tuesday pickup, and double checked that it was okay. They said they last for ten days–I certainly wouldn’t try that :eek:, but I’m sure MOnday to Thursday should be fine.</p>
<p>Thank you for assuring me. I also get the turkeyfrom Whole Foods. I used to order but they have enough fot general sale. What is the advantage of ordering?</p>
<p>Put me in the loving the “idea” of Thanksgiving, but dreading the reality.</p>
<p>DH and I do all the shopping, cleaning, preparing, serving, cleaning up… with help from the kids. No problems there. Its the insanity of the relatives. Quirky in-laws that will either show up for dinner, after dinner… or hours late. Never an explanation, just show up when they show up. My mother, lives in in-law apt with us, shows up just in time to eat, tell everyone her latest health problem, then leaves saying… “let me know when its time for dessert” Sister and brother in-law, haven’t said a nice word to one another in years… along with nephew that still does not eat any food from the table. Sister spends the critical gravy making moments in my way, trying to make a home-made pizza. BTW… he is 13 yrs old.</p>
<p>So we sort of laugh our way through the insanity. Every once in a while we have a “stray” guest, and that makes things much better. Suddenly people act like “company” </p>
<p>I keep telling my kids, ages 15 and 20 that we really just need another generation to add some people so the crazy isn’t so obvious. Thankfully we all have a great sense of humor ;)</p>
<p>geezermom, I so identify with you with your mother.</p>
<p>My mother was fine until July this year, got sick, and last week we had to move her to a locked memory-impairment unit. They recommend we do not bring her out for the holiday since she is having a very hard time adjusting to her new location. Since you have lived through this you understand how heartbreaking this is. Some in my family don’t even want to have the holiday-I have never been a big fan of the holiday but I feel that for the kids we need to be together.</p>
<p>I do not know how we are going to get through it. I know we will but I just don’t even want to think about it.</p>
<p>Yeah, definitely in the dreading camp.</p>
<p>Iglooo–the “advantage” is that I don’t have to obsess on “what if they *don’t *have enough???” as I am wont to do. :)</p>
<p>I love Thanksgiving, and also believe in training the future cooks in my family. This year should be great, once we make it through the ice to get to the airport. We are visiting the kids where they go to school, and a friend I met here on CC has invited us to share Thanksgiving dinner. What fun!</p>
<p>Cheers to you all!</p>
<p>
I wonder how long it is from butchering to when it arrives at the store. Gotta be a couple weeks at least, right? You can’t package and ship millions of turkeys overnight, Americans consume around 45 million turkeys over Thanksgiving… a few more days should be fine. Maybe most turkeys are frozen, though.</p>
<p>Fun turkey fact from somewhere:</p>
<p>Most U.S. turkeys raised today are from the White Holland variety, which has been bred to produce a maximum of white meat (a U.S. favorite). In fact, the breasts of today’s turkeys are so massive that they must rely on artificial insemination because they can’t get close enough to mate.</p>
<p>I love Thanksgiving in the abstract, and mostly in the reality. This year I am stressed, though. The numbers coming over are a moving target, which is okay because I don’t mind cooking too much–leftovers are my favorite part of TG. But my house is still a mess, and I’m running out of time and energy to clean up. I usually go away on the weekend, but I stayed home to clean/prepare this past one. However, in the past week, not one, but two separate family dust-ups have developed, and I have spent almost all available time on the phone or in person trying to play peacemaker and/or shoulder to cry on, as the case warrants. It’s exhausting, and I feel I’m limping into TG with not enough done. Luckily it looks like those showing up are mostly people who love me and don’t mind if my house is a semi-wreck, and the food not too elaborate. There’s one newcomer (SIL’s new beau), and he will just have to suck it up!
I’m hoping that the emotional mindfields which have sprung up all over the place will lay fallow for one day…</p>
<p>NO Black Friday shopping for me–I’m looking forward to leftovers and a weekend down the shore.</p>
<p>“Are you sure that they didn’t do all that on purpose, so they’d never be asked to help again?”</p>
<p>That is so not my dad. He was mortified and my mom has never let him live it down! The guys have always happily done the dishes, it was just this one year it was a little more exciting than ususal! My sister, the family mischief maker taped notes to the inside of dishwasher doors the following year, and luckily it hasn’t happened since!</p>
<p>As soon as H gets home we will go get the turkey. Down a long gravel road to a little dirt road, to a long pine tree lined lane. Get out of the truck, farmer comes out in his boots and his biggest smiles. Hi’s all around, he asks how big a turkey I want, I say 16 pounds or so. He reaches into the pen grabs a turkey by the legs, with a quick motion he chops off the head and hands it off to his mother-in-law. In ten minutes I’ve got the freshest organic turkey you could want. If I am lucky there will still be some of his daughter’s dinner rolls left and I won’t have to make them on Thursday.</p>
<p>pepper03, these transitions with elderly parents are especially hard around the holidays, and it sounds like everything has happened so quickly for you. I’m so sorry. It is a painful adjustment and just exhausting. With my mother, the decline has been going on for five years, since a major stroke. It has been especially bad since this past spring. Getting together might be just what everyone in your family needs. Keep it very simple, and enjoy the day. You need a break from the stress. Now, if Thanksgiving is typically stressful in your family, I would have the opposite advice!</p>
<p>I love Thanksgiving. We host every year, H cooks the turkey,stuffing and some sides, I make the pumpkin pies, set up the tables (we bring out the china & silver) and clean the house, guests bring appetizers, more sides, more desserts and wine! </p>
<p>Our families are far away, so the guests are good friends of ours. </p>
<p>As for who’s dreading Thanksgiving, judging by the number of houses in my neighborhood with Christmas lights up and lit, I think a lot of folks here are planning to skip Thanksgiving…</p>
<p>I kind of like Thanksgiving, because it has the food but not the stress of gift giving and receiving. We raise our own turkey, the eating of which bothers no one but my H. He’s not a very good farmer One year when the kids were younger they grew everything we ate for Thanksgiving. That was kind of cool and a neat memory for them.</p>
<p>Both of my S’s girlfriends have Tday at noon, so we are going with 2:30. Probably several non-hungry people, but S1 girlfriend assured me she would pace her eating! Plus, if I’m gracious and flexible on Thanksgiving timing, I figure I get first dibs on timing of Christmas dinner:)</p>
<p>Wow! I’m far from a vegetarian, but I don’t want to “meet” my turkey before cooking him. I am a city girl and thankful for grocery stores and the frozen variety. </p>
<p>Have a great Thanksgiving everybody!</p>
<p>greenwitch - that cranberry liqueur looks wonderful. i am definitely going to make it for Christmas. Sadly my husband is not allowed cranberries, so I will have to drink it all myself. Should make cooking Christmas dinner less painful :D</p>
<p>I used to stress about Thanksgiving but no more. I know how to cook a turkey and make side dishes in the morning…so there’s no last minute rush.
This year, I have a crazy work schedule so I bought a pumpkin pie from Costco and and apple tart from TJs.
Just a small number of family members coming over…so no big crowds.
And my boys always clean up after dinner…with no prompting. I guess I’m lucky!</p>
<p>My first Thanksgiving dinners were very stressful. But a turkey is just a larger “chicken.” The meal is not longer intimating to me. It’s actually pretty straight forward; just a matter of scale. (ETA: cross-posted with toneranger)</p>
<p>The meal is usually my turf. I’ve made it that way, so I don’t resent it. This year there will only be 4 of us. Close to the same number of dishes as usual, just smaller quantities. I’d prefer a fuller house, but inlaws are with their inlaws and the friends that were going to come have some family issues to handle. It will nice. Intimate. Tiring.</p>
<p>But our son will be home with his GF. Haven’t see the kid since July. I can’t wait.</p>
<p>How can I dread Thanksgiving? Both my boys will be here and just want to hang out with us and eat. Life can’t get any better (well I could not have whooping cough, but this too shall pass).</p>
<p>Last week, I was looking forward to it. This week, not so much. Did NOT get as much cleaning done as I thought, and now I am in a small bit of panic. Lots of food in the fridge to prepare, 14 for dinner, and MY OVEN is malfunctioning! Repairman came today and said it needed a part that he has to order, but says we can still use it. Yes Mr. Repairman, but it takes 40 minutes to pre-heat, and says it is at 400 when it is really 300?! Have to go to work tomorrow, so I’m trying to not think about it. Maybe I’ll watch TV all night to avoid worrying about it.</p>