My 7 year old son actually cooks more than his older sister. But both know their way around a kitchen and have well developed palates. I’ve been cooking with them since they were tiny. One of the silver linings of covid lockdown is that we’ve increased their visibility into more of the day to day cooking and project management of keeping the house stocked, meal planning, etc. It’s an important life skill, for sure. i’ve started a tradition (well, hopefully it will take hold) that the kids get to research and design a menu and then execute it (with some help as needed). I guide them toward age/skill appropriate recipes and make it open ended. they have a lot of free choice with guard rails. then I order whatever ingredients are needed – teaching them how to read the recipes and make a shopping list. then on a weekend day i get them started early in the prep so that we can try to eat at a normal time. I’ll pitch in with a side or so, but they do most of the work. It’s been terrific to help them not only expand their range of techniques and comfort level, but also teaching them about all the effort and planning that goes into getting a family meal on the table. I’m sure they will be better for it. And there’s no question that my propaganda campaign from birth about healthy eating and fresh, real foods has taken hold.
Yeah - he may be waiting for a while…
The ricotta was delicious. I could eat it by the spoonful.
You are officially my hero. Gives me hope for my almost 6-year old who likes to help me in the kitchen. Eating, eh, not so much.
That’s a great way to encourage awareness and grow life skills! It takes more time than doing it yourself, but they are learning how to cook, and you are also creating memories. Lovely!
Hey everyone, nice to hear all the great suggestions. I’ll need to check in with my Mom soon to see what she’s planning on. The usual has been one turkey for Tday, one turkey for leftovers with lots of sides. Food is what our family comes together around my whole adult life and it’s been really weird not to be able to do that comfortably/safely. As someone who’s been working in Grocery Retail throughout this whole mess, I’m very conscious of interacting with others outside of work. I actually had a conversation with a customer the other day about Thanksgiving and reminded her that eating inside with folks outside of her household was a probably not the best idea.
I think our household of 3 might do something of a super scaled down version involving my hubby’s famous parkerhouse style dinner rolls, turkey/chicken, gravy, smashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Having leftovers for sandwiches is at least a little bit of acceptably safe “old school normal”.
This is key–the daughter of a friend of ours enjoys making meals from Hello Fresh (and in fact did Thanksgiving last year from their pack), but the prep times Hello Fresh gives are probably half what it actually takes her, so we always eat late when she’s cooking. The kitchen often looks like a tornado came through, so there’s that also. 
Then again one of my aunts used to season “with wild abandon”, as I called it, sort of flinging the salt shaker or whatever in a wide arc which made the whole stove area look like a salted pretzel.
Then again, I’m the “clean-up-as-I-go” sort of cook, where all the spices, etc., are put away while the meal is cooking so there is space for the dirty dishes later.
My daughter just did a Hello Fresh meal!
When we were in our early years fresh with our grad degrees and starting our professions, we had Thanksgiving as OUR holiday. With our friends. No break long enough from classes to travel… We’d put Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” on the stereo, smoke a bong, cook a communal meal, laugh at the jiggling jello mold and slept where we dropped.
Christmas was obligatory with laws and in-laws and snowy travel, scheduled appearances, fussy unappreciated Christmas gifts and a lot of people we were glad only to see once a year, including Uncle “Squeeze Me” Ed the old drunk pervert.
Oh perfect on the Thanksgiving part - I especially love the Alice’s Restaurant aspect, and just crashing in place!
Creepy Uncle Ed, not so much @retrospek…
It really isn’t Thanksgiving without that song. Medium Sized H & I drove to my sister’s in Delaware (when she lived there) and always, always, managed to hear it at least once on the car radio during the 3ish hour trip. I think if we hadn’t, we’d have just kept on driving 'til we did.
hoping to spend t-day with friends who live close by.
but, i was a very good girl scout (sort of:), so just in case i have to spend the day alone (and on zoom), i picked up a couple of turkey thighs on sale and stuck them in the freezer. also dried some cranberry-pecan bread for stuffing. next trader joe’s trip, i’ll get a carton of turkey gravy and hope for the best.
I keep the CD with my Thanksgiving china!
That’s cheating! It has to just happen. Of course, if you’re not spending 3ish hours trying to get out of Manhattan and then creeping along the NJ Turnpike, the odds of it “just happening” are lower.
I’ve been alone as a young adult with a long-distance relationship at Christmas. And now, with Covid, we’re going to be a bubble of two. Might drink a lot of bourbon and eat turkey potpies on tray tables. Pre-screening for the retirement home.
I did a coffee spit take just now. 
If I recall correctly, you probably heard it on WNEW from New York at 12 noon on Thanksgiving! We always made sure to be listening at that time!
That is very likely. I think all stations are required to play it at least once, like a PSA.
Heidi - I’m so sorry for your loss. I haven’t been as actively on the boards and missed this entirely. We just lost my dad 3 weeks ago and my mom is coping but the hole that remains is so big. Sending you a big (masked) hug from here.
I don’t recall the song Alice’s Restaurant " ( I DO remember the sitcom), but I was just reminiscing about the WNEW jingle!
Also, if I haven’t said so already, I am also sorry for your loss.
That was Alice, adapted from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and is no relation to the song. But shout out to Linda Lavin, who is awesome.
