Ran across this comprehensive list of 99 Thanksgiving questions and answers over at Leite’s Culinaria. From planning to leftovers, they appear to have it covered.
I’m having fun falling down this rabbit hole. (Some annoying pop-up ads as you read, but I find them easy enough to swat away.)
We were in Harvard for a few days early last month and stopped at Bob’s Turkey Farm in Lancaster to stock up on turkey pot pies for the winter. I also bought 2 quarts of turkey gravy in anticipation of Thanksgiving dinner. We have a small, fresh turkey ordered from a market in Orleans and have invited a friend to share our meal. And I don’t have to make gravy!! ( I hate the last minute business of gravy-making.) What have you decided to do about yours?
Wise of you to plan ahead! I read a Boston Globe story last week saying that all of the turkey at Bob’s had already been spoken for—they’ve never seen anything like it.
This year I decided to order turkey and gravy from Lilac Hedge Farm. I thought I’d be able to pick up in my town, but next week’s pickup point that will be most convenient to me is in…wait for it…Harvard.
I decided on a whole bird this year because I missed being able to make stock when I roasted just a turkey breast last year. And we hope to have a couple of vaxxed friends stop by to partake in next-day leftovers. Even thinking of making a turkey pot pie or two.
Here’s the link to the Globe article with the commentary from the owner of Bob’s Turkey Farm, for those who are able to access it (paywall). A main point is that locally raised poultry is in especially high demand this year. Area supermarkets quoted said they were well-positioned with frozen turkeys though prices are higher and selection of sizes more limited.
This year, The Day will be hard, as it’s the actual date of (and the 2nd anniversary of) losing my Mom. 
I was invited to my sister’s sister-in-law’s house, and will be going…with the caveat that I might need to step out for a bit if I get overwhelmed. Waiting to hear what I can bring…probably wine. (Her SIL’s husband is a former chef, so I expect he has everything food-related already planned.)
I’ll still be making my own private meal either Friday or Saturday, as I mentioned back in October in the thread. I bought a turkey breast awhile back, so that and homemade gravy are a definite, as well as sour cream mashed potatoes with TPSTOB. But since it’ll just be me, I expect I’ll jazz up the rest of the sides, and I have a couple things in mind already. Dessert might be something apple-y, might be something pumpkin-y. Might just be chocolate ice cream that’s in my downstairs freezer. We’ll see how I’m feeling leading up to it all.
How good to know that you’ve planned your TDay and the weekend in a supportive way. Your approach sounds perfect.
T-day a bit odd here this year. I have a 20lb turkey for 5 people, 2 of whom don’t really like turkey but will suffer through a bit of it. Last year, my in laws became eligible for a free turkey due to spending a particular amount at a store. They claimed their turkey, but all the store had was giant ones. Thereafter, MIL suffered a heart attack and passed a few months later. FIL is alone with a 20lb bird. So he brought it here. Feeding 5 is better than feeding 1 with this monstrosity. Among the other odd things, 1 kid doesn’t like cranberries, gravy, sweet potatoes, or pumpkin. Basically all the food right? The other doesn’t like gravy or sweet potatoes. The husband doesn’t like dishes that are too heavy or cream based. Or cheese based. The only thing all of us like and eat are stuffing, mashed potatoes, some type of green veg, and apple dessert.
One kid left this year for college. So suffice it to say, t-day this year will not be about the food. It will be about family bonding time.
What a great plan, Linda. It’s also terrific that you alerted your family that you might not stay. I have done that, and it helps to know I have their support. I hope the day goes smoothly for you.
We are headed to Chicago this weekend to see my family pre-Thanksgiving - I hate traveling over the actual holiday so this works out perfectly. I’ll be doing a small celebration at home this year, with DH and maybe a couple of friends. Unfortunately, I won’t be back to shop until Tuesday, so I’ll be stuck with whatever I can get. Who knows, maybe I’ll go buy lobster! I usually don’t make turkey (or I just do a couple of legs for DH), so no biggie if I can’t find any. Plenty of duck/chicken/turkey stock in the freezer from last year for gravy, which is all DH cares about! For me, stuffing is key, and I made my baguettes today - will toss them in the freezer and pull them out on Tuesday to oven dry.
Best to travel before the madness. And I’m with you on the stuffing…the best part of Thanksgiving (as long as it’s mine!)
Somehow, your description sounds totally normal for 90% of Tday celebrations, excluding and sending condolences for the loss of your MIL. It’s about the people, although we all pretend it’s about the food.
This year, Td coincides with a double family birthday. Our menu, dare you ask: ham, rack of lamb, chicken on a stick, roast carrots, two batches of stuffing, mashed potatoes/gravy (?..guess I’ll make faux beef), lemon cake with lemon frosting, vanilla cake with strawberries and whipped cream inside, vanilla butter cream and strawberry halves outside. Think I may go AWOL.
Yikes! AWOL indeed.
Virtual hugs to you, @LindaWhit.
(I like to eat or drink something that the person I’m missing loved on those days, to have a happy memory of them. If it wouldn’t be remiss, perhaps you could bring something with you that your mom enjoyed, either food or drink…)
Sorry for the loss of your MIL - im sure it was a hard holiday for your FIL, husband, and all of you.
This is our normal thanksgiving menu, plus two gravies.
We do make a sport of grazing for several hours prior, though - that’s where I like to have fun!
Mom stopped drinking many years before she passed, as it interfered even more with her unsteady balance (she had Parkinson’s), but I’ll toast to her in my private dinner on Saturday, even though she didn’t like wine. I have a nice bottle of Paul Hobbs Russian River Valley Chardonnay that I’ll probably open.
We never had this the whole time I was growing up. My mother always canned our homegrown green beans and we would just eat those alone as a side dish. I only met this Campbell’s soup concoction as an adult when I would go to someone else’s house for Thanksgiving and always thought it was a gloppy, salty mess. No nostalgia for it at all.
^ Same. The first time I encountered that green bean casserole, I remember thinking that it seemed like something out of the mind of an old-school home ec teacher. Now I know thanks to @bbqboy!
Yet I can see the appeal for folks who grew up with it. Lots of us have nostalgia foods we eat during different holidays (though I don’t have any Thanksgiving ones myself).
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, and is the only holiday I have nostalgia for some foods I’ve eaten since childhood - which for me are oyster dressing and pickled eggs and beets. Haven’t had either of them for years, and am making both to have with our Thanksgiving dinner (the eggs are halved and go on a relish tray with the beets and other stuff).
Thank you for the condolences. She passed in Feb, so she hung around for last year’s holiday season, but the heart attack was in Oct prior, so yes it was hard and not very celebratory at all for my H and FIL.
That green bean casserole was what I cooked for my first dinner party, my cousin’s husband’s 40th bday dinner. I went out and bought the canned soup and Durkee fried onions to make it. It wasn’t something I grew up with.
Veggies and dip, Roast chicken, stuffing, green bean casserole, potatoes, Greek salad, Safeway banana cream pie .
I like Campbell’s mushroom soup , and things made with canned soup, so I don’t mind the casserole, although I would use fresh or frozen green beans instead of canned green beans. Need to find a way to use a few cans of green beans that someone bought for our pantry in March 2020.
Then there’s always the fancy approach https://www.seriouseats.com/homemade-green-bean-casserole-recipe
I made sweet potatoes with marshmallows for the first time last year. I’m in my late 40s .
