Some people hate cooking for Thanksgiving

[Phentex]

I feel like we've done it so much, it's down to an art. I prep a day ahead, spouse handles the bird, make rolls and potatoes day of, heat everything, set the table and eat!

Close friend despises cooking but her family wants to have Thanksgiving dinner. She looks for a place to eat out. They want to eat at home. So she ordered everything and picked it up last year. Now she said she hates having to heat things up. Looking for a buffet to eat out instead. But her adult kids want to cook and said they would. LET THEM, I said. But she feels like she'll end up having to help. It's one day. I can't offer her any further advice.

I can't wait to eat turkey for a week!

[Walleye]

1. When I was growing up, my father had a little photo studio in Dover

He did a lot of business in family portraits right before the holidays. So mom, who was finisher on the prints, had no time to cook Thanksgiving dinner. We always went out to a place called the Dinner Bell. there were about 20 of us all together at the family dinner and they always reserved a table for us. It was fun. My favorite dish was fried oysters, not turkey. Course it’s all different now.

[Phentex]

7. as far as I can tell

people just want to be together and kids want to gather. Yours sounds like it was a great memory!

[Scrivener7]

2. I love doing it, but I always feel like I've run a marathon when it's done.

[Phentex]

8. Friday is a holy day

nobody moves aside from the dogs getting walked

Then we have friends over for leftovers and games on Saturday

[enough]

3. Absolutely, let the next generation cook, and then to come to

family Thanksgiving as an enthusiastic guest!

[Phentex]

9. I think they are looking for tradition

even pizza could be fun if everyone was together.

One of my sons lives across the country and he does a friendsgiving. Yeah, the day before I get text messages about some of our traditional sides, but that's how they learn!

[bamagal62]

4. I usually order

Things that are difficult to mess up, like the turkey, mashed potatoes, Salad, bread rolls, pies, etc.
Then I doctor the things I order to make them taste better. I make the most important things like my dressing, green beans, sweet potato casserole, and my “must have” scalloped potatoes from Frank Stit’s Southern cookbook. My kids always make homemade blueberry crumble. I hate cooking for Thanksgiving. But I sure do love to eat it!

[Phentex]

10. It's one of two days I wish I had two ovens

just for heating things up. I use the toaster oven, warming drawer, and now an air fryer with the point being I think heating things up isn't that hard when you get to eat all the delicious food

[bamagal62]

15. I used to have a warming drawer!

Boy, do I miss it! I used it all the time. Every kitchen should have one.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. My strategy:

1. Get the menu planned by October.
2. Make sure you have ALL the ingredients by today (Sunday before T-day).
3. Do the sous chef thing Wednesday.
4. Cook Thursday morning with plenty of strong coffee.

[Phentex]

11. That's a plan!

[spinbaby]

21. Pretty much my plan

Except I start on Tuesday. On Tuesday I salt the bird and set it on a rack in the fridge to dry before I roast it. I also make the gravy with the innards and make the pie crusts on Tuesday Then I give the house a good cleaning and set up the buffet table.

On Wednesday I bake pies and line up ingredients for Thursday. Then I make salads—this year is red cabbage with feta and dates, as well as a carrot salad. I bake rolls usually, but this year someone else is. Some people also set the table a day ahead, but I have cats, so…

On Thursday, the turkey goes into the oven. While it bakes, I make mashed potatoes to keep warm in the slow cooker and construct the casserole sides (sweet potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole), which will go into oven while the turkey rests. Put out the snacks and drinks, set the table, reheat the gravy, and we’re ready to go.

[mwmisses4289]

6. My stepdaughter has taken over most of our holidays now,

due to the fact she and two of the grands have been diagnosed with celiac disease. Part of me misses doing it, but another part of me is relieved.

[Phentex]

12. I'd love it

Years ago, we did it with a more extended family. It was complete chaos but sooooooo fun! The hard part was the travel part. With shared responsibilities, there were some funny mishaps, but everyone still talks about those days

[Warpy]

13. This place has a catered dinner

and it's one of the few meals I consider edible here, although other tenants tell me it's getting better as time goes on and the new chef settles in. Uh, I'll do my own cooking, thnaks.

There is another option, places like Boston Market offer the usual Thanksgiving fare, much of which can be purhased a day or two in advance. Heat it all up and they'll never know and as I recall, Boston Maret wasn't bad, at all.

I'm with the cooking haters even though I love to cook. Thanksgiving dinner has turned into a stupid production, silly tradition (peer pressure from dead people) has taken over from common sense. I mentioned roasting capons for smaller gatherings rather than being stuck with leftover turkey until Xmas, when another turnkey will likely be cooked if you don't live in NM. Here, it's Xmas tamales.

Honestly? If I still lived in a house and had family ready to descend, I'd hire a caterer, I inherited enough money to do that once a year. They'd feed everybody and then clean up after themselves. Barring that, I'd pre order at Boston Market. I doubt I'd go the restaurant route, that's too big a step toward giving up completely. The hungry hordes just wouldn't get turkey and tradition.

[slightlv]

14. I used to love cooking Thanksgiving dinner...

besides being good eating, the chaos from everyone in the house was fun for once. It also was a chance to reach back and connect with my ancestors through the dishes that had been served generation after generation. As I turn 70 now, I don't have the strength or the stamina to do it these days. Plus, there's no huge family anymore. Makes a big difference. I did some price shopping last week and decided there's no way to buy the foods we need to prepare a trad dinner, and for once, ordering from the store to have it catered for two made economical sense. Plus, very little cooking on my part (some dishes I want for that ancestral connection, and I'll cook those myself... but they're cheap).

Still, I miss the chaos and magic of Thanksgiving when I was a kid. My dad would get up early in the morning to get the turkey started, and I was official helper with the dressing. We always at at my grandma's house... in the same little city, but clear on the other side from us. Dad prepared most of the dinner, so getting it from our house to grandma's was a real trip and a half. By the time the food got safely on boarded, there wasn't much room for us three kids! And each of us was responsible for the safety of certain dishes... and cleaning up the car afterwards! (LOL)

[Phentex]

17. Sweet sweet memories!

One of my sons says it's his favorite holiday and I gotta say we all look forward to it every year.

[Trueblue Texan]

16. Our family traditions have me cooking for the full week before Thanksgiving...

In more recent years when we go to our daughter's house, she tends to order the meal in, but there is still plenty to cook to make it according to family tradition. When I make the meal at our house, it's like a damn smorgasbord. Too much food for too few people, but that's our tradition. We are getting better every year at cutting back. This year will be the smallest TG meal ever and I'm glad to have it that way. I really enjoy the leftovers, but the holiday cooking wears me out. I'd rather have a cold glass of bubbly and put my feet up than eat leftovers for a week.

[Phentex]

18. I'll take the bubbly but I want turkey for days!

We have scaled back over the years as we have fewer people on the day of. I try to give away leftovers but we've been better about not having as much.

[Kali]

19. leftovers and my picky need to have MY pumpkin pie

is the only reason I still do it.

[Trueblue Texan]

20. Well, and even though we're not having turkey...

I still made my dressing...it's a hybrid of my husband's Big Momma's recipe and a few little tricks I've learned along the years. It's pretty amazing. Worth the effort.

[Phentex]

23. Taking it to your grave?

Or would you care to share? I make stuffing but I'm not great at it. My peeps want traditional with bread cubes, celery, butter and broth.

I only started eating it a few years ago. I don't really understand it.

Dressing?

[Trueblue Texan]

24. Our Family's Cornbread Dressing

Note: My friend made this recipe recently and didn't want to put bell peppers. She put 3 chopped jalapeño peppers instead. She said it was awesome.

Cornbread Dressing

4-6 ribs celery, chopped
1 lg onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
1 can cream of chicken soup (about 10 ounces if you make your own)
Chicken broth
Poultry seasoning (a lot, according to taste)
Rubbed or ground sage (a lot, according to taste)
Salt and pepper
1 bag seasoned bread cubes for dressing
6 slices of bread cut into cubes
1 - 8 inch pan cornbread, crumbled
1 pound butter

Melt butter in a skillet, sauté veggies until almost tender. Add bread, cornbread and bread cubes. Mix eggs, soup, seasonings, and about a quart of broth. Mix it all up…add more broth to make it soupy. (It will be too dry otherwise. It needs to be like cornbread batter or wet cement--pourable, but not runny.) Adjust seasonings, pour it in a shallow pan. (We like to let it sit overnight in the fridge to really get the seasonings soaked in good.) Then bake it about 400 degrees until it’s set (about 1 to 1.5 hours)

This makes 2 - 9 x 13 inch pans. One for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas. Freezes well.

[Phentex]

22. That's fair!

Why was Nana's sauce so good? The answer was she put her thumb in it

In our case, we have ONE pumpkin pie eater out of tradition and I don't make pie. Ever. So it's store bought but I will make the whipped cream.