This year, though, we'll be having Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Which means it's the first time in six years that I will not be making a turkey.
I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I mean, I love being the Thanksgiving host. I love food (big shocker), and I love thinking up all kinds of different things that people might like. I love having a big crowd at my house. I loved having our friends over and making them our family for the day. And there's something about a turkey crackling in my oven that makes me feel like the ultimate homemaker and hostess.
BUT, I also love the thought of not waking up at 6am and putting my hands all up in the business end of a giant raw turkey. I love the thought of not having to wrangle a heavy bird covered with butter while trying to stuff it full of aromatics and tie it shut. I love the thought of showing up with a few yummy things and going home with a bunch of leftovers. I also love the thought of not having to do the dishes.
Truth be told, I'm not entirely off the hook, because Nathan wants me to make a turkey, anyway, in order to have the leftovers that are, as we all know, second in importance only to the Day itself. And my mom did try to talk me into cooking the turkey at my house and carting it across town for the party at her house because she says mine are so tasty (brining!). Since I didn't want turkey juice sloshed in my car on Thanksgiving Day (and please also refer to the aforementioned 6am turkey wrangling discussion), we are compromising: I'm going to come over the day before and help them set up the brine, and they'll cook it on Thanksgiving Day. All that to say that I'm not completely off turkey duty. But this year will be a whole lot lighter in terms of the work involved for me.
Last year, this was my menu (mind you, other people brought things; this is just what I made myself):
- turkey
- gravy
- cranberry sauce
- stuffing
- mashed potatoes
- green bean casserole
- corn casserole
- roasted carrots
- pecan pie
- Hershey bar pie
- Cranberry Oatmeal Crumble Squares
- cranberry sauce
- green bean casserole
- bread/rolls
- pecan pie
- cranberry oatmeal crumble squares
What are you making for Thanksgiving? The whole feast? A dessert or a side? Are you going to run by the grocery store on the way over and grab some cookies? Or are you just going to show up and eat? Comments, please!
4 comments:
i think we might be related. i was just telling mike on sunday that it is my dream to host the thanksgiving meal. i am assigned to pumpkin pie duty when we are with mike's family (which is this year), and green bean casserole when we're with my family. i love making the pie!
(I am experimenting with not being a lurker on the blogs I read regularly anymore. For context, I lived on the floor where Kendra & Caleb Hug were GRTs for two years.)
My grandmother still hosts Thanksgiving for my family, but this year she has decided to get the whole kit and kaboodle from Hi-Vee (grocery store) catering. She's just making her family-famous dinner rolls, and the rest of us are probably bringing pie. I am still debating what kind of pie. Possibly apple with brown sugar/oatmeal topping.
I, too, look forward to being able to host at least one of the major holiday dinners, but past experience has taught me that I still need to work on making sure the different dishes are finished within an hour of each other.
I have often made the feast too, though not this year. I think I'll enjoy kicking back and eating someone else's turkey ;) I brine too, and getting it all together ends up worth the results, but it's a bit of a hassle!! I think I'm going to do Reuel's family's AWESOME dinner rolls, some kind of fancy dessert (pecan pie cheesecake?), and maybe gratin potatoes and yankee white bread stuffing (I don't like the southern stuff!!). But this could change :)
My sister-in-law is hosting (who, by the way has a 3-week old and a 2 1/2 year old). I think I am bringing a pecan pie and a shoo-fly pie.
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