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Bird-Day?

E

Epperstang

Member
What does Dave and you all do for T-giving?

Eat at your house, mother's (in-law)? Say to heck with it, and go to Denny's?
Who cooks? All from scratch or out of a box? Catered? - yes some people do that now days. Marie Callendar pies or your own creations?
If you go elsewhere what is your contribution? Special secret family recipes?
Do you haul out the once a year china, silver and antique table coverings?
Does someone say grace/blessing - give thanks?
Do you have distaste for spending holiday with motherinlaw, soninlaw, brotherinlaw? or other obnoxious relative. Are you the obnoxious relative?
Do the kiddies get to sit at a card table in the other room?
What's generally on the menu? Weird stuff like oyster stuffing or prune pie?
What do you do after the meal - besides belching contests? Watch game on the big screen, movies? card games? reminisce with the family (HAHA!)
Who cleans up?

Just wondering? Me? I get to host my three adult kids, their spouses, three grandkids, my mother and sister in law. It's all rather civil (read-BORING!). Standard food, except the vegetarian sisinlaw who brings her own mushroom soup to dump on a big plate of mashed potatoes. I cook the bird and stuffing, family brings the side dishes.

You?

J.
 
My son lives with me, we spend every other Thanksgiving together, we usually go to Florida for the week since he is out of school and its a great way to take 9 days off and only burn 3 days of vacation. We typically spend a few days with my parents in Jacksonville, then a couple days in Orlando at the amusement parks, then either spend Turkey day at my sisters in Daytona or back up to Jacksonville at my parents. I dont bring or cook anything, but I help setup and clean up.

On the even years my son is with his mom, so on those years I usually go to the Cowboys football game with friends. Another good friend always hosts a thanksgiving party at her house for those friends without large families. I usually bring a side dish or two and some beer.
 
Eat at your house, mother's (in-law)? Say to heck with it, and go to Denny's?

Normally, Thanksgiving dinner is eaten at our house


Who cooks?

My wife, but guests usually add to the dinner with side dishes and depending on the number of people we are expecting either another turkey or a ham.


All from scratch or out of a box?

I believe the stuffing is out of a box, but can't be positive, I'm usually watching football on TV.


Marie Callendar pies or your own creations?

She'll bake a couple of boxed pies, usually apple and pumpkin.


Special secret family recipes?

My wife is Hispanic. There is usually some weird side dish that would otherwise not belong at a traditional Thanksgiving Day feast.... aka Enchilada's.


Do you haul out the once a year china, silver and antique table coverings?

Nope, there are too many people and the service is only for eight.


Does someone say grace/blessing - give thanks?

Yep.


Do you have distaste for spending holiday with motherinlaw, soninlaw, brotherinlaw? or other obnoxious relative. Are you the obnoxious relative?


Nope x5. Two years ago we hosted the entire clan, plus approx. 15 family friends. I had to rent four tables and 35 chairs to seat everyone. ANYONE is invited to our house for Turkey Day. I work closely with the local Marines during the week and as such hear about the guys that would otherwise just be eating at the base chow hall. I try to get as many of them over to the house as I can. Some years it's just a couple guys, but one year it was closer to ten. From my office, there are usually some military dependant wives/office girls whose husbands are deployed overseas that will occasionally join us.


Do the kiddies get to sit at a card table in the other room?

Occasionally, yes.


What's generally on the menu? Weird stuff like oyster stuffing or prune pie?

Traditionally cooked turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, cranberry sauce, peas, carrots.


What do you do after the meal - besides belching contests? Watch game on the big screen, movies? card games? reminisce with the family (HAHA!)

All of the above and there's usually a football being tossed around somewhere on the front yard.


Who cleans up?

The women (sorry, but you asked).
 
Ahhh, Thanksgiving. Back in the day it was spent with my side of the family. Dad and I always made it a point to go hunting together that morning and then lunch. Typical homemade T'giving feast with homemade chicken and dumplings to boot. Everything was homemade. Since marriage, we head to the outlaws in AL. We drive down on Wed., the wife and kids stay till Sunday and head back with her sister. Me? I come back on Thursday after lunch. Does that tell you anything?
 
Any holiday has changed from the "old days" with the family spread across the country.

Locally, we will partake of the current holiday with our neighbors (between 40 and 80 people) in the RV park. They(RV park) provide the 4 turkeys and hams, we all bring a side or desert. A large potluck day for sure with a mix of foods from around the world. My daughter and her two kids will join us. This saves a bunch of time and effort plus no clean up except a couple of dishes. We will even have left overs made up the next day for our snacking. Sold the good china about 2 years ago. Grace is said by one of the retired military pastors, and after the meal, we will ride the trike for 4-8 miles to work off the small meal then settle with a cold one or two.....
 
Bird-day is typically just the two of us, although in the past, we had a friend from Alabama come down to share. Our bird is roasted with oyster dressing. Yum!

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are my favorite days: a triple-decker turkey sandwich with bacon, avocado, tomato, swiss cheese, mayo, mustard, and lettuce, all on toasted bread. OMG...nothing better than this, except the obligatory nap after lunch! SWMBO prefers turkey sandwiches with cream cheese and cranberry sauce.
 
Cool thread J, thanks for starting it... interesting to read about others holiday.
I'll just speak for the current/recent Thanksgiving holidays. Since my mom passed away about 11 years ago the "traditional" day hasn't been the same.
My dad is now remarried and goes to Florida for the winter (snowbird) with his wife. She has some family there. I have two sisters, my oldest has lost her mind. She left her husband (long story) but we don't speak anymore. My younger sister lives near Peoria with her hubby and 4 kids. We only talk on Facebook and the occasional phonecall. My wife's family live in about a 50 mile radius in the Burbs of Chicago. Since we have lived in KY (2004) we have been having a quiet small holiday of just My kids, wife and I. On the Wednesday before we (wife and I) work with our local Church to deliever meals to less fortunate families. It's kinda fun.
I cook the Turkey and my wife makes everything else. Normal stuff like sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade bread (bread machine), pumpkin pie, stuffing, etc. Nothing from a box, but the cranberry stuff comes from a can. Everthing else is cooked the old fashioned way. We spend all day making the meal that takes about a half hour to eat and a long time to clean up. It has been warm weather usually so we go for a walk with the kids after dinner. We have the parade on the TV during cooking. Afterwards we watch football (sometimes wrestling) and my wife decorates the Christmas tree while we watch the cats climb in it. I say a prayer or lately one of the boys will do it before we eat. We usually go around the table and say some things we are thankful for. We avoid black Friday like the plague! This year I will be making a road trip right before the holiday!
 
Eat at your house, mother's (in-law)? Say to heck with it, and go to Denny's?
The party is at my/our house. 10 years ago, the MIL got tired of cooking, so we switched to a traveling bird-day with the wife's sisters. One lives 300 miles away, so nobody wanted to travel again after the 1st year, and the other one doesn't cook things right, so after the 1st round, T-giving became "ours". We end up with anywhere from 16-28 people each year.
Who cooks? All from scratch or out of a box? Catered? - yes some people do that now days. Marie Callendar pies or your own creations?
I cook most of it! My MIL usually brings an extra turkey breast for leftovers. The wife's sisters bring parsnips and sweet potatoes. Nothing from a box - cranberry sauce is about all that comes from a can. We do our own pies.
If you go elsewhere what is your contribution? Special secret family recipes?
I have several secret family recipes from deceased realtives - my wife's grandmother's stuffing, my grandmother's pumpkin bread, plus my own turkey secrets - (hint: Cavender's greek seasoning, olive oil, worchestire sauce, and................
Do you haul out the once a year china, silver and antique table coverings?
The once a year china - Anatole pattern. We got service for 8 as a wedding gift and never saw any more of it until Ebay came along. We now have service for 36 to 40, plus tons of serving pieces. Each of our daughters will get a complete service for 8 when they marry, which means I need to start finding more. It's not a fancy, hi-$ pattern, but the wife loves it, and we probably have one of the largest collections.
We also began collecting silver a few years back. That pattern is Rogers "Victory" from 1927. Bird day is the ONE time a year it's used. We've been polishing it this week.
The tables are decorated - chargers, fancy napkins, centerpieces, etc.
Does someone say grace/blessing - give thanks?
YES - take turns.
Do you have distaste for spending holiday with motherinlaw, soninlaw, brotherinlaw? or other obnoxious relative. Are you the obnoxious relative?
Last year, the wife's 2 sisters had a BIG blow-up after dinner, It was ugly, and one will not be attending this year. Sad.
Do the kiddies get to sit at a card table in the other room?
They sit with the adults. We get 8 around the kitchen table, 8 around the dining room table, and bring in a folding table for 8 more in the family room.
What's generally on the menu? Weird stuff like oyster stuffing or prune pie?
All the usual stuff. My turkey and grandma's pumpkin bread are usually the biggest hits. I also make a 2-layer pumpkin pie/cheescake that gets hit hard.
What do you do after the meal - besides belching contests? Watch game on the big screen, movies? card games? reminisce with the family (HAHA!)
Football, and usually a movie later. I let the young kids "flip the switch" for the outside Xmas lights after dark, and we draw names for the Xmas gift exchange.
Who cleans up?
My wife IS the cleanup person. Really annoys her that her mother and sister(s) sit and watch while the two living 90+ y/o grannies help... But she does like to clean things HER way.
 
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