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| Someone gave me these gourds today; I'm halfway there! |
I came up with a menu, and then I stopped.
I'm wondering if people are going to expect my house to be decorated and for me to be dressed up.
Seriously: Better Homes and Gardens will give you ideas based on your style and skill level. You can make your center piece or wreath or fancy up your table. HGTV wants you to set a stylish table. Craft Gossip has a Thanksgiving tag so you won't miss Thanksgiving crafts to make. And Martha Stewart has 54 ideas (to her credit, they almost all focus on the table--napkin rings, place cards, centerpieces). And today I got an email from one women's apparel shop or another urging me to buy a dress.
So what does your Thanksgiving look like?
I've always thought it's just about the food, but now that I have a virtual stranger coming to my house, I feel like I should do something a little special. You know, more than buying a new tablecloth (one that fits!) and napkins. Don't worry, things won't get too out of hand. This is me we're talking about!
10 comments:
Thankfully I only cook for the immediate family for the day. There are only 4 of us and I cook enough so I pretty much get the weekend off from the kitchen.
That doesnt count fixings I get to take to the inlaws and my sisters. Three days of feasting!
Now as for fixing up the house? ya, that doesnt happen yet. I make the food - the boys (hubby and kids) can make the house nice :P
My mom has this badass platter with a painted turkey on it that she has probably had since the early 70s. I always wonder what will happen if I ever have to take over Thanksgiving because I don't have the space for a platter that big but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it. She also has a ceramic turkey that always goes in the center of the table made by my brother (her favorite child by far) when he was in second grade or something. One year someone chipped the tail feather by accident and I thought we were going to have to get her a sedative.
Our Thanksgivings are unpredictable. Other than my Mom, no one lives nearby. My aunts come down from Bar Harbor, but they work on the actual day of Thanksgiving, so they show up (at the last moment) on another day when the kids have school ... very chaotic, and an awful lot of cooking for me. (Sometimes I almost miss the non-Thanksgivings in Holland, believe it or not!)
No decorations except the napkins. We don't dress for the occasion. The house gets hot from the stove and extra people so there usually is a window open someplace. The tv is on for the guys if they aren't outside deep frying the turkey. Much laughter and loudness. Only 11 people this year, but we'll still miss Dad.
We are very casual for Thanksgiving. My Mom has a centerpiece, but it always has to be moved because there is so.much.food. Our menu has been the same for my entire life. We may make additions, but no subtractions.
Our dress is very casual - when my grandparents were alive we always shook the pecan tree for a Thanksgiving harvest and the children picked up nuts all afternoon.
Just a glimpse at us.
Our Thanksgiving went to Hell about 20 years ago when my grandmother passed. It has been an un-chaperoned event ever since and my parents are in their 70's. Lately part of the family and some people without family in the area have been getting together at our winter home in Florida. This year parts of the family are not on speaking terms so a few of us are going to the country club for dinner. We will have to dress in business casual but it beats doing dishes.
BTW...Last year, Mother puked on the table cloth at the end of dinner from too much wine. Thank goodness the other guest were already going out the front door before this happened. What a Thanksgiving memory!!
My Thanksgivings were odd for about 20 years when I met my soon-to-be husband. His mother's family is a big Italian one so they rented the Sons of Italy hall in SF and all the relatives went there because no one's house was big enough. There were at least 1 or 2 turkeys but 3 times that much in homemade pasta! Fun and noisy but not a cozy homy place to meet. Since some of the elderly nonies have passed away we now just have dinner with the immediate family -either at my MIL or ours - much easier. Of course the homemade creampuffs and pumpkin cheesecake are the best part! Decorating is minimal - I already have some fall stuff and pumpkins around so other than a tablecloth and good china I don't do much else - the food is the star.
We have no family nearby--it's just me, DH and Molly the lab/pointer/coonhound. This year we are fortunate enough once again to be invited to my friend's house. She also insisted that we bring Molly. My friend is a great cook--me, not so much. Dress is very casual. Her family is small, too: just her, her DH, maybe her MIL, and Lexi, her pointer/lab. The first and only time Lexi and Molly met was at my house, and havoc reigned for the entire four hours of the visit. It should be interesting. We'll probably all go to the dog park after Thanksgiving dinner.
So are you saying you're not going to go all Martha on us???
Dallas Cowboys football is an integral part of our Thanksgiving celebration. There was even one episode of me scaring the crap out of one of Jeff's grandmothers because she was napping on the couch and I might have yelled a little too loudly at the TV.
That's the good part of Thanksgiving. The bad part is the turkey my MIL insists on cooking the day before, cutting it while it's hot and REHEATING IT the next day for dinner. We got a free turkey from the grocery store last year and I cooked it at home. I had forgotten how lovely and juicy and delicious turkey can be. It's criminal what that woman does to turkey.
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