Has anyone made plans for Thanksgiving yet?

ElizabethB said:
DITTO!!!

Thanksgiving will be bitter sweet. My 40 year old nephew died in a car crash Sept. 29th. He has a 14 year old son and an 8 year old daughter. He died on her birthday.

The family is scattered - Colorado, Florida, Dallas and Houston Texas. Everyone is making an effort to be here for Thanksgiving to hold each other close and give thanks for the time we had with Michael. There will be much story telling, laughter and toasts in his honor.

We will gather at the home of my Middle Sister. The head count is 22 adults, 2 teens, an 8 year old and 4 babies (1 to 4 1/2 years of age.) I usually bring my Drunk Pork Roast and a side casserole. This year I am doing the bulk of the cooking. With that many people to feed and have leftovers for everyone to bring home that means casserole sides.

I will make
Drunk Pork Roast - season the night before then braise VERY early Thursday morning. I will slice it at home then finish the gravy at Sister's home.
Savory Sweet Potato Casserole - will make this week and freeze
Roasted Corn, Garlic Cheese Grit Casserole - made ahead and frozen
Spinach and Artichoke Heart Casserole - made ahead and frozen
Green Bean and Roasted Corn Casserole - made ahead and frozen

Pumpkin Bread - made this week and frozen. Add Cream Cheese Frosting later
Oooey, Gooey, Super Rich, Dark Chocolate Brownies - I will make them Tuesday or Wednesday before T.G. The best part about these brownies is that the children do not like them. They are not sweet. So all for the adults!!
Maybe Lemon Poppy Seed Cake - Make the cake ahead and freeze then add lemon drizzle and lemon frosting Wednesday before.

I am also making an assortment of compound butter - Thyme, Basil, Sage and Rosemary. I make that ahead and freeze in silicon candy molds then put in a zip bag.

Middle Sister will make Cornbread Dressing. Baby Brother will make Rice Dressing. We want Mother to make her lemon squares and her mint brownies - the children love those.

I know Mother will want to bake a turkey. We are trying to intervene by having Nephew-in-law cook the turkey in G's Big Easy Infrared Cooker.

There will be breads and salads and probably other deserts. Boudin and Cracklins will probably show up for snacking. Iced Tea, water and wine (lots) and beer.

We will eat well and love each other well.

I will post recipes as I make them.
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Sorry about this as well. You are lucky you all get on. My family is the same, we all get on and love each other's humour and being together. It's great you experience the same. I have a relative raised completely different from me, he behaves like his parents, they argue and bitch. Sulk and have periods of not speaking. I couldn't be bothered with all that.

Russ
 
rascal
ROKU membership comes with the ROKU TV. Other streaming channels are available for an additional cost. My TV is connected to my cable service without a box. I get the basic cable service and the ROKU movies and streaming TV shows.

I am glad that you have a loving family. Fighting and bickering between family members distresses me and makes me very sad.

I do not doubt that G's son loves his Dad but he treats him terribly. Disrespectful and verbally abusive. He has a filthy mouth. I have a hard time being around him and his wife. Every time we spend time with them I tell them that their profanity is not acceptable. Our time spent together is usually at our lake camp. They are technically guest. So they kind of behave. I can say nothing if we visit at their home. A couple of years ago step son was in town for business. I cooked a lovely dinner and invited him to dine with us. He drank too much (not unusual) and began to curse his Father. I am the first to admit that Sweet G can be difficult to live with but I will not tolerate verbal abuse from his son. I told step son to leave - immediately. Neither he or his family have visited us at our home since.

This makes me very sad. My Mother treats George like a son. My siblings treat him like a much loved brother. That is how families should be.

I need to shut up.
 
ElizabethB said:
rascal
ROKU membership comes with the ROKU TV. Other streaming channels are available for an additional cost. My TV is connected to my cable service without a box. I get the basic cable service and the ROKU movies and streaming TV shows.

I am glad that you have a loving family. Fighting and bickering between family members distresses me and makes me very sad.

I do not doubt that G's son loves his Dad but he treats him terribly. Disrespectful and verbally abusive. He has a filthy mouth. I have a hard time being around him and his wife. Every time we spend time with them I tell them that their profanity is not acceptable. Our time spent together is usually at our lake camp. They are technically guest. So they kind of behave. I can say nothing if we visit at their home. A couple of years ago step son was in town for business. I cooked a lovely dinner and invited him to dine with us. He drank too much (not unusual) and began to curse his Father. I am the first to admit that Sweet G can be difficult to live with but I will not tolerate verbal abuse from his son. I told step son to leave - immediately. Neither he or his family have visited us at our home since.

This makes me very sad. My Mother treats George like a son. My siblings treat him like a much loved brother. That is how families should be.

I need to shut up.
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My mum did a pretty good job raising three boys, me the middle. We were taught respect, standing for elders etc. my kids speak with respect as well. I've never been out of work or on a benefit my whole life, our daughters a teacher, never been out of work, our sons a business manager for a large company, never been out of work either. I saw this written on the back of a truck years ago, and it's true. The harder I work, the luckier I get. Honesty and respect is a big thing.

You don't need to shut up either. Great to see how people live. :)

Russ
 
Thanksgiving plans:

The actual date (T-Day #1): At local community center with some friends. The organizers provide turkeys and we sign up for sides. I'm going to make a rather plain scalloped potato au gratin recipe.

The following Saturday (T-Day #2): Some friends back in Connecticut, where I will knock my socks off with a potato/cabbage/??broccoli/onion au gratin, because these folk will all appreciate it. The hostess is providing the turkey.

I call neither of them "Friendsgiving" because I'd rather be thankful all around.

I am sure I could fly down to Florida for my brother's Thanksgiving, but having to listen to sports blasted in my ears during the meal and after, and having too many people around that just live near him that I have nothing in common with and will never see again -- means I want to visit him when it isn't football season, and when we can connect together on a smaller scale. Yeah, introvert here. I love him dearly, and beyond - but, well, introvert, and I'd rather make my vacations count for something. Especially since it might be hard to get chicken sitters if they may have to go over a snow field to get to them.

On another note, I went to a Mennonite Day in a nearby town (it was both Friday and Saturday, but I just did the Friday. Three local establishments drawing in locals/semi-locals for building a larger customer base). The furniture store gave everyone a FREE turkey just for being there and filling out a questionnaire about their kitchen displays (which were overall awesome). My friend and I got a turkey apiece. Hers was 23 pounds. Mine was 20. I gave her the heavier one - since she entrusted me with her car keys to load our respective turkeys in... I assume sometime next spring we'll have some sort of turkey party!
 
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