Anyone have any special Thanksgiving morning traditions? I am struggling with how to prepare the big meal with out of the house traditions/activities. Tricky! We watch the parades on tv and savor the smells in the kitchen. I would love to watch the Chicago parade from the warmth and comfort of my husband's 2nd floor State Street office but don't know how to swing it all.
Please share your ideas especially if you are hosting.
Waking early and scrambling to get everything ready in time to get to the in-laws! :-)
We never had any Thanksgiving traditions growing up, except that I would spend the day helping my mom in the kitchen while my dad watched football in the other room. I would say the most important thing is that everyone is involved in the cooking and it's not just Mom who's stuck in the kitchen.
BAHAHA! Thanksgiving morning... well, since Thanksgiving usually involves being in the kitchen cooking all day (which I HATE, although I'm not a bad cook so I always get stuck hosting at my house)... my Thanksgiving morning usually starts with a strong cup of coffee, followed quickly by a succession of mimosas. After that I don't hate cooking quite so much. Oh, my other Thanksgiving morning tradition is to throw things angrily at anyone who dares to venture into the kitchen without offering assistance. (Sorry, Uncle Larry, the hors d'oeuvres aren't ready yet. Feel free to pick up a vegetable peeler and help any damn time now...) Sorry. Somehow I missed the Martha Stewart gene. Probably best not to take entertaining tips from me.
If I were you, I'd definitely go watch the parade! If you have the sort of family who will do it, assign side dishes to all of them. That way maybe all you'll have to do is the turkey and you can enjoy the day!
Simple breakfast, church, cooking, thanksgiving dinner.
I pre make the potatoes or anything really so that I just need to heat it up before hand instead of fully cooking. I start the turkey in the oven when needed.
I would go watch the parade! That sounds like so much fun. When my parents were alive we would wake up, have a light breakfast, lots of coffee, tons of munchies, and then finially the dinner. The night before we would make whatever we can make then just reheat it on Thanksgiving day. Whatever we don't want to cook the night before, if we can (without it altering the dish) we assemble in pyrex dishes so all we would have to do is throw it in the oven. Pies, and desserts were usually done 2 days before Thanksgiving.
If you have people coming to your house maybe ask them to bring a side dish? Last year we all met at my cousins house but everyone brought a side dish, or dessert and they cooked all the turkey and ham. Have fun!
I usually make a nice breakfast like pancakes, eggs, bacon, filling stuff. We eat at like 4 and don't have a real lunch. We sort of brunch on the a fore mentioned items and my older son and husband work on something I have decided needs to be cleaned while my mom and I get things cooked. It is a fun and somewhat crazy day!! I think this year I might try to come up with some special craft for my sons though, so I am interested to see what others post:)
My husband smokes a turkey and frys a turkey, everyone brings a side and I'm mainly responsible for desserts. This way no one has to spend all day in the kitchen. I love to watch the parade on t.v. and just snuggle with my family, and of course there is the Cowboy game that we schedule our meals around but this year we may just trash that tradition. Ha!
We eat early (noon-1pm) due to family needs (and I do NOT get up at the crack of dawn!!), so I do most of the "hard work" the day before. I make one major (and a few minor) side dishes the day before -- if time does not decrease it's quality. As for everything else, do all the "sous chef" work the day before -- ALL the chopping (carrots, celery, onion, dill, parsely, etc.) and pre-measuring into separate bowls (i.e, if two dishes need onions, I have the onions chopped and measured into two separate containers in fridge.) Bascially, have all the necessarily ingredents for every single dish ready to go -- in fridge or on counter top. Have all the cooking pots & pans out and ready to go. Then all you are really doing on Thanksgiving Day is assembling and putting in the oven. This is the only way I can pull off a noon dinner. Since you're eating around dinner-time, maybe this is enough to let you out of the house in the morning!
I hope you get to the parade this year!!
I put together an egg casserole the night before. It pops in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the knife comes out clean. serve that with some fresh fruit and bagels and your good to go. we set the parade to tape on tivo then watch it when were ready. we go to mass and then the rest of the day is cooking / family an later in the day going thru the sale papers and also putting up the tree. not decorating just putting it up
