Thanksgiving, the US' overlooked holiday

Georgiagranny

Georgiagranny

Well-known Member
Yeah, I know that Hallowe'en is still a week away, and Christmas is two months from today. What about Thanksgiving? The stores are awash in Hallowe'en decorations, costumes, candy, and Christmas decorations are on display everdamwhere.

Thanksgiving is a mere three weeks and six days away. It's the day "we gather together to ask the Lord's blessing." All we have to do is cook and eat and be grateful for family and friends and for all that we have. Instead we look forward to how much more we can get on December 25.
 

The Thanksgivings that I knew growing up are gone in my family.

The days of cooking for a week and taking pride in the number of things that were produced in our own garden or made from scratch in our own kitchen.

1729894555242.jpeg

It’s still a family day but more about getting together for an event or home project with a casual meal of anything from pizza to burgers on the grill.

and the beat goes on…
 
I love the no-pressure holiday. We just made a menu while having dinner tonight.
Turkey slices from the deli, microwaveable mashed potatoes from the cooler, Stove Top stuffing,
canned cranberry sauce, frozen pumpkin pie, Cool Whip.

The only real work for me will be the broccoli/cheese casserole -- the favorite item for my Vegan son and I.

I do miss the days my brothers and parents would come. I would make everything from scratch for them.
 
@RadishRose You're right about that, but I'm gonna keep on doing it for as long as I can. I admit that I cheat with the pie crust, gravy, dressing and whatever else I can get away with.

First up is making brandied cranberries.

Turkey breast is no problem, just throw that sucker in the oven.

Make the mashed potatoes ahead and freeze them.

Cook and crumble sausage, dice an apple, add to Stove Top for turkey, nuke the whole mixture.

Use the gravy packet that comes with the turkey and add to the drippings with a bit of flour.

Delegate the green bean casserole to somebody else (anybody else!).

Use Already Ready pie crust and follow the recipe on the back of the Libby's pumpkin can. Make the day before.

Eat.
 
Georgia granny there is no need to cheat on pie crust.
1 stick of butter
1 pack of cream cheese
2 cups of flour
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder

Roll out and line well greased pie or muffin tins. Freeze!!! Makes 18-24 muffins. Pecan pie filling holds in the fridge for a week. Heat air fryer or oven to 375 F, til frozen crust, voila! I use them for quiches as well and considering the price of pecans walnuts make an ok substitute.
Do not take raw crusts out of the pan and bake - a mess that requires a bowl and I scream to over it up.
If I am off target or otherwise will someone please let me know?
 
@Twostep Sounds good and if I were 20 years younger I would probably do it. It didn't use to bother me one bit to make everything from scratch, but now I don't much bother. Easiest stuff is what I don't have to mix or cook or do much of anything to.
 
Georgiagranny said:
Yeah, I know that Hallowe'en is still a week away, and Christmas is two months from today. What about Thanksgiving? The stores are awash in Hallowe'en decorations, costumes, candy, and Christmas decorations are on display everdamwhere.

Thanksgiving is a mere three weeks and six days away. It's the day "we gather together to ask the Lord's blessing." All we have to do is cook and eat and be grateful for family and friends and for all that we have. Instead we look forward to how much more we can get on December 25
Click to expand...


Thanksgiving gets ignored cause theres no candy (Halloween) or presents (Christmas).

I agree its almost here. I been perusing my recipes deciding what to make. Even though its just me now I still make my favorites. Left overs are glorious. :D

Im probably one of the few who still decorate for Thanksgiving. I do generic fall starting mid September. In October I add my red headed witches and jack o lanterns. In November I remove the witches and turn the jacks around to be pumpkins and add turkeys.
 
I’ll tell you one thing…we Halloween people are not just gonna let Xmas stomp in and take over before October 31st again this year without a fight! I’m getting together some werewolves, zombies, drunken pilgrims, and turkeys…the HalloThanks League…to fight seasonal creep this year! We won’t go quietly…Who’s With Me?! 🎃 🦃

IMG_2581.jpeg
 
DH and I will be driving from Idaho to NorCal to spend Thanksgiving at our daughter`s.In June,all of the kids,grands and greats dove or flew here for a huge celebration for my birthday. The only ones who couldn`t make it were our eldest grandson,his wife and two kids. He said he didn`t have any vacation time left but I have since heard that the reason they seldom show up for things is that his wife has terrible social anxiety and large crowds do her in. And we are definitely a large crowd.

I think she feels a little "safer" at my daughter`s though because her own parents live just two blocks away,so she can escape to their house when it becomes too much for her.

Grandson had called me a couple months ago and I told him we were coming down for Thanksgiving. He said "if you do,I promise we will come." Wasn`t sure that he really would,but he text me the other day and asked if we were still coming. I said yes,so he called his mom and said they will be there. I`m so happy-haven`t seen them in 2 years!

We will be a minimum of 28,so I will prep and cook 2 turkeys-one on the Weber and one in the oven. I`ll do the stuffing,sweet potatoes,brussel sprouts and then I am DONE. The kids can do the rest. It`ll be a good test for me,to see how much I have lost or still have lol. It`s been a couple of years....
 
Georgiagranny said:
Yeah, I know that Hallowe'en is still a week away, and Christmas is two months from today. What about Thanksgiving? The stores are awash in Hallowe'en decorations, costumes, candy, and Christmas decorations are on display everdamwhere.

Thanksgiving is a mere three weeks and six days away. It's the day "we gather together to ask the Lord's blessing." All we have to do is cook and eat and be grateful for family and friends and for all that we have. Instead we look forward to how much more we can get on December 25.
Click to expand...
But Thanksgiving is why all the supermarkets are awash with fresh and frozen turkeys. You can't escape them.
 
Jules said:
As a Canadian, it always seemed to me that American Thanksgiving was given more emphasis than Christmas. Something about the numbers travelling may have been part of my thinking.
Click to expand...
I think maybe America was the first country to normalize families splitting up and putting thousands of miles between each other. So coming together once a year for a big ol' feast is a pretty big deal.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top