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AnneofAlamo

AnneofAlamo

Slippers IN sunshine? Even better!
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Aug 30, 2009
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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in America. A day we celebrate gratefulness and thankfulness.
The story is that the pilgrims got so much help growing their food they invited the native Indians for a meal. They shot these huge funny looking birds called turkey:
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So for hundreds of years, Americans have stuffed themselves
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spent hours in kitchen and then sat for the meal
with the turkey the main event
this year we threw out the turkey
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you see no one in our family likes turkey!

We have over the years had lasagna, meatball sandwiches and the like. This year, most of my kids and grandkids are gonna pop in and just hang for a little bit. We bought premade pizzas, soda and lots of popcorn!
Yep...my prep is done, and tomorrow we will be thankful over pizza!
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I am not against Turkey dinner, and know many of you do the whole bit...so do you have a rebellious streak and make something really different for this holiday?
 
I wanted to do themed Thanksgivings since I took over for my mama... so she could sit back and enjoy. BUT, no one was very excited about that :( I was thinking Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc... but, alas... I will be doing the traditional turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, and all the fixings. (they're party poopers!)
 
We saw all of our family last weekend - and are just having a quiet relaxed Thanksgiving at home. Friday we have a family party to go to. My son is away and the rest of my immediate family does not eat meat so no Turkey for us here. I thought I could be rebellious this year and get away with a vegetable lasagna and salad for dinner tomorrow, but my daughter just informed me she has to have mashed potatoes and stuffing. So off to the store I will go in a bit - I'll do a small Thanksgiving-ish meal sans the meat I guess.
 
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I'm a vegetarian. I don't do turkey. I much prefer to watch them outside of my studio window. We are going over to my sister-in-law's home tomorrow, where I'm sure the traditional turkey will be served. I've been asked to bring sweet potatoes and a leafy salad, but for the salad, I'm going to throw in some apples and walnuts with blue cheese on the side.
 
We do the whole bit... I'm in charge of the Bacon Wrapped Spicy Shrimp... and the Green Bean Bake.

In the past, we have done other things besides Turkey.... Shrimp or Steak usually. :)

We are also frying a turkey (outside, away from the house, following all directions, etc) this year!
 
We're having Honey Baked ham with all the trimmings. Our family from the east coast will be here late tonight, so we're looking forward to all being together. At this point, ALL of my 5 oldest grandkids are coming! I'd really like to get a picture of all 6 of them for my Christmas card this year.
 
We're doing it all here... traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but it's just the four of us (and one of the four is vegan... but thankfully I was able to order her a vegan Thanksgiving meal from Whole Foods, that I pick up tomorrow morning). I'm not sure how keen I am on cooking it all... but my son gets home from college this afternoon (his first trip home since August) and he said he's really looking forward to home cooked food. So, that's what he'll get! Wish me luck... cooking prep begins soon!!
 
We have eaten Thanksgiving dinner elsewhere for any years now. Some years I cook my own turkey and dressing because -- leftovers!!! This year I am not cooking a turkey, but I am making dressing for a birthday party on Saturday. It is my dad's 80th birthday party and I am using his dressing recipe. He swears hot dog buns make the best dressing -- trying to decide if I am getting them or not.
 
I will admit to not being a huge lover of the Thanksgiving feast. A few of the things, yes, but overall not so much. There are other things I'd rather eat lol. We have gone to the beach a few years at Thanksgiving and one of the best meals of all time was at my favorite seafood restaurant! But, I will be making traditional dinner this year because both my grown children came to me complaining that their dad and his family are having spaghetti and they want the turkey feast. So, for them I will do it. I'll be prepping a little later this evening, but first I am prepping myself with a trip to the hair salon :)
 
@mcurtt Marilyn, I love nuts and fruit in my salads!

I keep cooking all the traditional feast foods because we all like them, not just because it's tradition. As an unschooling family we are definitely a bit rebellious. :cool: Anyway, the most important part of this celebration is expressing gratitude.

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I've just tidied up my house and started making my daughter's bread (she has allergies and since Udi's changed their recipe there is no store-bought bread she likes. First feast item to make on my list is the homemade cranberry sauce. This year I'm adding blueberries to it.

:P
 
My family is always traditional when it comes to food. They will have turkey and everything else tomorrow at noon.

We are going to my ILs' tomorrow, though, so who knows what we'll have? My MIL is having some issues (and is not that great of a cook sans issues) so I'm not sure what we'll eat or how it will turn out. Supposedly my FIL is helping. The worst part is not even the food but that they always have their meal in the middle of the afternoon -- 1:30, 2, 2:30, 3. My kids (and usually husband, too) can't wait that long for lunch so then we have to scrounge up some lunch for them while the meal is cooking. I can't plan ahead for a later or bigger breakfast because the meal is not at a particular time in the afternoon just whenever it gets done. It drives me CRAZY.

For the past few years, they have spent Thanksgiving on vacation so we didn't have to worry about it but they went early this year.

Let's not even get into how silly I think it is to make a big holiday meal for 4 grownups and 2 kids one of whom will eat chicken nuggets & rolls for his meal...
 
I used to love it (dark meat, please!) but it was the only food that made me I'll when I was pregnant with DD. Just the smell brings back bad memories. I can't eat meat anymore, so it's not missed.

Used to have a huge family gathering at my in-laws, but that went the way of Anne's turkey. We go out to eat instead, and I usually have salmon. Fine by me!
 
Prepping my to-do list & trying to get ahead of the game for the day & glad it does not involve turkey or a large involved meal! Enjoy your low stress thanksgiving pizza -great idea!
 
Thanksgiving we have the traditional turkey meal but for Christmas, we have had pizza, sandwiches and fried chicken one year.
 
We keep things pretty traditional here, because John enjoys the process of cooking the turkey. I do a few of the sides a little different - I make stuffing muffins instead of a big dish - makes for a bunch of nice crispy edges which everyone likes best. And this year for the sweet potatoes, instead of a super syrupy dish of canned yams, I'm going to do sliced sweet potatoes layered upright in a dish, and then glazed with butter, pineapple, apple sauce, brown sugar, pecans and bacon. We'll see how it is, but I'm super excited about it!
 
Now that we started back celebrating (lost Dad in 2012 6 years ago today on Thanksgiving and that was my Holiday with him, it hasn't been the happiest for me) we now do the Jenno Turkey Loaf... It works for me so I don't have to deal with all that mess for just me and DH and we still have turkey. I make a clam dip that tastes like baked stuffed clams that we have now in lieu of stuffing, a little bit of mashed potatoes and hubby is making me carmelized brussel sprouts.. of course jellied cranberry and pumkin pie. We do it small and not a ton of leftovers nor hours of clean up so it is all good :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends here at the pad. To everyone I am thankful to each and every one of you for your friendship and enjoy your creativity!!
 
We alternate each year with my family (6 hour drive away) or hubby's family (here & we usually host!) So this year we are here! I have everyone bring most of the traditional side dishes, I made the pies & stuffing yesterday (just needs finished off in the oven today!) The hubby put the turkey in the smoker at 6am & it's looking good already! He likes to make rolls, so he'll be starting those soon! My house smells devine! ;)
 
We typically do the traditional Thanksgiving and usually have a crowd of people over - everyone brings something so there is a good variety to share. But this year, it is just the five of us plus my parents. So...we went out. It was great. You could order from the regular menu or have a traditional Thanksgiving option (which most of us did). Best part was no mess, no clean up, no leftovers that last forever. I did make a couple of pies - so for dinner we'll just snack and eat pie!!
 
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