How large will be your Thanksgiving gathering?

#1

Thanksgiving is less than one week hence. Because of COVID-19 the size of our Thanksgiving gatherings has become highly controversial. In New York State, for example, the emperor there wants law enforcement to enter homes where too many have come together and disband those large celebrations pronto. Such as that is, nevertheless, unlikely to happen.

So how about you? How many persons are you planning to bring together for your Thanksgiving celebration? Let’s see where we all stand on this:

  • Five persons or fewer
  • Between six and ten persons
  • Between eleven and fifteen persons
  • Between sixteen and twenty persons
  • More than twenty persons. To hell with COVID-19!
  • No Thanksgiving celebration this year. Looking forward to 2021.

0 voters

Regardless your gathering plan, Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!!

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#2

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#3

No gatherings this year. Older relatives are staying put. Nobody feels like traveling either to hang out with masks. Each family’s doing their own dinner at the same time while we Skype each other (which means a late dinner for us since some relatives are on PST and we’re on EST).

And on the plus side, I have a valid excuse for not cooking for 20+. :wink:

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#4

Same here… Even though I have a pretty small family, my kids will stay put. We usually have 6-10 folks.

We were thinking about even skipping the turkey. But, I still love turkey sandwiches, so I think I will cook it anyway. For 2. gravy & mashed potatoes, easy, peasy. No kitchen to clean up… :relaxed:

#5

We were thinking about even skipping the turkey.

Over the last few years we had been in the habit of ordering Greenburg smoked turkey… good think we didn’t have that plan THIS year. (they had a warehouse fire about a week ago that destroyed their entire stock of product)

Instead, I had picked up a frozen whole duck on sale a couple months ago, that has been waiting patiently in the deep freezer. Just went into the fridge to thaw, to be smoked on Wednesday.

And we’re definitely hitting the “easy button” on the rest of the meal – instant potatoes (which over the past few years have really improved in quality) and roasted brussel sprouts are the only other things to cook, the rest are premade pies :stuck_out_tongue:

#6

If you’re already going through the trouble of roasting brussel sprouts, why not also roast real potatoes? :smile:

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#7

Admittedly the former are a lot tastier when served generously with bacon, although that’s true of most things I suppose. Including ice cream.

#8

I’ll be all alone, at a gathering of one. My sister’s family is heading to her in-laws for the long weekend. I am not, mostly because I enjoy a few days of peace and quiet, but partly on principle.

I’ve made my opinions rather clear here over the past few months, but I do think that 4 kids under 10 years old spending the week in-class at school then going to the grandparents, who are both nearly 80 and with recent heart issues, is not the wisest decision. But it’s not my decision to make.

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#9

I’m sure there are ample good “left-overs” in the frig. Later on in the weekend you’ll have manage the food situation. That’s why even though no big “get together” a cold turkey has lots of possibilities.

But I would agree with you about your sister taking the gang over to the grandparents.

#10

If you’re already going through the trouble of roasting brussel sprouts, why not also roast real potatoes?

Because I want MASHED potatoes, and the food science on instant mashed potatoes has reached the point that they are as good as homemade. :stuck_out_tongue: (sometime in the last 5 years, or so, the packets from Idahoan dramatically increased in quality)

#11

Admittedly the former are a lot tastier when served generously with bacon, although that’s true of most things I suppose. Including ice cream.

Roasting oiled brussel sprouts with pomegranate is really good, even without bacon.

#12

My wife’s parents are coming here. They’ve already visited once this summer, so they don’t see much point to canceling the Thanksgiving visit. They are in their mid 60s with no other comorbidities. My mom isn’t sure about coming for Christmas. She has one comorbidity in addition to age.

#13

Bonus points for homeade bacon. Pickup a pork belly and some curing salt/spices and try it.

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#14

I have a pomegranate tree, actually 2. I love brussel sprouts, but never thought of them together. Do you use the juice or the seeds? Sounds like it would work.

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#15

We were planning on someone else hosting our group of 12 -14, but today we got a puppy/young dog and don’t want to leave her alone for the whole day. Guess what? We are now hosting. We will be near the oldest there, as several of our parents are, as they say, “not comfortable with the covid”. Although we will be from 3 different states, we have all seen / hugged each other over the last three months at various events. Even my very-covid-aware wife is at ease with everyone coming here.

We’ll be having a sort of traditional dinner - pecan smoked turkey, cornbread stuffing with giblet gravy, cranberry sauce mashed potatoes (because there is never enough stuffing), peas, carrots, green beans, yams, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and some kind of large fancy salad that I watch others eat.

#16

I’m very interested, and now starting to get hungry. :slight_smile: I’ve never cooked a duck, much less smoked one. What kind of wood do you use and do you use a dry rub or liquid basting?

#17

As I read this I’m imagining the Star Trek food synthesizer…

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#18

A tribble a day …

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#19

The results are in – this tribble is clearly a Republican:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Tribble_prop.jpg(image larger than 4096KB)

(yes, I know, wrong thread).

#20

I have a pomegranate tree, actually 2. I love brussel sprouts, but never thought of them together. Do you use the juice or the seeds? Sounds like it would work.

You quarter the brussel sprouts, toss them in oil/salt/pepper, and mix them with the seeds – lay it all out on a cookie sheet and roast it together.

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