For as long as I can remember..I have been the chief cook in mine & hubby's family for Thanksgiving. Always the highlight of my year...I start planning for the next year as soon as we get the dishes off of the table!
Well, it had been a bit of a problem when we bought our last house because it was so much smaller and didn't accomidate everyone well. But we managed and it worked.
But, now that we are here...far away from everyone and in a MUCH MUCH smaller place place, I have had to realize that thing will have to be different this year! Very different. So, the only solution that we have come up with is to meet my family in Tulsa...we will all be in hotel rooms...and we will have to eat out for Thanksgiving. Then, we will spend Christmas with hubby's family. This is REALLY traumatic for me...it has been unheard of to eat out or allow our friends that don't have family near to have to eat out or spend Thanksgiving by themselves. But here we are finding ourselves in that situation....hopefully for only this one year!
So, no Thanksgiving cooking for me this year.... I am wondering if I can locate a 12 step program to help with my withdrawls and panic attacks....
I think I will just go ahead and do the cooking and freeze it ALL!!!!

My parent's house to too small to have everyone over for Christmas, so we have dinner at my sister's house. My parent's do most of the cooking, cover all of the dishes and put all of the turkey and ham in a huge disposable foil platter thing, pack it all into a foot locker and actually transport the dinner to my sister's house. We've done it that way for years!

Maybe you could kind of do it that way in Tulsa? I mean, how cool would it be to have your ENTIRE family in a hotel for a couple days at Thanksgiving? You'd be able to meet with them for more than just one day. And maybe the hotel has a conference room that can be set up and you could put all of your food in there and eat in there??? It may cost a little bit, butyou wouldn't be paying for food since you'd be making it and maybe everyone could split the cost???

Just an idea??

We did think of that...and also thought of getting a hotel room that has the kitchen in it. But...it is a 7 hour trip for us and that is a pretty long haul to get there and then feel like cooking.... But...we will be there for 3 days...so we are thinking that we are going to use one day to get out and do fun stuff with the kiddos...like go to the aquatic zoo....swim etc...so, I am giving in to the going out to eat thing...because I don't want to be exhausted...and it is more important that I am getting to be with my family...so, I am sure I will live through it! AND...I keep telling myself...it is just for this one year!
The day after Thanksgiving is NOT a good day to be out in Tulsa at all!!!You know the Christmas shopping thing...(ask LOZ)...

I LOVE that day!!!! hehe

Well...I'm glad you do Jenn...

BECAUSE I DO NOT!!!

I am not a "shopper" to begin with...I leave that to Loz! But I REALLY don't want to be out on busy crowded days...it makes me REAL cranky.
Nope..no shopping happenin here!

Vanessa go ahead and cooke that dinner you can always send it to me . Be happy you have family to be with and don't have to spend those days alone. Sure miss Billie cooking thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and the good smells. I'l stop on that.
Jimmy

We have a big family, well, between siblings, spouses and children..
And one of the things we went looking for when buying a dinning room table was one we could expand to accomindate alot of people..

I found one that pulls out and has 3 leaves in it, and can comfortably seat 22 people...
But when we have it extended out in the dinning room,
it's touches from one end to the other, with only a chair space and barely room for a smaller person to sit at, let alone put anything in their tummy...

So, now, we hope someeeeeeeee day we could get a room to accomindate our long table with out everyone having to get up to get the last guy out of it... :rolleyes:

I use to have a big table like that Weezie...except it was just plain big all the time! After many years..I decided to get a smaller table so we would actually be able to walk around the dining room. I will never forget moving it into the house and the boys both looked at me as if I had lost my mind! they said "MOM...WHAT WERE YOU THINKING...getting this tiny little table!" It was actually a "normal" sized table...but it was so funny that they were so use to that big whonker thing that they thought it was tiny!

Now, I don't have a table at all...I am regressing! I thought at this time in your life you were supose to be PROgressing!!!!! :rolleyes:

Vanessa: I hear you on the after holiday shopping...and just plain ol shopping period. Yucky, yucky.

You know most simple hotel rooms have mini refrigerators and microwaves. You could cook up the meal ahead, freeze...and then when you got to the hotel put some leftovers in everyone's frig....I think the best part is the turkey sandwich's a few days later....can make those up and take with you to the "fun stuff" activities....or midnight snacks(RAID THE REFRIGERATOR)lol.

That's not a bad idea!
Then you'll be ready for whatever you decide to do.

Thanksgiving and Christmas stress me out so bad I hate to even think about it.


Cindy

Thanksgiving ?!? I already put up our Christmas tree two days ago!

It's looking like Hubby might have to work on Thanksgiving, so if he does Ashley and I plan to go with him even if it means I have to have humburgers for thanksgiving dinner, we can just have a real dinner later.

Vaness, you might look into buying some of the food already made where you're going, some of the big groceries now do pans of ready to heat dressing and side dishes.

That's what we did the year I had my C~section
with my last kid...
It was late in the year when I had the kid,
and wasn't about to do a sit down dinner for 25 people after surgery and bringing home a new born.

Went to Tops, got a full turkey bird, stuffing, mashed taters, some kind of veggie, corn and a greenbean thingie, and some cranberry sause and rolls...and a pie too I think..
But it worked, minimal work and clean up..
Worked for me...

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! I love the big meal & being with family.
I don't do Christmas well at all...I could skip it every year and that would be fine. People MAKE it stressful and it just isn't worth it! Hubby made me put up a tree last year...that was the first tree I had put up in 6 or 7 years....I am definately a BAH HUM BUG kinda guy!!!

I am just going to miss the cooking for Thanksgiving...but..like I keep telling myself...it's just for this one year!!!!

4Ruddy, at least you can have a sense of humor about the situation.


*****Steph

Vanessa - on alternative years we are either with my family, or my husband's. On my side, sometimes we do it here, on his it's at a distant relative by marriage.

On his years, we always do our own Thanksgiving dinner the weekend after, for just the immediate family. That way, we have all the turkey, leftovers, side dishes that WE like, etc - it's like having a double holiday.

Maybe you could do a small scale dinner like that when you get home?

I was thinking along those lines. Since Darin & Lisa are close now...it is just wonderful.
One reason I am really tickled about the Tulsa thing is that Darin & Lisa are going with us. My sis & I raised our children together...but as they got older and have moved away...they don't get to be together at all. So, this will be the first time in 4 or 5 years that we will have all the kids, and now with baby Galvin, grandkids together. I think it is gonna be a ton of fun...the not cooking thing just hit me kinda hard!

Vanessa...I don't wait for Thanksgiving for my turkey. I usually do a big spread in October, didn't get around to it this year. I was going to buy a turkey right away and have a "pre-Thanksgiving" dinner, and yesterday, while re-arranging the freezer, I found a frozen turkey! Looks like maybe Saturday or Sunday...He's thawing now! Yummm!

I can eat turkey & dressing anytime of the year...i love it! But it's like everything else...I have to have SPECIFIC things with it or it just isn't right!!!!

I REALLY have to go...but I want to talk more about turkey (talk turkey! ha ha) later, Vanessa! I'll tell you my secrets for gravy!

EWEEEE...I love a good secret...I'll be sittin on the edge of my chair now!!!

Me toooo...
I make two kinds of gravey..
The one's from the gizzard and heart, etc..
**Which I DO NOT EAT**
And the other one, we call
"The Artery Clogging Gravy"
The pan scraping's with butter.

So they are labeled,
Gizzard Gravy and Clogging Gravy...
*so, they all know the difference.*

Why in the world would anyone pass up a good heap of gizzard gravy??????

Ahhhhhh because they're GROSS!!! :p
I barely eat a "good cut of meat" let
alone a gizzard... Eeeee wwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

vanessa, i couldn't cook the first year we were here for thanksgiving, so i know exactly what you are going through. but, sounds like you have a brave heart on it, and i will tell you, the non-traditional meal we ate was very good, and it was strange (but nice) to just be us for thanksgiving. you'll be ok, we ended up having a huge Christmas dinner to make up for it (i don't normally cook for christmas)

We started a tradition many years ago for Christmas. Everyone is Turkied & hammed out...so we have a huge fish frye on Christmas Eve.
When my grandparents were alive we always had a big snack~a~thin on Christmas eve...meat & cheese & veggie trays. Plenty of Christmas bon bons...pots of Bar~B~que deer meat for sandwiches...man it was great.
Now that my family is pretty much all gone..we do the fish frye with hubby's family. Every one is more than ready for it by that time!

How did your "Different Thanksgiving" go Vanessa???

Vanessa I am right there with you on the christmas thing bah humbug I don't do it at all anymore. First Christmas after Billie died my son ask to put a tree up in her honor which we did last tree I have put up. do not do that Holiday well at all.
Jimmy

Man the week~end was great...will have to give you all more specific details tomorrow...I am pretty whooped and have to get the P~Nut in bed....

Welcome home,Nessa!

Can't wait to hear about your holiday

That's great to hear Vanessa.. I'm so glad it turned out so well for you.

I'm sitting at my inlaws still, on fil's pc. We'll be heading home later today. I haven't gotten her bulbs planted, as the damn cold weather hit just before we traveled.. brrrrr it's cold out there! I will suffer this morning tho, just to get it done for her before we leave. I have 2 crown imperials, 3 cyclamen, and 10 double snowdrops that I got for her.

I'll be anxiously awaiting word on this wonderful thanksgiving you had!

Well, our goal was to get the kids all together at the same time...it has been about 6 or 7 years since the have seen each other.
Thursday we made excellent time traveling. We met at the hotel unloaded and then headed to my Aunts house, she is the same age as my sis...so the 3 of us have always been close. We left there and went to eat a bite...we were starving.Drove around and looked at the wonderful Christmas lights for about an hour, Got back to the hotel and decided to wear the babies out swimming. Got to the poll (it was COLD)but they were having a blast...until...Peanut threw up in the pool! It was the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed...man...you should of seen people running over each other to get out of the water.
nephew and they decided to surprise us and cook a Thanksgiving meal for us on Friday. We were shocked!
So,Friday...we went to lunch at the pub where my neice works, went to the cemetary where my mom, dad, brother & grandparents are burried and cleaned and put Christmas flowers out.
Went to my nephew's for the evening meal and it was just awsome! He is an "organic" nut and was so PROUD of his organic turkey!!! The kids prepared a feast for us..my sis & I were quite sappy. We ended up staying, telling stories and laughing our heads off till almost midnight!
We met for breakfast at 10 Sat morning and then headed home.
We just got to spend some real quality time together. I had not met my nephew's fiance' so I got to spend a lot of time getting to know her...she is wonderful and he is smitten for sure! Every day was just great!!!!

But, I am glad to be home!

Well, all that and I forgot something! Friday we took the kids to the aquarium museum...it was GREAT! Every kind of critter imaginable...and some you couldn't imagine! They had the tube you could walk through to see the sharks swimming all around you. they have 2 bull sharks that are know around the world because they are the largest in captivity. It was kind of freaky...
They have a "feeding" schedule in one of the bigger tanks and we were lucky to get to see it. A couple of divers drop into the tank and hand feed a variety of fish. they also have a few open tanks that they will let you touch some of the fish.
I can tell you one thing for sure..it made me know for sure that I will NEVER swim anywhere that I cannot see my feet! Man...some of the critters are just scary!!!