I thought I would write about our plans for Thanksgiving weekend. We are going to stay home this year, and have dinner just us and the kids. With the move recently, and how far of a drive it is now, we just felt like we should stay home. My family was a bit upset at first, but things are much better now. We have already bought all the fixings for dinner and we are looking forward to making the meal. Paul and I have always made the meal together. Even if we ate the Thanksgiving meal at a family's house, we would then cook a smaller meal on Friday for us and leftovers. So we have pretty much been cooking our Thanksgiving meal together every year since we met. There was one year when I had the flu and Paul had to cook the WHOLE meal. I couldn't even stand the smell, so I was closed off in our bedroom all by myself, while Paul cooked the whole meal. I had it days later, and it was very good.
So this is our routine. We get up somewhat early and Paul cleans the bird out real good, then we soak it in cold salt water for about 10-20 minutes. While he's doing that, I'm chopping up celery, onion and apples for the stuffing. I fry up the celery and onions in butter, then mix the with the sage and onion bread cubes, hot water, butter, some seasonings and the apples. Our tasting of the stuffing to make sure it tastes right is usually our breakfast. Just kidding. We stuff the bird, put the rest of the dressing in a pan to cook later and get the bird in the oven, with pats of butter all over it. At this point we clean up the kitchen, and get our normal morning routine started. If it's Thanksgiving day, we are watching the Macy's Day parade while all of this goes on. Now that things are cleaned and the turkey is in the oven, I usually make a big homemade breakfast. Eggs, fried potatoes, sausage and bread. This way, we are full and don't have to worry about a 'lunch' since we usually eat around 2:00pm.
Now at this point football is on. I make my apple crisp and pumpkin pie the day before, so it's usually a casual time for me at this point. We just all relax, watch football and enjoy each others company. Then once the bird is almost done, the craziness begins. We don't do a lot of 'extras' with dinner, we just have the basics. Besides the bird, we have the stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggie, biscuits and homemade gravy, that's about it. If we are having dinner with lots of extended family, we might make other things, but since this is pretty much all we like to eat, why make other things. But it all has to be made around the same time, that's why I said the craziness begins. I get the mashed potatoes started, and usually once they are about ready to be mashed, the turkey is done. We bring it out of the oven, let it sit for a bit, then Paul starts carving it. So he's carving the turkey, while I'm baking the rest of the stuffing, and starting the gravy. And somehow, it all comes together perfectly. Then we all have a great dinner, and truly enjoy our time together.
But for us, Thanksgiving doesn't just mean Thursday and the meal we eat, it also includes Friday, and truly I think my kids are looking forward to that more. Friday is the day we set up our Christmas tree and start the decorating. The kids know the truth about 'Santa' and that whole thing. But it has become such a fun, family tradition, we all enjoy it so much. In late morning early afternoon, we start setting up our tree. Usually we have an artificial tree, one year we did have a live tree. We thought about it this year, but we still have the artificial tree from last year, so we are going to use that. We hardly have any store bought ornaments. Almost of all of our ornaments are either homemade or have a 'meaning' behind it. As we are putting on the ornaments, we are drinking eggnog and watching It's A Wonderful Life. We always watch It's A Wonderful Life as we set up the tree. The kids have such fond memories of our times doing this. About two weeks ago they started quoting the movie and talking about how much they are looking forward to this time.
So that is our Thanksgiving weekend. We have so much fun, and really enjoy ourselves. Paul will be home both Thursday and Friday, some years he's had to work on Fridays, but not this year. Tomorrow starts the baking. I'm making cookies and brownies for Paul to take to work, then my apple crisp and pumpkin pie on Wednesday. I want to try to freeze cookies, but I'm not sure I'll have to many leftover to try freezing this time. I'll have to just make another batch.
I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving will all of your family traditions.
That sounds like so much fun, I'm tempeted to let some of the family in my kitchen to help. I usually work best alone, but maybe I'm missing out.
We have always eaten dinner at home with just us.
The year Andrew was born (Nov. 13) we had to choose between going to Tacoma (WA) to spend Thanksgiving day with extended family or going the next day (Friday) for DH's cousin's wedding. We chose the wedding and stayed home with the kids (12, almost 11 and the newborn). The 2 older kids remember this as one of their favorite Thanksgivings. We were--for the first time in memory--by ourselves. We bought M&Ms, rented a movie, and played Monopoly and other games all day. Plus we did have Thanksgiving dinner and it was so fun!
So enjoy your day. I bet the kids will remember it as a favorite through the years.
Your holiday plans sound great. A lot like ours except we just PLAN on putting tree up after Thanksgiving but somehow never actually get it done. Hmmm....
I hope your family can be understanding and supportive of your decision. I wish we could stay home this year. We have to travel a few hours north and it may snow! Ugh! Thanksgiving is a big deal to my dh. It's the only major holiday we spend with his extended family. Christmas is always here. It's our compromise. So, I just go with the flow on Thanksgiving, remembering I get to do what I want on Christmas, which is more important to me.
Jenn
Sounds like a wonderful weekend! Hubby and the kids are watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving right now. We will be going to my parent's tomorrow. We usually don't put our tree up until closer to Christmas. Little One believes in Santa and we are having a hard time keeping Prince Caspian from announcing to him! Well, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! :)
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So we have pretty much been cooking our Thanksgiving meal together every year since we met. There was one year when I had the flu and Paul had to cook the WHOLE meal. 
I couldn't even stand the smell, so I was closed off in our bedroom all by myself, while Paul cooked the whole meal. I had it days later, and it was very good. 
Just kidding. We stuff the bird, put the rest of the dressing in a pan to cook later and get the bird in the oven, with pats of butter all over it. At this point we clean up the kitchen, and get our normal morning routine started. If it's Thanksgiving day, we are watching the Macy's Day parade while all of this goes on. Now that things are cleaned and the turkey is in the oven, I usually make a big homemade breakfast. Eggs, fried potatoes, sausage and bread. This way, we are full and don't have to worry about a 'lunch' since we usually eat around 2:00pm.
