Thanksgiving Prep/Planning

I was just informed this weekend that we are hosting for 15 this Thanksgiving, So onto the menu planning.

Turkey and Ham - Both on the Traeger
mashed potatoes
Dressing
2 versions of cranberries - one cylinder and one homemade
home made dinner rolls (Mom's Recipe)
A couple of pies (pecan and pumpkin most likely)
Roasted veggies and corn for the wee ones

I am sure more will be added as we get closer

 

"Cylinder" ... lol

 

The Today Show has done a Sidesgiving bracketology if you're interested in voting (can't believe how the Halloween candy bracket ended!)

https://www.today.com/food/what-s-your-favorite-thanksgiving-side-vote-today-s-sidesgiving-t199153

 

Got reservations at HEXX!

 

Trew Brew--How does one get " informed " that they are hosting 15 people??
We always have done a odd Thanksgiving. We would go away to a hotel or resort in Newport or the Cape and have their buffet and then spend a night or two just relaxing. We then would cook a big Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday and invite several singles or couples who had not had their Thanksgiving---either regularly or that particular year for some reason. We usually have 10-12 guests. I have no idea how we got into the Sunday holiday but it works for us and friends look forward to it as do we.
This year will be just Dh and I on Thursday and we are not really sorry that it is going to be that....for safety sake. We have already gotten calls but we are adamant that we are not seeing anybody for any reason this year.

 

The sad but understandable reality of Turkey 2020, queuetee.

 

Ha, I digress, but back when I was engaged, I would often get "informed" about things which I had no input in, including at one point when she "informed" me that we were going to India for a wedding in like two weeks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

I do love a full Thanksgiving dinner, but it's obviously not the year for gatherings. And my parents (who I don't really speak to anymore anyway, long story) decided a few years back that they didn't want to host the immediate family and thus started going to my aunt's, and she makes sweet potato pie the wrong way. If there's no proper (i.e., my grandmother's recipe) sweet potato pie, there's no 44inarow. I started going to Picasso a few years ago, and while they jack up the price on holidays, it's still worth it. I make that sweet potato pie for back at home, and I sometimes do a barbecue with some of the Aria guys over that weekend, but that'll probably depend on weather. I definitely will not be seeing people I don't know, but for guys I've seen every day for years, including through the pandemic, and we've all been tested, I'll go outside.

 

I was taking to my daughter in law at work Friday afternoon and the subject of turkey or ham for Thanksgiving came up. She added oh by the way we are coming for dinner on Thanksgiving. I asked MrsBrew on Saturday morning about it and she said that we were hosting and that my sons in laws would be coming ad her mom and I started adding the numbers it is fifteen not counting the 3 grandchildren because they are 3 and under.

MrsBrew did add the "I thought I told you"

Edit: A few years back we were moving into a new house mid November and MrsBrew informed me we were hosting 25 for Turkey day in 10 days. Good thing I am easy going.

 

I agree that you are a prince of a man...Enjoy your day.....and your hosting duties.

 

That's up there with "oh, I wrote you an email but I guess it didn't send" in terms of great tricks.

 

You should know better. When the missus says "I thought I told you", that means she told you and that you should have known. Shame one you.

 

I know...its part of "the dance"

 

Basic stuff at parents house, well the basics and add on some type of pasta dish. Pasta in an italian household is the main dish along w.everything else so the past so many years it has been cheese/beef tortollini since i dont do eat red meat, turkey that i also dont eat and peas/mushrooms, stuffing, sometimes thin, crispy breaded chicken for me to eat and whatever desert i make/bring. Cheesecake brownies are my sis's fav so thats always brought along w.either me baking addtl desserts or picking up some frozen edwards special or something similar. depends on my energy level; usually make at least the brownies and 1 addtl item. Not really a holidy person and for sure as i've gotten older. This year might just pick something up day before since our state is nearing another shutdown; currently have an advisory stay at home order. Looking forward to your tr with @MCann.

 

Green bean casserole is completely gross! IMHO
I will be making a pumpkin pie-- King Arthur's recipe
2 or 3 other desserts.
And I make dammed good baked beans.

 

I have two turkeys left from last Thanksgiving...they were fresh ones that they sold for .25 cents a pound on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I believe that I will try the spatchcock thing this year.

I will brine one (or both of them), use my new poultry shears to spatchcock the bird(s)...which should feel really good after my recent carpal tunnel surgery, and then inject them. I may smoke them at a higher temperature to get them done in a timely manner. I had smoked one earlier and I wasn't happy with it, so I am going to try it a different way. The combination of less cooking time due to the spatchcocking and higher temp should help. I'm looking for a lighter smoke than the last time.

My wife will do some sides. She may even order them from somewhere.

Most possible guests is two, which would bring the total to four. That is pretty normal and the other two usually have three or four meals to attend, so we only get a short period of time with them. No sense going all out!

We are very thankful. This year has been a mess, but we have been blessed. Both of us have worked the entire time and have our health. Having a trimmed down Thanksgiving is kind of normal for us, so this year will not really be all that different. We get some invites to larger gatherings but we usually like to do our own thing. New Years and Christmas are a different story...those may feel different.

 

When I smoke a turkey, I do it in pieces. Cut off legs from the rest. Helps a lot with timing, each piece can cook to the proper temp, and I don't care about having "the perfect bird" to carve on the table. Carving at the table is just a PITA so I've never done it ;-)

I usually buy big turkeys and my smoker isn't very big (it's a cheap electric one but works great for the two of us!) so I'm not sure a 20lb spatchcocked bird would even fit! Heck, some years I can barely get the torso to fit on one rack with the legs on another.....

 

Pedro is ordered, we pick him up on Tuesday, all undressed and raring to go. And we've -- thankfully -- nuked the sickeningly sweet Senator Russell sweet potatoes and will do whole roasted yams with a maple syrup-allspice butter instead. We also were able to score two rooms at Yosemite on Saturday night so the day trip with the oldsters will now be an overnighter.

 

Hams and turkeys in short supply around here. Local Walmart already ran out of turkeys!!!!

We are probably gonna do spaghetti

 

What were family Thanksgivings like growing up, compared to ones you've had as an adult?
I have a large extended family so Thanksgivings (and Christmas) when I was growing up were very large gatherings held at my grandparents house. You figure, my two grandparents, their three daughters and then all 10 of us grandchildren. I was the baby of the grandkids, most of them already in their teens when I popped out so soon after they started coming with their significant others and eventual families...I would estimate at the height of our family size we were housing about 35 to 40 people each year. We ate in three or four different shifts in addition to the kid's tables. We all have loud and lively personalities so you an imagine it was a house filled with a lot of noise and laughter.
As my grandparents got older and the grandchildren started trading off to visit their spouses families, things eventually dwindled down to my grandparents mostly just hosting my mother, brother and I. We lived right next door and we were still living at home and not married.
Now it is usually a very quiet affair at my in laws. This will be the first year without my mother in law and mother (both passed within the last year - mom lived in Maine but it will be weird not calling her and chatting with her) so I'm sure it will be even quieter than normal.

Are there any must-have dishes that you recreate year after year?
No real must have dishes other than my sister in law's rolls....she makes these amazing melt-in-your-mouth rolls that are just divine!

Favorite dessert?
Growing up we had our pick of deserts as my grandma was an amazing cook/baker. Apple Pie, Pecan Pie, Strawberry Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie and assorted cookies were all available. However my absolute favorite deserts were her chocolate kiss cookies and her homemade Needhams.
I'm not sure I've even had a Needham since I left Maine 20 some odd years ago but they will ALWAYS remind me of holidays at home. I might have to go look up my grandmas recipe for this year...hmmmm.

Have you always done turkey, or do you switch it up?
Always turkey growing up, but now we switch it up to with whatever we feel like at the time. We've done turkey, prime rib, ribs and even lasagna.

 

Would like to host the kids and significant others, but governor says don't gather with folks outside the household without extended quarantine prior and after. If it's just the two of us, may be our first beanie weenie Thanksgiving!