NFR What's your perfect Thanksgiving setup?

Non-fishing related
Josh

Josh

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Instead of cluttering up a perfectly good "november sucks" thread, I figured I'd start a new one.

Many of us find Thanksgiving to be one of, if not "the", best holidays of the year. If you could draw one up, what would be your perfect Thanksgiving day?
 
I would like to have a group of friends (and family) together, share all the cooking, space for kids/adults to do their own thing, football on somewhere in the house, nice walk in the woods to either build your appetite or help with digestion, then a quiet evening with a glass of wine/whiskey to think about the things I'm lucky to have in my life.
 
The three F’s.
Football, food and fishing. What’s not to like plus four days of no work.
It’s by far my favorite holiday. It’s too bad it gets screwed over by Christmas with all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping bullshit.
SF
 
Huge fan of Thanksgiving. While we love hosting the relatives for the big meal, another branch of the family REALLY likes to host and so we gather at their place. Even if we will not be hosting, I'll often cook a "practice" turkey or two before / after just to dial in my recipes... One year, I had 3 "practice" birds in a month; my wife and I concluded that this might have been excessive...
On the morning of, I'll be up early to cook my potato-sausage stuffing that the extended family loves. If we leave early, we'll beat the late morning traffic congestion; if we don't, it'll suck... Once there, everyone aggregates in the kitchen to munch snacks and kibitz about the preparations (always in extremely competent hands). It has been cool to see the nieces transition to contributing their spin on the menu. Nibbles of delicacies disappear while the turkey and main courses are finished. Everyone gathers in the dining room at the overstuffed table and shares what they are thankful for. You fill your plate multiple times with the amazing contributions that everyone has prepared. As I will be driving home, I have to keep an eye on my wine glass... Everyone jumps in with cleanup and the division of leftovers. Some postprandial napping may happen. Finally, it is time to head home but the goodbyes are drawn out as everyone enjoys this gathering. Then, home for the requisite crash. And leftovers over the next few days. What is there not to like???
Steve
 
I loathe Thanksgiving.

Food-wise: If I could make a list of foods I'd be perfectly fine never having again, it'd be most of what makes up the traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu. Just never has been my thing.

Family obligations: I come from a split family, wife has a split family, I have siblings and relatives who have various combinations of who they will and won't associate with/talk to throughout the family... So there ends up being about a half dozen different dinners being put together, and no matter which one we do or don't go to, everyone ends up getting offended at our choice. So we choose to offend everyone equally.

Christmas isn't much better. I'm just not a holiday person. I have lots of dinners and get-togethers with friends and family throughout the year that mean a lot more to me than compulsory holiday traditions.
 
Thanksgiving was always the worst when I was a kid. Put a kid in a suit and tie, yell at him not to get dirty playing touch football in a Puget Sound November, Card table in the basement, drunk uncle, yadda, yadda....

When my kids were growing up, with two families of inlaws in proximity, I demanded it get easy. I cook turkey or ham, wife makes pie, and inlaws get to travel to me. It ended up being pretty good, though from time to time that critic/relative would become fingernails on the blackboard of the day.

Now, travel to the kids/grandkids, many miles on sketchy roads to puget sound holiday traffic, too small houses, too many wet dogs, too many cooks, too much cribbage and pinochle and jigsaw puzzles ... for me it becomes blessed chaos. I try to stay in my lane.

There'll come a time soon when I will just want solace of me and my wife and dog, but for now I'll take the turbulence.

Besides, I am the patriarch now. And what I say goes. That means Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce. Period.
 
Wild rice stuffing, Brussels sprouts with pancetta, mashed taters , turkey gravy ( scratch made only) the bird, golden brown and juicy...assorted prefunk foods, beginning of eggnog season, a nice bottle of wine, some football, family, friends, after dinner cocktails and a food coma...days off work, fishing Friday (for decades T-Day steelhead fishing in the morning was standard operational behavior, ditto Friday- Sunday, it wasn't even up for discussion)

What's not to like here ?

:)
 
Mossback said:
Wild rice stuffing, Brussels sprouts with pancetta, mashed taters , turkey gravy ( scratch made only) the bird, golden brown and juicy...assorted prefunk foods, beginning of eggnog season, a nice bottle of wine, some football, family, friends, after dinner cocktails and a food coma...days off work, fishing Friday (for decades T-Day steelhead fishing in the morning was standard operational behavior, ditto Friday- Sunday, it wasn't even up for discussion)

What's not to like here ?

:)
Click to expand...
Well, I do like football and egg nog.
 
Guy Gregory said:
That means Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce. Period.
Click to expand...
If Thanksgiving means anything in my house, it means fresh made cranberry sauce (with a bit of orange zest to liven it up). Thanksgivings are quieter than they used to be. All members of the "greatest generation" have died. And the Gen X, Y, and Z live too far away to join us, or for us to join them, on the holiday. So we'll still have a turkey, but I expect to be eating off it for the better part of a week. Since it's a 4-day weekend, it's a good time to stay off the highways. Maybe watch a football game and putz around in the garage; there's no shortage of stuff to clean up out there.
 
Mossback said:
Eggnog season is awesome....
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Did your folks ever do hot buttered rums or Tom & Jerry’s during the holidays?
Those drinks plus eggnog were always present during the holidays.
SF
 
Salmo_g said:
I expect to be eating off it for the better part of a week.
Click to expand...

He'll, that's a feature, not a flaw.

Turkey hash, sandwiches, and soup...one year we smoked turkeys and had smoked turkey enchiladas, another year smoked turkey mole, made the sauce from scratch...so lots of options with our feathered friend for sure.

My family has also gotten smaller over time, and we will miss those who are no longer here, but it makes the time with those are left more valuable. Recently my younger brother passed away, so this year will be smaller yet...and while it will be a tough one for us , there is still much to be thankful for.
Being thankful shouldn't be limited to one day, but a day to reflect isn't such a bad thing.

Especially if you have eggnog.
🙂
 
Mossback said:
turkey gravy ( scratch made only)
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Yes. This. I make the gravy, and if I want to drink it straight from the gravy boat when no one is looking, I'm going to damn well do it.

Also, try this along with whatever your normal cranberry condiment is--

Madhur Jaffrey's Cranberry Chutney​

1-inch piece fresh ginger
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1-pound can cranberry sauce with berries
1/2 teaspoon salt (or less)
ground black pepper

yes, I got the recipe from NPR 😱
 
To answer the initial thread topic vs my first response that just poo-pooed on Thanksgiving:

My ideal Thanksgiving is coming up and it involves going to Los Barriles Mexico and staying here

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And yes, I can walk down and fish right there.
 
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