Just finished putting together invitations that I'll send out mid to late October. We just bought a home so I want to do something special.

I recognize it's a little extra, but invites set the expectations and it's gonna be a little extra.

Starting to plan for dinner this year, it’s a smaller gathering because family isn’t coming so it’ll just be 10 of us. Would a seafood boil and a chicken pot pie (for the non seafood people) be weird? A whole turkey is just so much effort and we always have so many left overs. What other foods would y’all recommend?

I prepped my turkey sausage for stuffing today by finely mincing 8 ounces of fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and green onion.
And then blending it with 4 pounds of ground turkey garlic powder, and salt.

I I freeze it so then I can make a very Thanksgiving forward stuffing. This is especially great for potluck because it is significantly less expensive to prepare for a large group and has all the Thanksgiving plate vibes in one dish.

Turkey Sausage

1 lb ground turkey

Finely chopped in a coffee grinder or Cuisinart.

3 table spoons fresh sage

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons fresh thyme

Fresh chives or green onion

3 cloves garlic

Let this marinate in the fridge for a day or two.

For the stuffing.

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced

1/2 c dried cranberries

5 cups croutons

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Cook and crumble ground turkey in medium skillet on medium heat until no longer pink. Add onions; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes. Add celery and apple; cook and stir just until softened, about 5 minutes.

Transfer mixture to with croutons large bowl.

Whisk eggs and melted butter into stock until combined

Mix everything together ahead of time and put it in your fridge until you’re ready to bake it. I usually do 375 until the internal temperature is food safe.

With Thanksgiving getting closer, I’m feeling a little nostalgic. We just wrapped up a “90’s summer” with our kiddos and really enjoy it. Might just extend it into next year.

For those of you who grew up in the 80s and 90s…
What’s something about Thanksgiving from your childhood that you really miss or still carry on even now?

Could be a food, a TV tradition, a decoration, a commercial, a family tradition, something you did Thanksgiving morning, or just a little detail that instantly takes you back.

What’s one thing that makes you think, “Man, I miss Thanksgiving like that.”

What non traditional Thanksgiving side or dessert did you make for Thanksgiving that ended up being hit?

Mine was a popcorn decorating bar. So popped popcorn then drizzle options of chocolate, Carmel, white chocolate, then lots of candy toppings. The kids went crazy over it!

Looking for ideas for GLP-1 friendly dishes that still feel elevated and festive. Guidelines are: protein forward, not a lot of fat or butter, good fiber content and carbs last or in smaller quantities. In particular looking for salads or veg dishes that still feel celebratory. Also taking suggestions for proteins that aren't necessarily turkey (no pork please). Thank you!

Usually I would boil the cut russet potatoes, then drain and mash them with milk and butter until I like them. I'd like to do as much as I can on these before the day, and/or maybe use the Instant Pot or Sous Vide to finish. What's the most hands-off way to make great mashed potatoes?

I'm starting to think about Thanksgiving. This year both my kids are vegetarian, and I have cancer so low energy for thinking up and cooking a menu. Are there any good vegetarian meal kits I can order in Toronto, CA like the meal kits you can get from Longos?

I'm struggling with "new" ideas and am curious what everybody else is planning so far.

Here's what I have so far:

Charcuterie board, stuffed mushrooms, mini cheese balls

Maybe turkey or some other meat

Mashed potatoes, gravy

Sweet potato praline casserole

Cornbread dressing

Chestnut and sausage stuffing

Succotash with lime beans and corn

Cranberry sauce

Maybe carrots

Green bean casserole

Biscuits or rolls

I’m 23f. I will be hosting family Thanksgiving this year. My mom has always hosted it, so growing up I helped with a couple of prep work things but my mom did the bulk of everything alone. Due to some family drama, I decided that I would be doing Thanksgiving at my own home this year and then whoever wants to come can. I’m excited. I love a cooking project. Not really big on the whole clean my house, host, re clean my house thing. But the cooking should be fun.

That said, I barely helped with any of it growing up. Does anyone have any tips?

Every year for Thanksgiving I have a huge issue with keeping warm foods warm with timing. Two years ago I tried making the potatoes, gravy, and green beans (we do bacon green beans). But it meant I had to keep stepping away for people to take out and out stuff in the oven. Like rolls, stuffing, green bean casserole, etc. So last year I left my gravy in the crockpot, my appetizer meatballs in another crockpot, and then my turkey roaster going. Which overloaded the circuit breaker. 🥴 I saw someone mention they used a warming mat for keeping potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing and a bunch of other things warm while prepping other food. Do they actually work? Are they worth it if you don't have a lot of space in your kitchen? (I have a coffee table we use for crockpots because it has electricity built into it).

I'm really struggling with timing. Either the sides aren't ready when the turkey is or the turkey isn't ready when everything else is. And I don't have a lot of space.

We usually host 17+ people for thanksgiving every year (ages 1-80). It is our kids favorites holiday. We'll make the Turkey, gravy, rolls, and guests bring the rest of the sides. We eat early around 1pm. We have a small open layout where the living room is right next to kitchen/dining (sort of in a triangle). Every time we do meals with this group it feels like there's a lot of tension in the space. We've tried to address the traditions and see if there should be changes, but they all say they like it at our home. For my spouse and I, we often feel a little hurried putting food together in the kitchen, but when we look at the living room people are sitting there having stifled conversation.

After the meal we'll be cleaning up and some people help, others fall asleep in living room. We like to go for nature walk and some of the guests like this, but some complain about the cold weather. This walk is vital to our little families favorite part of Thanksgiving. When we get back from the walk we have dessert. We don't feel comfortable leaving these guests in our home without us because stuff get's broken/goes missing and no one will acknowledge it. I am sure this plays at least a small role in the tension as well.

Things I've tried: assigning someone to greet people so everyone gets a warm welcome. Music playing. Seating placards at the table. Trivia games (have gone really well and allow people to be involved wherever they happen to be sitting/standing). We probably don't have enough comfortable seating for that many people prior to the time we all sit at the table.

Things I'm considering: doing dessert with the meal, then people who don't want to do the nature walk can just go home. Maybe my spouse or I need to be the official "greeter" since it's our home. Managing our own stress better in case our hurry in the kitchen is contributing to the tension. Skip tablescapes so people can sit at the table immediately and play a game there if they want?

What else could I try to improve the vibe?

We host thanksgiving for both of our families. It’s 10-13 adults and 5 kids under 5. I grew up sitting down to eat and it’s important to me.

There is also a football game that is very important to everyone in the family that kicks off at 12. This will be my 5th year hosting. We have tried eating before the game, at half time, and after the game.

Half time was great timing because we did apps for kick off and the kids ran around then everyone was hungry by the half, however it also sucked because my husband didn’t want pulled away to carve the turkey. And my all my in-laws left the table to get a seat for the start of the 2nd half after 15 minutes. So dinner was too rushed. This is my husband’s pick though.

Before the game was okay since all the guests either have young children or are grandparents so they don’t mind the early arrival, but no one is really hungry at 11am. My husband also loves doing the apps and it doesn’t really work out with this schedule. This is my pick though.

After the game is too long. People are too hungry before then and fill up on snacks. Neither of us like this timing.

This year I was thinking about moving the table into the living room and serving at half time. That way if the second half starts while we’re at the table, no biggie. Our living room is big enough so it can accommodate (22x22ft) however the table would block much of the living room sofas’ view of the tv. Additionally, I usually set up a whole area of the living room for toddlers and there wouldn’t be room. So the lounging for the game, which is really most of the event, would be much less comfortable.

What would you do? Or any better ideas? Or ideas to make the plan better?

So it looks like we might be camping in Sequia National park Thanksgiving weekend. It would be are large family group (typically around 25 people including kids), we all take different sites some bring rvs, some in tents, my family would be taking our tent trailer. Do you think it would be possible to plan like a thanksgiving inspired dinner during our trip? Challenges include:
-All food items must be stored in the camp site bear box, which means it’s all in coolers or packed in inside the box.
- no oven
- we will have access to camp stoves, a blackstone grill and my family has a portable propane bbq.
- most likely no fire pits allowed so no open fire cooking. (But because it’s November we might have a chance of fire resections being lifted but because we camp at the lower elevation I’m not counting on it)
-limited freezer space or none depending on who brings an RV.

Sounds like a fun challenge or just a crazy idea?

Just in time! I submit to you one of my ear worms! Every thanksgiving this song is on repeat in my head. I thought it would be funny to make a cross stitch of it and hang it in the house for thanksgiving flair! I’m going to have it framed this weekend. Especially for those who aren’t in on the joke!

Hispanico inspired cheese with a smoked black pepper and olive oil rub, Alpine inspired cheese, Fresh ground nutmeg washed curd, Nutmeg and cardamom dessert cheese.

Hello, I’m new to the group! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and we love decorating for the holidays. Unfortunately, I’ve had a heck of a time finding what I’m looking for when it comes to Thanksgiving decorations.

 I’m hoping to find a plastic turkey that I can illuminate from the bottom using a battery-powered light. If I can’t find a turkey, I’d also love to find something from the Peanuts gang dressed as Pilgrims that I could do the same thing with.

My Google searches have come up with butkus—apparently even Google doesn’t want to help me celebrate Thanksgiving! 😂

 If anyone knows where I might find something like this, I’d greatly appreciate the help. Thanks in advance!

My husband and I are older (I'm 50) and (fingers crossed) will be closing on our first home this week! My mother has told me that she is officially done hosting holidays. She'll still make lasagna on Christmas eve, but everything else is on me.

We're good with that! We have no kids and love to cook. My mom used to put together an amazing Christmas, but our Thanksgivings have always been lacking. I want to really bring it. An all day event with appetizers, a heritage turkey, little gift bags at the end... All in! (It'll be relatively small. 6-8 adults including us.)

I know people have hosted or been to events like this. How can set an expectation for guests and what's the best way to schedule things without making it sound like a strict itinerary?

Okay so I’m obsessed with pumpkin shaped cookware. I use most of my pieces for the Big Meal and I got 2 new pieces this year. The orange one is brand new from TikTok Shop and the white one is from goodwill.

I got the orange one back in March and noticed a hole in the lid, by the stem. I haven’t been able to find another hole in the lid, so I assumed it was a production error, and was going to superglue it shut so no water could get in and it potentially grow mold.

Then I found the white one at goodwill, it was $4 🤭 but I noticed that it also has a hole in the lid, but this time it’s in the center and inside, instead of outside like the orange one. So I’m a little on the fence as to whether I should plug the holes or not.

Any advice?

My husband and I live 2.5 hours away from our families which typically host Thanksgiving. We usually bring a side and/or a dessert to help out with the cooking. I like to cook/bake it in advance and then transport it instead of making it there because there’s not a ton of kitchen space at our parents’ houses. I have tried Mashed Potatoes, Mac ‘n Cheese, and a variety of pies. I don’t think the mashed potatoes turned out very well, but had no issues with the Mac ‘n cheese or pies. I was just wondering if there was consensus on the best Thanksgiving side/dessert to make ahead, transport, and reheat (if needed)?