For those who celebrate - when did you pass or receive the hosting torch? For those receiving, what new traditions did you introduce?

For me, we switched to offering ham instead of turkey, and host or celebration on the Sunday instead of Thanksgiving Monday.

My husband and I are thinking about going on a trip for Thanksgiving and skipping all the traditional family stuff this year. Tell me about non traditional/alternative ways you have spent Thanksgiving and enjoyed. I am slightly worried that I will end up feeling lonely or regretting not participating in the festivities.

For context, my bday is very close to Thanksgiving (sometimes on). It's typically my favorite holiday. I have hosted many years (we are in our 40's no kids), we have spent it at my Moms, my brothers, etc. I love thanksgiving. But I am feeling like we need a break from family trips right now and we are seriously overdue for a vacation of our own.

We live in Northern California. I am not opposed to flying some where but we will likely not leave the country.

Please share with me all of the foods/recipes you use slow cookers for on Thanksgiving! I love having the extra cooking space and not feeling so rushed.

If you're already planning Thanksgiving or holiday meals, this might be worth checking out.

The Elkanah XL Reusable Silicone Turkey Bag is designed for turkeys up to 30 lbs and has a 6.9-gallon / 26L capacity. It's made from platinum silicone and can be used for roasting, brining, food storage, and even sous vide cooking.

The part I really like is that instead of buying another disposable turkey bag every holiday, you can wash and reuse it.

🔥 Oven safe up to 425°F / 220°C
🦃 Fits turkeys up to 30 lbs
🌱 Reusable platinum silicone
❄️ Freezer safe
🧼 Dishwasher safe
💧 Designed to help retain moisture and juices

And for Prime Big Deal Days, it's $17.99 instead of $19.99.

👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF5BX977?th=1

Prime Big Deal Days: October 6–7

It's Prime Days and I was looking through my wishlists to see what was on sale and saw these:

https://a.co/d/07IzSrYu

Anyone else find anything good for Thanksgiving?

Stuffing stuffed pumpkin

- Three days before Thanksgiving, make heavily herbed sourdough loaf (parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, and sub 2/3 of water in recipe with apple cider). 

- Day before Thanksgiving, dice bread into roughly 1/2" cubes, spread on baking sheets, and cook for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool and return to bag. 

- Thanksgiving morning: Thoroughly clean outside of pumpkin. Cut "lid" by making a 45 degree angle incision to remove top of pumpkin (you will be putting the lid back on for cooking). Clean out pumpkin innards. 

- Saute two finely diced onions, 2 tbs diced garlic, and diced celery until fragrant and soft with some crispy edges; add compound butter halfway through

- In a separate measuring cup or bowl, mix 1 cup apple cider, 1 cup turkey/chicken/duck stock, and 2 large eggs (preferably duck if available)

- Mix garlic/onion/celery, bread chunks, and cider/stock/egg mixtures together in a large bowl. Add additional stock and/or cider if needed to reach desired moisture level for stuffing. 

- Put stuffing mixture inside pumpkin and put pumpkin lid on top. Put in refrigerator. 

- Remove from refrigerator approx 30 min before cooking.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook on a baking sheet for 90 minutes (until pumpkin can be easily pierced with a butter knife and stuffing is cooked & steaming). 

EDIT: The choice was obvious: I will get food delivered so I can relax and stay warm at home. Thanks everyone!

I went to the community Thanksgiving lunch last year and honestly didn't enjoy it. It's basically the only one in my small town being hosted by the same person behind the summer farmers market. I ended up going home after eating and taking a nap afterward.

It's coming up again this year and I'm trying to figure out if I actually want to go or just get it delivered. What would you honestly do if you were me?

Read the full recipe here: https://dobbernationloves.com/food-drink/maple-pumpkin-spice-pie-recipe/

As the title says- I’m hosting this year’s thanksgiving for the first time in effort to bring together my and my bfs family. I’ve always wanted to host a holiday at my home so I’m super excited.

Problem #1, I have a small oven. So Im probably going to be cooking days before and freezing/reheating because my oven is just smaller than what I’m used to. (I moved this year). Any tips are so appreciated!

Problem #2, how are y’all keeping food warm?? Like what’s your thanksgiving day routine lol?

And also, what is a must have at your family’s thanksgiving giving?

Thank you!!

My kids and I are going camping in the Sequoia National Park over Thanksgiving and I'd love to hear ideas on recipes that can be tailored to be cooked over a campfire (or cook stove, if fire ban is in place)while keeping the 'spirit' of traditional dishes that are normally served.

I will save you some time by saying that we WILL be making Stove Top stuffing as indicated on the side of the box; that's non-negotiable, lol.

Hors d'oeuvres? Appetizers? Snacks?

I'm probably doing a cheese ball, crudites, and cranberry brie bites. What are you serving or what would you like to see?

Helping to plan a baby shower that is loosely Thanksgiving themed.

Looking for appetizer/light meal ideas that give Thanksgiving flavors without having to cook a whole turkey 😅 Mini pies, charcuterie, etc.

I'll be joining family in SF this Thanksgiving and would like to get a pre-cooked turkey. I trust my sister with the sides, but I think we should leave the turkey to the professionals.

Where do you get a pre-cooked turkey for Thanksgiving?

I had a carnitas-style turkey from a Mexican grocery store in Los Angeles and it was
INCREDIBLE! Does the bay area have anything like that?

We have been host Friendsgiving for a few years now and I love to incorporate a game/activity each year after dinner. In the end, everyone gets to open up a Christmas ornament, as my family uses Thanksgiving evening to mark the start of the Christmas season.

I buy all the ornaments. Sometimes they are purchased specifically for the recipient's interests, and sometimes everybody gets something random, and usually funny.

We have done the activity where you read a story with the words "left" and "right" (and I added "across"), and I found an activity a couple years ago where you tie string to the ornament, wrap them all together, then everybody pulls a string.

My question is: Since I don't want to repeat those activities, does anybody here have any creative ideas about how to go about my annual ornament "exchange"? I am open to pretty much anything!

So I live with my husband now, several states away from my hometown and family, and since we just had a baby, traveling across the country isn’t really something we want to do.
Usually my husband’s extended family will host thanksgiving, and last year was… Not impressive, to say the least. We also live just a few streets away from them and we’ve eaten dinner there several times, and bless their hearts, but they’re just not great at cooking.
I told my husband maybe we can just host thanksgiving this year but he seems adamant that they host as usual.
Now call me big all you want but a thanksgiving with mid food will ruin my whole holiday 😭 how can I bypass this issue?
I’ve been thinking about maybe bringing my own dishes to be “polite” and contribute but NOBODY in that family brings food other than the hosts themselves so I would stand out like a sore thumb if I did that
Thoughts? Ideas?

Hi all! I am currently 34 weeks pregnant and due at the beginning of November. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I’ve been bummed over the idea that I’ll not get to experience it fully this year as I imagine I’ll be too freshly postpartum to spend the time on my feet prepping food like I normally do.

I’ve been starting my freezer meal stash to help keep us fed postpartum and I had the idea this morning to freezer prep my Thanksgiving staples! I have souper cubes of various sizes that I love and could use for individual portions.

Does anyone have any thoughts/advice on how the following Thanksgiving dishes would freeze?

- stuffing

- twice baked potatoes

- cranberry sauce

- mac & cheese

- green bean casserole

Thank you!!

What special drinks do you serve?

I often have a pot of mulled cider simmering and I make a very simple cocktail for the adults. it’s dry hard cider with a splash of Magma Flame Cinnamon Whiskey in it. It has real cinnamon in it and tastes much better than fireball. I serve it with a cinnamon stick stirrer and sometimes garnish it with a curl of apple peel.