Thanksgiving Traditions!!!!

[carnation]

What are yours?

Our family will be down at Hilton Head for the annual family reunion. My husband's uncle lives down there and all his neighbors on the cul-de-sac let him have their houses free for Thanksgiving so the whole cul-de-sac is full of Carnations! 75 this year.

Has anybody tried the new pumpkin-flavored coffee creamer? I think it's only out for the holidays and was afraid it'd be gross, but it's fabulous!

Yes i have and it is delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i swear i was like just give this to me in place of the coffee.

My uncle and aunt live there in Hilton head also. I love it t here so pretty and relaxing

as far as traditions there is usually 15 of us who gather at each others houses this yr it is back to mom and dad's. I am stuck again a s i am every yr with the green bean casserole , mash potatoes ,and yam souffle ( ok casserole)

[BetteDavisEyes]

I cook the ham & turkey. My sister Olga makes the chicken & roast beef. Mom & eldest sister make all the side dishes.

Other 3 sisters & 1 brother can't cook worth a damn so we make sure they stay out of the kitchen and away from all cooking activity.

I guess this is a tradition b/c this is the way things have been done in my family for years. When I was a little girl, I was allowed to stay in the kitchen and learn b/c I was the only one that showed any interest in the cooking process. As soon as I turned 12, I was allowed to cook the ham by myself. At 15, I did the turkey & ham and that's the way things have been done ever since.

[AOX81]

Lets see...I usually work.

[SapphireSphinx9]

we don't really have any thanksgiving traditions anymore... long story.

BUT this year we're having a pretty big gathering of "orphans" at my mom's house. (friends with family outta state)

my friend juls and i are cooking the whole meal...

should be pretty interesting and a hell of a lot of fun!!


side note: carnation, it's good? i saw it last time i went to pick up some amaretto and almost grabbed it, but then thought - nah, i better find someone else who likes it first! haha. have you tried the other ones?? they've got a whole bunch of news ones, it seems. mmm coffee!

[scbelle]

I don't really like turkey that much, so my dad makes my favorite dish for Thanksgiving-- shrimp and grits. Yummy! While the grits are cooking (the right ones take a few hours), the fam has a football game. It's a lot of fun. After the dinner and dessert (pumpkin and pecan pies), mom and I usually scour the sale papers and plan our attack for the next day's after-Thanksgiving sale specials.

[_Lisa_]

My immediate family usually gets together & watches movies all day. Somehow the food gets cooked somewhere in there-usually my mom makes biscuits & my dad makes everything else.


We stopped getting together with the extended family because it just got too big to get everyone together in one place.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by SapphireSphinx9

side note: carnation, it's good? i saw it last time i went to pick up some amaretto and almost grabbed it, but then thought - nah, i better find someone else who likes it first! haha. have you tried the other ones?? they've got a whole bunch of news ones, it seems. mmm coffee!

I would not kid you...it's heavenly! Ballerina kept raving about it and finally brought some home--mm'mmmmm.

[summer_gphib]

We have our big family dinner then my extended family on my mom's side all rent rooms at a local hotel (about 7 or more rooms) Everyone brings their left overs and pull all of the tables out of their rooms and we play poker all night in the little meeting area. We've been doing this since I was 4 or 5, and it's a lot of fun. We play in the indoor pool all night too. All in all there are about 20 or so people.

But we are staying here this year for Thanksgiving. So we are starting a tradition of our own and going camping. *LOL*

[GeekyPenguin]

Church with my boyfriend's family (apparently most churches have Thanksgiving services, who knew?) and then stuffing our faces at two different houses and playing board games.

[Starofsorrow]

I tend to go out to Marie Callendar's with my mom, brother, and grandmother, and maybe a couple friends.

This year might be a bit different, though. I'm talking with my future roommate about us meeting each other's families for thanksgivings! I bet if that happens, we're gonna be SO FULL.

[DolphinChicaDDD]

in the grand tradition of my procrastinating family, both my mom and aunt have bought turkeys but neither has taken responsibility for hosting thanksgiving.

all the "kids" in my family have grown up, with my youngest cousin being 22 so traditions have changed much since we were kids. if my cousins/brother actually come around, i believe we will have the kids table again. about 2 years ago when my grandmother's alzheimer's started getting bad, we resurrected the kids table. which quickly turned into a drinking game and "i bet you won't" table. longest talked about bet: when i bet my brother he wouldn't drink the gravy boat for a dollar. he did. last year, we welcomed my cousin's husband to the table...but not her. as a child, she shunned us for the adult's table. and now she is stuck there. but bless her heart, she let her husband join the kids tables.

[scbelle]

Originally Posted by DolphinChicaDDD

in the grand tradition of my procrastinating family, both my mom and aunt have bought turkeys but neither has taken responsibility for hosting thanksgiving.

all the "kids" in my family have grown up, with my youngest cousin being 22 so traditions have changed much since we were kids. if my cousins/brother actually come around, i believe we will have the kids table again. about 2 years ago when my grandmother's alzheimer's started getting bad, we resurrected the kids table. which quickly turned into a drinking game and "i bet you won't" table. longest talked about bet: when i bet my brother he wouldn't drink the gravy boat for a dollar. he did. last year, we welcomed my cousin's husband to the table...but not her. as a child, she shunned us for the adult's table. and now she is stuck there. but bless her heart, she let her husband join the kids tables.

you could so make that into a movie... sounds like boatloads of fun!

[navane]

My immediate family usually gathers at my grandfather's house early in the morning to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade together. My dad cooks the turkey every year and he's expert at it! Since my grandmother passed 7 years ago, I am the one who carries on the tradition of fixing the Polish side dishes (three dishes: one beets with onions, one cucumbers with sour cream, and one herring with sour cream). My sister is a professional chef and she usually has to work during the holidays. If she's there, she'll jump in and fix the regular side dishes.

Then, my dad and grandpa fall asleep.

.....Kelly

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by DolphinChicaDDD

all the "kids" in my family have grown up, with my youngest cousin being 22 so traditions have changed much since we were kids. if my cousins/brother actually come around, i believe we will have the kids table again. about 2 years ago when my grandmother's alzheimer's started getting bad, we resurrected the kids table. which quickly turned into a drinking game and "i bet you won't" table. longest talked about bet: when i bet my brother he wouldn't drink the gravy boat for a dollar. he did. last year, we welcomed my cousin's husband to the table...but not her. as a child, she shunned us for the adult's table. and now she is stuck there. but bless her heart, she let her husband join the kids tables.

Your Family sounds like a lot more fun than mine!

We usually alternate years between my husband's family and my family, however this year my parents decided to fly to Seattle to visit my sister for Thanksgiving, so we are going to my in-laws again. My mother-in-law uses Velveeta any time a recipe calls for cheese, Cool-Whip any time it calls for Whipped Cream, Margarine for butter, and a packet of powdered "brown" gravy instead of making gravy from the drippings. I even offered to make gravy last year, but she told me that I was a guest and didn't need to do anything. I think I'll pack snacks and horde them in the guest room for when I get hungry.