Thanksgiving Plans 2021 (Whatchya gonna do?)

[clean]

AS I start this topic, Thanksgiving is 13 days away!  It is certainly sneaking up on us this year!

I bought a turkey  3 days ago because of the warnings that everything will be more expensive and in short supply.

I was looking for a 16 pound bird this year.  Last year, the bird was closer to 14 pounds, but I got word that my father in law was disappointed that there were too few leftovers.  (though my wife and my mother in law retorted that he doesnt like to EAT leftovers!!). 

Anyway, I was able to find birds from 12 to 14 1/2 pounds and birds from 20 to 22 pounds, but not the 'sweet spot' I was searching for.  The local grocery store had Butterball turkeys on sale for 99 cents a pound and Riversomething birds for 89 cents a pound. 

Stove top stuffing is now $2 a box!!   Sweet potatoes were over $1 a pound!  new potatoes are now over $4 a bag (I dont remember if the bag is one pound, a little more or a little less, but I was getting it for a dollar less a bag I think, six months ago).


THE QUESTIONS For the thread are thus:

1.  What are your plans??
2.  What will YOU be cooking?
3.  Have you started shopping yet for supplies?
4.  Are the supplies sufficient (similar to last year) or are there shortages?
5.  IS it markedly more expensive (or do you remember)?
6.  How will THIS year's big day be different from Last Year (under full COVID warnings)?


( I will try to remember to follow up with a Black Friday Thread  in 2 weeks to see what our collective experiences are )

[hmaria1609]

My aunt in southern MA called off the annual family reunion again for this year.  :(  It's a bummer.  So we'll be staying home in Maryland.

It's been fun seeing all the holiday food offerings at Costco.

I'm covering Thanksgiving weekend for my colleague who's going to see an elderly aunt. It would've been her scheduled weekend to work. She'll do mine the following weekend.

[apl68]

In a sense, I'm going home twice for Thanksgiving.  Next week my brother is coming in from out of state to spend a week with our parents.  I'll be taking a long weekend to go and be with them.  Wish it could be more, but this coming week is going to be very busy at work, culminating in an annual budget meeting.  At least we'll get that much time together.  Then next week, I plan to head home again for the actual Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad, while my brother is keeping the holiday with his wife and her family where they live.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I'm particularly looking forward to it this year because we're hosting for the first time. We're going on a mega shopping trip the Friday before, and family starts trickling in on Saturday. Wish us luck!

[Langue_doc]

Traveling--looking forward to seeing some lovely people again after being homebound last year.

Ex-spouse, the unofficial "chef" would do the turkey and all the accompanying dishes. The only time I decided to do turkey for Thanksgiving, I brined the turkey which almost slipped out of my hands when I was lifting it from the brine. I grabbed onto the bird, but there was brine all over the kitchen floor. Since then, it's good company and good conversation on Thanksgiving, but no fussing or cleaning up.

[dismalist]

1.  What are your plans?
--Wished I could have done nothing, but now wife's long time friend is coming. To visit. Yes, it will be nice. Wish daughter could be here.

2.  What will YOU be cooking?
--I let the fingers do the walking and ordered the whole shebang from Stale Fields, baked and all, and fixings. Just reheat and eat. It was the smallest turkey I could find. The advertisement said for four people. I had wished for and sought out an eight pounder. Didn't find one. Let's see what "for four people" means.

3.  Have you started shopping yet for supplies?
--No eight pounders. Capitalism is failing. No, my fellow man is failing.

4.  Are the supplies sufficient (similar to last year) or are there shortages?
--Pay enough and get enough.

5.  IS it markedly more expensive (or do you remember)?
--I've never done this before. Would rather make a small turkey myself. I'm good at it. Wife is not convinced, though.

6.  How will THIS year's big day be different from Last Year (under full COVID warnings)?
--Less woik.  Not woke. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[mamselle]

I'm having a Zoom call with family for brunch at 11.30 AM, and another with one friend at 6.

I'll do the eggs, etc., brunch thing, maybe with a journeycake and fruit sauce for historical interest in the AM, and I have my dinner-for-one already figured out and will prep the night before, to cook the night of.

I usually don't travel on Thanksgiving, anyway, so the only difference is that the Zoom calls (which are a repeat of last year's) will add some conversation into the mix.

And since I'll be using that weekend to make a push on the book project move forward, that suits me very well, indeed.

The attitude is gratitude.

M.

[ciao_yall]

Friend's house on Thursday. Bringing Granny's Could Lead To Dancing Sweet Potato Pudding. It has bourbon-soaked raisins in it.

Due to Delta variant (so says my introverted husband) we are putting off our annual Leftover Surprise Party. Drop in, drop out, everyone brings leftovers and wine. It's a blast.

[mythbuster]

I bought two bags of fresh cranberries last week and stashed them in the freezer. Since I don't buy them regularly, I'm not sure of any price increase. We have invited a few good friends over, they can contribute what they want to the meal. We have a number of friends with no local family, so this has been our setup for a few years now. I plan to pick up cut up turkey parts (thighs and a breast or two) for roasting.  We did this last year for "half a turkey" and it cooked so fast (20 minutes!) and so nicely. The white meat was actually juicy, since you could check and pull each piece as needed. I'm not sure I will ever roast an intact bird again, and it's much more easily scalable than looking for a certain size bird.

[mamselle]

I bought two bags of fresh cranberries last week and stashed them in the freezer. Since I don't buy them regularly, I'm not sure of any price increase. We have invited a few good friends over, they can contribute what they want to the meal. We have a number of friends with no local family, so this has been our setup for a few years now. I plan to pick up cut up turkey parts (thighs and a breast or two) for roasting.  We did this last year for "half a turkey" and it cooked so fast (20 minutes!) and so nicely. The white meat was actually juicy, since you could check and pull each piece as needed. I'm not sure I will ever roast an intact bird again, and it's much more easily scalable than looking for a certain size bird.

Do you buy the pieces separately, or do you buy a whole bird and cut them up yourself?

And if a whole bird, do you find they're easier to cut up frozen or thawed?

Just idle curiosity..

M.

[ab_grp]

We haven't done a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner in a few years.  We will just have our veggie daughter with us, so I think our plan is veggie pot pies the day of.  She also likes stuffed onions, so we'll probably make those, and maybe I'll bake some bread.  Haven't done that in a while.  My husband will make his scrumptious dressing.  We'll probably try to pick up some egg nog since we'll attempt to get the tree decorated while our daughter is here, and that is part of her decorating routine.  After she heads out, we are thinking of roasting some game hens to have with the leftover dressing and maybe get fancy-ish and do bagna cauda brussels sprouts and a savory sweet potato puree.  We haven't started shopping, but without a turkey to worry about it probably won't be much different pricewise (and we already have the hens).  The only difference from last year is our daughter, as she was with her mom during the holiday last year.  Sounds like a lot of great plans here, and I wish everyone good luck!

[onthefringe]

Fringelet's thanksgiving break is too short for her to come to us, so we got an air bnb in her college town and are going to her. She's invited a bunch of her friends who are also trapped  in college-town over for dinner, so we plan to host 6-12 college students (all fully vaxxed and tested) for dinner that night.

We also saw the lack of turkeys between 14 and 20 pounds, so we are doing a 12 pounder plus extra sides. We've told the attendees to bring or let us know about dishes that "feel like Thanksgiving" for them.

Prices definitely up, but the change is dwarfed by scaling up from three people to 14

[mamselle]

What a thoughtful plan!

One church I formerly attended used to sponsor "Orphan Thanksgiving" dinners.

We corralled anyone without a place to go and fed them.

Friendly warmth ensued.

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

It will most likely be just me, SO and our evil cat family. Several of family members (both sides) refuse to be vaccinated and neither of us want to get sick, or make others sick.

We plan to forage for turkeys and other 'necessities' for our feast this weekend.

[Langue_doc]

We plan to forage for turkeys and other 'necessities' for our feast this weekend.

I'm seeing you, gun in hand, watching the turkeys clucking their way through your yard as you decide on which one you're going to "forage".