Tell us your Family Thanksgiving Traditions

[mom'sfolly]

We've gotten in the habit of camping at Thanksgiving. All the family is far away and most our close friends have family traditions close by. We have friends from Scotland who frequently camp with us. We've been known to fry a turkey while camping (roughing it this isn't, and a pot of food over the fire is required). But the kiddos are asking for something more traditional this year so....turkey, corn bread and sausage stuffing, green beans, glazed carrots, cranberry orange relish, rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry pecan pie, pumpkin pie and whatever else I feel like cooking.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

We would always go up to either my parents or my grandparents but last year I had my own and invited my inlaws over. I get along with them much better then my own parents, so even though I'm cooking, it's less stress.
Last year my turkey was still mostly frozen and we had a 6pm dinner instead of noon time like I had wanted. I am buying a fresh turkey this year!

I'll make Turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, veggies rolls, cranberry sauce and of course blueberry pie with homemade whipped cream. Not much.. There will only be 5 of us and DD doesn't eat much.

For Christmas I go to my parents and we have lasagna, braciola, salad and artichokes. YUMMY! My Dad's Italian.

 

[BantyChickMom]

Up until about 3 years ago we went to my mom's for Thanksgiving. She now lives in an apartment and doesn't have room for more than 5 or 6 people so Thanksgiving and Christmas is at my house with my mother, grandmother, MIL,
sometimes BIL and wife and 3 kids, and sometimes my next door neighbors.
My mom and grandmother help with the menu:

Turkey, dressing, green beans, mac & chees, candied yams,
cranberry sauce, butter beans, yeast rolls, turnip salad for my mom, grandmother, and MIL (no one else eats it), potato salad, and I'm thinking this year a sweet potato casserole.

DESSERTS:
carrot cake, several different pies, and whatever anyone mentions they would like to have this year

Then the decorating begins with the tree and proceeds to whatever I decide to put outside.
I always put up the tree Thanksgiving weekend because It's a long weekend and the kids can stay up late and help if they want.
It's easier on me to have everyone over to my house.
Both sides of the family get along very well (me and DH grew up living side by side until we moved when I was about 10 yrs. old) and we have more family time since we don't have to go to several different houses.

 

[Redfeathers]

Green bean casserole seems to be the dish that most everyone has in common so far no matter what part of the U.S you are from.

 

[wegotchickens]

My dad died in '99, and me, bro & sis all have our homes hours and hours away from each other. So Mom takes turns having Thanksgiving with each of us. This year she's at bro's house.

We usually have a traditional menu of turkey, beans, sweet potatoes with the little marshmallows on top, mashed taters, rolls, real butter, choc cake & pumpkin pie.
The day after T-day we go to the hiking club party and share leftovers. This year we are also doing a cookie dough swap on the 23rd, which is new.

For Christmas everyone meets at Mom's, which is pretty central for all of us. She'll have a honey-baked ham for grazing on as we all arrive, and the big dinner is prime rib with all the fixin's.

DD#1 is a vegetarian this year, though, so we're adding shrimp to both menu's for her. She'll eat fish, but no mammals.

 

[wegotchickens]

Quote:
Not at our house. My kids barely eat the beans plain, and they are immediately suspicious of anything in casserole form. They won't even eat the sweet taters! They volunteer to pick off the toasted marshmallows, though...

My kids won't eat pumpkin pie.

And DD#1, the vegetarian, won't eat homemade cake any more because I use our own eggs. "I don't want to eat any eggs where I know the butt they came out of." We are hoping that this is a phase...

 

[cockadoodlemom]

I have cooked the past 4 years and have always helped my mom since I was about 15. Not sure about this year but we usually have turkey, dressing, sweet taters, ham, tater salad, giblet gravy, corn, green beans, deviled eggs, mac & cheese, rolls, cranberry sauce, and broccoli casserole. Almost forgot the sweet stuff-pecan pie, chocolate pie, pumkin pie, cool whip, Mississippi Mud, and coconut pie. Wow guess I better figure out what I am doing cause I sure got alot to do.

 

[Lunachick]

I've been doing the cooking for Thanksgiving for the past 20+ years. The usual suspects are: me and dh, my sister and her dh, my other sister (solo) and my two daughters.

We are very traditional (boring) but I wouldn't have it any other way. We have a huge turkey, mashed taters, and mashed turnips, NO GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE, brussel sprouts, creamed onions, yams, stuffing with raisans and sausage, cranberry sauce (not the canned) biscuits and lots of gravy.

Desert: pumpkin pies, pecan pie, and sometimes grasshopper pie.

Oh and if I were to go to anyone else's house I would have to have xanax!

 

[6chix]

Deep fried turkey, slow roasted prime rib of beef(on the bbq) and all the other fixings. This begins the really busy season for my wifes busisness probally the last meal we will eat together until christmas.

 

[COgirl]

Everyone comes here. Here is our menu.

Herb roasted Turkey
gravy
crockpot stuffing
crockpot mashed garlic potatoes
mashed rutabagas
corn
greens
roasted sweet potatoes
green chili
homemade tortillas and homemade potato rolls
deviled eggs
cheese and homemade sausage platter
cran raspberry pie
pumpkin pie
sweetpotatoe pie
bread pudding w/whiskey sauce or maybe rum sauce depends on how stressed I get beforehand and which bottle is the fullest