"Thanksgiving is the most manageable meal of the year" says Regina Schrambling at Slate, and she offers up a plateful of hints, tips, and suggestions for making this startling assertion a reality. (What, you mean to tell us that a big bird and pies are easier than a fried egg over greens? Right.)
The meal itself is indeed a comfort-food extravaganza that shouldn't have to be stressed over, but the combination of family, tradition, and cooking for a crowd can produce all sorts of stress. We're curious about you - do you relish Thanksgiving's challenge? Dread the once-a-year pie routine? Or are you having a relaxing dinner at home with one or two - what's your stress-o-meter rating this week?
Since my mum's a serious cook, I'm not allowed to do much actual work on Thanksgiving, so there's no stress there for me. On the other hand, there's stress involved in any Important Family Holiday that's unrelated to food prep.
view vera in dc's profile
Lets give credit where credit is due....hosting the holiday and cooking the meal is a lot of hard work. that being said, I understand what she means. Once you've done it once, and perfected the art of using a timeline, it can be more manageable than other dinner parties, since so much is reheating.
view NyKittyNy's profile
I usually have Thanksgiving with a large group of friends, and I find myself frustrated at how everyone needs several specific dishes to be "just so," resulting in an overabundance of heavy comfort foods that go so much to waste. I'd rather have creativity & healthful foods, myself, but c'est la vie.
view Katie in Berkeley's profile
The wonderful thing about Thanksgiving is that all it is is the meal. I mean people travel insane lengths to visit people but if you don't do that, if you stay home and make a nice meal, that's all there is to it. What a joy & pleasure that can be with friends and family part of the celebration. No cards, no gift shopping, no big-time decorating, no pre-and post-parties, none of the nuttiness of Christmas (and don't get me wrong, I love Xmas).
Having said that, I think it's the ideal time to leave for a non-US holiday. People mostly don't travel on Thursday and Friday, and it extends your days off, if you are lucky enough to have Friday off. And you miss that crazy American custom of shopping the day after which I find so appalling I dont even know where to begin. When I am home at T'giving I never go out of the house on Friday except for a walk in the woods!
view Charlotte's profile
I am stressing this year because it is my first time hosting Thanksgiving and we are having 32 people here. But it is pretty much balanced out by not having to travel at all. It's somewhat of a potluck but I am also extra glad we decided to have it on Friday. So tomorrow will be spent hanging with a small amount of family and making pies, and Friday will be the turkey- and vegetable-roasting extravaganza!
view Anne (in Reno)'s profile