I am planning to host a small Thanksgiving get together in my new kitchen. I have a favorite Roasted Butternut Squash ravioli recipe that I would love to try with roasted sweet potatoes for appetizer. Happy Holidays! http://www.snackinginthekitchen.com/2012/06/roasted-butternut-squash-ravioli-with.html

I'm Canadian. We had ours already. :)

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year! This year it is very special because not only are we celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary (YAY!), but I will have almost completed my chemotherapy treatments. They have really knocked me down a notch or two, and put things in perspective. I am making two family favorites (cornbread dressing and broccoli/squash casserole), and trundling over to the sweet sister-in-law's house for a wonderful family time together.

I'm hosting dinner for the first time -- me, my partner, and five friends. I've been looking for alternatives to turkey (I don't really like it) and was thinking about a curried lamb pot pie recipe from Cooking Light. But, the best advice my mother ever gave me was to never try a difficult or new recipe for a dinner party -- does anyone have thoughts on easy, foolproof main dish recipes in this vein?

Since the plans my fiancee and I had to go to Texas to visit friends fell through, we are of two minds:

We just bought our own house, so having a Thanksgiving to ourselves seems heavenly.

By the same token, having Thanksgiving with family is what the holiday is about, so we might do that instead.

Who knows. Either way, there will be turkey :)

My sister is hosting this year in her new home. I was told not to bring a thing. Which is nice since I always bring our own vegetarian dinner for me and my girls.

I'm hosting my first Thanksgiving for my new husband and his parents and brother. I'd love tips for the first-timer.

My in-laws are hosting but its a potluck affair so we are smoking hte turkey and bringing a cranberry relish that I make in the slow cooker. Looking forward to the day.

this year instead of having thanksgiving we are having SHANKSGIVING!! making our delicious braised lamb shanks served over mashed potatoes. so good we'll never go back to turkey.

We expect 5-6 people around our table. The oven sensor was just repaired so that it varies 5 degrees instead of 30-50 degrees. I plan on baking a final test pie () after some modifications. Otherwise, the usual bird rubbed with oil, stuffed with cut citrus and herbs and cooked in an oven bag so it falls off the bones. Grandmother's squash casserole mistaken for sweet potato casserole, rolls, gelatin molded cranberry salad, Great-Grandmother's dressing, spiced roasted winter veggies, and pumpkin pie. The dessert and veggies change more than any other parts. Our big meal is at noon to allow the multi-stop folks and those travelling to be home or elsewhere for the evening meal.
I'd like to see more leftover recipes and a formal method for cooking down the carcass into broth. How about the non-turkey/ham options too.

@Maureen: You could do a test meal before the big day. Look at everything you'll need to cook that day, oven temps and cook times. I've been testing pies and a slow cooker recipe for one of my Christmas gatherings now. You want a dish you can either prep and cook ahead of time or prep the components ahead of time and combine quickly. Chicken? Cornish hens? Brisket? Different regions consider different proteins traditional. Browse online for seasonal/holiday ideas and expand beyond Thanksgiving. My Mom will tolerate turkey for two holidays every year and that's it. She perks up when she only sees it for Thanksgiving. ;)

Traveling to my parents. I'll be carrying a double-zip lock bag with the pre-mixed dry ingredients for a buttermilk corn pone. I may even have a bag of the pre-seasoned beans. Mom will have the buttermilk, eggs, a pan, and a strictly-enforced oven timeslot and location. I'll be bringing pre-mixed ingredients because counter space and bowls will be at a premium and I really don't want to do this on the porch or the deck or on the hood of a car in the garage. (OK, it wouldn't get THAT bad.) Considering making a quinoa-pecan-cranberry grain salad and toting it along. Just need a serving bowl and spoon.

Thanksgiving IS early this year -- as early as it gets.

Thanksgiving occurs on the 4th Thursday of November in the US. It will vary from November 22 (like this year) to November 28.

jayneilinch: congratulations on both your anniversary and on almost being done with your chemo. My very best wishes to you for good health!

Hosting with my boyfriend, for the third year in a row, for 20 of our closest friends. Most of us are a few years out of college and it's really exciting to have our own homes and start our own holiday traditions instead of just going "home," although I plan it for Saturday for those who do both. :)

It can be stressful, but is so worthwhile. I recommend prepping dishes days in advance and even freezing things that you can just put in the oven before guests arrive. Especially if you have a tiny apartment kitchen with no counter space!

Yum!

Husband and I are heading to the beach! We'll eat shrimp three times a day, walk on the beach, look for shells, eat some more shrimp, buy a pumpkin pie somewhere, drink Dos Equis, and stare out at the water.

Driving the 10 hours from southern NY to southern Ohio to spend it with my relatives. Someday I'll host my own, but this year maybe I'll just ask Grandma if I can bring anything. Lol. Maybe a celery apple salad? Or that wheat berry salad with figs and red onions that was on here a while ago? Or bread or something... We'll see. I do so love to cook thanksgiving foods (except the turkey) and get so little chance to do so...

I usually host a big Christmas Day dinner with all the fixins but this year I'm also hosting Thanksgiving. My husbands parents - who hosted Thanksgiving forever - died last year so we're starting new traditions. We're having dinner for 10 I think and I'm trying to keep things simple. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salad, squash, pies for dessert. So recipes that keep it simple yet are holiday appropriate would be helpful.

My in-law always celebrate on Friday, but this year my mother-in-law additionally asked some friends from out of the country to her home on Thursday, so this year I get TWO Thanksgivings! I'm so excited, it's my favorite holiday. I'm usually assigned pies (I have a killer pecan pie recipe, no corn syrup involved) and kugel (my very goy in-laws love this one). Thursday's dinner will be totally traditional, turkey and all the fixin's, and Friday will likely be some alternative dishes.

We will go to my parents' house. I'll provide the brussels sprouts and a dessert, and I'll help my mom with whatever she needs. There aren't too many people and we don't get too crazy with lots of dishes.

Hosting famiy/friends to the tune of about 20. Hostess does meat/bird, dressing, potatoes, gravy and beverages. Everybody brings something. (Hostess also fills "holes.") I'm considering making Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding or Roasted Eggplant Salad with Smoked Almonds & Goat Cheese--or some such interesting vegetable-y side dish. Should be fun.

We're having 2 friends and one of their out-of-town friends for dinner, so we'll be 5 at table. It's going to be traditional as all get-out... Roast turkey with herbed bread stuffing and giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, creamed onions, either winter squash or rutabaga, at least one green vegetable (maybe green beans or broccoli with a lemon butter sauce), roasted Brussels sprouts, and homemade cranberry sauce, both smooth and chunky. In case we're not completely comatose after all that I'll have some desserts available for guests (we're not big dessert eaters) and I'll send them on their way with homemade spice cookies and fudge.

Yes, I do enjoy cooking. Why do you ask?!!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! We have a small thanksgiving at my parent's house: my parents, my brother, me, my grandma and my aunt. My bf and bff may stop by for appetizers. I plan and cook most of it because no one else wants to! I've planned the menu and started shopping for non-perishables and have ordered the turkey. Veryy excited!

I love this holiday and I am a tgiving vet. This year will be a heritage bird (omnivores), some vegans, some gluten-free. There is overlap with all three groups. I use as much local and as much of my own harvest as possible and try to keep the menu minimal so that there are not wasted leftovers. I am working on the menu now. For the vegan, gluten-free person I am looking at a chickpea fillet modified from the post-punk kitchen site. We did a 50-mile tgiving a few years ago, this year will not be that extreme so that we can have cranberries involved.

My local family is traveling to in-laws in Vermont and The Fella's family want to have a get-together the week after Thanksgiving, so we'll have our third-ever teeny tiny Thanksgiving for two at home. A Thanksgiving in pajamas, and no long ride home after? Definitely something to be thankful for!

The centerpiece will be topsy-turvy stuffed squash, a vegetarian play on a Dorie Greenspan technique I learned about right here on The Kitchn. Right now, the other likely candidates are: pan-roasted Brussels sprouts, a a spinach gratin, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, asparagus with chili-glazed almonds, roasted carrots and parsnips.

A few years ago, I splurged on plenty of tiny pie and tart pans so we can have a variety of pies without having, y'know, a kitchen full of pies. I'll make pumpkin pie (The Fella's favorite), blueberry pie (my favorite), and apple pie (his second-favorite, and I like it too).

I'm in the midst of a kitchen remodel. Recipes that don't involve a counter or sink?

Day before Thanksgiving family brunch, Thanksgiving Eve dinner, and reg. Thanksgiving on the actual day. Love our big 'ol Southern family! Oh, and much of it will be vegetarian Thanksgiving!

http://chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com/2010/11/thanksgivings-almost-here-so.html

Hosting my first thanksgiving with my new husband at our place. Both sets of inlaws are coming but families are small so only 7 or us at the table. Both families are bringing their favorites to share and I'm excited to cook my first turkey! I do need to come up with a good vegan entree for my sister-in-law and edit some of the other recipes so she can eat as many side dishes as possible; that's a little daunting as i'm a cheese in everything person.

It's always just me and the husband, as it has been for the last seven years. I make a turkey breast in the slow cooker, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, brussels sprouts with cheese sauce, sweet potato casserole, Paula Deen's pumpkin gooey butter cake, and brown and serve rolls with butter (they are about the cheapest rolls at the market, and I have been hopelessly addicted since I was a kid!) Happy Thanksgiving!

And to Janieilinch: I hope that your road to recovery continues and your chemo is over soon! Much love and best wishes to you!