Best Thanksgiving Ever?

[Deleted]

I need ideas and since you Canadians just celebrated Thanksgiving maybe it's timely.

We aren't traveling for Thanksgiving this year.

It's a little sad because I've been with my family for 35 Thanksgivings but alas, I used all my PTO and need to save what remains for my Aruba trip. I refuse to drive 6+ hours in one day and only see one of our families so, alas, we are staying home.

We thought about inviting people over but I don't know if we know anyone without plans and I don't want to send out an invite to have it turn into getting invited to someone else's house. I just want some low-key screaming toddler fun.

DH wants to cook a turkey.

What else should we do to make it fun? Kid friendly sides? Funny outfits? Easy desserts to make? Should we spend the whole day decorating for Christmas?

I really want to make it festive and not a day of lounging around bitter that daycare is closed. So give me ideas!

[zarapipe]

Cook an awesome mean- or take out a delicious one. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry, crusty bread, beans, carrots, yummmmmm.

Bake all of the desserts to make your house smelly great.

Music- you can crank out the Christmas music.

I think decorating for Christmas is a great idea- we usually do a little after dinner.

Watch the parade on TV

[Deleted]

We had thanksgiving once just the 2 of us. It was amazing. We watched the parade, overcooked, ate and then ate again. You could do some sort of craft with your kids or puzzles or games.

[bearbaby]

We spent many Thanksgivings growing up abroad - and some of my fondest memories are ones we celebrated with rag-tag groups made up of whomever was looking for a table to share - so I'd encourage you to at least stay open to the idea of inviting friends/etc along if you find someone without somewhere to go.

Cook your favorite meal. If it's all the fixings? Great. But if not - indulge in "non-traditional" foods.

Music and Christmas decorating - and parade watching.

Eat at a normal-ish dinner time, and before make meals just about snacking on the best appetizers (I could eat nice cheese and crackers all day long).

If you do invite friends over, I love our tradition of a champagne toast pre-meal where everyone goes around and says what they're most thankful for from the past year.

[countthestars]

Decorating for Christmas sounds fun!

In the past we've done board games, gone to the movies.

Maybe some sort of turkey craft for B? Bake and decorate cupcakes for dessert?

[gibbinator]

Our plans fell through due to sick hosts, so I made us an impromptu dinner of chicken cordon bleu (from a box ), scalloped potatoes, beet greens, carrots squash and apple pie for dessert (apple crisp is really easy).
I can't imagine cooking a turkey for 2 adults! Maybe a small ham?

[minzy]

Some kind of turkey trot?  Volunteering at a soup kitchen?  Both a little harder with small kids, so maybe not the best.

[bluelikejazz]

Make your own traditions!

-Wake up and watch the parade in your pj's with spiked coffee / hot chocolate
-Bust out the Christmas decorations
-Play board games
-Only make your favorite parts of the meal
-Thanksgiving or Christmas craft

[jeaniebueller]

If there is a local turkey trot, I would go, even if I had to walk the kids in a stroller! Those events are always so fun and festive. I have cooked turkey for 2 before. Watch the parades on TV?

[drloretta]

If you do turkey, do a turkey breast. Less cooking time, no bones. DH swears by it.

I like the idea of decorating for Christmas.

We are in our final year of having to drive 11+ hours for Thanksgiving. I am going to be so excited to sit on my ass next year, LOL

[badtzmaru22]

We are going to have a breakfast casserole and mimosas and watch the parade. Then something fun to eat that isn't turkey. I was thinking tacos, but we love appetizers, so we might do that instead.

We are having friends come up for the weekend on Friday, and will do turkey etc then.

[Deleted]

If you know anyone that's not from the States, invite them. I find that immigrants don't necessarily celebrate on their own, but like the experience of the meal. Ask them to bring wine.

[bowies]

We usually spend Thanksgiving by ourselves.

We stay in our Jammies through the parade and dog show. We start the day off right with pastries and coffee, segue into apps (usually something easy from TJs), then finish off with dinner at 4:00. My H and I tag team meal prep through the day: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry orange chutney, Brussels sprout hash, biscuits, and pumpkin pie. Football is on in the background as we dress for dinner. Once DS is in bed, we snuggle up with hot cider and start our online shopping.

It's a really nice way to spend the holiday. There aren't as many expectations as Christmas.

[hermione]

Let B help cook.
Turkey Crafts.
Make a list for Santa.
Put the tree up.
Play football or tag.
Go on a leaf hunt.

[undecidedowl]

Watch the parade in pjs
Do a thanksgiving craft
Have the whole meal catered (our grocery store does this)
Make just the desserts and eat them all
Play tag in the backyard
Take a nap
Put up Christmas decorations
Eat more dessert
Play board games

[purplecow0206]

We usually stay home and it's great! We tend to find someone else that is happy to have us over or we invite someone to eat with us. It's wonderfully low key and the thing that I love most about it is that it's one of the few days that you're pretty much forced to just chill and not be running around with a million errands. So long as you prep beforehand for the day and don't overwhelm yourself with details that aren't important, it's really fun.

Enjoy!

[loira]

H and I never bothered with Thanksgiving (Canadian or American) while living in the UK, but I made a big Christmas dinner every year and found that a large chicken substituted nicely for turkey when there were only 2-4 people to eat it.